Weather: Possible storms and a shower or two in Newcastle (29 degrees), Wallsend, Toronto (both 36 degrees), Cessnock, Maitland (both 37 degrees), Raymond Terrace (35 degrees), Nelson Bay (31 degrees), Muswellbrook, Singleton and Scone (all 38 degrees).

Trains: Good service on the Newcastle and Hunter lines. 

Beachwatch: It’ll be hot and partly cloudy today, a good day to head beachside to cool down. The wind will be north-west to north-east with the swell from the east around half to one metre. There’s not a lot of joy for the surfer but it will be nice to get wet with the better waves being found early. Around town try the Cowrie Hole, Newcastle, Bar reef, The Cliff, Merewether and Redhead. Down south try Hams, North Catho and Soldiers. To the north try Samurai and Birubi. All beaches are good for a swim but there’s still the chance of the odd bluebottle, especially around the high tide mark. The water temperature is 21 degrees.

On the surface it appeared to be a routine call-out for a car that had left the road and a driver who had suffered minor facial injuries. But then Robert Cadman, 51, allegedly let something slip. Read more. 

AN increase in cattle prices has been cited as a major factor for ongoing incidents of rustling in the Upper Hunter. Read more.

FORTY revellers were charged with drug offences at the weekend’s Subsonic Music Festival near Dungog. Read more.

A Hunter winery owner says the approval of a service station and fast food outlets next to his Wine Country Drive property is “crazy”. Read more.

A MAN has been extradited and charged in relation to a brawl at Charmhaven last month in which a man had part of his ear bitten off. Read more.

The Upper Hunter's equine and viticultural industries call for the establishment of protective buffer zones between themselves and coal mining has received support from the NSW Opposition Leader Luke Foley. Read more.

There was plenty of Christmas spirit at Baddeley Park on Friday night, with hundreds of people turning out for Cessnock’s Carols in the Park. Read more.

TACKLING the city's parking problem requires a "cultural shift" in what Novocastrians view as a "good park", greater use of public transport and a council that has the courage to raise parking fees, political and business leaders say. Read more.

MEREWETHER Beach has been named in the country’s top 15 for its ability to offer a more “authentically Australian” experience than other city beaches including Surfers Paradise and Bondi. Read more.

Austar Coal Mine held a special event on Friday to celebrate 100 years since mining began at Pelton. Read more.

A SPECIAL, and early, visit from Santa added to the festive atmosphere at the Denman Farmers Market on Saturday. Read more.

A colony of flying foxes has disbanded work on Clarence Town’s dilapidated Brig O'Johnston Bridge until May after the threatened species was found nesting under it. Read more.

Life on Newcastle harbour isn’t easy - it can be wet, cold, dirty and often lonely. Read more. 

PHOTOS Dungog through the eyes of the people that live there. Read more.

JETS coach Mark Jones admitted his players were struggling for confidence after Sunday’s 2-0 loss to Sydney FC at McDonald Jones Stadium, which extended Newcastle’s winless run to seven games. Read more.

THERE was much to play for when Singleton hosted Maitland West in junior representative cricket fixtures on Sunday. Read more.

Need a national news snapshot first thing? Well, we have you covered. 

► WOLLONGONG: A horror weekend on NSW roads, which included two fatal Illawarra and South Coast accidents, has prompted a plea from police for motorists to stop taking risks. The appeal, just three weeks out from Christmas, came after eight people died as a result of road accidents across the state between Friday and Sunday.

►WAGGA: Two men will face court on Monday as police continue to investigate the death of a man at the Ashmont Inn. A 28-year-old man who was arrested a short time after the Saturday night incident was taken to Wagga Police Station on Sunday morning after being treated for head injuries at Wagga Rural Referral Hospital.

► MANDURAH: WA Police are searching for a man they believe can assist with their inquiries into a shooting incident that occurred near Dwellingup last month. Two men were arrested in early November, but detectives have released composite images of another man they are seeking. 

► DUNGOG: Forty revellers were charged with drug offences at the weekend’s Subsonic Music Festival near Dungog. The majority of those charged were found in possession of amphetamines, LSD and Ketamine, cannabis and ecstasy. 

► TAMWORTH: The head honcho of the Rebels Outlaw Motorcycle Gang’s Tamworth chapter has apologised after admitting to supplying a commercial quantity of drugs but says he won’t tell police who his dealers were.

Brent Douglas Murray’s drug dealing ways unravelled in March, last year, when he was arrested as part of an undercover police operation, code-named Strike Force Mewburn.

►WARRNAMBOOL: The south-west is expected to get more police officers with the state government announcing it will boost numbers by 2729 statewide over four years. The government said it was the largest single investment in the history of the force, which will grow by 20 per cent.

►MOUNT ISA: Robbie Katter has called on the Queensland Government to invest in an ageing learning facility in a growing town of the state’s North West. The State Member for Mount Isa said the divide between the quality of infrastructure at rural and city schools was evidenced by a space in Cloncurry.

► BENDIGO: A family was evacuated from their home on Saturday after a young man returned home in the early hours of the morning and attempted to cook himself a feed.  The man fell asleep with the stove on at about 3.45am Sunday, causing the kitchen to catch fire and the St Killian Street home to fill with smoke. 

► CANBERRA: The ACT's federal politicians have charged taxpayers more than $650,000 in the first six months of this year, new reports reveal.

Expenditure reports for current and former MPs between January and June 2016 released by the Department of Finance this week showed Liberal senator Zed Seselja lodged the biggest bill with taxpayers of the ACT's four MPs in Parliament.

► NT: An Italian backpacker has described how she nearly hitched a ride with alleged killer Pande Veleski just hours before he allegedly stabbed a tourist to death at an isolated road stop in the Northern Territory.

►BENDIGO: Christmas is meant to be a time of relaxation and celebration with family and friends. Allies Motorcycle Club Bendigo members ride through the city's streets to collect toys and cash for those in need. Check out more images here.

International news

► US: Recovery teams have so far found 24 bodies in the charred ruins of a California warehouse after a fire broke out during a weekend dance party, and the death toll is expected to rise, authorities said.

Sergeant Ray Kelly, a spokesman for the Alameda County Sheriff's Office, said two dozen bodies were located as authorities sifted through the debris-filled shell of the two-storey building, which was used by an artists' collective.

► US: We live in frightening times. After their White House meeting last month, Barack Obama cautioned Americans and the world that the sobering weight of the presidency would restrain Donald Trump - but now we know that everything is up for grabs.

Trump defends his China gaffe on Friday - when he took a call from Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen - as if, like Chauncey Gardiner in the 1979 film Being There, he just picked up the phone because it was ringing.

2009: Amanda Knox convicted of murder in Italy.

1991: Hostage Terry Anderson freed in Lebanon.

1980: Prince played the first night on his 31 date Dirty Mind North American tour at Shea’s in Buffalo, New York. After being told by his managers he couldn't wear spandex pants without any underwear, Prince began performing in a long trench coat, black high heeled boots and leggings, and bikini brief trunks.

1969: Police kill two members of the Black Panther Party.

1952: Smog kills thousands in England.

When Tayla Hansen heard a mental health nurse recount stories from the Christmas Island detention centre it struck a chord. 

“I was shocked and appalled,” the 25-year-old said. “When you hear what those people are suffering from and what their detention is like and the effect that that has had on them … well you really can’t imagine what that feels like.

“Then for them to have those adverse health effects as a result of that and to really need the help and support that they are not getting when they come to Australia – we've got to change that.”