Australian Broadcasting Corporation News

abc.net.au — Negotiations for bookmaker Tom Waterhouse to become an official sponsor of the National Rugby League (NRL) have broken down, with both parties walking away from the proposed deal. We failed to reach agreement around terms with Tom Waterhouse, the NRL's general manager for strategy, Shane Mattiske, has told the ABC's Four Corners program in an interview to be broadcast tonight.

abc.net.au — Updated May 20, 2013 10:40:11 Cattle farmers on the Southern Tablelands in NSW are facing the prospect of shooting livestock this winter, if decent rain doesn't come soon. Some graziers will be relying on dry-standing feed left over from last year, which has a low nutritional value.

abc.net.au — Posted May 20, 2013 09:33:11 Tony Abbott's most senior advisor, chief of staff Peta Credlin, has been charged with drink-driving. Ms Credlin blew over the legal limit last week on her way home from a dinner in Canberra. A spokesman for Mr Abbott says she "recorded a low-range reading" but would not reveal the exact figure.

abc.net.au — Scientists are closing in on one of the biggest killers of coral on the Great Barrier Reef.

abc.net.au — Updated May 19, 2013 17:47:57 A custom-made electric guitar played by Beatles John Lennon and George Harrison has sold at a New York auction for $US408,000 ($419,100). The semi-hollow-body guitar was sold to an unidentified US bidder at the Music Icons event, held at the Hard Rock Cafe in Manhattan.

abc.net.au — Former powerbroker Eddie Obeid has sent a letter to the Labor party threatening legal action if it moves to expel him before the ICAC delivers its findings. Mr Obeid is the subject of extensive inquiries by the Independent Commission Against Corruption over a coal licence.

abc.net.au — Updated May 20, 2013 07:55:58 Former international cricketer Imran Khan has blamed the British government for not doing enough to prevent the murder of one of his political colleagues. Zahra Shahid Hussain, the vice-president of Mr Khan's Movement for Justice (PTI) party, was shot dead outside her home in an upmarket part of Karachi on Saturday (local time).

abc.net.au — Dark Mofo's planned midwinter nude swim has been cancelled as neither Tasmania Police nor Hobart City Council will support the event. The Dark Mofo festival aims to celebrate the cold and darkness of winter, rather than hide from it, by holding a number of art and music events around Hobart in the dead of winter.

abc.net.au — Updated May 20, 2013 08:53:28 Two people, including a seven-year-old boy, have been injured after an explosion in a house in Toowoomba on Queensland's Darling Downs overnight. The Queensland Fire and Rescue Service says the explosion in the kitchen of the house around 5:30pm (AEST) yesterday burned a seven-year-old boy in the face and chest and also injured a woman.

abc.net.au — Updated May 20, 2013 07:09:34 South Korea has condemned North Korea's latest short-range missile launches as "provocative", and again urged it to hold talks about a suspended jointly-run industrial park.

abc.net.au — The Federal Government has been criticised over its attempt to break the Gonski school funding stalemate with the states and territories. Julia Gillard has released a breakdown of what is on offer for each jurisdiction, saying Australian schools will miss out on an extra $16.2 billion over six years if the deal is not adopted.

abc.net.au — Posted May 20, 2013 06:49:26 Scientific officers will examine the scene of a fire which destroyed a tattoo business on Queensland's Gold Coast early this morning. Emergency crews were called to the premises in Eighth Avenue at Palm Beach shortly before 1:30am (AEST). The business was destroyed but no-one was injured.

abc.net.au — Updated May 20, 2013 06:45:42 Two people have been treated for burns after a fire at a house in Toowoomba on Queensland's Darling Downs. The Queensland Fire and Rescue Service says an explosion occurred in the kitchen of a house in the suburb of Wilsonton around 5:30pm (AEST) last night.

abc.net.au — Updated May 20, 2013 05:58:13 Police are appealing for anyone who has mobile phone or video footage of a five-year-old boy being flung off a carnival ride on Queensland's Darling Downs yesterday to come forward.

abc.net.au — Updated May 20, 2013 06:32:23 One of Australia's most recognisable actors, Penne Hackforth-Jones, has died at the age of 64 after battling lung cancer. Born in 1949 in the US state of Connecticut, her first credited role was in the 1969 TV series Riptide.