title: Close to the Edge

text: In 2013, two new editions of the album were released. Steve Hoffman of Audio Fidelity Records conducted a remastering in both CD and Super Audio CD formats. For the Panegyric label, Steven Wilson used the original multi-track recordings to produce a "2013 stereo mix", a 5.1 surround sound mix, and an "original stereo mix" from a flat transfer of the LP, in both a CD and DVD-Audio and CD and Blu-ray Disc package. Bonus tracks include single edits, an early rough mix of "Close to the Edge", and instrumental versions of the album's three tracks.


title: Close to the Edge

text: On 19 July 1972, once recording for the album was complete, Bruford left the band to join King Crimson. He offered to tour with the band for the remainder of the year, yet Howe wanted him to leave sooner as he no longer had the commitment. Howe later regretted his decision as he would have enjoyed playing the album live with Bruford at the time. His replacement was Alan White of the Plastic Ono Band and Terry Reid's group. As he played on "Close to the Edge" but left before the subsequent tour, Bruford was obliged by management to share his album royalties with White and claims that Lane enforced a compensation payment of $10,000 from him for leaving. Years later, White agreed to return his share of the royalties upon Bruford's request. The band embarked on their largest yet world tour to promote the album. White had one full rehearsal with the band prior to the tour's start on 30 July 1972, which saw the band play a total of 95 concerts in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Japan, and Australia. The tour ended in April 1973. Recordings from the tour, both film and audio, were released on the band's first live album, "Yessongs" (1973), and concert film of the same name, filmed at the Rainbow Theatre in London and released in 1975.


title: Close to the Edge

text: Details are taken from the 1972 UK Atlantic album liner notes; other releases may show different information.


title: Yadav

text: Yadav refers to a grouping of traditionally non-elite, peasant-pastoral communities or castes in India that since the 19th and 20th centuries have claimed descent from the mythological king Yadu as a part of a movement of social and political resurgence. The term "Yadav" now covers many traditional peasant-pastoral castes such as Ahirs of the Hindi belt and the Gavli of Maharashtra.


title: Yadav

text: Historically, the Ahir and Yadav groups had an ambiguous ritual status in caste stratification. Since the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the Yadav movement has worked to improve the social standing of its constituents, through Sanskritisation, active participation in the armed forces, expansion of economic opportunities to include other, more prestigious business fields, and active participation in politics. Yadav leaders and intellectuals have often focused on their claimed descent from Yadu, and from Krishna, which they argue confers kshatriya status upon them, and effort has been invested in recasting the group narrative to emphasise "kshatriya"-like valour, however, the overall tenor of their movement has not been overtly egalitarian in the context of the larger Indian caste system. Yadavs benefited from Zamindari abolition in some states of north India like Bihar, but not to the extent that other Upper Backwards did.


title: Yadav

text: The term "Yadav" (or sometimes "Yadava") has been interpreted to mean "a descendant of Yadu", who is a mythological king.


title: Yadav

text: Using "very broad generalisations", Jayant Gadkari says that it is "almost certain" from analysis of the "Puranas" that Andhaka, Vrishni, Satvata and Abhira were collectively known as "Yadavas" and worshipped Krishna. Gadkari further notes of these ancient works that "It is beyond dispute that each of the "Puranas" consists of legends and myths ... but what is important is that, within that framework [a] certain value system is propounded".


title: Yadav

text: Historians such as P. M. Chandorkar have used epigraphical and similar evidence to argue that Ahirs and Gavlis are representative of the ancient Yadavas and Abhiras mentioned in Sanskrit works.


title: Yadav

text: There are several communities that coalesce to form the Yadavs. Christophe Jaffrelot has remarked that


title: Yadav

text: However, Jaffrelot has also said that most of the modern Yadavs are cultivators, mainly engaged in tilling the land, and less than one third of the population are occupied in raising cattle or the milk business.


title: Yadav

text: M. S. A. Rao had earlier expressed the same opinion as Jaffrelot, and noted that the traditional association with cattle, together with the belief in descent from Yadu, defines the community. According to David Mandelbaum, the association of the Yadav (and their constituent castes, Ahir and Gwala) with cattle has impacted on their commonly viewed ritual status (varna) as Shudra, although the community's members often claim the higher status of Kshatriya. The Shudra status is explained by the nomadic nature of herdsmen, which constrained the ability of other groups in the varna system to validate the adherence to practices of ritual purity; by their involvement in castration of the animals, which was considered to be a ritually polluting act; and because the sale of milk, as opposed to personal use thereof, was thought to represent economic gain from a sacrosanct product.


title: Yadav

text: The Yadavs mostly live in Northern India, and particularly in Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Traditionally, they were a non-elite pastoral caste. Their traditional occupations changed over time and for many years Yadavs have been primarily involved in cultivation, although Michelutti has noted a "recurrent pattern" since the 1950s whereby economic advancement has progressed through involvement in cattle-related business to transportation and thence to construction. Employment with the army and the police have been other traditional occupations in northern India, and more recently government employment in that region has also become significant. She believes that positive discrimination measures and gains as a consequence of land reform legislation have been important factors in at least some areas.


title: Yadav

text: J. S. Alter notes that in North India the majority of the wrestlers are of the Yadav caste. He explains this as being due to their involvement in the milk business and dairy farms, which thus provides easy access to the milk and ghee deemed to be essential to a good diet.


title: Yadav

text: Although the Yadavs have formed a fairly significant proportion of the population in various areas, including 11% of that of Bihar in 1931, their interest in pastoral activities was not traditionally matched by ownership of land and consequently they were not a "dominant caste". Their traditional position, which Jaffrelot describes as "low caste peasants", also mitigated against any dominant role. Their involvement in pastoralism accounts for a traditional view of Yadavs as being peaceful, while their particular association with cows has a special significance in Hinduism, as do their beliefs regarding Krishna. Against this image, Russell and Lal, writing in 1916, called the Ahir subdivision uncouth, although it is unclear whether their comments were based entirely on proverbial stories, on observation or on both. Tilak Gupta said that this view persisted in modern times in Bihar, where the Yadav were viewed in highly negative terms by other groups. However, Michelutti observed, these very same people acknowledge and coveted their political influence, connections and abilities.


title: Yadav

text: The Yadavs have, however, demonstrated a feature, driven by their more notable members, that shares a similarity with other Indian communities. Mandelbaum has noted that


title: Yadav

text: In Bihar, the political advancement of Yadavs didn't improve their relative marginalisation in other fields. The spread of education among the community remained less as compared to more advanced Other Backward Castes like Awadhia Kurmi, Koeri and Bania. The attachment of Yadavs with the pastoral activities has been responsible behind their lower position in caste hierarchy as compared to owner cultivator castes among the OBCs. In areas where the communal ownership of land prevailed, trespassing into the fields by Yadav cattle herders to feed the cattle remained the part of their daily struggle for survival. Since such communal lands were mostly appropriated by village landlords, the caste occupation of Yadavs brought them in conflict with latter, and such skirmishes gave a militant and aggressive edge to the community's character. This followed their portrayal as "uncultured brutes" in the elitist discourses, which largely mirrors extreme backwardness still prevalent in large section of this community. The attempt to move up in the social ladder also remained evident in the nature of community and in due course of time "thriftiness" was observed to be a phenomenon, where they tried to save and buy small plot of lands, to be classified as owner cultivators.


title: Yadav

text: By the end of the nineteenth century, some Yadavs had become successful cattle traders and others had been awarded government contracts to care for cattle. Jaffrelot believes that the religious connotations of their connections to the cow and Krishna were seized upon by those Yadavs seeking to further the process of Sanskritisation, and that it was Rao Bahadur Balbir Singh, a descendant of the last Abhira dynasty to be formed in India, who spearheaded this. Singh established the "Ahir Yadav Kshatriya Mahasabha" (AYKM) in 1910, which at once asserted that its Ahir constituents were of Kshatriya ritual rank in the varna system, descended from Yadu (as was Krishna), and really known as Yadavs. The organisation claimed support from the facts that various Raj ethnologists had earlier claimed a connection between the Ahir and the Abhira, and because their participation in recent events such as the Indian Rebellion of 1857 had demonstrated that Ahirs were good fighters.


title: Yadav

text: The AYKM was a self-contained unit and did not try to forge links with similar bodies among other caste groups that claimed Kshatriya descent at that time. It had some success, notably in breaking down some of the very strict traditions of endogamy within the community, and it gained some additional momentum as people from rural areas gradually migrated away from their villages to urban centres such as Delhi. Ameliorating the effects of strict endogamy was seen as being conducive to causing the community as a whole to unite, rather than existing as smaller subdivisions within it. Rao has said that the events of this period meant that "the term Yadava refers to both an ethnic category and an ideology".


title: Yadav

text: Of particular significance in the movement for Sanskritisation of the community was the role of the Arya Samaj, whose representatives had been involved with the family of Singh since the late 1890s and who had been able to establish branches in various locations. Although this movement, founded by Swami Dayananda Saraswati, favoured a caste hierarchy and also endogamy, its supporters believed that caste should be determined on merit rather than on heritage. They therefore encouraged Yadavs to adopt the sacred thread as a symbolic way to defy the traditional inherited caste system, and they also supported the creation of cow protection associations ("Goraksha Sabha") as a means by which Yadavs and other non-Brahmans could affirm the extent of their commitment to Hinduism by observing the strictures relating to cow slaughter. In Bihar, where the Bhumihars and Rajputs were the dominant groups, the wearing of the thread by Ahirs led to occasions of violence.


title: Yadav

text: Jaffrelot has contrasted the motivations of Yadav Sanskritisation with that of the Nairs, another Indian community. He notes that Gyanendra Pandey, Rao and M. N. Srinivas all assert that Yadav Sanskritisation was not a process to imitate or raise the community to ritual parity with the higher ranks but rather to undermine the authority of those ranks. He contrasts this "subversion" theory with the Nair's motive of "emancipation", whereby Sanskritisation was "a means of reconciling low ritual status with growing socio-economic assertiveness and of taking the first steps towards an alternative, Dravidian identity". Using examples from Bihar, Jaffrelot demonstrates that there were some organised attempts among members of the Yadav community where the driving force was clearly secular and in that respect similar to the Nair's socio-economic movement. These were based on a desire to end oppression caused by, for example, having to perform "begari" (forced labour) for upper castes and having to sell produce at prices below those prevailing in the open market to the zamindars, as well as by promoting education of the Yadav community. This "aggressive Sanskritisation", which caused riots in the area, was emulated by some other of the lower caste groups. In support of the argument that the movements bore similarity, Jaffrelot cites Hetukar Jha, who says of the Bihar situation that "The real motive behind the attempts of the Yadavas, Kurmis and Koeris at Sanskritising themselves was to get rid of this socio-economic repression".


title: Yadav

text: The process of Sanskritisation often included creating a history. The first such for the Yadavs was written in the late nineteenth century by Vithal Krishnaji Khedkar, a schoolteacher who became private secretary to a Maharajah. In 1959, Khedekar's work was published by his son, Raghunath Vithal Khedkar, who was a surgeon, under the title "The Divine Heritage of the Yadavas". There has been subsequent work to develop his ideas, notably by K. C. Yadav and J. N. Singh Yadav.


title: Yadav

text: Khedekar's history made the claim that Yadavs were descendants of the Abhira tribe and that the modern Yadavs were the same community referred to as dynasties in the "Mahabharata" and "Puranas". Describing the work of the Khedekars as "a well-edited and well-produced volume", Mandelbaum notes that the Yadavs In creating this history there is some support for an argument that Yadavs were looking to adopt an ethnic identity akin to the Dravidian one that was central to the Sanskritisation of the Nairs and other in south India. However, Jaffrelot believes that such an argument would be overstated because the Yadav "redrawing of history" was much more narrow, being centred on themselves rather than on any wider shared ethnic base. They did acknowledge groups such as the Jats and Marathas as being similarly descended from Krishna but they did not particularly accommodate them in their adopted Aryan ethnic ideology, believing themselves to be superior to these other communities. Jaffrelot considers the history thus created to be one that is "largely mythical [and] enabled Yadav intellectuals to invent a golden age".


title: Yadav

text: Michelutti prefers the term "yadavisation" to that of "sanskritisation". She argues that the perceived common link to Krishna was used to campaign for the official recognition of the many and varied herding communities of India under the title of Yadav, rather than merely as a means to claim the rank of Kshatriya. Furthermore, that "... social leaders and politicians soon realised that their 'number' and the official proof of their demographic status were important political instruments on the basis of which they could claim a 'reasonable' share of state resources."


title: Yadav

text: The All-India Yadav Mahasabha (AIYM) was founded at Allahabad in 1924 by a meeting of disparate local groups from Bihar, Punjab and what is now Uttar Pradesh. Although the AIYM was initially organised by V. K. Khedakar, it was Rao Balbir Singh who developed it and this coincided with a period – during the 1920s and 1930s – when similar Sanskritisation movements elsewhere in the country were on the wane. The program included campaigning in favour of teetotalism and vegetarianism, both of which were features of higher-ranking castes, as well as promoting self-education and promoting the adoption of the "Yadav" name. It also sought to encourage the British Raj to recruit Yadavs as officers in the army and sought to modernise community practices such as reducing the financial burden dowries and increasing the acceptable age of marriage. Furthermore, the AIYM encouraged the more wealthy members of the community to donate to good causes, such as for the funding of scholarships, temples, educational institutions and intra-community communications.


title: Yadav

text: The Yadav belief in their superiority impacted on their campaigning. In 1930, the Yadavs of Bihar joined with the Kurmi and Koeri agriculturalists to enter local elections. They lost badly but in 1934 the three communities formed the Triveni Sangh political party, which allegedly had a million dues-paying members by 1936. However, the organisation was hobbled by competition from the Congress-backed "Backward Class Federation", which was formed around the same time, and by co-option of community leaders by the Congress party. The Triveni Sangh suffered badly in the 1937 elections, although it did win in some areas. Aside from an inability to counter the superior organisational ability of the higher castes who opposed it, the unwillingness of the Yadavs to renounce their belief that they were natural leaders and that the Kurmi were somehow inferior was a significant factor in the lack of success. Similar problems beset a later planned caste union, the "Raghav Samaj", with the Koeris.


title: Yadav

text: In the post-colonial period, according to Michelutti, it was the process of yadavisation and the concentration on two core aims – increasing the demographic coverage and campaigning for improved protection under the positive discrimination scheme for Backward Classes – that has been a singular feature of the AIYM, although it continues its work in other areas such as promotion of vegetarianism and teetotalism. Their proposals have included measures designed to increase the number of Yadavs employed or selected by political and public organisations on the grounds of their numerical strength, including as judges, government ministers and regional governors. By 2003 the AIYM had expanded to cover seventeen states and Michelutti believed it to be the only organisation of its type that crossed both linguistic and cultural lines. It continues to update its literature, including websites, to further its belief that all claimed descendants of Krishna are Yadav. It has become a significant political force.


title: Yadav

text: The campaign demanding that the army of the Raj should recruit Yadavs as officers resurfaced in the 1960s. Well-reported bravery during fighting in the Himalayas in 1962, notably by the 13th Kumaon company of Ahirs, led to a campaign by the AIYM demanding the creation of a specific Yadav regiment.


title: Yadav

text: Mandelbaum has commented on how the community basks in the reflected glory of those members who achieve success, that "Yadav publications proudly cite not only their mythical progenitors and their historical Rajas, but also contemporaries who have become learned scholars, rich industrialists, and high civil servants." He notes that this trait can also be seen among other caste groups.


title: Yadav

text: The Sadar festival is celebrated annually by the Yadav community in Hyderabad, following the day of Diwali. Community members parade, dancing around their best buffalo bulls, which have been colourfully decorated with flowers and paint.


title: Yadav

text: The Yadavs are included in the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) category in the Indian states of Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Haryana, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal. In 2001, the Social Justice Committee in Uttar Pradesh reported over-representation of some OBCs, particularly Yadavs, in public offices; it suggested creating sub categories within the OBC category. The outcome of this was that the Yadav/Ahir became the only group listed in Part A of a three-part OBC classification system.


title: Population pyramid

text: A population pyramid (age structure diagram) or "age-sex pyramid" is a graphical illustration of the distribution of a population (typically that of a country or region of the world) by age groups and sex; it typically takes the shape of a pyramid when the population is growing. Males are usually shown on the left and females on the right, and they may be measured in absolute numbers or as a percentage of the total population. The pyramid can be used to visualize the age of a particular population. It is also used in ecology to determine the overall age distribution of a population; an indication of the reproductive capabilities and likelihood of the continuation of a species. Number of people per unit area of land is called population density.


title: Population pyramid

text: A population pyramid often contains continuous stacked-histogram bars, making it a horizontal bar diagram. The population size is shown on the x-axis (horizontal) while the age-groups are represented on the y-axis (vertical). The size of each bar can be displayed either as a percentage of the total population or as a raw number. Males are conventionally shown on the left and females on the right. Population pyramids are often viewed as the most effective way to graphically depict the age and distribution of a population, partly because of the very clear image these pyramids provide. A great deal of information about the population broken down by age and sex can be read from a population pyramid, and this can shed light on the extent of development and other aspects of the population.


title: Population pyramid

text: The measures of central tendency (mean, median, and mode) should be considered when assessing a population pyramid. For example, the average age could be used to determine the type of population in a particular region. A population with an average age of 15 would be very young compared to one with an average age of 55. Population statistics are often mid-year numbers.


title: Population pyramid

text: A series of population pyramids could give a clear picture of how a country transitions from high to low fertility rates. If the pyramid has a broad base, this indicates that a relatively high proportion of the population lies in the youngest age band, such as ages 0–14, which suggests that the fertility rate of the country is high and above replacement fertility level. If a population is below replacement fertility level, the older population is declining with age, due to a combination of mortality and an increase in the number of births over time. There are usually more females than males in the older age ranges since women have a greater life expectancy, for a variety of reasons including women partaking less in risky behaviors.


title: Population pyramid

text: The shape of the pyramid can also reveal the age-dependency ratio of a population. Populations with a high proportion of children and/or of elderly people have a higher dependency ratio. This ratio refers to how many old and young people are dependent on the working-age groups (often defined as ages 15–64). According to Weeks' "Population: an Introduction to Concepts and Issues," population pyramids can be used to predict the future, known as a population forecast. Population momentum, when a population's birth rates continue to increase even after fertility rate has declined to replacement level, can even be predicted if a population has a low mortality rate since the population will continue to grow. This then brings up the term doubling time, which is used to predict when the population will double in size. Lastly, a population pyramid can even give insight into the economic status of a country from the age stratification since the distribution of supplies is not evenly distributed through a population.


title: Population pyramid

text: In the demographic transition model, the size and shape of population pyramids vary. In stage one of the demographic transition model, the pyramids have the most defined shape. They have the ideal big base and a skinny top. In stage two, the pyramid looks similar but starts to widen in the middle age groups. In stage three, the pyramids start to round out and look similar in shape to a tombstone. In stage four, there is a decrease in the younger age groups. This causes the base of the widened pyramid to narrow. Lastly, in stage five, the pyramid starts to take on the shape of a kite as the base continues to decrease. The shape of the population is dependent upon what the economy is like in the country. More developed countries can be found in stages three, four, and five, while the least developed countries have a population represented by the pyramids in stages one and two.


title: Population pyramid

text: Each country will have a different population pyramid. However, population pyramids can be categorised into three types: stationary, expansive, or constrictive. These types have been identified by the fertility and mortality rates of a country.


title: Population pyramid

text: Gary Fuller (1995) described a youth bulge as a type of expansive pyramid. Gunnar Heinsohn (2003) argues that an excess in especially young adult male population predictably leads to social unrest, war, and terrorism, as the "third and fourth sons" that find no prestigious positions in their existing societies rationalize their impetus to compete by religion or political ideology.


title: Population pyramid

text: Heinsohn claims that most historical periods of social unrest lacking external triggers (such as rapid climatic changes or other catastrophic changes of the environment) and most genocides can be readily explained as a result of a built-up youth bulge. This factor has been also used to account for the Arab Spring events. Economic recessions, such as the Great Depression of the 1930s and the late 2000s Great Recession, are also claimed to be explained in part due to a large youth population who cannot find jobs. Youth bulge can be seen as one factor among many in explaining social unrest and uprisings in society. A 2016 study finds that youth bulges increase the chances of non-ethnic civil wars, but not ethnic civil wars.


title: Population pyramid

text: A large population of adolescents entering the labor force and electorate strains at the seams of the economy and polity, which were designed for smaller populations. This creates unemployment and alienation unless new opportunities are created quickly enough – in which case a 'demographic dividend' accrues because productive workers outweigh young and elderly dependents. Yet the 16–29 age range is associated with risk-taking, especially among males. In general, youth bulges in developing countries are associated with higher unemployment and, as a result, a heightened risk of violence and political instability. For Cincotta and Doces (2011), the transition to more mature age structures is almost a sine qua non for democratization.


title: Population pyramid

text: To reverse the effects of youth bulges, specific policies such as creating more jobs, improving family planning programs, and reducing over all infant mortality rates should be a priority.


title: Population pyramid

text: The Middle East and North Africa are currently experiencing a prominent youth bulge. "Across the Middle East, countries have experienced a pronounced increase in the size of their youth populations over recent decades, both in total numbers and as a percentage of the total population. Today, the nearly 111 million individuals aging between 15 to 29 living across the region make up nearly 27 percent of the region’s population." Structural changes in service provision, especially health care, beginning in the 1960s created the conditions for a demographic explosion, which has resulted in a population consisting primarily of younger people. It is estimated that around 65% of the regional population is under the age of 25.


title: Population pyramid

text: The youth bulge in the Middle East and North Africa has been favorably compared to that of East Asia, which harnessed this human capital and saw huge economic growth in recent decades. The youth bulge has been referred to by the Middle East Youth Initiative as a demographic gift, which, if engaged, could fuel regional economic growth and development. "While the growth of the youth population imposes supply pressures on education systems and labor markets, it also means that a growing share of the overall population is made up of those considered to be of working age; and thus not dependent on the economic activity of others. In turn, this declining dependency ratio can have a positive impact on overall economic growth, creating a demographic dividend. The ability of a particular economy to harness this dividend, however, is dependent on its ability to ensure the deployment of this growing working-age population towards productive economic activity, and to create the jobs necessary for the growing labor force."


title: Barry Diller

text: Barry Charles Diller (born February 2, 1942) is an American businessman. He is Chairman and Senior Executive of IAC and Expedia Group and founded the Fox Broadcasting Company and USA Broadcasting. Diller was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 1994.


title: Barry Diller

text: Diller was born into a Jewish household in San Francisco, California, and is the son of Reva (née Addison) and Michael Diller.


title: Barry Diller

text: Diller began his career through a family connection in the mailroom of the William Morris Agency after dropping out of UCLA after three weeks. His proximity to the company's file room meant that he could spend free time reading through the archives and learning the entire history of the entertainment industry. He was hired as an assistant by Elton Rule, then West Coast head of ABC, who was promoted to network President at the same time Diller went to work for him in 1964, taking him on to New York City. Diller was soon placed in charge of negotiating broadcast rights to feature films. He was promoted to Vice President of Development in 1965. In this position, Diller created the "ABC Movie of the Week", pioneering the concept of the made-for-television movie through a regular series of 90-minute films produced exclusively for television.


title: Barry Diller

text: Diller served for 10 years as the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Paramount Pictures Corporation from 1974 until 1984. With Diller at the helm, the studio produced hit television programs such as "Laverne & Shirley" (1976), "Taxi" (1978), and "Cheers" (1982) and films that include "Saturday Night Fever" (1977), "Grease" (1978), "Raiders of the Lost Ark" (1981) and sequel "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" (1984), "Terms of Endearment" (1983), and "Beverly Hills Cop" (1984). The New York Times reported in 1983 that Diller was also "one of the three key executives" for then Paramount parent company Gulf+Western, with A. D. Murphy, director of the motion picture producing program at the University of Southern California, even describing him as "probably the most successful executive in the film business today." In the same article, Diller stated, among other things, that he wanted to use Paramount to make movies based on games distributed by then Gulf+Western-owned video game manufacturing company Sega. As head of Paramount, Diller also put together a three-way ownership of the USA Network in 1981 in order to prevent the Gulf+Western owned Madison Square Garden from selling its interest in the network. Diller also focused on having the Madison Square Garden maintain rights to its sports games, which in turn could allow for an extended level of broadcasting for future Madison Square Garden events as not only a source of programming for the USA Network, but also as a source of programming for Madison Square Garden Network cable subscribers and any future regional pay-television network.


title: Barry Diller

text: From October 1984 to April 1992, Diller held the positions of Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of 20th Century Fox, where he launched the Fox network and greenlighted shows such as "Married... with Children" and "The Simpsons".


title: Barry Diller

text: On February 24, 1992, Diller announced that he would leave Fox within a three month period, citing a desire to "own my own store." After leaving Fox, Diller's company Arrow Investments Inc. purchased a $25 million stake in the QVC teleshopping network. Despite owning less than 3 percent of the network, Diller gained supervision of the network after forming a partnership with Liberty Media Corporation and the Comcast Corporation which made all of their shares a single group on matters which required shareholder approval. He then launched a bid to purchase Paramount Communications, but lost it to Viacom. Diller resigned from QVC in 1995.


title: Barry Diller

text: In August 1995, Diller acquired the assets of Silver King Broadcasting. His ownership of Silver Broadcasting would be finalized in March 1996. In August 1996, it was agreed that Silver King Broadcasting, now under Diller's leadership, would buy back the Home Shopping Network (HSN), a former Silver King asset which split from the company in 1992, and that the two companies would merge. In December 1996, Silver King Broadcasting acquired an 80% stake in HSN for $1.3 billion worth of stock, and afterwards changed its own name to "'HSN, Inc.". Through his purchase of HSN, Diller would also eventually acquire Universal's cable and domestic-television assets from the Bronfman family.


title: Barry Diller

text: Due to Home Shopping getting more notoriety on the cable networks from his former dealings with the QVC Network, Diller sought to repurpose the broadcast stations into independent, locally run stations as part of a station group dubbed USA Broadcasting of which the flagship station was WAMI-TV in Miami Beach, Florida. In October 1997, it was announced that Diller would be acquiring the USA Network, which was run by Kay Koplovitz, and other Seagram-owned Universal TV businesses, which included the Koplovitz-run USA Network spinoff Sci Fi Channel, for $4.1 billion and that these networks would be owned by Diller's Home Shopping Network. Diller previously had owned stock in the USA Network in the early 1980s, when Paramount Pictures acquired part of the network under his leadership. Paramount parent company Gulf + Western also owned the Madison Square Garden Sports Corp., which helped create the USA Network with Koplovitz. He was also was the one who put together the 1981 USA Network ownership agreement between Paramount, Time Inc. and MCA which convinced Madison Square Garden management to not sell their interests in the network.


title: Barry Diller

text: Diller's purchase of the USA Network was finalized in February 1998. In April 1998, Diller would assume the Chairman and CEO positions which Koplovitz previously held at USA Networks since 1977. During Diller's time as head of the USA Network, the network's flagship WWF programming experienced a dramatic ratings turnaround, with WWF Raw dominating the ratings on cable television. Under Diller's leadership, the USA Network also showed tolerance to the growing WWF angles which were breaking with traditional censorship and were considered controversial, with even his USA Network spokesman David Schwartz describing an incident where the wrestler Jacqueline exposed one of her breasts as “not worse than anything you see on broadcast television at that time of night, such as NYPD Blue.” Shaun Assel and Mike Mooneyham's book "Sex, Lies, and Headlocks: The Real Story of Vince McMahon and World Wrestling Entertainment" stated that "the terrain shifted completely under everyone's feet" following Diller's purchase of the USA Network and also resulted in him and Universal TV executive Bonnie Hammer, who was regarded as the most sympathetic USA Network executive when came to relations with the WWF, thwarting an attempt which Koplovitz and other USA Network executives, including network entertainment head Rod Perth, made to remove the WWF from the USA Network in May 1998. Hammer, who has openly credited Diller as her mentor, would in later years serve on the Board of Directors at IAC/InterActiveCorp.


title: Barry Diller

text: The purpose of the network was to have the flagship, WAMI, produce sports and news programming while testing locally produced general-interest programming for the other stations in the group. Due to the high costs of producing and acquiring talent for shows outside the typical areas of New York City and Los Angeles, plus the significantly low ratings such shows received in Miami Beach, the remaining shows were moved to Los Angeles to regain traction, but never did. Diller eventually sold the TV assets to Univision after rejecting a bid from The Walt Disney Company. The USA Network and its assets were later sold off to Vivendi. Diller was still involved with the USA Network until the Vivendi sale was announced in December 2001. Diller retained the assets of the Home Shopping Network and the subsequent Internet assets he acquired later to bolster the HSN Online stable that later became IAC/InterActiveCorp.


title: Barry Diller

text: Diller was the Chairman of Expedia and the Chairman of IAC/InterActiveCorp, an interactive commerce conglomerate and the parent of companies including HomeAdvisor, Match Group (until 2020), Citysearch, and Connected Ventures, home of Vimeo and CollegeHumor (until 2020). IAC/InterActiveCorp is also the parent company of Tinder, UrbanSpoon, The Daily Beast, and more. In 2005, IAC/InterActiveCorp acquired Ask.com, marking a strategic move into the Internet search category. He stepped down as Chief Executive Officer of IAC/InterActiveCorp on December 2, 2010.


title: Barry Diller

text: The new headquarters for the IAC/InterActiveCorp, the IAC Building was designed by Frank Gehry and opened in 2007 at 18th Street and the West Side Highway in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood. The western half of the block is dedicated to the building, which stands several stories taller than the massive Chelsea Piers sporting complex just across the West Side Highway. The extra floors guarantee a panoramic Hudson River view from Diller's sixth-floor office.


title: Barry Diller

text: In 2003, on the PBS program "NOW with Bill Moyers", Diller voiced a strong warning against media consolidation. In the interview he referred to media ownership by a few big corporations as an oligarchy, saying the concentration strangles new ideas.


title: Barry Diller

text: Diller was "the highest-paid executive [of fiscal year 2005]", according to a report by The New York Times on October 26, 2006, with total compensation in excess of $295 million (mostly from stock).


title: Barry Diller

text: In an opinion article in "The New York Times" of November 7, 2006, Nicholas D. Kristof awarded him his annual "Michael Eisner Award," consisting of a five-dollar shower curtain, for corporate rapacity and laziness. In October 2019, Diller had a $4.2 billion fortune in technology companies, after investing early on in companies such as Match.com and Vimeo. In 2012, Diller became an investor in the streaming service company Aereo. Aereo went out of business in June 2014 after the United States Supreme ruled that its method of streaming media content violated copyright laws.


title: Barry Diller

text: Since 2013, Diller has co-produced more than ten Broadway shows in partnership with Scott Rudin, including "To Kill A Mockingbird, West Side Story, Carousel, The Humans, Three Tall Woman, ," and "A Doll's House, Part 2." IAC Films has also backed numerous films produced by Rudin, including "Uncut Gems, Lady Bird, Eighth Grade, The Meyerowitz Stories," and "Ex Machina."


title: Barry Diller

text: In early 2020, Diller took over Expedia's day-to-day operations alongside the Vice Chairman Peter Kern, after the company's CFO stepped down in December 2019. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Expedia's shares plummeted along with those of other travel companies. Diller announced that Expedia is generating no revenue and would have to cut costs. And he has been member of the advisory board of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation.


title: Barry Diller

text: Diller is responsible for what the media dubs "The Killer Dillers" – people whom Diller mentored and who later became major media and internet executives in their own right. Examples include Michael Eisner (who was President of Paramount Pictures while Diller was its Chairman & CEO, and went on to become Chairman & CEO of The Walt Disney Company), Jeffrey Katzenberg (a head of production of Paramount under Diller who became a co-founder of DreamWorks SKG and former head of DreamWorks Animation and Walt Disney Studios), Don Simpson (who was President of Production at Paramount under Diller and Eisner before forming an independent production company initially based on the Paramount lot with Jerry Bruckheimer), Dara Khosrowshahi (CEO of Uber), Dawn Steel (a VP of Production for Paramount when Diller was Chair & CEO; she went on to become President of Columbia Pictures, one of the first women to run a major movie studio) and Garth Ancier (former President of BBC America).


title: Barry Diller

text: Diller worked with Stephen Chao at Fox Television Network, whom he later hired as President of Programming and Marketing at USA Network. Julius Genachowski, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, served as Diller's General Counsel during their tenure at USA Broadcasting, and again as Chief of Business Operations and a member of Barry Diller's Office of the Chairman at IAC/InterActiveCorp.


title: Barry Diller

text: On March 9, 2022, The Wall Street Journal reported that Diller, David Geffen and his stepson, Alex Von Furstenberg were being investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the United States Department of Justice for insider trading of options on Activision Blizzard just three days before Microsoft's announced acquisition. Diller denied the allegations and claimed it was "It was simply a lucky bet."


title: Barry Diller

text: In 2001, Diller married fashion designer Diane von Fürstenberg, mother of Prince Alexander von Fürstenberg and Princess Tatiana von Fürstenberg. He is a member of the Democratic Party and supporter of related political causes. As of June 2020, Diller's estimated net worth was $4.2 billion. He owns a superyacht.


title: Barry Diller

text: Diller's sexual orientation has been discussed in the media. In James B. Stewart's 2005 book "DisneyWar", erstwhile Paramount colleague Michael Eisner characterized Diller as "a homosexual." In 2001, "New York Magazine"'s Maer Roshan wrote:The recent wedding of Barry Diller and Diane Von Fürstenberg epitomizes the media’s convoluted approach to covering gay celebrities. I would not presume to speculate on their relationship, which is said to be a warm and genuine one. But it’s also true that Diller did not live as a monk before his marriage at the age of 59 – in fact, while Diller is often referred to as bisexual, he has lived most of his adult life as a more or less openly gay man. He has had both short-term boyfriends and long-term relationships (including one with a former editor-in-chief of "The Advocate"); he appears frequently at gay parties and gay benefits. His sexual orientation has even been referred to in print with regularity.


title: Barry Diller

text: Still, because Diller had never actually sent out a "press release" acknowledging he was gay, journalists faced with the news of his wedding were in a quandary: All across Manhattan, reporters offered various explanations – financial and otherwise – for his apparent midlife transformation. But none, of course, made it into print.


title: Barry Diller

text: In 2011, the Diller-von Fürstenberg Family Foundation announced a donation of $20 million to support the completion of the High Line park in Manhattan. In 2012, Diller donated $30 million to the Hollywood Fund, which provides health and social care to retired individuals from the show-business world.


title: Barry Diller

text: In 2015, Diller and his wife committed to donate $260 million toward Little Island, a public park and performance space on a reconstructed pier in the Hudson River in New York City. It is stated to be the largest donation to a public park in city history. The park was completed on May 21, 2021.


title: Newport, Wales

text: Newport (; ) is a city and county borough in Wales, situated on the River Usk close to its confluence with the Severn Estuary, northeast of Cardiff. With a population of 145,700 at the 2011 census, Newport is the third-largest authority with city status in Wales, and seventh most populous overall. Newport became a unitary authority in 1996 and forms part of the Cardiff-Newport metropolitan area. Newport was the site of the last large-scale armed insurrection in Great Britain, the Newport Rising of 1839.


title: Newport, Wales

text: Newport has been a port since medieval times when the first Newport Castle was built by the Normans. The town outgrew the earlier Roman town of Caerleon, immediately upstream and now part of the borough. Newport gained its first charter in 1314. It grew significantly in the 19th century when its port became the focus of coal exports from the eastern South Wales Valleys. Newport was the largest coal exporter in Wales until the rise of Cardiff in the mid-1800s.


title: Newport, Wales

text: In the 20th century, the docks declined in importance, but Newport remained an important centre for manufacturing and engineering. Latterly its economy is bolstered as part of the M4 corridor high-technology cluster. It was granted city status in 2002. Newport hosted the Ryder Cup in 2010 and was the venue for the 2014 NATO summit. It contains extensive rural areas surrounding the built-up core. are of considerable archaeological importance. Newport Cathedral is the cathedral of the Diocese of Monmouth.


title: Newport, Wales

text: The original Welsh name for the city was "Casnewydd-ar-Wysg" (pronounced ). This is a contraction of the name "Castell Newydd ar Wysg", which translates as "new castle on the Usk". The Welsh name is recorded in the "Brut y Tywysogion" when it was visited by Henry II of England sometime around 1172. "New castle" suggests a pre-existing fortification in the vicinity and is most likely either to reference the ancient fort on Stow Hill, or a fort that occupied the site of the present castle.


title: Newport, Wales

text: The English name 'Newport' is a later application. The settlement was first recorded by the Normans as "novo burgus" in 1126. This Latin name refers to the new borough (or town) established with the Norman castle. The origin of the name "Newport" and the reason for its wide adoption remains the subject of debate. "Newport-on-Usk" is found on some early maps, and the name was in popular usage well before the development of Newport Docks. One theory suggests that "Newport" gained favour with medieval maritime traders on the Usk, as it differentiated the "New port" from the "Old Roman port" at Caerleon.


title: Newport, Wales

text: Bronze Age fishermen settled around the fertile estuary of the River Usk and later the Celtic Silures built hillforts overlooking it. In AD 75, on the very edge of their empire, the Roman legions built a Roman fort at Caerleon to defend the river crossing. According to legend, in the late 5th century Saint Gwynllyw (Woolos), the patron saint of Newport and King of Gwynllwg founded the church which would become Newport Cathedral. The church was certainly in existence by the 9th century and today has become the seat of the Bishop of Monmouth. In 1049/50, a fleet of Orkney Vikings, under Welsh king Gruffydd ap Llywelyn, sailed up the Usk and sacked St Gwynllyw's church. The church suffered a similar fate in 1063, when Harold Godwinson attacked south Wales. The Normans arrived from around 1088–1093 to build the first Newport Castle and river crossing downstream from Caerleon and the first Norman Lord of Newport was Robert Fitzhamon.


title: Newport, Wales

text: The original Newport Castle was a small motte-and-bailey castle in the park opposite Newport Cathedral. It was buried in rubble excavated from the Hillfield railway tunnels that were dug under Stow Hill in the 1840s and no part of it is currently visible.


title: Newport, Wales

text: Around the settlement, the new town grew to become Newport, obtaining its first charter in 1314 and was granted a second one, by Hugh Stafford, 2nd Earl of Stafford in 1385. In the 14th century friars came to Newport where they built an isolation hospital for infectious diseases. After its closure the hospital lived on in the place name "Spitty Fields" (a corruption of "ysbyty", the Welsh for hospital). "Austin Friars" also remains a street name in the city.


title: Newport, Wales

text: During the Last War for Welsh Independence in 1402 Rhys Gethin, General for Owain Glyndŵr, forcibly took Newport Castle together with those at Cardiff, Llandaff, Abergavenny, Caerphilly, Caerleon and Usk. During the raid the town of Newport was badly burned and Saint Woolos church destroyed.


title: Newport, Wales

text: A third charter, establishing the right of the town to run its own market and commerce came from Humphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of Buckingham in 1426. By 1521, Newport was described as having "...a good haven coming into it, well occupied with small crays [merchant ships] where a very great ship may resort and have good harbour." Trade was thriving with the nearby ports of Bristol and Bridgwater and industries included leather tanning, soap making and starch making. The town's craftsmen included bakers, butchers, brewers, carpenters and blacksmiths. A further charter was granted by James I in 1623.


title: Newport, Wales

text: During the English Civil War in 1648 Oliver Cromwell's troops camped overnight on Christchurch Hill overlooking the town before their attack on the castle the next day. A cannonball dug up from a garden in nearby Summerhill Avenue, dating from this time, now rests in Newport Museum.


title: Newport, Wales

text: As the Industrial Revolution transformed Britain in the 19th century, the South Wales Valleys became key suppliers of coal from the South Wales Coalfield, and iron. These were transported down local rivers and the new canals to ports such as Newport, and Newport Docks grew rapidly as a result. Newport became one of the largest towns in Wales and the focus for the new industrial eastern valleys of South Wales. By 1830 Newport was Wales' leading coal port, and until the 1850s it was larger than Cardiff.


title: Newport, Wales

text: The Newport Rising in 1839 was the last large-scale armed rebellion against authority in mainland Britain. John Frost and 3,000 other Chartists marched on the Westgate Hotel at the centre of the town. The march was met with an attack by militia, called to the town by the Mayor, Thomas Phillips: at least 20 marchers were killed and were later buried in Saint Woolos churchyard. John Frost was sentenced to death for treason, but this was later commuted to transportation to Australia. He returned to Britain (but not to Newport) later in his life. John Frost Square (1977), in the centre of the city, is named in his honour.


title: Newport, Wales

text: Newport probably had a Welsh-speaking majority until the 1830s, but with a large influx of migrants from England and Ireland over the following decades, the town and the rest of Monmouthshire came to be seen as "un-Welsh", a view compounded by ambiguity about the status of Monmouthshire. In the 19th century, the St George Society of Newport (a group largely consisting of English settlers and businessmen) asserted that the town was part of England. It was at a meeting in Newport, attended by future Prime Minister David Lloyd George, that the Cymru Fydd movement received its death-blow in 1896 when politician Robert Bird stated: "You will find, from Swansea to Newport, a cosmopolitan population who will not submit to the domination of Welsh ideas!". In 1922 Lloyd George was to suffer a further blow in Newport, when the South Wales Liberal Federation, led by David Alfred Thomas, an industrialist and Liberal politician, and Robert Bird moved that Lloyd George "be not heard" in the 1895 General Election. The Conservative capture of the recently created Newport constituency in a by-election in 1922 was one of the causes of the fall of his coalition government.


title: Newport, Wales

text: The late 19th and early 20th century period was a boom time for Newport. The Alexandra Docks opened in 1875. The population was expanding rapidly and the town became a county borough in 1891. In 1892 the Alexandra South Dock was opened and was the largest masonry dock in the world. Although coal exports from Newport were by now modest compared to the Port of Cardiff (which included Cardiff, Penarth and Barry), Newport was the place where the Miners' Federation of Great Britain was founded in 1889, and international trade was sufficiently large for 8 consuls and 14 vice-consuls to be based in the town. In 1898 Lysaght's Orb Works opened and by 1901 employed 3,000 staff. Urban expansion took in Pillgwenlly and Lliswerry to the south; this eventually necessitated a new crossing of the River Usk, which was provided by the Newport Transporter Bridge completed in 1906, described as "Newport's greatest treasure".


title: Newport, Wales

text: Further extensions to the South Dock were opened in 1907 and 1914. The Newport Docks Disaster occurred on 2 July 1909 when, during the construction of the new south lock connecting the South Dock to the Severn Estuary, supporting timbers in an excavation trench collapsed and buried 46 workers. The rescuers included 12-year-old paperboy Thomas 'Toya' Lewis who was small enough to crawl into the collapsed trench. Lewis worked for two hours with hammer and chisel in an attempt to free one of those trapped who was released the next day. Several hundred pounds was later raised through public subscription in gratitude for the boy's efforts, and he was sent on an engineering scholarship to Scotland. Lewis was awarded the Albert Medal for Lifesaving by King Edward VII in December 1909. A Wetherspoons pub in the city centre is named "The Tom Toya Lewis" after the young hero. The building in which the pub is housed was formerly the Newport YMCA, the Foundation Stone for which was laid by Viscount Tredegar, also in 1909.


title: Newport, Wales

text: From 1893 the town was served by the paddle steamers of P & A Campbell Ltd. (the "White Funnel Line"), which was based in Bristol. The company had been originally set up, by the Scottish brothers Alex and Peter Campbell, on the River Clyde, but was re-located to the Severn Estuary. Departing steamers would face south on Davis Wharf, with the Art College to its left and the town bridge behind. The boats gave rise to the name of the short street which led to the quayside – Screwpacket Road. By 1955 steamers had stopped calling at Newport and P&A Campbell went into receivership in 1959. It was taken over by the firm which would become the Townsend Ferry group.


title: Newport, Wales

text: Compared to many Welsh towns, Newport's economy had a broad base, with foundries, engineering works, a cattle market and shops that served much of Monmouthshire. However, the docks were in decline even before the Great Depression, and local unemployment peaked at 34.7% in 1930: high, but not as bad as the levels seen in the mining towns of the South Wales Valleys. Despite the economic conditions, the council re-housed over half the population in the 1920s and 1930s. In 1930 the Town Dock was filled in.


title: Newport, Wales

text: The post-war years saw renewed prosperity, with Saint Woolos Cathedral (now Newport Cathedral) attaining full cathedral status in 1949, the opening of the modern integrated Llanwern steelworks in 1962, and the construction of the Severn Bridge and local sections of the M4 motorway in the late 1960s, making Newport the best-connected place in Wales. Although employment at Llanwern steelworks declined in the 1980s, the town acquired a range of new public sector employers, and a Richard Rogers–designed Inmos microprocessor factory helped to establish Newport as being extant for technology companies.


title: Newport, Wales

text: The county borough of Newport was granted city status in 2002 to mark Queen Elizabeth II's Golden Jubilee. In the same year, an unusually large merchant ship, referred to locally as the Newport Ship, was uncovered and rescued from the west bank of the River Usk during the construction of the Riverfront Arts Centre. The ship has been dated to between 1445 and 1469 and remains the only vessel of its type from this period yet discovered anywhere in the world.


title: Newport, Wales

text: Newport has long been the largest town in the historic county of Monmouthshire and a county borough between 1891 and 1974. The Local Government Act 1972 removed ambiguity about the legal status of the area by including the administrative county of Monmouthshire and the county borough of Newport into all acts pertaining to Wales. In 1974, the borough was incorporated into the new local government county of Gwent until Newport became a unitary authority again in 1996. Gwent remains in use for ceremonial functions as a preserved county.


title: Newport, Wales

text: The city is historically industrialised with a large working-class population and strong support for the Labour Party. There is substantial support for the Conservative Party on the west side of Newport, as well as its rural hinterland.


title: Newport, Wales

text: Labour lost control of Newport City council in the 2008 local elections to a Conservative/Liberal Democrat coalition but the Labour Party regained an overall majority of councillors in the 2012 election.


title: Newport, Wales

text: The City of Newport is divided between the UK Parliamentary constituencies of Newport West and Newport East and elects one Member of Parliament (MP) in each constituency. The two constituencies cover a similar area to that of the city area controlled by Newport City Council. The city formerly had only one constituency until 1983 when the city was split into Newport West and Newport East due to population growth. In the 2019 United Kingdom general election, the Labour Party held Newport West with a reduced majority of 902 votes over the Conservative Party and the Labour Party held Newport East with a reduced majority of 1,992 votes over the Conservative Party.


title: Newport, Wales

text: In the Welsh Parliament Newport is divided between the Senedd constituencies of Newport West and Newport East and elects one Member of the Senedd (MS) in each constituency. In the 2021 Senedd election, the Labour Party held Newport West with a reduced majority of 3,926 votes over the Conservative Party and the Labour Party held Newport East with a reduced majority of 3,584 votes over the Conservative Party.


title: Newport, Wales

text: Prior to Brexit, Newport was part of the Wales European Parliament Constituency. The Wales constituency elected four Members of the European Parliament (MEP) on a Proportional representation basis. In the 2019 European Parliament election the Wales constituency elected one MEP from the Labour Party, one from Plaid Cymru and two from the Brexit Party.


title: Newport, Wales

text: The official blazon of the armorial bearings is: "(arms) Or, a chevron reversed gules, the shield ensigned by a cherub proper. Supporters: on the dexter side a winged sea lion Or, and on the sinister side a sea dragon gules, the nether parts of both proper, finned gold."


title: Newport, Wales

text: The title of Freedom of Newport is a ceremonial honour, given by the Newport council to those who have served in some exceptional capacity, or upon any whom Newport wishes to bestow an honour. There have been 17 individuals or organisations that have received the honour since 1909, including:


title: Newport, Wales

text: Newport is located west of London and east of Cardiff. It is the largest urban area within the historic county boundaries of Monmouthshire and the preserved county of Gwent. The City of Newport, which includes rural areas as well as the built up area, is the seventh most populous unitary authority in Wales.


title: Newport, Wales

text: The city is largely low-lying, but with a few hilly areas. Wentwood is above sea level. Areas in the south and east of the city tend to be flat and fertile with some housing estates and industrial areas reclaimed from marshland. Areas near the banks of the River Usk, such as Caerleon, are also low-lying. The eastern outskirts of the city are characterised by the gently rolling hills of the Vale of Usk and Christchurch has panoramic views of the Vale of Usk and the Bristol Channel. Ridgeway at Allt-yr-yn also has good views of the surrounding areas and Bristol Channel. Brynglas has views over the city centre and Twmbarlwm to the west. The suburbs of the city have grown outwards from the inner-city, mostly near the main roads, giving the suburban sprawl of the city an irregular shape. The urban area is continuing to expand rapidly with new housing estates continuing to be built.


title: Newport, Wales

text: The city is divided into 21 wards. Most of these wards are coterminous with communities (parishes) of the same name. Each community can have an elected council. The following table lists city council wards, communities and associated geographical areas.


title: Newport, Wales

text: Newport has a moderate temperate climate, with the weather rarely staying the same for more than a few days at a time. The city is one of the sunnier locations in Wales and its sheltered location tends to protect it from extreme weather. Like the whole of the British Isles, Newport benefits from the warming effect of the Gulf Stream. Newport has mild summers and cool winters.


title: Newport, Wales

text: Thunderstorms may occur intermittently at any time of year, but are most common throughout late-spring and summer. Rain falls throughout the year, Atlantic storms give significant rainfall in the autumn, these gradually becoming rarer towards the end of winter. Autumn and summer have often been the wettest seasons in recent times. Snow falls in most winters and sometimes settles on the ground, usually melting within a few days. Newport records few days with gales compared to most of Wales, again due to its sheltered location. Frosts are common from October to May.


title: Newport, Wales

text: On 20 March 1930, the overnight temperature fell to the coldest temperature for the whole of the UK during that year, and the latest date in spring the UK's lowest temperature has been recorded.


title: Newport, Wales

text: In the 2011 census, 89.9% described themselves as White, 5.5% Asian, 1.7% Black, 1.1% Mixed White/Black, 0.5% Mixed White/Asian and 1.4% as other ethnic groups.


title: Newport, Wales

text: In 1929 St Woolos Church became the Pro-Cathedral of the Diocese of Monmouth, becoming a full cathedral in 1949. When Rowan Williams was appointed Archbishop of Wales in 2000, the Cathedral became the Metropolitan Cathedral of Wales.


title: Newport, Wales

text: In 1850 Newport was recognised as a centre of Catholicism in Wales when the Diocese of Newport and Menevia was created. Between 21 October 1966 and 6 October 1969, having retired as Bishop of Rochester, New York, Fulton J. Sheen, an American bishop who pioneered preaching on television and radio, was appointed the titular archbishop of Newport by Pope Paul VI. The Catholic St Patrick's Church is served by the Rosminians.


title: Newport, Wales

text: In the 2011 census 56.8% of Newport residents considered themselves Christian, 4.7% Muslim, 1.2% Other religions (including Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, Jewish and Others), 29.7% were non-religious and 7.5% chose not to answer the non-compulsory religion question on the census.


title: Newport, Wales

text: Newport has more than 50 churches, 7 mosques, and one synagogue; the nearest Gurudwara is in Cardiff.


title: Newport, Wales

text: Newport's travel to work area incorporates much of south Monmouthshire; the new 2001-based area also includes Cwmbran. The city itself has three major centres for employment: the city centre, and business parks clustered around the M4 motorway junctions 24 in the east and 28 in the west.


title: Newport, Wales

text: Organisations based in the city include Airbus Defence and Space; the headquarters of the Office for National Statistics; the headquarters of the United Kingdom Intellectual Property Office (formerly known as the Patent Office); the General Insurance Division of Lloyds TSB; a large Panasonic manufacturing plant; a manufacturing plant for International Rectifier; the headquarters of insurance comparison site Gocompare; the headquarters of Wales and West Utilities; the shared-service centre for HM Prison Service; the Passport Office for much of the south and west of the UK; and the Wales headquarters of the Charity Commission and British Red Cross. In 2014 Admiral Insurance opened a large newly constructed office opposite Newport railway station.


title: Newport, Wales

text: In 1997, Newport secured what was then thought to be Europe's largest-ever inward investment when the LG Group announced a £1.7 billion project creating 6,100 jobs, and supported by public sector grants. Facilities were built on the Celtic Lakes business and science park, but market conditions led to the semiconductor plant never opening, and the CRT plant eventually closed in 2003. In 2005 Irish radiator manufacturer Quinn Group bought the former LG Phillips building, which became its European base.


title: Newport, Wales

text: Industry in the east of Newport was formerly based at the Corus Llanwern steelworks, and although the rolling mill is still active, steel manufacture ceased in 2001. Permission has been granted to transform the former steelworks site into a £1bn mixed-use development comprising housing, office and industrial space, public open space and a range of community facilities.


title: Newport, Wales

text: At the mouth of the River Usk, the Sims Metal Management plant hosts the world's largest industrial shredder for scrap metal with access by road, rail and sea. The plant, which is also the world's largest car crusher which was featured in the TV series 'How do they do it'.


title: Newport, Wales

text: Newport Cattle Market, in the Pillgwenlly area of the city, closed in 2009 and was demolished to make way for a new supermarket.


title: Newport, Wales

text: The first stage of regeneration involved improving the city centre road network, turning Kingsway and Queensway into boulevards. The Southern Distributor Road to the south of the city opened in 2004, including the new City Bridge over the River Usk, improving access and opening up new areas for development. The Newport City footbridge opened in 2006 linking the east and west banks of the river for pedestrians and cyclists.


title: Newport, Wales

text: Newport railway station was expanded in 2007 to four full size platforms capable of receiving 10 car Intercity Express Programme services to and from London Paddington. In 2010 a new station building was finished, carried out by engineering firm Atkins. During construction it was Wales' most environmentally friendly station work, using a hypermodern green ETFE structure similar to the materials used in the Eden Project and the Beijing Olympics' ‘Water Cube’. In 2019 railway electrification and resigning work will be completed, completing the 21st-century modernisation of the Great Western main line and reducing journey times to London to 1 hour 30 minutes.


title: Newport, Wales

text: Newport bus station was redeveloped in 2013, expanded in 2015 with the Friars Walk development, and now offering 24 stands connecting to the rest of the city, as well as Cardiff and Bristol. Local railway stations are reopening, starting with Rogerstone station in 2008, Pye Corner station in 2014, and with three others planned in the city's Unitary Development Plan. Transport for Wales intend to restart services between Newport and Ebbw Vale Parkway by 2021.


title: Newport, Wales

text: A state-of-the-art District General Hospital is envisaged to be built to replace the Royal Gwent Hospital. The former Corus steel Whiteheads site was speculated but this was rejected in favour of redeveloping the Llanfrechfa Grange Hospital site, near Cwmbran as a specialist and critical care unit.


title: Newport, Wales

text: The M4 relief road skirting the southern edge of the urban area of Newport has been proposed as a means of reducing the congestion on the existing M4 motorway (presently squeezed through the Brynglas Tunnels) and making Newport and the surrounding areas more accessible for motorised vehicles. The relief road scheme was cancelled in July 2009 but relaunched in 2014.


title: Newport, Wales

text: The Riverfront Arts Centre was the first structure to be built as part of Newport's regeneration by Newport City Council in 2004. It stands on Kingsway Boulevard on the west bank of the River Usk. On the east bank, Rodney Parade is home to club rugby union side Newport RFC, the regional Pro14 rugby union team Dragons, and the football team Newport County A.F.C.


title: Newport, Wales

text: As part of the city's master plan, the city centre has been expanded to take in areas of the River Usk east bank, with the area of land between Newport Bridge and George Street Bridge part of an ongoing a £43 million high-density combined commercial and residential area, joined to the west bank by the new footbridge. The plan is designed to show a strong urban form along the riverfront, emphasised with tall landmark buildings. The first phase has been labelled City Vizion.


title: Newport, Wales

text: The Newport Student Village is adjacent to the university campus on the west bank, as well as the "Newhaus" development of 154 riverside apartments. At the southern end of the site, the "Alexandra Gate" development includes 300 homes and riverside apartments built adjacent to the City Bridge.


title: Newport, Wales

text: In east Newport, land released from the Corus steelworks at Llanwern is being redeveloped as 4,000 houses, shops and other facilities.


title: Newport, Wales

text: The Newport retail environment faced challenges following the late-2000s recession, with major redevelopment projects heavily delayed.


title: Newport, Wales

text: Friars Walk shopping complex was first planned as a £210m development ahead of the 2010 Ryder Cup, but faced numerous setbacks. The site opened to the public in November 2015 helped by £90m of assistance from Newport Council to the developers, with the Debenhams flagship store. As well as 30 new shops, there are a dozen restaurants and an eight-screen Cineworld multiplex cinema. Plans for redevelopment of the smaller Cambrian Centre were approved in 2012.


title: Newport, Wales

text: Building on hosting the Ryder Cup in 2010 and the NATO Summit in 2014, the 5,000 capacity Celtic Manor International Conference Centre (ICC Wales) opened its doors in 2019 as a conference venue for businesses and events in Wales and across the South West of England. It has hosted the UK Space Conference, BBC Cymru Wales broadcasts, and numerous national political conferences including hosting the Green Party of England and Wales and the UK Independence Party.


title: Newport, Wales

text: The 15-storey Chartist Tower is currently being redeveloped by developers Garrison Barclay Estates as a 163-bedroom Mercure Hotel, offering views across the city and the Bristol Channel. The site will also include 25,000 sq ft of office space and 18,000 sq ft of retail space. The hotel development is seen as an important step towards meeting the additional demand for hotel space in Newport created by the International Convention Centre (ICC) Wales. The opening of the hotel has been delayed by several months due to Wales' lockdown as a response to COVID-19. It was planned to open it in mid-2021.


title: Newport, Wales

text: Newport Market is also being redeveloped as a £12m mixed use site with a tech hub, apartments, market units, as well as a food court, a project led by Newport City Council and the proprietors of Tramshed Cardiff.


title: Newport, Wales

text: For those travelling west from England into Wales, Newport is the first major urban area one passes through. As a result, it is a convergence point for national road, bus, and rail routes.


title: Newport, Wales

text: The nearest airport with scheduled domestic and international flights is Cardiff Airport, south-west of Newport. The airport is a 35-minute drive away from the city or a 55-minute train journey which involves changing at Cardiff Central for Vale of Glamorgan Line services to the nearby Rhoose Cardiff International Airport railway station. The airport is also accessible by transferring to 24-hour TrawsCymru T9 buses, which begin at Cardiff Central station.


title: Newport, Wales

text: In 2003, a proposal for a new "Severnside" airport near Newport was rejected by the Department for Transport. The airport would have featured runways on a man-made island in the Severn Estuary.


title: Newport, Wales

text: Newport bus station is the largest bus interchange in the county, with 24 stands. It was built as part of the adjacent Friars Walk shopping centre and the station opened in December 2015.


title: Newport, Wales

text: Bus services are primarily provided by the municipally funded Newport Bus company, and neighbouring firm Cardiff Bus. Other operators include Phil Anslow Coaches, Stagecoach in South Wales, New Adventure Travel (N.A.T.), and until recently, First West of England.


title: Newport, Wales

text: Inter-city National Express services run from a stop near the Riverfront arts centre, opposite the bus station and Megabus (Europe) services operate outside of Newport station.


title: Newport, Wales

text: Newport is the easternmost Welsh city on the United Kingdom rail network and has close proximity to major economic centres in Cardiff and Bristol. Newport railway station is the third-busiest station in Wales and, due to its interchange options, it serves as a major transfer station.


title: Newport, Wales

text: The Great Western main railway line connects the city with termini at Bristol Temple Meads, London Paddington and Pembroke Dock; the Welsh Marches line connects with Holyhead, Manchester Piccadilly and Llanelli; and the Gloucester line connects the borders region including Cheltenham. The Wessex Main Line also provides an hourly service from the city to Portsmouth. The station has four platforms and is a mandatory stop on all express services to and from London Paddington.


title: Newport, Wales

text: The city is well linked with the nearby Welsh capital Cardiff, with approximately six rail and five bus services between the cities every hour. Services to/from Bristol stop at Newport on average 2–3 times per hour, while there are nearly 4 services to/from London each hour.


title: Newport, Wales

text: Rogerstone railway station, on the Ebbw Valley Railway, reopened in 2008. Services currently run between Ebbw Vale and Cardiff Central via Rogerstone. Transport for Wales services were scheduled to run directly between Newport and Ebbw Vale by 2021.


title: Newport, Wales

text: The current station was built in 2010, in a hypermodern green ETFE structure, after a £22 million refurbishment programme; it introduced the futuristic new passenger terminal and bridge, whilst restoring the 19th-century features of the site. The new complex, west of the old station entrance, includes two terminals, four full-size platforms, new terminal buildings and a public footbridge, a new passenger footbridge, a new taxi area, short-stay car park and a 250-space passenger car park.


title: Newport, Wales

text: The 21st-century modernisation of the Great Western main line programme has seen the installation of new facilities on platforms 2 and 3, including redesigned toilets, waiting rooms and covered areas.


title: Newport, Wales

text: Overhead line equipment has been installed through the city, as part of electrification of the London to Cardiff line, which allows the operation of Japanese-built Intercity Express Programme 10-car trains. The new services are all-electric, with more seats and improvements to journey times between Newport and London of around 1 hour 30 minutes, including non-stop services after Wales between Bristol Parkway and London Paddington.


title: Newport, Wales

text: There are active proposals from Grand Central to operate services from Llanelli, via Cardiff and Newport, to London Paddington, only stopping at Severn Tunnel Junction and Bristol Parkway instead of the current service which also calls at Didcot Parkway, Swindon, Reading.


title: Newport, Wales

text: The Brynglas Tunnels are a cause of traffic delays as the M4 narrows to two lanes in both directions between junctions 25 and 26.


title: Newport, Wales

text: The Southern Distributor Road (SDR) is part of the A48 road and is a peripheral distributor road, which runs from Junction 24 of the M4 motorway in the east of Newport to Junction 28 in the west. Combined with the M4 in the north, the SDR forms the southern part of a ring road for the city.


title: Newport, Wales

text: The Old Green Interchange is an elevated roundabout over the A4042 (Heidenheim Drive) at the western end of Newport Bridge. Newport's pedestrianised High Street runs southwest from the interchange through Westgate Square to the pedestrianised Commercial Street. Queensway passes Newport railway station and links the Old Green Interchange to Newport Civic Centre via Clytha Park Road. Kingsway/Usk Way is a boulevard on the west bank of the River Usk linking the Old Green Interchange to the Southern Distributor Road at the western end of City Bridge and to Newport Transporter Bridge.


title: Newport, Wales

text: Corporation Road follows the east bank of the River Usk, but with limited views of the river. It links Newport Bridge to George Street Bridge, Newport City Bridge and, via Stephenson Road, Newport Transporter Bridge.


title: Newport, Wales

text: Many of the landmarks of Newport are in Newport city centre or within a short walking distance of the centre; these include:


title: Newport, Wales

text: From north to south they are: Caerleon Bridge, St. Julian's railway bridge, M4 motorway Usk bridge, Usk Railway Bridge, Newport Bridge, Newport City footbridge, George Street Bridge, City Bridge and Transporter Bridge.


title: Newport, Wales

text: In addition, the Twenty Ten Bridge at the Celtic Manor Resort is a footbridge crossing the River Usk north of Caerleon Bridge, no longer open to the public since May 2019.


title: Newport, Wales

text: The main shopping streets of Newport city centre are pedestrianised with High Street and Commercial Street forming the north /south axis plus adjoining roads including Newport Arcade, Market Arcade, Skinner Street, Bridge Street, Upper Dock Street, Market Street, Griffin Street, Corn Street, Cambrian Road, Hill Street and Llanarth Street.


title: Newport, Wales

text: The five roads of Commercial Street, Stow Hill, Bridge Street, High Street and Skinner Street converge at Westgate Square (named after the Westgate Hotel) and this is generally regarded as the central point the city.


title: Newport, Wales

text: Kingsway Shopping Centre is an indoor shopping mall. The adjoining £90 million Friars Walk shopping centre opened in November 2015 is regarded as having benefited the city centre; this has 30 shops, about 12 restaurants and an 8-screen cinema. Newport Market is a Victorian indoor market on two floors with outlets for produce and general products.


title: Newport, Wales

text: The University of South Wales campus is on the west bank of the river Usk in Newport city centre. The university can trace its roots to the founding of the Newport Mechanics Institute in 1841. Newport School of Art, Media and Design was one of the first Art Schools to be awarded degree status in 1973 and enjoyed a high reputation in painting, Fine Art, and sculpture throughout the 1960s and 1970s. It is still highly regarded however, especially in documentary photography. The Fine Art course closed in 2013, its final degree show entitled 'depARTure'.


title: Newport, Wales

text: Newport also has the further-education Coleg Gwent City of Newport Campus, informally known as Nash College, in Lliswerry. Brynglas House is currently an Adult Education Centre.


title: Newport, Wales

text: Newport has eight English-medium state comprehensive schools (Bassaleg School, Newport High School, St Joseph's Roman Catholic High School, Caerleon Comprehensive School, John Frost School, Lliswerry High School, Llanwern High School and Saint Julian's School) and one independent comprehensive school (Rougemont School). All schools are governed by Newport Local Education Authority.


title: Newport, Wales

text: Newport has three Welsh-medium primary schools; "Ysgol Gymraeg Bro Teyrnon" in Brynglas, "Ysgol Gymraeg Casnewydd" in Ringland and "Ysgol Gymraeg Ifor Hael" in Bettws. The Welsh-medium secondary school is "Ysgol Gyfun Gwent Is Coed" in Brynglas. The city's, fourth Welsh-medium primary school is planned to open at the Pillgwenlly Primary site, with the existing school moving to a purpose built building on the former Corus steel Whiteheads site


title: Newport, Wales

text: A Football Academy is based at Llanwern High School. It was established in 1998 as a partnership of Newport County Football Club and Newport City Council. The academy has a development programme of around 50 students undertaking sporting qualifications. The students compete in the South West Counties League as Newport County's youth team.


title: Newport, Wales

text: Newport Transporter Bridge is one of the few remaining working bridges of its type in the world and featured in the film Tiger Bay. Visitors can travel on the suspended cradle most days and can walk atop the steel framework on bank holidays. The only other British example is Middlesbrough Transporter Bridge. Open days are occasionally held to view the renovation of the historically important Newport Ship.


title: Newport, Wales

text: The Riverfront Arts Centre is a modern purpose-built theatre and arts venue. The Dolman Theatre was refurbished in 2005. The Phyllis Maud Performance Space theatre seats between 25 and 30 in a converted Victorian public toilet.


title: Newport, Wales

text: Newport has three major museums: Newport Museum in the city centre and at Caerleon the National Roman Legion Museum and Roman Baths Museum. Newport Central Library is located within Newport Museum. In July each year an Arts festival is held in Caerleon and Roman Military re-enactment in the amphitheatre, the largest restored amphitheatre in Britain. The remains of the Roman baths, barracks and fortress walls of Isca Augusta can be seen at Caerleon. Caerleon also has literary associations to the legend of King Arthur through Geoffrey of Monmouth and later Arthur Machen (who was born in Caerleon) and Alfred Lord Tennyson wrote his Idylls of the King in Caerleon.


title: Newport, Wales

text: The Newport Festival runs throughout the summer months with a large number of events being staged in the city centre and elsewhere in the city.


title: Newport, Wales

text: Set in a park of , Tredegar House is an example of a 17th-century Charles II mansion. The earliest surviving part of the building dates back to the late 15th century. For over five hundred years, it was home to the Morgans – later Lords Tredegar – until they left in 1951. The house was then bought by the Catholic Church and used as a girls' school until it was bought by the council in 1974, which led to it being described as the "grandest council house in Britain".


title: Newport, Wales

text: A mosaic Chartist Mural was created in 1978 near John Frost Square to commemorate the Chartist rising of 1839. It was demolished amid protests in October 2013 to make way for city centre redevelopment. A trust was set up to commission a new memorial with £50,000 of funding provided by Newport City Council In 2014 the Newport Chartist Commission, with members Dame Rosemary Butler, Pat Drewett and Rowan Williams, sought to recruit a project manager.


title: Newport, Wales

text: As part of the city's "Big Splash" festival, on 30 August 2010, 45-year-old French circus star Olivier Roustan from Toulouse, performed the highest ever wirewalk in Europe, along the top cable of the Newport City footbridge.


title: Newport, Wales

text: Newport hosted an outdoor art exhibition called "SuperDragons" in 2010 which displayed 60 large dragons decorated by local community groups.


title: Newport, Wales

text: In November 2013 the Newport Arts, Culture and Heritage Association (NACHA), which promotes "the past, present and future of the arts, culture and heritage of the people of Newport, South Wales" was launched on Facebook. In December 2014 chairman of the Friends of Newport Museum and Art Gallery, Richard Frame, expressed alarm at Newport City Council proposals to close the museum in 2015.


title: Newport, Wales

text: The city centre has many pubs, bars and nightclubs, mostly in the vicinity of High Street. The most famous of these was TJ's, an alternative music club where it is claimed that Kurt Cobain of Nirvana proposed to Courtney Love, which closed in 2010. TJ's was voted one of the top 50 'Big Nights Out' in the world by FHM in December 1997


title: Newport, Wales

text: Newport Centre and the Riverfront Arts Centre are popular concert venues. Other live music venues in the city centre include NEON, Six Feet Under, Le Pub, Riverside Tavern, Warehouse 54, McCann's, Slippin Jimmy's, El Sieco's, and The Potters.


title: Newport, Wales

text: Outdoor music events are held in the summer months at Beechwood Park, Belle Vue Park, Rodney Parade, as well as the Pillgwenlly and Maindee carnivals.


title: Newport, Wales

text: Newport is the subject of a 2010 song "Newport (Ymerodraeth State of Mind)", a parody of the Alicia Keys song "Empire State of Mind." The video went viral, was featured on BBC News, and by August 2010, nearly 2.5 million people had watched it on YouTube. YouTube removed the video due to a copyright claim by music publishers. Newport-based rap group Goldie Lookin Chain released a 'parody of a parody' video in response, alleging that their rivals lacked local knowledge.


title: Newport, Wales

text: The main municipal parks in Newport are Tredegar Park, Belle Vue Park and Beechwood Park. The main municipal playing fields are at Tredegar Park, Coronation Park, Glebelands, Pillgwenlly sports ground, Kimberley Park, Shaftesbury Park and Caerleon Broadway.


title: Newport, Wales

text: To the south of the city lies the extensive Caldicot and Wentloog Levels and Newport Wetlands Reserve. The Wetlands reserve opened in March 2000 as a mitigation for the loss of mudflats caused by the building of the Cardiff Bay Barrage. A Local Nature Reserve is established at Allt-yr-yn.


title: Newport, Wales

text: Newport City footbridge is a cycle and pedestrian bridge in Newport city centre linking the east and west banks of the River Usk.


title: Newport, Wales

text: A cycle and pedestrian walkway on the west bank of the River Usk links Newport city centre at Crindau to central Caerleon. There is a marked heritage trail in Caerleon. A cycle and pedestrian walkway is on both banks of the River Usk. The East bank path links Newport Bridge to Lliswerry. The West bank path links Newport Bridge to Newport Transporter Bridge and to Lliswerry via Newport City Bridge. It is therefore possible to walk or cycle from the north to the south of the City whilst largely avoiding public roads.


title: Newport, Wales

text: The main municipal leisure sports facilities are based at Newport Centre in the city centre, Newport International Sports Village at Lliswerry and the Newport Active Living Centre at Bettws. There is a purpose-built indoor bowls arena at the Glebelands.


title: Newport, Wales

text: Since the introduction of regional rugby franchises in Wales in 2003, Newport RFC now play in the Welsh Premier Division and operate as a feeder club to the Dragons regional team, who play in the Pro14 league. Both Newport RFC and the Dragons play at Rodney Parade near Newport city centre.


title: Newport, Wales

text: Nine other rugby union teams playing in the Welsh League are based in Newport; Newport Saracens, Pill Harriers, Newport High School Old Boys, Bettws, Caerleon, Hartridge, Rogerstone, St Julians High School Old Boys and Whiteheads.


title: Newport, Wales

text: Newport's best known association football club is Newport County, who were formed in 1912 and joined the English Football League in 1920. Newport County have played in the second tier of English football and spent over 60 seasons in the Football League, reached the last 16 of the FA Cup, won the Welsh Cup in 1980 and subsequently reached the quarter-finals of the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1981. They were relegated from the Football League in 1988 and went bankrupt the following year. The club re-formed in 1989. They secured promotion back to the Football League for the 2013–14 season after a 25-year absence and now play in Football League Two.


title: Newport, Wales

text: Newport is also home to five teams that play in the Welsh Football League: Caerleon, Lliswerry, Newport City, Newport Civil Service and Newport YMCA. The city has its own league, the Newport and District Football League, which is part of the Welsh football league system and consequently some Newport clubs field teams in the Gwent County League. Lovell's Athletic were a fairly well known team in the mid-20th century – due to the suspension of League football during the Second World War they were the premier team in the city, as Newport County did not field a side. During this period they managed to reach the 3rd round of the FA Cup in the 1945–46 season.


title: Newport, Wales

text: Dragon Park, the Football Association of Wales' National Football Centre, is located at the Newport International Sports Village. The centre also provides the headquarters for the Welsh Football Trust.


title: Newport, Wales

text: The city is home to the Celtic Manor Resort, a five-star conference resort and home of the Wales Open, the annual European Tour golf tournament. The resort was the venue for the All*Star Cup celebrity golf tournament in 2005 and for the 2010 Ryder Cup.


title: Newport, Wales

text: The city has high-quality golf facilities at Llanwern Golf Club, Peterstone Golf Club, Parc Golf Academy in Coedkernew and Newport Golf Club and Tredegar Park Golf Club in Rogerstone. Caerleon has a good quality nine-hole municipal course, driving range and clubhouse.


title: Newport, Wales

text: Within a short drive of Newport are golf clubs at St Mellons, Dewstow, Shirenewton, St Pierre, GreenMeadow, Woodlake, Alice Springs, Pontypool and Raglan.


title: Newport, Wales

text: The Newport International Sports Village at Lliswerry includes the Wales National Velodrome, the head office of Welsh Cycling.


title: Newport, Wales

text: Newport was a key venue for British Tennis. The 'World Group' Ties for the 1906 International Lawn Tennis Challenge (forerunner to the Davis Cup) were hosted at Newport Athletic Club.


title: Newport, Wales

text: The Newport International Sports Village has been home to Newport Cricket Club since moving from Rodney Parade in 1990.


title: Newport, Wales

text: For many years the city had a motorcycle speedway team Newport Wasps but the team was disbanded in 2012.


title: Newport, Wales

text: Newport is one of three main cities where British baseball is still played – the others are Cardiff and Liverpool – and the city hosts an international match every four years at Coronation Park.


title: Newport, Wales

text: South East Wales Regional Swimming Pool is located at Newport International Sports Village. Newport Tennis Centre is also located at the complex and is a municipal multi-sport facility for tennis (indoor and outdoor), five-a-side football, basketball, field hockey, netball, table tennis, badminton, and squash.


title: Newport, Wales

text: Newport Squash Club has four courts situated in the grounds of Rodney Parade and the club operates a public pay-per-play arrangement there.


title: Newport, Wales

text: St. Joseph's Amateur Boxing Club is situated on George Street and is the home club of Yemeni-born 2006 Commonwealth bronze medallist Mo Nasir and 2010 Commonwealth Silver medallist Sean McGoldrick.


title: Newport, Wales

text: Treetops Shooting Ground, Coedkernew is one of Britain's best-equipped clay pigeon shooting grounds and often hosts competitions between local shooting clubs and university clay shooting clubs from around South Wales and South West England.


title: Newport, Wales

text: Newport hosted the International Cross Country Championships (1903–1972) on six occasions (1906, 1911, 1921, 1927, 1933 and 1955) at Caerleon Racecourse.


title: Newport, Wales

text: Newport has a Skittle Alley League consisting of over 50 teams who play their league games on a Friday evening.


title: Newport, Wales

text: Newport's local newspaper is the South Wales Argus, which is published in the city and distributed throughout the city and surrounding area.


title: Newport, Wales

text: There's also a daily Newport edition of the Western Mail that serves the city, along with its digital publication NewportOnline – the city's most-read online news platform.


title: Newport, Wales

text: Local analogue radio broadcasting licences cover the Cardiff/Newport area; the FM licence is held by Cardiff Broadcasting Co. Ltd., broadcasting as Capital FM South Wales from Cardiff Bay and the AM licence is held by Capital Radio plc, broadcasting as Capital Gold. The local DAB ensembles are Cardiff and Newport (11C) and South Wales and Severn Estuary (12C).


title: Newport, Wales

text: Newport City Council voted unanimously on 23 July 2019 to effectively end relations with the Guangxi Province region of China.


title: Newport, Wales

text: 38,000 people had petitioned the council to end its twinning agreement due to the Yulin Dog Meat Festival, which takes place in the Guangxi town of Yulin each year. Council Leader Debbie Wilcox, Baroness Wilcox stated that while the council had previously written a strong letter to officials from Guangxi, this had been ignored, and that cutting ties was now necessary. The Council says it will now lobby the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Great Britain–China Centre on the issue of protecting dogs.


title: Ed Davey

text: Sir Edward Jonathan Davey (born 25 December 1965) is a British politician who has served as Leader of the Liberal Democrats since 2020. He served in the Cameron–Clegg coalition as Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change from 2012 to 2015 and as Deputy Leader to Jo Swinson in 2019. An "Orange Book" liberal, he has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Kingston and Surbiton since 2017, and from 1997 to 2015.


title: Ed Davey

text: Davey was born in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, where he attended Nottingham High School. He then went on to study at Jesus College, Oxford, and Birkbeck, University of London. He was an economics researcher and financial analyst before being elected to the House of Commons. He served as a Liberal Democrat spokesperson to Charles Kennedy, Menzies Campbell and Nick Clegg from 2005 to 2010, in various portfolios including Education and Skills, Trade and Industry, and Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs.


title: Ed Davey

text: In 2010, after the Liberal Democrats entered into a coalition government with the Conservative Party, Davey served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Employment Relations, Consumer and Postal Affairs from 2010 to 2012, and in David Cameron's Cabinet as Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change from 2012 to 2015, following Chris Huhne's resignation. Davey focused on increasing competition in the energy market by removing barriers to entry for smaller companies, and streamlining the customer switching process. He also approved the construction of Hinkley Point C nuclear power station.


title: Ed Davey

text: He lost his seat in the 2015 general election, but regained it in the snap election held two years later. He served as the Liberal Democrat Home Affairs spokesperson from 2017 to 2019. In July 2019, after the retirement of Vince Cable, Davey unsuccessfully ran against Jo Swinson in a leadership election. He was later appointed Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson and elected unopposed as Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats. After Swinson lost her seat at the 2019 general election, Davey, while remaining Deputy Leader, served as Acting Leader alongside the Liberal Democrat Presidents Baroness Brinton and Mark Pack from December 2019 to August 2020. Davey stood in the 2020 leadership election, in which he defeated Layla Moran with 63.5% of the vote.


title: Ed Davey

text: Edward Jonathan Davey was born in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire on 25 December 1965. His father John died when Davey was four years old, and his mother Nina Davey (née Stanbrook) died 11 years later, after which he was brought up by his maternal grandparents. After attending the private Nottingham High School where Davey was head boy in 1984, he attended Jesus College, Oxford, where he was awarded a first class BA degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics in 1988. He was JCR President.


title: Ed Davey

text: During his adolescence, he worked at Pork Farms pork pie factory and at Boots. In 1989, he became an economics researcher for the Liberal Democrats, principally to Alan Beith, the party's then-Treasury spokesman, whilst studying at Birkbeck College, London, for a master's degree (MSc) in Economics. He was closely involved in the development of Liberal Democrat policies such as an additional penny on income tax to fund education, and central bank independence, for the 1992 general election. From 1993 to 1997, he worked in business forecasting and market analysis for management consultancy firm Omega Partners.