• Dunston tot is 'strongest little fighter' after life-changing cleft palate surgery at just months old
• £16 million cycling route improvements at Bedlington and Hexham set to go ahead
• Wallsend dad feared he would die after being knifed by friend he allowed stay in his home with family
• Newcastle pervert who secretly recorded 35 men and boys using public toilets jailed
• Durham University astrophysicists produce model to calculate probability of intelligent alien life