THE lights went down on Newport's Heineken Cup hopes last night when they suffered a cruel defeat at the hands of Leinster at a packed Rodney Parade. Newport appeared to be cruising when they led 18-10 at half time and having Leinster in all sorts of
IF EVER proof were needed of how rugby in Wales is in a complete mess, it was available at Newport on Sunday. The occasion wasn't much, a game between a Newport team short of about ten regulars playing a non-rugby country like Uruguay. Yet the crowd was
LANELLI'S veteran wing Wayne Proctor is the surprise call up to the Wales team to face world champions Australia at the Millennium Stadium on Sunday. He won the last of his 38 caps against Zimbabwe in 1988. Coach Graham Henry has preferered Proctor to
MODEL mum Jenny Richards is spear-heading an appeal to help suffering children across the world - including those in war-torn Afghanistan. And it was the thought of her two-year-old daughter, Lacey, going hungry which spurred the 18-year-old Model Behaviour
A FURIOUS publican was given his 'last orders' by magistrates at Blackwood magistrates court yesterday to pay what he called his "crazy" business rates. Paul Taylor, (pictured) landlord of The Cross Oak pub, in Penmaen, Oakdale, was summoned to court
BLACKWOOD'S flagship new primary school encountered a catalogue of problems just months after opening. Now a full investigation in to the problems at Blackwood Primary, which opened in February and cost £1 million, is being called for amid claims it suffers
A SCRUM of customers armed with trolleys surged through the doors of the new Cwmbran Asda superstore as soon as it was opened yesterday. Hundreds of shoppers - some of whom had waited for over an hour to be the first inside - witnessed the grand opening
NEWPORT County boss Tim Harris stuck with more-or-less an unchanged side last night as the Exiles' were held to a goalless draw at home by Carmarthen Town in the FAW Premier Cup. Harris said it would give the players "the mental toughness" that is needed
STEELMAKING in Wales is hanging by a "gossamer thread" in the wake of the explosion at the Port Talbot works, a leading South Wales economist claims. Corus could rethink its plans for South Wales in the wake of the blast furnace explosion and end steel
THREE Gwent snooker players have reached the quarter-finals of the second Welsh Billiards and Snooker Association's ranking event of the season. Ian Preece and Darren Thompson of Newport qualified from the Dna Club, Pontyclun, and Neil Tomkins from the
STAFF at a Gwent animal shelter often find pets abandoned on their doorstep - but they were shocked when a thief broke into a pen and stole a puppy from under their noses. "I can't understand it," said Julie Davies, animal care assistant at the RSPCA
A GWENT pawnbroker is offering a reward after thieves stole more than £2,500 worth of jewellery from his premises. The theft happened at N & N Pawnbrokers in Baneswell Road, Newport, on Sunday night. Shocked staff at the shop arrived yesterday to
BUSINESSES in Gwent are being given the chance to be at the vanguard of the communications revolution. A major information technology exhibition, sponsored by leading players in the ICT world, is coming to Gwent. Staged at Newport's Celtic Manor Resort
HUNDREDS of people have signed a petition aiming to save the cenotaph at The Circle in Cefn Fforest, near Blackwood. Islwyn MP Don Touhig handed the petition - bearing more than 900 signatures - to Caerphilly county borough council yesterday. It had been
NEWPORT County's cup heroics is set to land them an extra £200,000 windfall. Sky Sports last night confirmed that County's FA Cup first-round replay against Blackpool at Newport Stadium will be televised live with the eagerly-awaited re-match now put
A NEWPORT woman is celebrating after scooping a UK Training Award for achieving lasting excellence and success through training. The UK Training Awards are the UK's number one accolade for organisations and individuals who have decided to improve their
A GWENT employer is leading the way for Welsh companies to protect the hearing of their contact centre staff. Caerphilly-based risk management specialists the National Britannia Group, CSL Group Ltd, immediately introduced a hearing conservation programme
'ONE of my favourite people in the game and one of the most popular' was how Glamorgan County Cricket Club chief executive Mike Fatkin today described club scorer Byron Denning, who died yesterday, writes Paul Tully. Mr Denning (pictured) of Badminton
A GWENT council is taking the amazing step of writing to every parent in its troubled areas to prevent children joining mini terror-gangs. The latest move is directed at a gang which includes children as young as four, causing havoc in the Somerton area
HELEN Marks (pictured) is enjoying her salad days after engineering herself a pizza the action at a new South Wales superstore. Rookie pizza-maker Helen, 19, landed the 25,000th New Deal for Young People job in Wales at the Morrison supermarket, in Rogerstone
IF EVER proof were needed of how rugby in Wales is in a complete mess, it was available at Newport on Sunday. The occasion wasn't much, a game between a Newport team short of about ten regulars playing a non-rugby country like Uruguay. Yet the crowd was
GWENT'S valleys will be left on the hard shoulder of the information superhighway unless the government acts soon. That's the warning for Gwent AM Phil Williams, who believes not enough is being done to bring the benefits of broadband communication to
A GWENT telecommunications firm is making its voice heard loud and clear across the Atlantic after securing a major deal. Newport-based Silver Telecom has won its first major contract from the USA and is looking to build on this success. The deal is said
A PROGRAMME to prepare for the launch of a Welsh Development Agency's initiative designed to bring Welsh entrepreneurs back home is to be developed by Strategic Marketing and Mistral. The Return to Wales programme aims to attract business people with
AN initiative set up by Caerphilly Business Forum aims to help successful businesses assist others in the borough to compete effectively in the market place. The Achieving Success Network has been established, along with the division of the Cardiff Chamber
A GWENT pensioner was in intensive care today after an accident between his car and a fire engine attending what turned out to be a false alarm. The crash happened in Cwmbran shortly before midday yesterday, when the man's Vauxhall Cavalier and the fire
So Wales lost another game of rugby. Big deal. It's not the first time it has happened and it won't be the last. But the way both the Press and public are carrying on you would think it was the end of the world and not a loss to an Irish side who were
AN experimental Newport team romped to victory over an inexperienced Uruguay side at Rodney Parade on Sunday, with scrum half Dale Burn scoring a hat-trick of tries. And in the process a number of Newport youngsters took the opportunity to show that the
