The victim of a violent home invasion in Newcastle has described his ongoing suffering and lifelong trauma after half his face was shot off in December 2017.

The NSW Parole Authority is set to grant parole to convicted paedophile and disgraced former government minister Milton Orkopoulos.

The former Anglican Dean of Newcastle Graeme Lawrence is sentenced to a maximum of eight years over the rape of a 15-year-old boy in 1991.

A man who raised a sawn-off shotgun to his victim's head and pulled the trigger during a violent home invasion has been sentenced to a maximum of 11 years' jail.

A recent Harvard study found Australia's economy is less complex than Kazakhstan or Uganda, but is the assessment fair? And, if it is, what can be done to diversify the economy away from its mining dependence?

Ian Rowland finds nearly sinking the triumphant Australia II on a 1980s advertising shoot is a far cry from marketing organically grown garlic.

A joyride along a NSW beach in a stolen vehicle has ended in irreparable damage to a century-old shipwreck. As police search for the culprits, locals are fuming over the wanton destruction of the iconic relic.

When Bennett Powell was a child, doctors thought he might never walk but now he's running, cycling and swimming as part of his third Ironman Australia race.

Brenda Marney, 73, is charged with animal cruelty offences after a mutilated magpie is found at her home on the NSW mid-north coast police believe she lures animals with food before capturing and torturing them.

Five men are charged over the murder of a Queensland man who was beaten to death with a steel bar before his mutilated body was dumped, set alight and eventually found by firefighters near Taree.

Patrick Conaghan

Michael McCormack with Patrick Conaghan

Patrick Conaghan and Scott Morrison

Cindi Cambray and Nicole Hood

Michael McCormack. Photo taken in Port Macquarie on April April 16, 2019

The Country Women's Association is set to take on Wicked Campers after one of its members took direct action and painted over of slogans on one of its vans.

MORNING BRIEFING: Former Newcastle Knights star Jarrod Mullen is charged over his alleged role in a cocaine ring in the Hunter region and Australia's country music industry is in shock after singer and producer Glen Hannah dies.

A study reveals a visit from a rare bird to a tiny NSW town generated hundreds of thousands of dollars for the economy, highlighting the untapped potential of birdwatching tourism.

A police taskforce is set up to investigate the alleged misconduct of gynaecologist Emil Gayed, following complaints made by almost 200 women to a NSW public inquiry about health care including the unnecessary removal of organs.

Nicknamed "The Missile", James Magnussen decides to call time on his decorated swimming career, which included world championship gold and Olympic silver.

Following the recent Hendra virus outbreak, an equine vet is encouraging horse owners to vaccinate their animals against the deadly bat-borne disease.

A NSW court hears 81-year-old David Allen Esling, charged with the attempted stabbing murder of his wife of 54 years in April, had formed a suicide pact with her.

Chief the bison was killed with a high-powered rifle on a rural NSW property and it is believed the culprits can sell the animal's hide for thousands of dollars.

New legal advice suggests Australia's water suppliers may have no legal basis to add fluoride.

Boutique dairies may be tiny, but there is nothing small about their thinking. Farms across New South Wales are choosing on-site processing in an effort to create more sustainable farming practices.

Honey from Australian native stingless bees is not technically honey and moves are buzzing around to change that.

Residents at a retirement village in New South Wales say life is becoming more like science fiction as an automated vehicle changes the way they stay connected.

Bound by tradition but using honey from stingless bees and Australian botanicals proves to be more than just a silver lining for a NSW distiller.

A treasured piece of rail history has been destroyed in a rural NSW town despite assurances from the national rail body it would be removed with the intent to preserve it.

An Australian man and his partner are murdered in Canada, backpackers have disappeared from NSW. This is how police will begin to solve the mystery of what happened, writes Wayne Petherick.

A failure to look upward when parking by the river at a favourite roost for local pelicans has left a Port Macquarie man red-faced and his car disgraced.

Relatives visiting the gravestones of their family in a NSW town, who found the gravestones razed, thought it was the work of vandals.

There are calls for better police training in mental health after a man was shot dead following a nine-hour stand-off at his home on the NSW Mid North coast.

A research project is underway to determine the impact of the controversial Lord Howe Island rodent eradication program on a threatened currawong species and wider ecosystem.

A wooden cross marked "2014" the same year that William Tyrrell went missing was among several false leads found during a large police search for the toddler around Kendall on the NSW mid-north coast, an inquest hears.

Emergency services are keeping a close watch on large blazes at Middle Creek Road, Kangaroo Creek north of Coffs Harbour, and at Verges Creek north of Crescent Head in northern NSW, after residents were warned to seek shelter.

An inquest into the disappearance of toddler William Tyrrell hears an SES volunteer who was involved in search efforts for the toddler on the NSW mid-north coast, did not respond to police questions.

As debate continues over the best way to teach children to read, parents and experts say dyslexic students are falling through the cracks and struggling academically and emotionally.

As the Coronial inquest into William Tyrrell's disappearance had a special sitting in Taree just 40 kilometres from where the toddler was last seen family members have been left frustrated by delays and disappointed by its failure so far to turn up any substantial new leads.