Around a thousand pacifist and anti-nuclear demonstrators marched through Newport on Saturday ahead of the NATO summit in the British city next week.

Various left-wing organizations took part in the protest, including the Stop The War Coalition group and the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND).

High winds and heavy rain battered parts of Europe on Monday, leaving at least two people dead and one man lost at sea off France, and disrupting travel two days from Christmas.

In Britain, a man was found dead in a swollen river in northwest England where the water was "fast flowing, and a lot more water than normal", said Inspector Chis Wright of the Cumbria police, adding: "It's fair to say that the weather contributed to the problem."

A 3.8-magnitude earthquake struck north Wales on Wednesday, with tremors felt as far away as the Irish capital Dublin, but there were no reports of damage.

The epicentre of the earthquake in the Irish Sea was 15 kilometers (9.3 miles) from the Welsh seaside town of Abersoch on the Llyn Peninsula, the British Geological Survey (BGS) said.

Racing has found it tough going some times to live up to the moniker of being the 'sport of kings' but this season is perhaps the best all round in decades.

There is a buzz about the sport that has been lacking in years gone by which have generally left the neutral observer cold as the powerhouse of Aidan O'Brien's stable and to a lesser extent Godolphin have dominated.