BBC Sport

Newcastle boss Rafa Benitez has been speaking about their goalkeeping crisis, as they prepare to take on fellow strugglers Norwich.

Rob Elliot has joined Tim Krul on the sidelines, so third-choice Karl Darlow is now in the frame. 

"Rob Elliot's injury is bad news for us and for Rob," said Benitez. "He is very positive. We have to support him and hopefully he can come back asap. 

"We have to support Darlow. He is training well and has a lot of confidence. We know he can do well."

Image source, Getty Images

Nick Barnes
BBC Newcastle's Sunderland commentator

Sunderland are at home to West Bromwich Albion tomorrow afternoon in a match which manager Sam Allardyce admits is a must-win game.

I've been preparing for the match:

Allardyce has a fully fit squad to choose from, apart from the longer term absentee Duncan Watmore, whose progress has been quicker than expected, though the striker is still some weeks from a return. 

Lamine Kone and Whabi Khazri, who missed their internationals for Ivory Coast and Tunisia are both fit, as is Younes Kaboul who limped off against Newcastle United.

Jack Rodwell is expected to continue in midfield having started Sunderland’s last three matches.      

The National Living Wage has raised the minimum wage from £6.70 to £7.20 an hour for workers over 25, and will see a pay bump for nearly two million people.

But what kind of lifestyle can you enjoy on that salary? 

Well, the good news for us is the North East is the second cheapest place to rent.

On average, a one-bedroom property costs £485 a month to rent here, compared with £920 in Greater London.

Politicians have spoken out over the two men who filmed themselves abusing a dog, including Redcar Labour MP Anna Turley.

She's asked Justice Secretary Michael Gove to review the sentence, saying: "I am disgusted by their actions.

"Lots of my constituents have contacted me expressing their horror at this cruel attack and the disbelief that the perpetrators have avoided jail".

A man has been arrested after a 22-year-old cyclist was assaulted while lying unconscious on the ground following a collision with a car, police say.

It happened last month on Lonsdale Street, Middlesbrough.

The injured man was taken to James Cook University Hospital where he was treated for facial injuries including broken teeth, a broken nose and stitches to his lip. He was later released.

A 20-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of grievous bodily harm and has been released on bail.

The agony aunt for ITV's This Morning programme, Denise Robertson, has died after a short battle with cancer. She was 83. 

Richard Madeley, who hosted This Morning with his wife Judy Finnigan for many years, described her as "a wonderful, warm-hearted, wise woman".

He said: "She was probably the best agony aunt in the business and I think was underrated somewhat in that regard, because she wasn't flashy. 

"She didn't come on with all bells and whistles. She just got on with giving incredibly good advice. 

"And what very few people will know - the viewers certainly won't know this - is that when a show was over, Denise would stay in the phone-in room, sometimes for hours, well into the afternoon, talking to people who hadn't been able to get on the air."

BBC Sport

On this day in 2009, Newcastle United announced former striker Alan Shearer would take on coaching duties for the final eight matches of the 2008-09 season, but he was unable to save them from relegation. 

Magpies fans will be hoping Rafa Benitez can go one step further and keep them up this year...

Image source, Getty Images

BBC Sport

Yorkshire and England all-rounder Tim Bresnan will miss the opening six weeks of the County Championship season with a torn lower calf.

The 31-year-old is set to miss his side's first four Championship games.

Bresnan played for the champions in their defeat by the MCC last week.

"He will now start an intense period of rehabilitation on his torn calf and we hope to have him back fit and strong during the middle of May," physio Kunwar Bansil told the club website.

Image source, Getty Images

Politicians have joined calls for two men who filmed themselves abusing a dog to be given tougher sentences.

Andrew Frankish, 22, and his brother Daniel, 19, both from Redcar, were given 21-week jail sentences suspended for two years after attacking a bulldog named Baby, who was later put down.

Footage of Andrew Frankish repeatedly throwing Baby down stairs and stamping on her was released by the RSPCA.

Image source, RSPCA

More than 250,000 people have signed an online petition.

Both brothers, who admitted causing unnecessary suffering to Baby, were also given a six-month curfew and banned from keeping animals for life.

Redcar's Labour MP Anna Turley and UKIP MEP Jonathon Arnott both said the pair should have been jailed when they appeared before magistrates in Hartlepool.  

More tributes are coming in after agony aunt Denise Robertson died aged 83 today.

BBC Tees
www.bbc.co.uk/BBCTees

Some other news from across the region now.

North Tees Hospital in Stockton had to turn patients and ambulances away because it was too busy to take any more, it has emerged. 

Bosses say the decision was taken to declare a pressure level of five on services - the lowest is one and the highest is six. 

The Trust has since lowered the alert to level four but says the situation is being reflected across the country, and its priority has to be safe care for patients. 

Stockton North Labour MP Alex Cunningham has said it raises wider questions about the service.

Denise Robertson had a long and varied career in the media before she died today at the age of 83.

She joined This Morning for its first broadcast in 1988 and also had her own advice website and wrote a column for Candis magazine. 

Her popularity on This Morning led to her being offered her own TV show in 2000, called Dear Denise. 

Image source, PA

In 2002 she appeared as a relationship expert on Dave Gorman's Important Astrology Experiment, and she was also a regular fixture on Channel 5's Big Brother's Bit On The Side.

Denise lost her first husband Alex to lung cancer in 1972. In 2006, her stepson John also died of cancer at the age of 44.

Tributes have started pouring in to Denise Robertson who died today a few weeks after she revealed she had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

Fellow presenter Phillip Schofield tweeted this photo:

And ITV reporter Chris Choi says she was "much loved" following her death at the age of 83.

Agony aunt Denise Robertson, who died today after a short battle with cancer, never forgot her North East roots.

Born in Sunderland, she was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of County Durham in 1998.

And in 2006 she was given the Freedom of the City of Sunderland, external.

Image source, ITV

The 83-year-old was also made an MBE in the same year and continued to be a keen supporter of Sunderland AFC.

When she was diagnosed with cancer in February, Sunderland University, which often invited her there as a guest speaker, tweeted: "Thoughts are with honorary graduate Denise Robertson today following the news she has been diagnosed with cancer." 

Denise Robertson, the Sunderland-born agony aunt for ITV's This Morning programme, has died after a short battle with cancer, the show said.

Image source, ITV

Luke Walton
BBC Look North

South Shields constituency Labour Party has been suspended by the national party until January 2017 over a probe into bullying and intimidation.

We'll have more on this during the day.

The Chronicle

Here's today's front page and a link to the top story - The UK’s busiest food bank is facing a crisis after it lost thousands in funding one year early., external

Image source, The Chronicle

Three former Newcastle speedway stars are travelling 1,600 miles across India in Tuk Tuk.

Adam McKinna, Campbell Rodgerson, and Jamie Robertson are one of 50 teams taking part in the Rickshaw Challenge.

Their two-week journey will help raise money for the Wings for Life foundation which funds research into spinal cord injuries, after Adam broke his neck racing for Newcastle Diamonds.

Sunderland Echo
Newspaper

A former employee at car giant Nissan returned to the plant to steal a car, tells police 'I've been a silly lad'., external

Image source, The Sunderland Echo

BBC Newcastle

BBC Newcastle have been asking for their listeners to send in pictures of their North East #photofriday on Twitter, external.

Thank you to Andrew Moore who sent in this one of Grey's Monument in Newcastle in the Friday sun.

Image source, Andrew Moore