Weather: Mostly sunny in Newcastle (22 degrees), morning fog in Raymond Terrace (22 degrees), partly cloudy at Nelson Bay (22 degrees). Morning fog at Toronto and Wallsend (23 degrees).

Traffic: A New England Highway crash near Racecourse Lane at Whittingham has been cleared, but motorists are advised to expect delays and exercise caution. 

Beachwatch: Large and powerful surf with some solid sets at times.Light winds early to provide clean faces and tide will be full. Swell has straightened up to the S/E at 2m amd slowly easing through out the day.Wind light and variable North to N/E. The reef breaks to handle the size best.Nobbys Reef,Flatrock,Newcastle Point and Merewether.Expect a hard paddle out.Dudley and Blacksmiths to the South.Fingal offering some protection up at Port Stephens. Heavy shorebreaks and sweeps to form so best to head to ocean bathes if going for a swim.Water temps on 20C.

PHOTOS, VIDEO SPECIALIST investigators have searched more than a dozen properties, many in the Hunter, as part of a response to violent acts between rival gangs. Read more.

Members of the Merewether surfing community will be among those to celebrate the life of Janice Callinan (Sands), the mother of professional surfer Ryan Callinan, on Tuesday. Read more.

A cure for the sniffles has long eluded science, but research teams in Newcastle and Melbourne have just received $6.3 million for trials of a molecule they hope can block the virus that is responsible for three-quarters of all colds. Read more.

NOVOCASTRIANS have long suspected there is no place in Australia like Newcastle. Now Spotify has confirmed it. Read more.

A THREE-YEAR-OLD has walked away from a nasty head-on crash on the Central Coast that saw two people rushed to hospital with critical injuries. Read more.

FEDERAL Government plans for universities to charge up to $3200 for access courses that are currently free will block some of the Hunter’s most disadvantaged students from a tertiary education, educators warn. Read more.

The 21st century version of the old Bookmobile has made its debut in Lake Macquarie. Read more.

NEWCASTLE chief executive Matt Gidley insists that Dane Gagai will play out the remainder of the season at the Knights despite the Origin star confirming that he will have a new home in 2018. Read more.

NEWCASTLE and Hunter Rugby Union has been alerted to an incident in a colts game in which a touch judge was allegedly knocked to the ground by a spectator. Read more.

NEWCASTLE Jets have rewarded keeper Jack Duncan for a break-out season by upgrading and extending his contract until May 2019. Read more.

Two motorbike riders have caused thousands of dollars worth of damage to a Nelson Bay golf green. Read more.

►VICTORIA: Five gold mining projects north of Bendigo – including one bankrolled by mining magnate Gina Rinehart – have received state government grants totalling $1.2 million. Read more

►BALLARAT: Victoria Police is investigating if an off-duty police officer was involved in a Ballarat neighbourhood dispute that led to a woman sustaining serious injuries. Read more 

►NSW: A stranger accused of whipping an eight-year-old child with a dog leash in a Figtree park has left an unmistakable mark on the boy, prompting an angry outcry. Read more

►TASMANIA: Tasmanian wildlife rescuers are calling for help from the public to identify those responsible for the death of a Wedge-tailed eagle. Read more

►ACT: You've probably watched The Simpsons intro 18 million times but this is the version that tops them all.

Canberra has been officially Simpson-ised in a clever two-minute animation developed by ANU students for this year's ANU Med Revue. Watch the video

►WAGGA WAGGA: The history of unique coins and stamps were rediscovered by hundreds of collectors across the country in Wagga at the weekend. 

More than 400 people headed to the fair, held at Sturt Public School, buying or selling items from their precious collections. Read more

►WARRNAMBOOL: A single mother with two boys is devastated after her Commodore station wagon was torched early Monday morning.  Read more

►NSW: All people receiving the Parenting Payment with children five years or under will be eligible for the Federal government’s new work training scheme, which is compulsory for some parents. Read more

National news

►For Andrew Forrest and his wife, Nicola - as for so many people - the fight against cancer is personal.

Both sides of their family have been afflicted, dating all the way back to Mr Forrest's great-great-uncle John - the first premier of Western Australia - who was killed by melanoma 99 years ago. More recently, both have watched close family members struggle against the "emperor of all maladies".Read more

►Former Prime Minister John Howard has thrown cold water on the idea that Tony Abbott might soon return as Coalition leader and prime minister, saying there is "no appetite for change" within the party. Read more

►BANGKOK: A bomb exploded in the reception room of a military-owned hospital in the Thai capital on Monday, the third anniversary of a 2014 coup.

Twenty-five people were wounded in the blast at the Phramongkutklao Hospital near Bangkok's historic Victory Monument, which is popular with retired military officers. Read more

►LONDON: Rolf Harris has attended his trial on groping allegations for the first time since leaving prison on Friday and heard as one of his accusers testified that she would never seek compensation and was motivated only by the quest for "justice" and "vindication." Read more

Emma Banks is missing a big chunk of her brain. A stroke she suffered before she was born left a large fluid-filled cyst where part of her brain was supposed to be.

Not that you’d know it to look at her.

The gregarious two-year-old has hit all her milestones except one – she’s yet to walk unaided, but is almost there. Read more