Geordie soldiers fighting in Afghanistan have told of their latest clashes with the Taliban.

The squaddies, who are beginning a fresh six-month tour, said the guerilla fighters are stepping up attacks on their men.

The 2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers touched down in Helmand Province last month following a gruelling war-games training regime on British soil.

And, based in the Musa Qual'eh region, the lads said things had been quiet until recently, as the Taliban focussed on the latest poppy harvesting season.

Hunting like a pack of wild animals, three teenagers terrorised students and schoolboys in a spate of Metro muggings. Matthew Thain, 18, and brothers Ricky Duddin, 15 and Tony Duddin, 16, beat their victims with sticks and even brandished a knife in their campaign of terror.

Newcastle Crown Court heard how on January 24, Ricky Duddin targeted two boys aged 13 and 12 after they boarded their carriage at the Four Lane Ends station near Longbenton, North Tyneside.

He asked one of the boys if he could use their mobile phone but was refused and followed him and his friend off the train at a later stop.

A presentation on plans to revamp the region's hospitals takes place in Northumberland next week.

Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust is proposing a new specialist emergency care hospital near Cramlington for people living in Northumberland and North Tyneside, improvements to Wansbeck and North Tyneside general hospitals and rebuilding community hospitals in Berwick and Haltwhistle.

A presentation on the plans takes place at a meeting of Warkworth Parish Council on Thursday, June 4 at 6.30pm in the Memorial Hall on Castle Street.

College staff honouring the memory of a popular Northumberland student who died from a rare blood disorder have raised more than £1,000 for a charity which helps teenagers fight cancer.

Danny Petini, 18, a sports science student at Northumberland College in Ashington, died on New Year's Day 2008 after battling leukaemia and the blood disease haemophagocytic syndrome.

Danny's last months were spent at the teenage cancer unit at Newcastle's Royal Victoria Infirmary, where the quality of his care was highly praised by his family.

A woman who went to work with her mother and is still there 40 years later has been given recognition for her long service.

Pam Charlton, who grew up in Blyth, started work at Gowdy's Pharmacy in Lintonville Terrace, Ashington, as a Saturday girl in 1969.

She ended up working there full time after she left home and has now been working there for 40 years.

A couple from Ashington are caring for nine newborns.

When their beloved British bulldog Olivia died after giving birth two months ago, John and Shirley Ramm vowed to do everything they could to help her huge litter of orphaned puppies to survive.

The couple, both 43, of Keeble Court in Ashington, have since acted as surrogate parents, feeding the tiny puppies with a tube every hour and even being granted special leave from work.

The health trust which runs hospitals across Northumberland has won three prizes at the regional heats of the prestigious Health and Social Care Awards.

Northumbria Healthcare Trust - which runs Wansbeck and Hexham General Hospitals, plus a number of smaller facilities around the county - won the innovative acute care award for its stroke team on Ward Nine at Wansbeck.

Sixth form students at an Ashington school have been given an insight into the world of business, thanks to a link-up with one of the county's biggest employers.

The students from Hirst High School received a masterclass in human resources work in an event organised by Lynemouth-based Rio Tinto Alcan and the Wansbeck Enterprise Education Network.

The aim of the session was to provide the students, who are studying A-Level Applied Business, with a real-life insight into HR in a genuine business setting.

A great-grandmother who has opened her home to vulnerable youngsters is urging others to follow in her footsteps.

Pensioner Celia Thompson has been fostering young people for 16 years and has been a supported lodgings provider for Barnardo's twice.

In that time, she has taken several young people into her home at Garden City Villas, Ashington, for up to six years.

Go Wansbeck has recruited four new business experts to join its enterprise coaching team.

Sophia Ali, Karl McCracken, Lisa Scott and Billy Webber have joined existing coaches Jan Grieveson and Graeme Trotter to help people in Wansbeck to turn their ideas, skills, hobbies or interests into business ventures.