MORNING BRIEFING: Police charge a man in Parramatta after finding tools to make a homemade bomb in his backpack, while Sydney residents can soon expect formal water restrictions as dry conditions continue.

The dismantling of Big Kev, Darwin's resident brachiosaurus, has become the latest example of the lengths communities will go to to protect a local icon.

Teenagers were seen atop the roof of the Kariong detention centre after reports of an escape attempt.

Teenagers were seen atop the roof of the Kariong detention centre after reports of an escape attempt.

Felicity Urquhart was meant to be celebrating her first solo album Frozen Rabbit with her husband Glen Hannah, but a month after its release, he took his own life.

The father of murder victim Danielle Easey says he is waiting to come face-to-face with the man accused of the violent death of his daughter whose body was found wrapped in plastic and dumped in a Newcastle creek.

A young boy at 2019 Koori Knockout

The A-League is back, with a brand new team and a whole host of new players. Check out our comprehensive preview ahead of the season kick-off.

The sudden closure of two aged care facilities on the New South Wales Central Coast has renewed concerns about the financial viability of Australias private aged care sector.

NSW Police says officers were called to a house in Erina last night in response to a domestic dispute between neighbours and found flames coming from the window.

AFL great Neale Daniher is named the 2019 Victorian of the Year in recognition of his advocacy to find a cure for the fatal motor neurone disease he was diagnosed with six years ago.

A Victorian dairy lobby group calls for the New South Wales Government to stop subsidising the cost of transporting fodder.

About 600 million people were glued to the television in awe of the first moon landing, but for Ben Lam and David Cooke it was just another day at the office.

With just seconds to go before running out of fuel and unknown alarms going off, Neil Armstrong's heartrate began to skyrocket.

Parkes was made famous by the Australian film The Dish, but without a small tracking station just outside of Canberra, we would never have seen Neil Armstrong's first few steps on the Moon.

When Kevin Gallegos carpooled to work one cold Canberra morning the day ahead wouldn't be typical he and the rest of the team at the Honeysuckle Creek Tracking Station would be instrumental in bringing live footage of Neil Armstrong's first steps on the Moon back to Earth.

Across New South Wales and Queensland's southern downs, country towns are approaching day zero, as water supplies dry up in the drought.

Writer Stuart Beattie wrote scripts for Johnny Depp, Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman and Tom Cruise, but it's his newly released Vietnam War epic that he is most passionate about.

Park benches in neighbourhood parks across the country are being painted bright red to encourage people to take a stand against domestic violence.

How do you fight fires in a state that is 98 per cent in drought and short on water? It's a question being pondered by firefighters on the verge of fire season.

Three quarters of a century after hundreds of Japanese prisoners of war escaped from a detention camp in Cowra, New South Wales, the town has forged a friendship with Japan centred on peace and respect.

Alcohol is linked to everything from cancers, liver and cardiovascular disease, stroke and depression.

Drinking is part of every gathering in the bush but finding support if you want to go sober can be tough.

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She already had years of experience in humanitarian work, but Carly Learson describes her Myanmar role as "probably the toughest job I've ever had".

The founder of an online discussion supporting hundreds trying to go dry believes drought, financial hardship, uncertainty, and isolation are causing more rural people to self-medicate with alcohol.

In 1969 a young Australian shearer travelled to Israel to orchestrate an arson attack he believed would prompt the return of Jesus and usher in the end of the world. The consequences still ring today.

For years Waryk Holmes was bullied while trying to be like his able-bodied classmates. Now he's teaching them a thing or two as a wheelchair racer.

MORNING BRIEFING: A new video of missing Belgian backpacker Theo Hayez is released as his family attempt to solve what happened to the 18-year-old, last seen in Byron Bay.

Women face a number of hurdles when it comes to working in manual trades, but overcoming the barriers as some have done could be the answer to the skills shortage.

Australian grain growers will produce one of their smallest crops of the decade this year.

People who use a carriage service such as websites and social media to incite others to break into farms could be sent to jail under new laws passed through Federal Parliament.

Taking the waters of a mineral pool is a long, human tradition, and today it is often grey nomads seeking out their reputed healing and bubbling waters.

The Dalys say they are not "competition-enterers", so you might be able to imagine their surprise to find out they have been crowned Australia's Farmers of the Year.

This family has a rare condition called ectodermal dysplasia, which means their sweat glands don't function properly and they can easily overheat.

Young people across Australia are being hit hard by the drought now they want to be heard and be part of a solution.

Cave-ins, bottomless pits filled with car bodies and cyanide-laced sandhills are just some of the remnants left behind from Parkes' long gold-rush history.

While recent storm fronts have left farmers in the country's east disappointed, forecasters say this week's weather systems should deliver some relief.

The Federal Government is unlikely to adopt the National Farmers' Federation call for exit packages for drought-ravaged farmers. But even if it did, history suggests they're unlikely to have much impact.