MORNING BRIEFING: Firefighters say it could take weeks, potentially months, to contain about five fires burning around Armidale and Tenterfield, while a woman is injured and a firearm stolen during a break and enter in Orana.

The largest local council in New South Wales, whose patch includes the Darling River town that experienced mass fish kills, will spend another four years in administration.

Fire tears through Macquarie Marshes

After years of funding cuts, many arts organisations will struggle to survive the COVID-19 pandemic without more government support. Playwright David Williamson and arts academic Jo Caust, discuss what needs to happened to ensure the sector survives.

Bruce Shapiro discusses the latest on how the USA is managing or mis-managing the COVID-19 crisis.

As American heads into another Presidential campaign, there is another allegation of sexual assault, this time against Democrat candidate Joe Biden.

Conservationists are hoping the coronavirus pandemic will force governments to take action against the wildlife trade. But will stricter legislation push wildlife traffickers deeper underground?

A hundred years from now, will you be taking a pill or using your own cells to cure disease? This is just one of the predictions from four futurists who imagine how some of our biggest challenges will play out. Can we save species from the effects of climate change or protect our privacy from the prying eyes of governments and corporations? Perhaps surveillance technology might prove to be our friend by keeping us accountable for our actions.

It’s 250 years since the arrival of Captain James Cook. In maritime circles he’s celebrated as a great navigator and map-maker. But for First Nations people, Cook is the symbol of the European invasion which decimated their communities. So how should Cook be remembered today? Author Peter Fitzsimons and historian Professor John Maynard discuss the man and the myth.

Despite encouraging signs of a slowdown in infection rates, we’re still in the middle of a global pandemic. The economic and social effects of Covid-19 will be far-reaching. On the other side of this pandemic will there be a new world order? How is the virus affecting the US-China relationship, South-East Asia and the global balance of power?  

A victim of a horrific stabbing attack has woken up and remains in intensive care, days after being critically injured during the South Hedland shopping mall rampage in WA's Pilbara.

The accused triple-murderer tells police "you gotta be joking" during previously unseen footage of his arrest at his Perth home back in 2016 for the Claremont serial killings.

Campers on the north coast of Western Australia have had the "really rare" chance to walk next to a feeding whale shark estimated to be seven to 10 metres long.

Katie Elphick took this video of a seven to ten metre whale shark pursuing a school of bait fish close to a beach north of Broome in Western Australia.

A shire in Western Australia's Wheatbelt region is set to inject more than $150,000 into its economy by providing residents with "Narrogin Dollars".

India and England's Twenty20 World Cup semi-final was washed out and Australia's clash with South Africa almost was too, all without a backup plan in place. How was this allowed to happen?

Cameron Bancroft survived a one-year ban for ball tampering, but has since gone from the lofty heights of a Test at Lord's to suburban cricket after being dropped from the WA state team, writes Ben Cameron.

Australia slumps to a 3-0 series defeat in South Africa with a six-wicket loss in Potchefstroom, despite Marnus Labuschagne's maiden ODI century.

Police have charged a NSW man with murder after what witnesses described as a furious chase during which shots were fired before one of the cars rolled and burst into flames.

A popular beach in Byron Bay has been washed away by the worst erosion in at least 30 years.

Too Much Lip is a raucous family yarn that explores intergenerational trauma, class and the lives of Aboriginal women, and it has just won its author a prestigious $60,000 prize.

On the day Grafton's water fluoridation fight reached fever pitch, one man was stabbed with a tomato stake; another struck by a stock whip. At some point, a pistol was drawn. But how did it get to this point?

A father who lost his son in a shocking crash 13 years ago channels his grief into a mission for better road safety with a driver-training centre that could save countless lives.

Dramatic footage from the NSW Rural Fire Service shows the treacherous conditions firefighters are dealing with at Shark Creek, which remains under emergency alert.

Flames fanned by strong winds caused extensive damage to the resort site, destroying the heritage-listed wooden lodge building that had stood since the 1930s.

The tourist mecca's potholes are legendary, and locals are taking matters into their own hands as the mayor laments that the town's affluent profile means little to its financially-struggling council.

Up to 20 homes and structures are destroyed in the village of Rappville, as watch and act warnings are issued for several bushfires burning within 100km of each other in northern NSW.

Authorities say at least 30 homes have been damaged or destroyed as fast-moving bushfires burned in and around Rappville in northern NSW on October 8, 2019.

An RFS crew drives through the northern NSW village of Rappville, one of the areas worst affected by a series of bushfires in northern NSW on October 8, 2019.

Police are investigating the "suspicious" origins of a devastating bushfire, which is believed to have started late Friday and yesterday destroyed 21 homes in northern NSW.

After watching their home burn on the news, Tina Hag, Robert Collier and their four children return to Rappville, wondering about the future of their northern New South Wales town, which lost 15 homes and 20,000 hectares of grazing land to a bushfire.

The community of Rappville in northern NSW is banding together to make sure everyone gets back on their feet, but Allan Robertson is dreading having to tell his partner that their home is now just ashes.

MORNING BRIEFING: A number of fish have died at a lake near Menindee as the Federal Government announces emergency funds to protect fish, while volunteers work to deliver supplies to farmers who are unwilling to leave their fire-ravaged properties.

As ferocious blazes tore through Rappville last week, many of the community's young people displayed extraordinary bravery, rescuing their neighbours and animals while fighting tooth and nail to save homes.