THE sun shone on a revived Brecon Jazz Festival after a combination of old and new acts dazzled the crowds.

Veteran saxophonist Pee Wee Ellis, known as the man who invented funk, got the Christ College Stage jumping with his Funk Ensemble at the festival which has taken over the town for three days.

The Godfather of Soul, James Brown's Revue in 1965 and became band leader within six months, formed a line-up which was assembled to combine classic crowd-pullers with emerging Welsh ... Read More

The ladies special train initiated by Central Railway (CR) on its trans-harbour line since last month continues to attract ire of male commuters who are demanding scaling down of complete reservation of rakes for women.

The special trains, two each on Thane-Vashi and Thane-Panvel routes, being run during peak hours in the morning and evening have been seeing protests from the male commuters who are agitated over the services getting poor response and leading to pressure on other train ... Read More

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS - Pete Johnson of Oak Hill is staying in a camper at Fairlea to be at The Greenbrier at the crack of dawn to pick up trash during this week's PGA Greenbrier Classic tournament.

He and about 100 others have paid for their gas to drive to White Sulphur Springs, found their own lodging and are putting in 11-hour shifts sweeping out skyboxes on the fairways and emptying trash bags.

We're doing all that for the benefit of others," said Bob Browning, a retired Pi ... Read More

Byline: GAYLE RITCHIE

Floating past the walkers from the elevated position of a horse-drawn carriage, I felt the urge to tip my hat, blow a kiss or wave in a regal fashion. As the solo passenger in this drive through the stunning Austrian Alps, you can be sure I was lapping up every second.

This fantastic little jaunt was included in my five-day break to the Bad Gastein region, an area renowned for its restorative waters and peppered with spas, thermal pools and, of course, ... Read More

Neapolitan paintings, religious portraits and a Chinese bronze are among new items on display at Compton Verney country house.

The mansion, which was restored as an art gallery, will be showing its most recent acquisitions when it opens for the 2007 season on March 9.

The latest addition to its collection of Chinese bronzes is a statue of a stallion dating from the Han dynasty of 206BC to AD220. The bronze which would originally have been used on an aristocratic tombstone, symbo ... Read More