Western Mail

Choirs Link for Rousing Performance

Averitable gala variety performance is the best way to describe Bridgend Male Choir's annual concert as the boys teamed up with C(TM)r Merched Cwm Llynfi to provide the audience with a feast of entertainment. Under the expertise of maestro John Jenkins, they opened proceedings with robust renditions of Russian Picnic, Hiraeth and Comrades in Arms.

Bank Drove Our Son to His Death, Say Parents

The heartbroken parents of a financially struggling student have accused a bank of driving their son to suicide by calling in his pounds 1,200 overdraft and telephoning him 'constantly'. Geraint Banks-Wilkinson, 20, hanged himself in his Swansea student accommodation the day after being reduced to tears when the HSBC bank told him they were withdrawing his overdraft facility.An inquest yesterday heard staff from the bank's foreign call centres telephoned his parents every night for a month in...

Bellamy Rallies Team for 'Big Test'

Wales stand-in skipper Craig Bellamy has demanded a heartfelt riposte from his team tonight as they take on Cyprus in a must-win Euro 2008 qualifier. It comes after Wales' 5-1 demolition by Slovakia on Saturday. 'The big test now for everyone is how they respond against Cyprus. That's when you see your true players,' said the 27-year-old. Meanwhile Paul Jones and striker Rob Earnshaw are poised to become the fall guys by losing their places in tonight's line-up.

Insurance Group Aims to Sail in Admiral's Waters

Protectagroup founder Paul Ragan is plotting a revolution in the world of insurance. He is determined to take the company he founded with his father in 1991 on the same journey of success enjoyed by Henry Engelhardt's Admiral Insurance Group. Based in Williamstown in Rhondda Cynon Taf, the business is now on a trajectory to a flotation in 2011 and the foundations are being laid in the City for a series of bold acquisitions.

Hana Helpss4c Scoopsales Worth$500,000

S4c International has scooped sales worth more than $500,000 this week at the Mipcom television trade fair in Cannes with its animated children's series Hana's Helpline. The series has been sold to South Korea, Thailand, Hong Kong, Singapore and Finland, on top of pre-sales to Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Belgium and Scotland.

Patients Stuck in Hospital

Patients are languishing in hospitals for up to four years, even though they are medically fit to be discharged, new figures reveal. The figures obtained by Plaid Cymru reveal that the longest delayed transfer of care in Wales was a patient who has spent a massive 1,442 days - just shy of four years - at Whitchurch Hospital in Cardiff. And a number of patients have spent two years or more in hospital waiting for appropriate arrangements to be made to allow them to return to their community, u...

'Youtube has Grown Around 4000% Since January. Clips Get Forwarded On and On ...'

After video-sharing website YouTube was sold to Google for pounds 883m, Paul Rowland explores why it has become the latest cult internet craze IT WAS set up early last year with a staff of three. But the growth of YouTube into one of the internet's hottest phenomena was confirmed when it was announced on Monday that Google was buying it for pounds 883m. The video sharing site's ease of use and range of content has made it popular with all ages, and has confirmed it as the latest web craze to ...

Nathan Brews a Hot Idea for a Restaurant

Holding down a career as one of Wales' most famous rugby players while micro-managing the launch of an innovative new restaurant is quite a challenge - but Nathan Brew was willing to give it a go. Papa Sanchos is Swansea's newest restaurant, and the Newport Gwent Dragons stalwart is about to learn whether the city's clientele will have a taste for 'stonegrilled' dining.

Welsh Design Consultants Transform Windsor Great Park Visitor Centre

The interior of one of Britain's most distinctive buildings has been transformed by Cardiff- based Avid Design consultants. They have developed the retail outlets within the new Savill Garden Visitor Centre in Windsor Great Park. The building, famed for its dramatic grid-shell roof, is built with sustainable materials, and features expanses of glazing.

Rural County Among Top in Uk for High-Speed Net Use

Monmouthshire is fast becoming Wales' answer to Silicon Valley, with one of the highest levels of high-speed internet usage in the United Kingdom. The mainly rural county is ranked six in the country by BT, with more than 18,000 homes and businesses now using ADSL broadband.

Pledge by Chamber's Incoming President

Insurance industry marketing specialist Paul Gardner has been elected the 112th president of the Chamber of Commerce in Cardiff. He immediately pledged to promote the interests of its 1,400 member businesses throughout South Wales.

Severe Psoriasis Can Triple Risk of Heart Attack, Claims Us Research

Psoriasis can increase the risk of a heart attack as much as three-fold in severe cases, a study has shown. The skin disease, which causes itchy, scaly eruptions, affects between 2% and 3% of the population. It is thought to be an auto-immune condition, and is associated with inflammation markers that have also been linked to hardening of arteries and heart attacks. New research has now confirmed that psoriasis is a heart disease risk factor in its own right.

Cigarette Price Hike 'Would Save Lives'

Putting 20p on a packet of cigarettes would save thousands of lives every year, an expert will say today. A price increase is the best hope the Government has of reaching its target of cutting the number of adult smokers to 21% by 2010, Professor Robert West, director of tobacco studies at Cancer Research UK, claims. Speaking at the National Cancer Research Institute conference in Birmingham, he will argue that the measure would lead to 200,000 people quitting in the first year.

Up to One Third Eat a Takeaway a Week

The Welsh have become a nation of takeaway addicts who prefer to eat in front of the television than around the family table. A new survey has found that a shocking 30,000 men eat a takeaway meal everyday. Experts said that a regular fast food diet could have huge consequences on the nation's heart health - Wales already has one of the highest rates of heart disease in Europe. And the research, for a special edition of BBC Wales' X-Ray consumer show, found that four out of 10 families with ch...

Council Spending Pounds 90,000 a Year On School with Two Pupils

A local authority is spending around pounds 90,000 a year to keep a school open that has just two pupils. Cross Inn Primary School, near Aberaeron, was one of five Ceredigion Council planned to close this summer. Four of those schools were shut but Cross Inn Primary school, which had just six pupils in January of this year, remains open after parents of two girls refused to send them elsewhere for their education. The school, which employs a full-time teacher and an assistant, could remain op...

Rhys Goes Fishing for Orders with a Tropical Aquarium

Instead of having a stack of magazines on a coffee table in a foyer - how about a swirling aquarium filled with fish in corporate colours? Rhys Blake, 31, is convinced such shoals will soon be common sights in offices throughout Britain. He has launched his new company, Aquabatic, to install and maintain a new generation of fish tanks. A childhood fascination with tropical fish has bubbled into an adult passion, and a casual conversation last Christmas with a fruit and vegetable seller convin...

Railways On Track with Investment

More money is being invested in Wales' railways now than in decades, Assembly Members were told yesterday. Andrew Davies, the Minister for Enterprise, Innovation and Networks, was responding to a report by the Rail Infrastructure and Improved Passenger Service Committee on suggestions for further action. He said, 'There has been a very significant investment programme in rail, certainly the biggest there has been for decades in Wales.'

City Is Set to Axe 180 Home Helps

UP TO 180 home helps are set to be made redundant in Cardiff amid social services funding difficulties. Cardiff Council has proposed reducing the home care workforce in the city by 200 over the next 18 months in a bid to claw back a pounds 7m social services overspend.

Oscar Chance for Joanna's Beryl

Reign of the Dinosaurs Linked to Meteor Crashing Off Wales

A meteor the size of Cardiff crash-landing off the Welsh coast is believed to have created the reign of giant dinosaurs. A study by scientists in Northern Ireland, published in the journal Geology, shows a colossal impact which would have drastically changed the Earth's climate 200 million years ago, wiping out many species and leaving a gap in which the previously puny dinosaurs could evolve and grow to massive sizes. The time of the meteorite impact matches up with earlier research suggesti...