Beagle-boxer-basset wins ugly dog comp

A HUGE-HEADED, duck-footed mix of beagle, boxer and basset hound was the upset winner at the 25th annual World's Ugliest Dog Contest.

Walle, a four-year-old mutt from Chico, California who was entered at the last minute, was judged most unsightly of 30 dogs at the Northern California competition on Friday.

"This dog looked like he's been photo-shopped with pieces from various dogs and maybe a few other animals," judge Brian Sobel said.

The contest at the Sonoma-Marin Fairgrounds gets worldwide attention, with media from around the world travelling to Petaluma, north of San Francisco.

Walle overcame the dominance in recent years by nearly hairless chihuahuas, Chinese cresteds, or combinations of the two.

Owner Tammie Barbee got the dog when he was three months old.

"People come up to me and say that dog is not right," Barbee said, "but I love him."

Judges said they were especially impressed by Walle's bizarre waddle of a walk.

Walle wins $US1,500 ($A1,635) and will make several network TV appearances next week, including NBC's Today show and ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live.

Organisers say the dogs are judged for their "natural ugliness in both pedigree and mutt classes."

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US man held for threatening to kill Kerr

A US man has been arrested after allegedly threatening to kill Australian supermodel Miranda Kerr. Source: AAP

A US man has been arrested after allegedly threatening to kill Australian supermodel Miranda Kerr.

Steven C Swanson from East Sandwich, Massachusetts, was taken into custody on Wednesday and charged after he called the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department to tell them he was planning to travel to California to shoot and kill the 30-year-old model, reports local publication the Cape Cod Times

According to CapeCodOnline.com, police records show Swanson, 52, threatened to turn Kerr's LA home "upside down".

He also reportedly referred to the model as his "soul mate".

A search of Swanson's house reportedly found photographs of Kerr on his refrigerator, microwave and bookshelf, however no weapons were found.

Swanson pleaded not guilty to a charge of making a threat concerning a firearm at the Barnstable District Court on Wednesday.

Judge Robert Welsh III ordered Swanson be committed for psychiatric evaluation.

Bail was set at $US8000 ($A8725).

Swanson is due back in court on July 19.

Kerr shares a home in Los Angeles with her husband, actor Orlando Bloom, and their two-year-old son, Flynn.

In April, Kerr said the whole family was moving to New York where Bloom will star in the new Broadway theatre production of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.

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Man armed with gun causes emergency in Qld

A 31-YEAR-OLD man who allegedly carried a replica gun has been charged in relation to causing an emergency in an Ipswich suburb, southwest of Brisbane.

Police declared an emergency situation at Redbank Plains early on Saturday morning.

People were told to avoid streets near the apartment as police negotiated with what appeared to be an armed man.

The man gave himself up around 10am (AEST) and has been charged with possessing a weapon while under the influence of drugs or liquor.

The weapon was a replica gun, police say.

He was also charged for failing to dispose of a syringe and is due to appear in the Ipswich Magistrates Court on Monday.

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NSW cuts offender supervision: oppn

THE NSW government has cut almost $6 million and more than 70 jobs from a program designed to monitor violent offenders like Terrence Leary, the opposition says.

Leary allegedly stabbed and tried to rape a woman at a Sydney bus stop on Wednesday while he was on parole for murdering a teenager in 1990.

The budget cuts to the offender supervision program meant more people like Leary would now go unmonitored, Opposition Leader John Robertson said.

"I am amazed at what this government's approach has been when it comes to monitoring of individuals out in the community," Mr Robertson said on Friday.

A spokeswoman for the attorney general's department was not immediately available to respond to the claims although Premier Barry O'Farrell earlier described the incident as appalling.

Mr Robertson said there would be even less supervision as a result of 73 jobs and $5.7 million being slashed from the Supervision of Offenders in the Community Service Group, on top of the the closure of the community compliance monitoring group last year, Mr Robertson said.

"This government's cuts compromise community safety, and the community deserves better than this," he said.

Leary, 46, was arrested on Wednesday over the alleged violent attempted sexual assault in Hunters Hill, 10 months after he was released on parole having served more than 22 years of a 24 year term.

Mr O'Farrell said on Friday the NSW legal system had served the state well but it could be improved.

He said following the Jill Meagher murder case in Melbourne, Attorney General Greg Smith had asked Corrective Services NSW for a review of the handling of serious sex offenders on parole.

Mr Smith was expected to announce shortly that the review will be headed by Justice James Wood.

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Nicaragua chopper crash kills top brass

SENIOR members of Nicaragua's air force have been killed when a helicopter they were flying in crashed near Lake Managua.

Ten people died in Thursday's crash, including air force chief of staff Colonel Manuel Lopez, the head of air force counterintelligence, Colonel Chester Vargas, and air defence chief Lieutenant Colonel Aldo Herrera, the Nicaraguan Army said in a statement.

The MI-17 helicopter went down after visiting the El Papalonal firing range in La Paz Centro, 52km northwest of Managua, the statement said.

The senior officers killed were mostly former Sandinista guerrillas who helped found Nicaragua's modern military after the leftist revolutionaries triumphed in 1979 against the dictatorship of Anastasio Somoza.

The officers were returning to the capital Managua when, soon after departing, the helicopter pilot made an emergency call to warn of unspecified flight difficulties, said army spokesman Colonel Orlando Palacios.

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Woman sought over Sydney bus racist abuse

NSW police are seeking a woman caught on video launching a racist tirade and hurling obscenities against a schoolboy on a Sydney bus.

The woman is captured verbally abusing an Asian student in a viral YouTube video after he refused her demand to sit down.

Police say the incident occurred at 3.30 pm (AEST) on April 7 on an STA bus driving through Burwood.

The woman, aged about 50, tells the boy, who appears to be about 15, to "sit the f*** down" before launching into a racist rant where she tells him to "get a passport bro".

"Get back on your f***ing boat and f*** off," she says.

It is the latest incident where passengers have been abused on Australian public transport.

In a video earlier this year, a French tourist was abused for singing in her native language on a bus in Melbourne.

Another recent video shows a pregnant woman being called a "fat slut" after she asked a Perth train passenger to move her bags so she could sit down.

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SA premier back same sex bill

SOUTH Australian Premier Jay Weatherill wants his state to be a trailblazer in passing same sex marriage laws.

Mr Weatherill has pledged to support legislation brought before state parliament, arguing its time has come.

"South Australia has led on these issues before and we should lead the way again," he said.

"I think that two people who love one another should be allowed to get married and I don't think the state should stand in the way."

Other Labor MPs will be given a conscience vote, though the Liberal opposition will oppose the bill, suggesting it will likely fail.

Should it pass, even its proponent, Labor MP Susan Close, believes it will almost certainly face a High Court challenge.

She introduced the bill on Thursday, partly to mark the birthday of her gay brother, and on the same day as the federal Senate rejected a similar bill sponsored by the Australian Greens.

"It's not a constitutional problem in the sense that it's perfectly okay for a state to have legislation relating to marriage," Ms Close said.

"The issue will only be if the High Court determines that the commonwealth has covered the field in defining marriage as between a man and a woman.

"My view is if we believe in it we should vote for it and then allow lawyers to work that through to the High Court."

Mr Weatherill said he believed state legislation could survive a High Court challenge but he accepted there were arguments on both sides.

Opposition justice spokesman Stephen Wade believes it would be unconstitutional and would only play "a cruel and misleading trick on those seeking marriage equality".

Australian Marriage Equality spokesman Harley Schumann said the bill was an opportunity for SA to lead the way on important reform.

"We will be lobbying and campaigning hard in support of this bill," he said.

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Tibetan nun dies after self-immolation

A TIBETAN nun who last week set fire to herself in protest at Chinese rule has died, a US-based broadcaster and rights group say.

The woman set herself ablaze on June 11 near Nyitso monastery, the scene of similar protests, in Daofu country of southwest China's Sichuan province, Washington-based Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported on its website.

Wangchen Dolma, aged 31, died on Friday in hospital and was "secretly cremated", RFA said, citing the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) - the India-based government-in-exile - in confirming the death.

The US-based International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) rights group said she was "taken away by police" after setting herself ablaze during a "gathering of several thousand monks".

The ICT on Thursday confirmed the death.

RFA said "Chinese authorities have moved to block demonstrations of support" for the nun.

The ICT said "communications were restricted in the area and surveillance of monks at Nyitso monastery was intensified" following the self-immolation attempt.

Rights groups often raise concerns over surveillance issues in restive Tibetan areas.

RFA said the nun was the 120th person to set themselves alight since February 2009 in a wave of protests by Tibetans against what they view as Chinese oppression. Many of them have died.

Self-immolations peaked in the run up the ruling Communist Party's pivotal Party Congress last November.

They have become less common in recent months, but two monks died after setting themselves on fire in Sichuan province's Aba prefecture in April.

Beijing condemns the acts and blames them on exiled Tibetan leader the Dalai Lama, saying he uses them to further a separatist agenda.

The Dalai Lama, a Nobel Peace laureate who has lived in India since 1959 after a failed uprising in Tibet, has described the protests as acts of desperation that he is powerless to stop.

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ANZ should keep jobs in Australia: union

Victoria's opposition says ANZ owes it to its workers to reveal the future of call-centre jobs. Source: AAP

THE ANZ bank can afford to keep every job in Australia and should provide certainty for the 600 Melbourne call centre workers whose jobs may be sent offshore.

A draft proposal to senior management outlines plans to sack 340 staff at ANZ's Mulgrave call centre and a further 250 in South Melbourne, but ANZ spokesman Stephen Ries says no decision has been made.

The jobs would move to the Philippines and New Zealand.

Finance Sector Union national secretary Leon Carter says the bank is so profitable it can afford to keep all its local staff.

"They do not need to send these job overseas to be profitable," Mr Carter told reporters in Sydney.

He said the Commonwealth Bank does not send jobs offshore and remains Australia's biggest and most profitable bank.

"(ANZ) continues to sacrifice our members' jobs, not because it improves customer service, not because it makes anything better, but simply to continue to get a bump in their share price."

Victorian Opposition Leader Daniel Andrews said ANZ owed it to its workers and Victorians to reveal the future of the call-centre jobs.

"It's an absolute obscenity that ANZ posted a $3.2 billion half-year profit but apparently Victoria is not a good enough place to do business," Mr Andrews said.

The bank says it is looking at efficiencies during a time of low growth and as customers change they way they do their banking.

"No decision has been made, nor will there be a decision in the near future," Mr Ries said.

Mr Carter said Australian banks have sent about 7000 Australian jobs offshore in the past six years, and it's likely the trend will continue, especially with ANZ.

Mr Andrews has criticised Premier Denis Napthine - who is in South-East Asia for a trade mission - for his inaction over Victoria's recent spate of large-scale job losses.

"When it comes to employment the premier does nothing when he's in the country, I would expect he's done even less off on a trade mission somewhere," Mr Andrews said.

Treasurer Michael O'Brien said the government could not direct the decisions of individual companies, and noted there were 11,400 jobs created in the state last month.

He said Victoria's current 5.4 per cent unemployment rate was the second lowest in the country.

The government has announced a new $14.7 million emergency services infrastructure program in Dandenong that will create 310 construction jobs.

Indonesian telecommunications company Telkom is to open its first Australian office in Melbourne.

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Afghan politician escapes suicide blast

A PROMINENT Afghan politician has escaped a suicide attack in Kabul, aides said, on the day that the handover of security from NATO to Afghan forces was to be announced.

But at least three civilians were killed and several were injured during the attack targeting the convoy of Haji Mohammad Mohaqiq on Tuesday.

"The suicide attack was against Haji Mohammad Mohaqiq. It was in front of the Independent Human Rights Commission office. He is unhurt," a senior aide who declined to be named told AFP.

Mohaqiq is the founder and chairman of the People's Islamic Unity Party of Afghanistan.

The handover of the last 95 districts from NATO to Afghan forces includes many of the most volatile areas of south and east Afghanistan where the Taliban have fought a bloody insurgency against the US-backed government since 2001.

After the handover, 100,000 NATO forces will play a supporting and training role as Afghan soldiers and police take the lead in the fight against the militants who were ousted from power after the 9/11 attacks.

Doubts remain, however, over the ability of the 350,000-strong Afghan forces to thwart the Taliban, and the NATO military coalition will retain an important role in logistics and air support as well as in combat when required.

Recent attacks have demonstrated the Taliban's ability to strike at Kabul as the country prepares for next year's presidential elections and the NATO withdrawal by the end of 2014.

A suicide car bomb last Tuesday killed 15 civilians outside the Supreme Court in Kabul. The previous day, gunmen fired grenades at the city airport and an international aid group's compound was targeted in a seven-hour battle late last month.

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'Tweet' to feature in Aussie dictionary

IN a further sign technology is changing the way we speak, the social networking term "tweet" has entered the Oxford English Dictionary for the first time.

Tweet will also debut in Australia's printed Macquarie Dictionary later this year.

Oxford English Dictionary (OED) chief editor John Simpson confirmed 'tweet' had been formally recognised in his hallowed tome's June update - more than seven years after Twitter was invented.

"The noun and verb tweet (in the social-networking sense) has just been added to the OED," Mr Simpson said.

"This breaks at least one OED rule, namely that a new word needs to be current for ten years before consideration for inclusion. But it seems to be catching on."

Tweet's inclusion comes after the OED in 2011 recognised the acronyms 'LOL' (laugh out loud) and 'OMG' (oh my god) - both frequently used online and in SMS messages.

The EOD defined 'tweet' as simply: "To make a posting on the social networking service Twitter. Also: to use Twitter regularly or habitually".

'Tweet' will also be included in the printed Macquarie Dictionary, the respected compendium of Australian-English, for the first time in October.

Macquarie editors recognised 'tweet' in 2009 and included it in online editions from 2010.

But the sixth printed edition of the Macquarie Dictionary will be the first to carry the word, Editor Susan Butler told AAP.

Earlier this year, the Macquarie Dictionary included 'Phantom vibration syndrome' in its online edition - describing anxiety and an obsessional conviction that one's mobile phone has vibrated in response to an incoming call.

Other words or phrases which made it into the new EOD included: 'wingsuit' (a full-body garment having wings), 'sega' (a dance form of the Mascarene Islands) and 'metabolic syndrome' (a cluster of biochemical and physiological abnormalities).

The OED also recognised the slang phrase "to have a cow" - synonymous with the cartoon character Bart Simpson, but which in fact the OED says dates back to 1959.

Another slang phrase, "handyman special" made it too.

The OED said that term described "something (especially a house) which is in need of repair and therefore available at a discounted price".

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Elephant tramples girl to death in Nepal

AN elephant has trampled a 12-year-old girl to death after dragging her away from her home in a remote region of southeastern Nepal, police say.

Three members of the girl's family managed to flee when the elephant stormed into their rural home on Monday night but the youngster was unable to escape in time, police officer Pralhad Keshari told AFP.

Keshari said police chased the elephant away following the attack at the home on farmland near Dholbazar, a village on the border with India, 370km southeast of Kathmandu.

Nepal has seen a growing number of such deadly attacks on humans, with deforestation forcing wildlife to stray into villages as they hunt for food.

A tiger mauled two people to death in central Nepal last month, dragging one of the victims from a hut.

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