The year in review

The year in Wales began with a story which was to dominate the headlines for several months and rocket a couple from Flintshire into the full glare of the international media.

Solicitor Alan Kilshaw and his wife Judith had returned to their home at Buckley with American twin girls they had brought via a broker found over the internet.

In January in a hotel room in north Wales they revealed the babies they had called Belinda and Kimberley to the world's press and a furore began.

Headteacher Marjorie Evans: Returned to school

The smiling girls of six months were taken into the care of the social services and rounds of legal "toing and froing" ensued before a judge finally ruled that they should be returned to the US and their future sorted out by the American courts.

Another case which dominated the news agenda at the start of the year was that of Marjorie Evans, the Monmouthshire headteacher convicted but then later cleared of slapping a pupil.

After an 18-month saga Mrs Evans was finally allowed back to the classroom at the end of the spring term, amid allegations that she would sue the education authority over the delays in permitting her return to run.

The general election was proceeding very much without event in Wales until Labour's deputy leader John Prescott returning to his native north Wales attended a rally in Rhyl one May evening.

What happened then became known as the "rumble in Rhyl" when Mr Prescott responded to an egg being thrown by an onlooker with a left hook.

Much later in the year it was decided that no action would be taken against either Mr Prescott or Craig Evans, the farmworker also involved.

An explosion rocked the Corus plant at Port Talbot

In July Raphael Gray, a computer hacker from Carmarthenshire who posted thousands of credit card details on the internet, was ordered at Swansea Crown Court to undergo psychiatric treatment as part of a community rehabilitation order.

However, the 19-year-old, who used the internet to send viagra to Microsoft biillionaire Bill Gates, said he still believed he was right to expose security weaknesses on bank websites.

In October - a couple from West Wales who let their daughter and her friend die on a railway line, learnt they would not going to prison.

Gareth and Amanda Edwards had earlier were found guilty of the manslaughter of their eight- year-old- daughter Sophie George, and her friend Kimberly Allcock, who was seven.

Instead, they were given a 12 month suspended sentence.

At the end of the year the Roman Catholic community in Cardiff were given a new leader.

Cerys Matthews: Health problems

It followed the decision of Archbishop John Ward to step down after allegations that he had ignored warnings about paedophile priests in the archdiocese.

Archbishop Ward announced his decision to go in October following a meeting with the Pope in the Vatican.

The industrial year

1 February brought the news that steelworkers across Wales had been bracing themselves for. Corus -affected by the strong pound - was to close two plants - Bryngwyn and Ebbw Vale and drastically trim back operations at Llanwern near Newport and Shotton on Deeside.

Other industrial cutbacks were to follow and the tragic events of 11 September in the US sparked a downturn in the airline and related industries which were to impact on Wales.

Among the casualties were Alcoa at Rogerstone and fellow aluminium manufacturer Alcan which announced it was going to have to shut its plant in the Conwy Valley and lose jobs at its plant in Swansea.

Meanwhile, a dispute over pay and conditions at a car components plant at Caernarfon which began in April is continuing.

Eighty seven workers at the Friction Dynamex plant were sacked and replaced by other staff in June. They are awaiting a High Court hearing in the New Year.

In November, Corus's Port Talbot steel plant was rocked by an explosion in one of its blast furnaces.

Three men died and another ten were injured, one of whom is still in intensive care in Morriston Hospital in Swansea.

That's entertainment

Two thousand and one saw Noel Sullivan from Cardiff's Caerau plucked from obscurity to instant stardom via the Popstar programme and the Hear'Say pop group.

Another south Wales girl - this time a policewoman Charlotte Hobrugh from the Vale of Glamorgan - was also thrown into the showbiz limelight by winning the reality TV Survivor programme.

She spent forty days on a remote island in the South China Sea and beat 15 people to the £1m prize.

Not the money but fame also for Cwmbran hairdresser Helen Adams who came second in the Big Brother reality TV competition in the summer.

Cuba was the destination for the Manic Street Preachers in February when they played to President Fidel Castro and thousands others at the Karl Marx Theatre in Havana.

Sir Harry Secombe: Tributes to "Clown Prince"

The Manics were the biggest Western band to play in the Caribbean state since 1979, and rock fans were not disappointed

Fellow Welsh band Catatonia announced in September that they were splitting up after ten years on the road together.

Lead singer Cerys Matthews had been beset by health problems over the summer.

In April, Wales lost its "Clown Prince". Sir Harry Secombe died at the age of 79 after a long battle against cancer.

Among the many tributes was one from lifetime fan Prince Charles who said of Sir Harry :"He was one of the great life enhancers of our age and gave pleasure and constant happy laughter to so many of us throughout his life."

In March The Weakest Link host Anne Robinson invoked the wrath of Welsh politicians and many other when she described Welsh people as "irritating and annoying." while on the BBC Two TV comedy programme, Room 101.

While not apologising for her comments,Miss Robinson later went on to assist in a Wales Tourist Board advertising campaign to try to attract Easter visitors when the foot-and-mouth outbreak was at its worst.

Sporting triumph

Cardiff's Millennium Stadium scored big successes in 2001, standing in for Wembley whose future is still undecided..

It hosted the Charity Shield football match between Liverpool and Manchester United, and has also played host to the FA Cup and Worthington Cup finals.

The stadium increased its reputation as a venue for pop concerts including one by the Stereophonics which was switched from the Chepstow racecourse in the light of foot-and-mouth.

It has beaten its two million attendance record target by 300,000.