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'Hunger Games' Fever Makes Archery Cool for Kids

In schools and backyards, for their birthdays and out with their dads, kids are gaga for archery four weeks into the box office run of "The Hunger Games" and less than 100 days before the London Olympics.

"All of a sudden sales of bows have, like, tripled," said Paul Haines, a salesman at the Ramsey Outdoor store in Paramus, New Jersey.

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India to Declare Tea as National Drink

India is to declare tea as its national drink to celebrate the life of a pioneering tea-planter who was hanged by British colonial rulers for taking part in the rebellion of 1857.

Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia on Saturday announced the decision while on a visit to Assam, the tea-producing northeastern state that borders on Bhutan and Bangladesh.

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Blind California Sea Lion Will Go Home to Utah

It took a few months to treat a blind sea lion found injured on a Southern California Beach. It took two years to find the Big Guy a home.

The 700-plus-pound (317.5-kilogram-plus) sea lion will be flown FedEx from Los Angeles to Hogle Zoo in Utah on May 3.

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S. Africa Cables Moved after Giraffes Electrocuted

South Africa's power utility has moved cables in a wildlife sanctuary after several giraffes were electrocuted when they walked into the low-hanging wires, a conservation official said Friday.

At least four giraffes have died since June 2011 in Marloth Park holiday town nestled against the legendary Kruger Park after power utility Eskom installed electricity poles that were too short.

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Russian Man Eats Pound of Caviar in 90 Seconds

A 49-year old Russian with a big spoon in hand swallowed a pound (500 grams) of caviar in about 90 seconds to win what was billed as the world's first eating contest featuring the pricey fish roe.

"In Texas, people organize hot dog and hamburger eating championships and contests," the swanky Apartment restaurant said in a press release for the event.

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Biden's Plane Suffers Bird Strike

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden's Air Force Two plane suffered a bird strike as it came into land in California on Thursday night and had to be grounded, a U.S. official said.

The plane, a Boeing C-32 modeled on the 757, in blue and white air force livery, was hit by birds as it came into land in Santa Barbara, California, after a flight from Los Angeles where Biden attended a campaign event.

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Orangutans Sit Still For Heart Ultrasound at Zoo

The 9-year-old patient sits still, munching on popcorn and sipping grape juice while he gets an ultrasound of his heart.

Every so often, he wiggles free long enough to swing from the ceiling or stick out his tongue before resuming a statue-like pose. Orangutans aren't known for their patience, but this one, named Satu, has been trained to let researchers at Zoo Atlanta perform echocardiograms on him while he's awake.

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Polygamy Back in Modern South Africa

Robert Chauke had to buy a 22-seat bus to carry his enormous family, but it's still not big enough for his six wives and 26 children.

All of them, from his 10-week-old baby to his 28-year-old son, live together in a small compound outside Johannesburg.

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Chicken Before Egg at Sri Lanka Farm

A hen produced a live chick in a freak birth at a poultry farm in central Sri Lanka, a veterinary surgeon said Friday.

The vet in charge of the town of Welimada, P. R. Yapa, said the egg appeared to have incubated inside the hen for 21 days and the hen died when it gave birth to the chick.

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Indonesia’s 8-Year-Old Smoker Kicks Habit

An eight-year-old Indonesian boy who smoked more than a pack a day from age four has kicked the habit, a child-welfare commission said Thursday.

The boy, Ilham, has put on two kilograms (4.4 pounds), since going into treatment with the independent Child Protection Commission a month ago, said its chairman, Arist Merdeka Sirait.

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