The United Wambo coal mine in the NSW Hunter Valley gets the go-ahead, but on the condition that its coal can only be exported to countries that have ratified the Paris climate agreement.

Homicide detectives say 29-year-old Danielle Easey, whose body was discovered wrapped in plastic in a creek near Lake Macquarie at the weekend, had become involved in drugs and was likely killed in mid-August.

What would you do if you were told you had 16 months to live? That was the harsh reality for Jill Emberson when she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. With the survival rate of the disease half that of the breast cancer survival rate, she's using her last moments to make a change.

The former Silverchair frontman sues the publisher of Sydney tabloid The Sunday Telegraph for defamation over a report claiming he frequented a brothel called The Kastle.

A NSW firefighter who hatched a plan to start bushfires "so he could fight them" will serve more time in jail than the man who lit them his younger brother.

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.

Six months after Murrurundi's water ran out, the community is struggling to survive on extreme, level-six water restrictions, in a grim prediction of the future for other country towns facing their own impending water crisis.

Up to 100,000 litres of water is being used each weekday by a regional New South Wales council to keep drivers safe on its gravel roads all 954 kilometres of them.

The Independent Planning Commission will be reviewed after a 21-year mining lease near Singleton was approved before public submissions closed a blunder the Opposition says will call the system's integrity into question.

When women at this regional fire station complained male colleagues were harassing them, management's response was to make them work from a dilapidated garage and things got worse after that.

People living with disabilities in regional Australia say having their own cars would make a huge difference to their lives but access to a vehicle is simply too expensive.

A man who denied knowing anything about $245 million worth of drugs onboard a catamaran he skippered from Tahiti faces life in jail after being found guilty of the crime.

For residents in the Upper Hunter, keeping an eye on air quality alerts from the Office of Environment and Heritage is a daily ritual.

Social media went into meltdown after images emerged of a power pole in the middle of a Newcastle street.

Generations of Australia's prime breeding cows are heading to slaughterhouses as a lack of water and feed sees more producers opt to "cash in and get out".

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.

Zohara and Celia wanted to give back to their community, but they found it hard to find the time around their studies. Until they found pop-in volunteering.

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

Musician and mother Rose Wilson has created a mum's choir where children are welcome too. It's proving popular, as mums enjoy connecting and singing with others without having to worry about childcare.

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.

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.

Barrington Tops is receiving its first winter dusting as cold conditions hit the east coast of New South Wales.

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.

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

What drives people to spend their weekends suffering as they attempt to run 50, 100, or even 200 kilometres through the bush and over mountains?

The Cancer Council uses new digital technology to transport more regional cancer patients to treatment.

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

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

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.

MORNING BRIEFING: Police investigate what is believed to be a human bone discovered by passers-by at a Port Macquarie beach, while a Sydney northern beach road is closed after a pedestrian was killed by a car overnight.

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.

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

A NSW Mid North Council apologies for the grief it caused the community for knocking over headstones.

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.

An innovative plan to flood a fireground is being employed on the NSW mid-north coast to extinguish a fire that has been burning for more than six weeks.

The number of homes lost to three fires in northern NSW rises to nine as strong winds continue to hamper the efforts of firefighters to bring them under control.

Farmers along Australia's normally green east coast are reeling from the worst drought they have ever seen and face a tough summer if it doesn't rain in the next few months.

A common struggle for Aboriginal elders is how to make their language and culture appeal to young people in order for it to be carried on.