Hunter trains: There is a good service on the Central Coast and Newcastle line and the Hunter line.

Hunter weather: Sunny day with wind for Newcastle (17 degrees), windy but sunny day ahead for Raymond Terrace (17 degrees), sunshine and wind for Maitland (18 degrees) and a sunny but windy day for Scone (16 degrees).

Hunter beachwatch: With a gale warning issued for today it’s going to be a blusterly day beachside with very little swell. The wind will be north-west to south-west with the swell from the south on the smaller side of half to one metre. It’ll be a different story tomorrow though with the swell expected to pick up to 2 metres plus. Today try the Cowrie Hole, Newcastle, South Bar, Redhead, Hams, Frazer park and Samurai. Tomorrow try the reef breaks at Nobbys, Flatrock, South Newcastle, Merewether, Dudley, Catho and One Mile. It’ll be good for a swim today but a few rips and heavy edges will develop tomorrow so do be careful. The water temperature is 17 degrees.

► Police are appealing for public assistance to help locate a woman missing from the Hunter region since yesterday. More here.

► NEWCASTLE is the frontrunner to win hosting rights to two national masters hockey tournaments that could bring more than $12 million in economic benefits to the region. More here.

►  LONG-proposed Coles supermarket development at Mayfield could clear another hurdle on Tuesday night, with Newcastle council officers recommending the council approve in principle traffic and parking amendments made as a result of the development application. More here.

► Singleton’s Cody Heffernan and Gresford’s Lachie Richardson have again proven themselves to be among Australia’s best bull riders, after clinching the top spots in the Professional Bull Riding National Final in Sydney at the weekend. More here.

► A HEARTLESS thief has targeted a Newcastle fundraiser for victims of the Orlando mass shooting. More here.

► CESSNOCK jail’s population will more than double to 1800 inmates in a proposed expansion which will create an extra 430 permanent jobs and help ease the state's bulging prison system. More here.

►  THE Upper Hunter is the defect capital of NSW, with Singleton and Muswellbrook revealed as the worst offenders in the state as part of a police crackdown on non-compliant vehicles. More here.

► A BOORAGUL man kicked out of Newcastle hotel “mooned” staff at a nearby business and then resisted arrest when police arrived, police said. More here.

► DRUG dealer Robert Pashkuss told an associate he was being “harassed” by members out an outlaw motorcycle group to continue to sell amphetamines in the months before he and his partner, Stacey McMaugh, were brutally murdered in their Caves Beach home, Newcastle Coroner’s Court has heard. More here.

► THE Hunter’s horror fortnight on the road has claimed another life, with motorcyclist Mick McCulloch killed at Catherine Hill Bay on Saturday. More here.

► JARROD Mullen’s immediate future is in limbo after the Knights five-eighth re-aggravated a hamstring injury on Sunday. More here.

► SOCIAL media trolls have attacked Cessnock councillors both for and against the Buchanan mosque that was approved on July 20. More here.

► Rutherford Family Medical Practice held an open day to promote and raise awareness of Aboriginal health as part of NAIDOC week. More here.

► DOROTHY was nowhere to be found, nor was Toto. But pop-up shelters did levitate and frighten stallholders at the Olive Tree Market on Saturday. More here.

► About 1500 runners from across the East Coast have taken-on the Hunter’s beautiful but grueling Winery Running Festival. More here.

► A dispute over pull-up nappies at a Hunter primary school has left a Clarence Town family seeking justice for their disabled son through the Human Rights Commission. More here.

►  The decision to hold the Aroma Coffee and Chocolate Festival in the Riverside Car Park again has been met with disappointment from some local businesses. More here.

► THEIR property is worthless. And their life’s passion has been torn to shreds. Put simply, Gary and Eileen Robertson feel betrayed. More here.

► TREAT others with kindness and respect because you never known when you need it yourself. More here.

► LOCAL ex-servicemen, some aged in their 90s, shared lunch and wartime stories with young sailors from the Australian Navy on Wednesday. More here.

► AN aerial performance that fuses technology with dance is promised to stun and entertain audiences in Newcastle in August. More here.

Need a national news snapshot first thing? We've got you covered. 

►ILLAWARRA: Former NRL player Jimmy Storer is calling out an alleged racist slur that has sent a wave of discontent through the Port Kembla Blacks community. Mr Storer’s teammate has told a judicial hearing an opposing player called him a “black coconut c--t’ during a game last month. Read more 

►HUNTER: Singleton’s Cody Heffernan and Gresford’s Lachie Richardson have again proven themselves to be among Australia’s best bull riders, after clinching the top spots in the Professional Bull Riding National Final in Sydney at the weekend. Read more

► WIMMERA: A primary school-aged boy has been airlifted with head and chest injuries and four more have been treated after the car they were travelling in hit a fallen tree at the weekend. Read more

► HUNTER: The Upper Hunter is the defect capital of NSW, with Singleton and Muswellbrook revealed as the worst offenders in the state as part of a police crackdown on non-compliant vehicles. Read more

► MT ISA: Police have located a 25-year-old man alive after he went missing following a fatal traffic crash south of Croydon. Read more

► ILLAWARRA: Wesley Crittle has built his new home but he can’t move in – because he has to pay $15,000 to get a gas meter. Continue reading

► BALLARAT: The craze for collecting Pokemon Go has taken an ugly twist in Ballarat, with a team of young fans being terrorised by a late night ram raid on their car. Read more

► ORANGE: Wind gusts of more than 80km/h wreaked havoc in Orange on Friday night and Saturday morning, felling trees and leading to power outages across the city. Photos, story

►TASMANIA: Those close to Launceston doctor Renu Singh fear she is being pressured by Indian authorities to “change her evidence” against her violent former husband Lokendra Singh. Renu remains trapped in her native India, 10 months after Singh was found guilty of trying to murder her. Read more

► BUNBURY: As Bunbury triathlete Ryan Bailie continues his push towards the 2016 Olympics, he enjoyed his final pre-Rio hit out with a World Triathlon Series race in Hamburg, Germany. Read more

► CESSNOCK: Cessnock jail’s population will more than double to 1800 inmates in a proposed expansion which will create an extra 430 permanent jobs and help ease the state's bulging prison system. Read more

► SOUTH AUSTRALIA: South Australians with state ambulance cover will now pay the price if they call an ambulance while interstate, after state government announced a new two-tiered scheme for the insurance. Read more

►DUBBO: The battle to curb the rural crime plaguing the Orana region and beyond has moved into the spotlight. The state’s peak body for farmers has called for more police and tougher penalties for trespassing. Read more

► Meat continues to be the meal of choice for Australians, who are spending $378 million a week on meat to cook at home. Read more

► Multiple women claim they were left with scarred, blotchy or infected skin after receiving laser treatments from a Canberra beauty therapist, renewing calls to regulate the beauty industry in the ACT. Read more

► Malcolm Turnbull will introduce new national laws that would allow jailed terrorists who still pose a risk when their prison terms expire to be held indefinitely as his first order of business when Parliament resumes at the end of August. Read more

National weather radar

International news

► INDONESIA: A Nigerian man facing imminent execution in Indonesia tearfully told a court that police electrocuted his genitals to force him to confess to possessing heroin. Read more

►LEBANON: Bailed 'child recovery' expert Adam Whittington free to leave Lebanon after ban lifted. Read more

1851: An uncredited diary entry describes the 'Yowie' of southeast Queensland in detail.

1862: After successfully crossing Australia from south to north, John McDougall Stuart raises the British flag at the mouth of the Mary River.

1973: The numbat is proclaimed as Western Australia's official faunal emblem. 

2000: 113 people are killed as the Concorde crashes just north of Paris.

It has been dubbed a fairy tale ending to Wagga’s ultimate underdog story. 

Persecution, political oppression and red tape tore Hung Kee and Thang Shien apart for nearly nine years, but love finally brought them together. 

Their story came to a fitting closure on Saturday when the two Burmese refugees tied the knot and married in the Lady of Fatima Catholic Church. Continue reading