AS enjoyable as this thriller is and the pairing of Nicole Kidman and Sean Penn, The Interpreter is ultimately let down by its implausibility. Directed by the veteran Sydney Pollack, this is a film unafraid to tackle some big issues so resonant in today's
IF the daily commute is grinding you down then try a more peaceful way of getting about by hiring a canoe for the day. At Monmouth Canoe and Activity Centre both beginners and experienced canoeists are welcome. For novices an instructor can provide two
As a gardener, I'm always searching for paradise but on a trip to Cornwall, I discovered Eden, says JAYNE BENNETT. Wiping the snow off my windscreen on a cold February morning, I did start to doubt my sanity. Was it indeed madness to spend my precious
The smaller specialist holiday companies in AITO continue to beat their mass-market counterparts hands down. The Consumers Association survey published by Holiday Which? recently revealed that five out of its top 10 positions were taken by AITO members
THE ever popular Peugeot 206 range has just got better with the introduction of the new 206 CC HDi and the 206 Zest 3. Starting at a competitive £7,995, the 1.1 litre Peugeot 206 Zest 3 is the entry model to the new Zest 3 range. Replacing the previous
NO matter who you are and to what level of grandeur you may be accustomed, the first sight of Llangoed Hall, deep in the heart of the Black Mountains, is likely to take your breath away. Once known as Llangoed Castle, the stately home is set in 17 acres
NEWPORT'S Tory candidates were on the election trail yesterday, highlighting one of the city's hottest issues. Matthew Collings, who is standing for the east side, and Bill Morgan, hoping to claim the Newport West seat from Paul Flynn, went to meet meals
Mads Korneliussen, one half of Newport Wasps' dashing Danish duo, made his Swindon Elite League debut this week. The 21-year-old from Aalborg , a popular figure in the Wasps line-up with fellow countryman Kristian Lund, made his mark in Swindon's Elite
REBEL Blaenau Gwent Assembly Member Peter Law may yet stand against the Labour Party as an independent in the General Election, despite withdrawing on discovering he had a brain tumour. Less than two weeks ago Mr Law, who has battled with the Labour Party
VOLVO offers drivers the wonderful opportunity of enjoying a Volvo for a day, weekend, week or for up to six months through its growing network of Volvo Rental dealers. Hiring a Volvo is a perfect way to arrive in style - and, of course, safely - and
I WOULD love to be telling you about the food served at Ye Olde Bull, Caerleon, which is where we were supposed to be eating, but I can't. Despite phoning ahead to check whether or not we needed to book a table, when we arrived we were told food was not
Rest, relaxation, and exciting exploration are all available on this superb-value holiday to a corner of Europe many regard as being the 'real' Spain. The beautiful Southern province of Andalucia is the birthplace of Picasso, the home of flamenco and
BACK by overwhelming demand London's longest running comedy hit The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged). They are playing in Beaufort Theatre on Wednesday, April 20, at 7.30 pm with tickets priced at £10 and £8.50 concessions. The world's
LAST weekend, Fiat Auto's Seicento HYDROGEN prototype took part in the first reliability event for hydrogen-powered vehicles, finishing second in the fuel cell category, and winning the category for compressed hydrogen-powered vehicles. Final points took
THE city's night life was raised a notch last week when the new nightclub Emotions made its debut. It's a night spot for those clubbers aged over 21 and demands smart dress. Owner Gary Thomas, who was brought up in the city, has come home. He wants clubbers
HOLIDAYMAKERS from South Wales will soon be able to fly to Bulgaria this winter, thanks to a brand new charter service with Balkan Holidays from Cardiff International Airport. Ski specialist tour operator, Balkan Holidays, is launching the service from
THE F650 CS is a fresh concept in motorcycling, designed to appeal to a new type of customer. For the first time in BMW's history, low maintenance belt-drive transmission is used that is longer lasting and easier to service. A storage facility in the
RYDER Cup hero Colin Montgomerie is return ing to Newport for the £1.5million Celtic Manor Wales Open in June. Monty, who nailed the putt that won Europe the Ryder Cup on American soil last September, returns to the event that turned round his season
FORMER Iron Curtain destinations are opening up to British citybreak visitors, thanks to the budget airlines. While Paris, New York and Amsterdam are still proving most popular with UK short break tourists, the likes of Riga in Latvia, Tallinn in Estonia
GRAND Slam-winning Welsh rugby coach Mike Ruddock yesterday gave his backing to Welsh Labour's General Election manifesto. At the launch of the manifesto at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium, Blaina-born Mr Ruddock said he had "always backed Labour" and would
CWMBRAN/Newport duo Mainstream Distortion is looking for a bassist to complete a vicious trinity. The band mix metal and industrial mayhem in a world which echoes dark-wave techno and John Carpenter soundtracks. Pounding beats sound off over menacing
BOTH of Martin Bell's careers, as foreign affairs correspondent and more recently as politician, have been remarkably colourful. He is appearing at The Riverfront Theatre, Newport, on Friday, April 22, at 7.30pm. As one of the most distinguished foreign
A Newport woman arrested in connection with the robbery was released on police bail in the early hours of today. She had been helping detectives with their inquiries. The woman in her twenties was arrested at an address in Hillview Crescent in the Pontfaen
Easter is already over, so it's now full steam ahead for plans for the summer holiday. To help you choose we are this month offering you a taste of something completely different with more than a hint of adventure. Horse-riding in Botswana is not for
ROLLS-Royce Motor Cars has today returned to India, after an absence of 50 years. The new Rolls-Royce Phantom will debut in Mumbai and re-establish an official presence on the subcontinent. From the earliest days of the 100 year history of Rolls-Royce
RENAULT F1 Team's spectacular start to the 2005 Formula One season was further enhanced in Bahrain at the weekend with Fernando Alonso's second consecutive win and the third win in three races for the team. Victory in Bahrain also made history for Renault
A 34-YEAR-OLD man was arrested after the father of a teenage girl read entries in her diary concerning sexual activity, a court heard. The girl, who is under the age of 16, wrote about the man "warmly and in adult terms", said Judge Jonathan Durham Hall
THE Argus can reveal it is believed a taxi driver from a Newport company took one of the gang to Birmingham. Another source said he witnessed a black Mitsubishi and another car driven by two men, both black, leave Hillview Crescent, Pontfaen, at around
SEAT Sport UK is mounting a challenge for the BTCC Manufacturers' title in its second season of competition, as it prepares for the start of the 2005 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship. After nine race wins and finishing runners-up in the Teams
A HAVE-A-GO hero who tackled a gang of masked raiders during a terrifying armed robbery told yesterday of his ordeal. Father-of-three Wayne Jones received black eyes after he was coshed with a security box during Monday's raid on a Securicor van at the
ABOUT 400 people attended the funeral of a former Gwent Police detective sergeant who died in a boating accident. Family members, friends, former colleagues and Crystal Lodge Mason members filled St Paul's Church, Commercial Street, yesterday to pay their
THE African bush will strip you bare. Layer upon layer of cotton wool values, carefully applied to our pampered Western lives by generations of advertising executives, will suddenly become superfluous - ridiculous even. But once peeled - forget, make-up
It bills itself as the world's most chillingly famous horror attraction. The London Dungeon brings more than 2,000 years of gruesomely authentic history vividly back to life. Now there is a new dimension to the horror - a baffling maze of mirrors. Visitors
THERE'S something of the Roxy Musics about Kaiser Chiefs, who are a vocal-led, retro 80s rock band. The high camp and theatrics of Thatcher's decade fit very well into Kaiser Chiefs' flamboyant world. Roxy Music were doing it ten years earlier and now
THE stars of Thank You For The Music are celebrating selling even more tickets for their forthcoming appearance, despite having to change the name of their show for 2005. They are appearing at St David's Hall on Friday, April 22 and tickets cost between
TRIP and Headtest are two of Newport's most innovative bands, mixing heavy metal and musical electronics. The former build pounding guitar tracks on drum'n'bass undercurrents, while the latter splice indie rock and dance-floor ethics. Trip headline a
THERE has been a fair bit of publicity this week about me placing a £10,000 bet at 25-1 to KO my WBO world title challenger Mario Veit inside a round on May 7 - but it's not true. Because I beat Veit inside two minutes when we met in Cardiff back in 2001
A FORMER professional super-featherweight boxer was jailed for 12 months for a series of car clocking offences. Gareth Jordan, 33, of Elms Road, Raglan, pleaded guilty to 13 sample charges under the 1968 Trade Descriptions Act of selling cars by deception
RODNEY Parade stalwart prop Rod Snow makes his final league appearance tomorrow night in Newport Gwent Dragons' home Celtic League clash against Connacht. Snow has acquired cult status during his ten years at Rodney Parade with Newport and the Dragons
CLAIMS that former Assembly health minister Jane Hutt lost her job because Welsh Labour MPs feared for their seats due to the performance of the NHS in Wales resurfaced at an election question time event in Newport last night. Dr Bill Morgan, Conservative
EVER since the Fiesta XR2 of 1981, affordable performance and sheer driving pleasure have been major characteristics of Ford's small car range. Now the Fiesta ST brings those virtues to a new generation of drivers. Fiesta ST is aimed right at the heart
There's a widespread belief that Disneyland is all about children. Is it hell. It was me, technically a grown-up, who spent the first day at the park racing around making sure no big ride was left unridden. By early evening I was flagging a bit and as
PUPILS were today saying prayers for a tragic teenager who fell to her death from a theme park ride a year ago. Hayley Williams, 16, of Broadway, Pontypool, died after falling from the Hydro ride at Oakwood Park in Pembrokeshire a year ago today. Her
FORMER Wales international outside half Byron Hayward is set to call it a day at the end of the season and will bow out on home soil for Ebbw Vale against Caerphilly on Saturday. Hayward made his senior rugby debut as an 18-year-old for Abertillery against
Special women-only packages are to go on sale for increasing numbers who want to travel on their own. The Independent Traveller tour company aims its trips "at small groups of like-minded individuals". Managing director Rosemary Sloggett believes she
A HUGE two-day motorsport festival offering free entry to tens of thousands of enthusiasts, promises to be among this country's best-attended race meetings when the all-new World Series by Renault comes to Leicestershire's Donnington Park circuit on Saturday
ESCAPE this month visits a Cwmbran-based holiday website which has just won praised from consumer champion Holiday Which? Holiday.co.uk It is easy to search on Holiday.co.uk for holiday requirements. A simple search for a package holiday or just a flight
HOLLYWOOD celebrities are not the only ones queuing up for Toyota's famous hybrid Prius with demand in the UK for the European Car of the Year continuing to soar in 2005. Figures announced today revealed Prius experienced a record first quarter sales
WELSH Secretary Peter Hain was in Monmouth yesterday to bolster support for Labour candidate Huw Edwards, whose parliamentary seat rests on a knife-edge. Leader of the House of Commons and Neath candidate Mr Hain said Monmouthshire would be a two-horse
THE Toucan Club in Cardiff welcomes the quirky lo-fi rock band Big Strides this weekend. Find them in the capital on Saturday, April 16, and in Moles, Bath, on Sunday, April 17. The band mix jazz and punk with catchy results, as heard on the band's debut
Britons are paying up to £237 more than German and Dutch holidaymakers for exactly the same trip, Holiday Which? magazine said today. A holiday with Thomson Holidays to the Spanish island of Gran Canaria is offered for £760, the magazine said. Thomson's
ON April 17, Renault will kick off its second decade as Official Vehicle Supplier to the Flora London Marathon 2005, providing Master Vans and Grand Espaces to the UK's number one road race. Renault will provide 14 Grand Espaces to carry media, VIPs and
Once an outpost of British imperialism, Singapore was made wealthy by a free trade policy, established by Sir Stamford Raffles in 1819. Prosperity remains, though beware of a casual sip of water, or food, from the wrong place. And don't even consider
RENOWNED for his genius for writing memorable and off-the-wall hits, acclaimed folk singer/songwriter, Loudon Wainwright III comes to St David's Hall, Cardiff on Wednesday, April 27, 8pm, as part of a UK-wide tour. With an extraordinary career spanning
