► Flash mobs danced, DJs spun discs and the ubiquitous virtual Pokemon lurked as a crowd of about 800 shoppers massed at Charlestown Square for the opening of Australia’s first regional H&M outlet on Thursday morning. More here.
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► A NEWCASTLE Supreme Court jury has listened to a harrowing triple-zero call made by the former girlfriend of Kieran Priestland after she found him “covered in blood” and slumped in the driver’s seat of his car outside a home in Niagara Park in 2014. More here.
► JETS coach Scott Miller says youth team players will have a significant role in Wednesday’s trial game against the Northern NSW NPL Select side at Magic Park. More here.
► LINDA could not bear to tell anyone that her daughter had hit her. But when she woke up with a black eye, she had no choice but to confide in her boss and ask for time off work to heal in private. More here.
► TANYA Martin is a giant slayer – she was determined not to let AAMI off the hook and appears to have won. More here.
► THE NSW Auditor General’s Office is “actively considering” an audit of NSW mine rehabilitation security deposits after a 2014 Queensland Auditor General’s report found bonds were “insufficient to cover the costs of rehabilitation”. More here.
► They’ve been driving for days and days from China to Europe. Newcastle’s Mark Pickering and Dave Boddy have only a few days to go before they complete the 14,000-kilometre Peking to Paris Motor Challenge. More here.
► HUNTER parents are increasingly living in fear of their own children, after assaults including punches to the face and being thrown down stairs that have prompted some to take out apprehended domestic violence orders against their son or daughter. More here.
► CHILDREN with vision loss had the chance to fly like their favourite superheroes on Thursday after completing several “missions” designed to encourage independent travel. More here.
► A CARRINGTON supplier of industry conveyer belts has been bought out for a multi-million-dollar sum by its veteran Chinese manufacturer. More here.
► Former Melbourne Victory striker Andrew Nabbout could be on the Jets’ books by the end of the week after impressing coach Scott Miller at training. More here.
► BRANXTON greyhound trainer Lindsay Davis has a simple message for NSW Premier Mike Baird: “You have to listen to us.” More here.
► Imaginations were put to the test at Stockland Green Hills this week, as hundreds of youngsters took part in a Lego competition. More here.
► Drugged up hoons are wreaking havoc in the city’s west, allegedly stealing, dumping and burning out cars, doing drug deals and terrifying local residents. More here.
► Take a look back at the fashions of the 1970s from the Fairfax archives. More here.
► A steering committee of greyhound industry stakeholders met with Premier Mike Baird and Deputy Premier and racing minister Troy Grant on Thursday, but failed to change the government’s stance on the racing ban. More here.
► DUNGOG Relay for Life has been acknowledged for its high level of community participation at a recent conference held in Woolongong. More here.
► THERE will be no racing at Muswellbrook Greyhound track this Sunday. On Tuesday, Muswellbrook Greyhound Racing Club received a directive from Greyhound Racing NSW that all meetings on non TAB tracks had been suspended, pending a review of track safety, integrity, and animal welfare. More here.
► Bengalla mine and training partner MIGAS Apprentices & Trainees kicked off their annual apprenticeship drive this week, with electrical and mechanical trades on offer for 2017. More here.
► CORLETTE sisters Paris and Molly Sorensen will help to bring one of their favourite stories to the stage this year. More here.
► For an industry that prides itself on worker safety, the mining sector should be well and truly chastened by the Monash University review into the way that Queensland detects cases of coal workers' pneumoconiosis, or "black lung". More here.
► INSPIRATIONAL women, empowerment and raising money for a service that helps the community’s most vulnerable residents is the theme of a luncheon open to all to attend this month. More here.
► Heavy tracks and washed out race meetings have left owners and trainers frustrated but the promise of fine weather and an improving track has led to a huge meeting at Scone on Friday. More here.
► THE finalists have been announced for the Lake Macquarie Business Excellence Awards to be presented next Saturday night, July 23. More here.
► SPENDING $2 more at a Coles supermarket checkout can help to provide up to five meals for families doing it tough. More here.
State of the nation
Need a national news snapshot first thing - well, we have you covered.
► BENDIGO: Victorian corruption investigators have laid more than two dozen fraud charges against the former construction manager of the $630 million Bendigo Hospital project. More here.
► LAUNCESTON: When wild winds ripped the roof off their Kings Meadows home on Tuesday afternoon, Harry and Patricia Williams thought the worst of it was over.But on Tuesday night while they were away, looters climbed into the roofless property and helped themselves. More here.
► BALLARAT: A probe by Victoria’s anti-corruption watchdog into claims of fraud in the Ballarat City Council may be investigating more than one of the organisation’s senior officers. More here.
► BUNBURY: A house in East Bunbury was gutted by a fire on Wednesday afternoon. A 16-year-old boy has been arrested in relation to the suspicious fire. More here.
► WOOLONGONG: A man has been hit with a hammer during an early morning robbery on a suburban street. More here.
► MURRAYLANDS: An ambitious expansion of Monarto Zoo is on the cards, one that would make it an international safari destination with an area greater than every other Australian zoo put together. More here.
► SOUTH COAST NSW: An exhausted baby seal, trapped in fishing net on a South Coast beach for about a week has taken 30 seconds to find its way home without looking back, once freed. More here.
► WARRNAMBOOL: A rare piece of Warrnambool’s history will be on show for the first time in almost 70 years on Saturday. F Project Cinema is hosting two screenings of what is believed to be Warrnambool’s first feature film. More here.
► NEWCASTLE: V8 Supercars driver Aaren Russell says a waterfront track in Newcastle would be one of the best motor racing circuits in Australia. Newcastle is understood to be in pole position to replace the Sydney 500 at Homebush. More here.
► GLEN INNES: A Glen Innes man faces up to 20 years in jail for allegedly supplying more than $170,000 worth of the drug ice. More here.
National news
► The backers of the latest plan for a fast train between Melbourne and Sydney have met with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, and have enlisted two former premiers, a federal trade minister and the USA's ex-transportation secretary to their advisory board. More here.
► First they deconstructed the latte. Then they took out the milk. Then they replaced the actual coffee with ground turmeric to create a golden latte. Now, in the relentless pursuit of the next wave of "coffee", novelty-seeking drinkers can order a blue algae latte. More here.
► One-year-old Isabella swallowed a battery, no one knows when, and it made her sick. Her parents took her to hospital several times over two weeks, but staff didn't pick up the presence of the battery until it was too late, the Coroners Court heard on Thursday. More here.
► A woman accused of murdering a housemate over $50 was overheard saying she would "gut her" in the time before a fatal fight, a trial has heard. More here.
► Thousands of Melburnians say they will take to the streets this weekend to support the Black Lives Matter movement after a spate of police shootings of African Americans. More here.
National weather radar
International news
► BRITAIN: Amid the head-scratching over the decision to name eccentric politician Boris Johnson as Britain's new foreign secretary, the response from the US has been telling. More here.
► CAMBODIA: The wife of a prominent anti-government activist shot dead in Cambodia on Sunday is reported to want to escape to Australia. More here.
► BELGIUM: At least two explosions have rocked the Belgian capital of Brussels, with reports of explosions in or near several parked cars. More here.
On this day
All in all...
In 1982, Pink Floyd's The Wall premiered at The Empire in London, England.
It was a cross between a live film and an animated surreal film, and was based on the band's 1979 album of the same name.
Ground-breaking at the time, it has since built a cult status thanks to its metaphors and symbolic animated imagery, which was drawn by cartoonist Gerald Scarfe.
Oh, and its soundtrack is pretty rad, too.
The faces of Australia: Peter West
Five chief executives in five years left RSPCA Tasmania in turmoil.
Ridden with controversy and systematic financial mismanagement, the organisation was “touch and go”, according to the organisation’s chief executive Peter West.
RSPCA Tasmania was still facing some financial difficulty, but the organisation has defied odds under the governance of Mr West.
Prior to his current role, Mr West worked at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery for 17 years.
His final project at TMAG saw him utilise his impeccable marketing background to work on redeveloping and changing the museum’s brand.
Mr West talked openly about RSPCA Tasmania’s ”troubles”, and the challenge he faced turn the organisation around.
“Our governance and the board's relationship with the senior management was pretty s--t,” Mr West said.