■ UNITED STATES
Ugly dog contest held
Elwood, a 2-year-old Chinese Crested and Chihuahua mix, was crowned the world's ugliest dog, a distinction that delighted the mutt's owners. Elwood, dark colored and hairless -- save for a mohawk-like puff of white fur on his head -- is often referred to as "Yoda" or "E.T." for his resemblance to those famous science fiction characters. "I think he's the cutest thing that ever lived," said Elwood's owner, Karen Quigley, a resident of Sewell, New Jersey. "The breeder was going to euthanize him because she thought he was too ugly to sell," said Quigley.
■ HONDURAS
President's guard killed
Gunmen shot and killed Honduran President Manuel Zelaya's chief bodyguard outside his house on Friday, the government said, a brazen attack in one of Latin America's most violent countries. Captain Alejandro Motino, head of Zelaya's three-man security detail, was dressed in his army uniform when two men shot him outside his home in a lower middle-class neighborhood in the capital Tegucigalpa, the security ministry said. Zelaya said the killing was part of a campaign to discredit his government, which is battling a violent crime wave blamed on mafia groups and mara street gangs. Zelaya, who took office last year promising to end violence, has been heavily criticized by the opposition for failing to take action.
■ UNITED STATES
Pot goes up in smoke
Firefighters who spent half an hour fighting a blaze in which 900kg of marijuana went up in smoke breathed so much of it that they would have failed a drug test, a fire chief said. It took more than 35 firefighters, 3,785 liters of water and 19 liters of chemicals to extinguish the warehouse blaze on Wednesday, said Fire Chief Shawn Snider of Edinburgh, Texas. US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were investigating the origin of the drugs.
■ UNITED STATES
Prisoner weds pen pal
It began with an inmate pen pal program. Now Tracy Morgan of England has married death row prisoner James Lewis Morgan in a prison ceremony in the US. Tracy began her courtship of James more than four years ago. She visited him in prison from England five times before she moved to North Carolina. James, 52, was convicted of the November 1997 stabbing death of Patrina Lynette King, 34. Tracy, 44, said they talked about the crime and it was no longer a concern to her "once I found out all the details." The North Carolina Department of Correction said Morgan is one of only two people to get married at Central Prison in the past five years. While prison officials allowed the couple to hold hands, hug and kiss during the ceremony, their visits from now on will last about 1 1/2 hours a week through a glass partition.
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