"THE WORLD is a nicer place, in my beautiful balloon. It wears a nicer face in my beautiful balloon. "We can sing a song, and sail along the silver sky, for we can fly..." So the Supremes sang, among others, and while someone should tell Richard Branson
GWENT councillor Graham Powell has been charged with ten counts of theft and two of forgery, we can reveal. It is believed that the allegations are in connection with one of the 77-year-old councillor's elderly relatives. They are understood not to be
NEWPORT East MP Alan Howarth wants the Immigration Appellate Authority (IAA) to withdraw plans for a Langstone asylum appeals court after the public inquiry into it was adjourned. The proposed centre at Columbus House outraged residents and was rejected
THE Manics' last known scheduled live dates happened this week but there's more in the pipeline, the band's management has said. Hall or Nothing say more live activity and Manics 'one-offs' will be announced in due course. This week saw the release of
AT a family barbecue, hungry dog Poppy thought she had discovered the best bone to munch. But the four-month old's eyes really were too big for her belly and the tiny puppy somehow managed to swallow a whole spare rib almost a foot long. The pedigree
TIGER Bay, Mermaid Quay, Cardiff Bay 029 2048 3388. Visitors to Cardiff Bay are spoilt for choice these days and Tiger Bay has added a twist of Thai spice to the wide range of food on offer. Like most news-ish Bay eateries it's housed in a modern building
IT all starts here, says Wales captain Martyn Williams as the squad regather for the start of the countdown to the World Cup in October. Three weeks off is all they have been allowed after the demands of Australia and New Zealand Down Under. The squad
MARK Hughes will have the final word on striker Craig Bellamy's Welsh selection if he is convicted of racially aggravated behaviour. The Newcastle United hotshot (pictured) denies two charges of using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour
A MARRIAGE with a difference took place in a Cwmbran church, as two ten-year-old pupils exchanged vows in a traditional white wedding. Luke Williams and Laura Brown, both ten, were pronounced boy and wife at the special ceremony, held at St Peter's Church
THE construction of New-port's newest landmark took a major step forward when the final sections of the new bridge were put into place. The 200-metre bow string arch bridge was completed yesterday as the two halves of road decking were inched into position
YOU DON'T have to wait for the Brecon Jazz Festival to get your fingers clickin' this summer - just go to next Thursday's Jazz Prom. Award-winning jazz singer Stacey Kent is bringing her band to St David's Hall for a night of classics. Winner of Top Jazz
BOB Jude's two-year reign in charge of crisis club Pontypool is almost over. The new group bidding to take control of the club will get the official go-ahead within days. Group spokesman Arthur Crane has confirmed that vital rights, such as the club name
ART has always been a refuge for what cannot be expressed in words. And the Newport artists in a new touring exhibition at Newport Action for Single Homeless this week have a lot to say. Paintback! collects work by refugees and asylum-seekers living in
THE head teacher of a strike-hit Gwent school claims he is in the grip of a staffing and cash crisis caused by teachers' absenteeism. Yesterday, 28 members of teaching union the NASUWT went on strike on the last day of term at Oakdale Comprehensive School
SHE is not be as famous as JK Rowling, but mention Jacqueline Wilson to any girl under 16 and she'll be able to tell you her favourite book by the writer. Her fiction, aimed at eight to 14-year-olds, crosses boundaries and strikes chords in young readers
THE Queens of the Stone Age's new single takes the band to a whole new commercial level. When the band played Newport Centre after their last but one album, Rated R, was released, there was a poor turnout. Shame, as those who didn't show missed what might
THIRTY people could lose their jobs at the Forensic Science Service laboratory in Chepstow this October. The jobs belong to support staff at the agency, which analyses forensic samples for the police, and are among 229 planned to go at its seven laboratories
CHINESE World Cup def-ender Fan Zhiyi's roll-ercoaster career is set to take another twist tonight. Newport County boss Peter Nicholas says the 106-times capped star will line up for the Exiles in their opening pre-season friendly (7pm) against Welsh
YOU know when you've been tangoed, in the Argentinian sense of the word; the hot flush of sensuality, the new understanding of the arts of dance... Created more than a century ago in the brothels of Buenos Aires, the tango became socially acceptable only
CAERPHILLY council chief Lindsay Whittle is the highest paid local auth-ority leader of all the former five Gwent councils - with a yearly allowance of £37,689.85, the Argus can reveal. The amount he was paid in basic allow-ance and special responsibility
AN ACTION group of residents on a Newport street hope to stop their road being opened to extra traffic for the first time in 67 years. More than 40 of the residents living in Hathaway Street, off Corporation Road, want to stop proposals to extend their
PREENING Welsh rockers Lostprophets will bear the grubby TJ's for a smaller than usual show next month. The Pontypridd band will play the first of three warm-up shows for their Reading and Leeds appearances in the Newport venue. They've just finished
MICHAEL Baldwin is a "callous" and "ruthless" man who murdered his teenage stepdaughter, Cardiff Crown court was told yesterday. Barrister David Aubrey, QC, was summing up the prosecution's case. Mr Aubrey said: "It's murder, members of the jury. It is
THE boxing club where Royal Gwent surgeon Ken Shute trains is in rude health having just won a clutch of trophies. St Joseph's, in Newport's George Street, is rightly proud of its seven Welsh schoolboy and youth champions - not to mention Mr Shute who
ART can be an expensive business, as anyone in the market for an original Van Gogh can tell you. But the work Vincent sold during his lifetime went for a bargain price. The new One Price Art Show at Newport's GPF Gallery is providing a chance to get tomorrow's
