INNOVATION springs from many places, according to the designers of the Nissan Actic concept vehicle, which makes its world debut at the 2004 North American International Auto Show, including items as simple as the small, handheld technology devices ranging
WHAT do you keep in your garage? Power tools? Garden furniture? Bikes? Golf clubs? Domestic appliances? Fishing gear? Camping equipment? Maybe even a car! Add up the value and you may be flabbergasted. Check your garage security and you could be shocked
A POPULAR Newport pub is not attracting customers as it used to. Trade is down some 15 per cent, a staff of 17 has been reduced to 12 and if there is no dramatic improvement more staff will have to go. But this is not a case of a run-down pub, poor food
LEXUS has unveiled two significant new models at the North American International Auto Show. Taking centre stage at Detroit are the all-new GS sports saloon and the production version of the hybrid power RX400h prestige SUV. The vehicles demonstrate exciting
FIA president Max Mosley has just taken delivery of a new generation Toyota Prius, the world's most successful hybrid car. Mr Mosley who, through his work with FIA and Euro NCAP, has been promoting the very safest motor vehicles, is now the proud owner
CHRYSLER has unveiled its latest new products at the Detroit Motor Show - together with four striking concept cars and the announcement that Dodge will be launching in Europe. For the UK market, Chrysler took the tops off two vehicles that are due to
GWENT women are being warned to ensure they use council-appro-ved taxis following claims that hundreds of women are assaulted every year in unlicensed cabs. Taxiwise, a national group campaigning to rid the streets of bogus taxis, says the attacks are
A TERRIFIED teenager says he thought three masked men who kidnapped him from a Gwent street were taking him off to a lonely spot to shoot him. Richard Egan, a 15-year-old student at Ebbw Vale College, was bundled into a car and driven to Trefil Quarry
ANYONE for tennis? At Spytty's indoor tennis centre anyone aged from 18 months to 80 years can come along and try the sport, whether they are aiming to be the next Tim Henman, or hark back to the golden days when a British man last won Wimbledon. (It
A TEENAGE Army recruit told yesterday how he tried to save a friend from drowning in the icy waters of an underground cave. Non-swimmer Kevin Shar man, 17, drowned in a partially-submerged tunnel in the Brecon Beacons. Civilian instructor Matthew Doubtfire
LIVE dates in Wales are expected from cLOUDED soon but in the meantime they're releasing a single and album, Dead Dogs Two and Ten. A comical sounding trio (they're part Tenacious B, part South Park character) they use a self-satisfied style of comedy
THE Coach and Horses, Castleton, was busy with all sorts of customers, from families and groups of pensioners to men enjoying a quiet meal alone, when I visited recently. The menu offered a wide selection of meat and fish dishes, plus about three vegetarian
COMMUNITY leaders in Monmouthshire are to return to full council a second time to ask for nearly £1million to cover an overspend and avoid "dramatic" service cuts. And cabinet members were told they must cut their spending to fit their budgets in future
TOYOTA has used the occasion of the North American International Auto Show to unveil a radical new concept vehicle, the FTX pick-up. And even before the show began, Toyota was celebrating the success of the Prius, newly named North American Car of the
Youth Speaks: City pupils win Rotary's debating competition YOUNGSTERS from a Newport school proved themselves to be top talkers when they won a debating competition. The three pupils from Lliswerry High School won the Newport Youth Speaks contest. Organised
IT'S A crowded battlefield this year for bloody, cinematic epics inspired by history or legend. Achilles and Paris, Alexander the Great, and King Arthur all promise to impress, but Tom Cruise starts 2004 with an admirable turn in this historic East meets
THE SON of a pensioner who died after a collision with a car as he was cycling home says he is seeking legal advice to get answers surrounding his death. An inquest heard yesterday how 67-year-old Raymond Gardner, of Apollo Way, Blackwood, was killed
A FISHERMAN who was scarred for life by a 13-year-old in a vicious attack with a tree branch says the teenager should be locked up. The Cwmbran youth, who cannot be named, pleaded not guilty to unlawful wounding after the attack on August 29 last year
ALREADY 2004's Green Man festival is starting to take shape. Like 2003's event in Craig Y Nos Castle, Abercrave, Powys, it's taking place in a rambling old hall - Baskerville Hall, near Hay on Wye. The line-up is being organised for Saturday, August 21
SHE BEGAN her career at the Newport Folk Festival in 1959, performed at Woodstock shortly after a stint in the county jail, and was a regular in Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder revues of the late 1970s. Joan Baez is a real 60s survivor and could write the
ALFRED J PRUFROCK measured out his days in coffee spoons, but nowadays we prefer to mark the passage of our lives in far less durable consumer goods. Your generation is no longer decided by the simple matter of when you were born. Instead we place ourselves
IF you missed the Incredible String Band in Beaufort at the end of 2003, you can catch them in Bristol in 2004. The legendary, psychedelic 60s' folk band are in concert in the Fleece and Firkin on Thursday, April 22. Next year the band will celebrate
MONEY put aside to deal with bed-blocking has not been used, members of a health board have been told. The Newport Local Health Board (LHB) received cash from the Welsh Assembly in the autumn to move 10 people out of hospitals, its members heard. The
A NEW political party in Gwent is trying to woo voters - with a promise to be free of politics. The Blackwood-based Reality Party plans to field as many as 30 candidates in June's council elections in Caerphilly. Its leader, Blackwood pub landlord Paul
LONG Island quartet Brand New will play TJ's, Newport on Tuesday, January 27 with support from Stary Light Run and Moneen. The rockin' pop band has a penchant for playing loud, quite fast songs with strained melodies and tacky percussion, then switching
THE Kingsway centre has been sold for over £27m to start a shopping revolution in Newport. Work could soon begin on turning the dated centre into a £110m shopping mall anchored with a Debenhams store. The planned mall is a cornerstone of Newport's vision
ALFA Romeo has unlocked a floodgate of interest in the new Alfa GT, months before it arrives in UK showrooms! Gwent-based LC Motors Alfa Romeo had been inundated with customers clambering for information on the exciting new coupe due in the dealership
Barfly welcomes lost Welsh sheep Huw Costin back to the fold next week when the singer appears in Earth The Californian Love Dream. The man from Pontypool is also the bassist for the acclaimed, unsigned band from Nottingham, who self-release their first
HYUNDAI'S stylish HCD8 supercar concept was unveiled to an impressed audience at the Detroit Auto Show. The HCD8 is the first car to come from the all-new $30 million Hyundai Design and Technical Centre in Irvine, California. The design team used marketing
THE owners of one of Wales' most famous restaurants sent out a message of defiance after losing its place in the prestigious Michelin Guide. The Walnut Tree Inn in Llandewi Skirrid, pictured above, was excluded from the new guide, which rates top restaurants
DAVID Kitt releases his third album, Square One, on Monday, and plays the Barfly, Cardiff, on Friday, January 23. The extremely versatile Irish musician is into his fourth year since his acclaimed debut, Small Moments, on Rough Trade. Often the sign of
A GROUP of Newport pensioners have given up their days out to help support our Sparkle Appeal. Residents from Stratford House sheltered accommodation in the Gaer, donated £50 from their social events fund to help children in Newport Torfaen and south
A GWENT sex offender and his wife were jailed yesterday for abducting their baby son from social services and fleeing the country last summer. Gerald Baker from Brynmawr, and wife Helene from Blaenavon, took their son Nathan from the care of Blaenau Gwent
Big on looks, big on fun and big on style - that's the enduro style. Varadero XL 125V. It's the 125cc machine that looks much, much larger with an imposing sense of full-bodied proportions with just the right image to be ridden by novices and experienced
Guitarists of his ilk are either dead or famous - reason enough to catch Wizz Jones at The Islwyn Acoustic Guitar Club this month. The acoustic guitarist and bluesman will be kicking off his 2004 with a concert in Ynysddu near Blackwood on Friday, January
AFTER having tried it, every manifestation of your enthusiasm is preceded by silence. A surrealistic pause, which is necessary to restore the sensee from the beneficial discharge of feelings soon after they reverberate from deep within your mind. It defies
