Richard Moss
Political Editor, BBC Look North

An announcement is expected tomorrow by Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen about Durham Tees Valley Airport.

Buying the airport has been one of the Conservative mayor's key pledges.

But Labour are getting in ahead of it by warning he will put "perhaps £40m" of public money at risk to buy it, and calling for close scrutiny.

The party's candidate for mayor, Sue Jeffrey, said: "You don’t need to be an economic expert to see the risk here.

"Spending perhaps £40m on an airport that was sold for half a million and loses around £2m a year is the sort of business deal that should set alarm bells ringing."

Redcar and Cleveland Conservative councillor Steve Turner said: "Surely if that's the figure then it's a bargain as the land alone must have a resale value of double that?

"Bottom line is Labour will never accept any good news from a Tory Mayor. They'd rather keep us down than admit he delivers what he promises."

Local Democracy Reporting Service
James Harrison

A court date has been set for campaigners fighting changes to maternity, children's and stroke care in South Tyneside and Sunderland.

Services at South Tyneside District Hospital are to be reduced with all acute stroke services to be based at Sunderland from 2019.

Opponents described the plan as a "potential disaster", but health chiefs said it was "necessary in order to maintain patient safety".

Image source, SAVE SOUTH TYNESIDE HOSPITAL

Lawyers for the Save South Tyneside Hospital Campaign were given permission to challenge NHS bosses' controversial Path to Excellence scheme.

The case will be heard at the High Court in Leeds from 18 December.

People in Newcastle have the chance to see some of the BBC's festive highlights before anyone else.

A cinema is being set up at Newcastle Central station on Saturday 15 December and among the shows to watch are Mrs Brown's Boys, Zog and The Midnight Gang.

You can find out more and book your tickets here.

A supplier of gold and gold storage facilities in the Republic of Ireland has said it has seen a big increase in demand.

Merrion Vaults said the number of customers from Northern Ireland buying and storing gold in the Republic is up by 70% this year, RTE reports, external.

The company's vaults in Glasgow, Newcastle and Liverpool have also seen the same level of demand.

The firm said the surge has been prompted by fears a sudden economic crash precipitated by Brexit could see the value of Sterling collapse.

Image source, Getty Images

The leader of the UK's MI6 intelligence service has said he is 'perplexed' over why the United Arab Emirates jailed British academic Matthew Hedges.

Alex Younger said he "genuinely can't understand how our Emirati partners came to the conclusions they came to".

Mr Hedges was accused of spying for MI6 and jailed in the UAE last month, but he was later pardoned.

The 31-year-old denied spying and said he had been researching the country's security strategy as part of his PhD studies at Durham University.

Mr Younger said: "We are perplexed by what has happened," he said, speaking at St Andrews University.

"There are some frank conversations ahead of us but we need to make sure that partnership works."

Image source, FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH OFFICE

Sunderland forward Duncan Watmore is set to make his comeback after over a year out in Tuesday's Checkatrade Trophy game against Notts County.

The bird was spotted at RSPB Saltholme - the first confirmed sighting in the area since 1852.

Alan Harrison took these photos of a foggy walk along the river at Washington up to Penshaw - they're very atmospheric and we really like them.

If you'd like to send us photos you can tweet us, external, contact us via our Facebook , externalpage or email us.

Image source, ALAN HARRISON

Image source, ALAN HARRISON

Friday's action in the Champions Cup & Challenge Cup - listen to BBC radio commentary.

Sunderland Echo
Newspaper

More than 18,000 women in Sunderland did not attend their last smear test, new NHS figures show., external

Image source, SUNDERLAND ECHO

Ian Maggiore sent us this photo of Sunderland's Northern Spire bridge lost in the fog this morning.

If you want to send us photos you can tweet us, external, contact us via our Facebook , externalpage or email us.

Image source, Ian Maggiore

The Gazette
Newspaper

A fire which caused widespread damage to the stadium at a Teesside football ground was started deliberately., external

BBC Tees

A County Durham stray dog charity says it took in more than 1,300 dogs last year including a huge increase in the number of lurchers.

Lee Henderson of Stray Aid in Coxhoe, external said the dogs, which are often used for "lamping" for rabbits, are abandoned if they are found not to work well.

Image source, Stray Aid

He told BBC Tees younger people want working dogs, not pets.

Mr Henderson said: "It's the mindset of that generation."

Billionaire Mike Ashley, the founder of Sports Direct and owner of Newcastle United runs a sprawling retail empire and major shareholdings in Debenhams and French Connection.

With many bricks-and-mortar stores struggling due to a combination of rising rents and increasing online competition, could Mr Ashley prove to be their saviour?

He himself says "politicians and landlords should be doing more to save our struggling High Streets".

Local Democracy Reporting Service
Alex Metcalfe

Differences in transport spending between north and south have sparked renewed calls for more to be done on Teesside.

Council leaders shared their frustration at the Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA), with what they saw as the lack of investment in Teesside's transport network and called for the government to act when it came to the railway network.

Councillor Bob Cook, leader of Stockton Council, said: "What tends to happen is the south and London get the vast majority of the transport funding and we get what's left over which is very little.

"I think we need to keep pushing the government to say the north needs more infrastructure funding in our transport system as well as the south."

The calls came as the TVCA signed off £20m and £25m respectively for Middlesbrough and Darlington railway stations, although both councils said there was still a long way to go on both projects.

More widely, metro mayors and transport leaders from the North of England will meet this week to discuss large scale rail infrastructure at the Transport for the North (TfN) board meeting.

A driver from Newcastle is in a serious but stable condition after a three-car crash near Harrogate.

Image source, Google

The 22-year-old man, who was driving a grey Mini, is being treated at Leeds General Infirmary after the collision on the A658 at Follifoot on Sunday.

A white Mercedes-Benz C220 and a silver Porsche were also involved in the collision which happened at about 15:00 at the Haggs Road junction.

North Yorkshire Police now want to speak to anyone who saw the collision or any of the vehicles involved.

The authority changes it to LGB&T to differentiate between sexual preference and gender identity.

BBC Sport

Some Newcastle United fans walked in late to a match in a protest against the club's owner.

The supporters stayed out of their seats until the 11th minute of the game against West Ham to mark their anger over Mike Ashley's 11-year tenure.

Organisers The Magpie Group claimed the late walk-in at St James' Park would "bring global attention to the repulsive way Ashley runs" the club.

The club has been approached for comment. Newcastle lost the match 3-0.

A new deferred prosecution scheme to help rehabilitate people committing low level crimes instead of charging them is set to be piloted in Hartlepool., external

Image source, HARTLEPOOL MAIL

In case you missed this on Friday - Gary Brown was named the winner of this year's BBC North East & Cumbria Unsung Hero award.

He was a keen footballer, but had to give up playing in his teens when he was diagnosed with Friedreich's ataxia, a genetic disease that affects his mobility.

He was instrumental in setting up Lumley FC and coaches the junior teams.