Two men on trial over a 700kg cocaine importation racket used encrypted mobile phones to help arrange for the drugs to be sailed from Tahiti to Australia, a court hears.

A court has heard Border Force and NSW and federal police officers formed a human chain to unload hundreds of bricks of cocaine from a catamaran linked to an international drug syndicate.

A New South Wales woman says apprehended domestic violence orders are a joke and she fears she will be killed if her ex-partner keeps breaching them.

The family of volunteer firefighter from New Zealand who was killed in a hit-and-run in the NSW Hunter Valley has issued an emotional plea for someone to come forward.

It was a piece of rope in the middle of the ocean that ultimately led to their boat filling with water and sinking. But the three men, who all have 40 years of boating experience, say it hasn't stopped them from wanting to get back on the water.

A leading surgeon fears a gravely-ill convicted murderer could die within a year if he is deported to Papua New Guinea.

The New South Wales Supreme Court has heard a man accused of killing a knife-wielding intruder was annoyed but had no intention of killing the man after a chase and struggle.

Running on a wedding day is normally a sign something has gone very wrong but not when you are running together, at a parkrun event.

A monitoring program to survey bleaching is underway at Lord Howe Island Marine Park with researchers performing underwater assessments and aerial mapping.

Have you ever wondered what happens to lost and stolen items when the police can't find the owner?

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.

Three women, inspired by the revelations in The Teacher's Pet podcast, have come forward with allegations of sexual abuse by teachers at a NSW high school.

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.

Researchers monitoring the impact of climate change say golden bowerbirds and other highland rainforest species are being pushed to higher altitudes by temperature rises and fear they'll eventually have nowhere left to go.

People on Lord Howe Island are trying to save their slice of paradise from a rat infestation, but a controversial eradication program has divided families and friends on the tiny outpost 600km off the NSW coast.

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.

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

Members of the NSW legal fraternity have spoken out against a bill to change the state's double jeopardy laws brought forward following the acquittal of the prime suspect in the Bowraville murders.

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 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.

Today the Macleay Valley is suffering unprecedented drought, but 70 years ago it was inundated with "mighty waves as high as telegraph poles" that flooded the region and left 2,000 people homeless.

The number of whale entanglements in ropes and floats has reached an unprecedented 35 incidents off NSW so far this year, so commercial fishers are meeting to discuss better practices.

A 3.5-metre leopard seal has come ashore in northern NSW as authorities warn eager onlookers to keep their distance from the potentially deadly marine mammal.

Members of a NSW rugby league club who were photographed at an airport wearing offensive t-shirts emblazoned with a topless mermaid look set to face the wrath of the sport's officials.

MORNING BRIEFING: A woman has been charged with murder after a man was found with multiple stab wounds in a Sydney apartment complex, while easing weather conditions have helped firefighters in Tenterfield gain the upper hand on a bushfire.

The honey industry is facing hard times along with other producers, having taken a battering over recent years from the drought and a string of natural disasters.

Farmers who rely on the Ord River say big-city bureaucrats are getting in the way of progress in the WA region's landmark irrigation scheme.

The WA Government has ordered Zenith Australia Investment Holding to stop clearing land at Yakka Munga station after a blockade by the area's native title holders.

A "flood" of vulnerable Australians have been walking into Telstra shops looking to buy a cheap flip phone and walking out with contracts worth $250 a month. Now the consumer watchdog is investigating.

Australian Indigenous actor Ningali Lawford-Wolf dies at the age of 52 in Edinburgh, Scotland, while touring with the stage production of The Secret River.