Council tax set to rise by nearly 4 pc in Salford to balance budget

X Factor’s former fashion director Grace Woodward has taken aim at the defunct talent show and claimed there was a “dark misogyny” on set.Woodward worked as the fashion director on the show in 2010, which was the year which 14 million viewers were wowed by Matt Cardle and Rebecca Ferguson's dulcet tones.Grace claimed X Factor star Cher Lloyd, who was just 16 during her time on the X Factor, reportedly once waved scissors at an assistant, Grace Woodward claims.Grace claimed that Cher, who is now 28, once got so stressed during a costume fitting that she aggressively waved scissors at a colleague.The former fashion director said that despite the alleged incident, Cher still performed at the live show on Saturday night.Grace explained: "Cher seemed very fragile when she came on the show, but she had no help or support."Woodward said she watched the women struggle on the programme and there was a "dark misogyny" which led to women being viewed as "expendable".She suggested One Direction were viewed as “untouchable” but the female contestants were not.Grace claimed that Liam Payne, who was 17 at the time, asked her to sit on his lap backstage and that the behaviour was considered as “part of the culture of the show”.She added that Payne likely would have considered it normal.It was recently reported that Syco has been hit by legal claims by former contestants that they did not receive proper care on the show.Katie Waissel was the named complainant, while Rebecca Ferguson, 34, has also been outspoken about her time on the show.Ferguson has been at the forefront of a movement against the music industry after claiming she has suffered abuse during her career.Grace explained: "I was worried about Rebecca as she was quiet anyway,

Ukrainian brewery has joined the fight against Russia by helping to make Molotov cocktails using bottles of one its beers, which translates to “Putin is a d***head”. Pravda Brewery in Lviv has stopped its operations due to the invasion of Russia but decided to help its country by creating Molotov cocktails after the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine shared instructions on Twitter.

Liz Hurley posed with her injured ankle in the air after heading off for a holiday at the Viva Mayr Medical Health Resort by Lake Wörthersee. The Royals actress, 56, is staying at her luxury accommodation – which costs up to £2,600 a night – with picturesque mountains and scenery visible outside the hotel windows.Austin Powers actress Liz reseted her bandaged leg on the wall near the window, as she perched in the window sill.Despite being injured, the former face of Estée Lauder looked incredible as she showed off her natural beauty.Liz rocked her signature smoky eyeshadow in the snap and added a soft-pink gloss to her plump pout.She styled her chocolate-coloured locks into loose, voluminous curls, which cascaded down past her shoulders.Despite going full-glam in the makeup stakes, she went stripped-back in the clothing stakes.Liz simply rocked a skimpy white T-shirt, showing off her supermodel pins.Liz captioned the post: "'I tore the ligaments in my left ankle whilst filming in the Caribbean in November.

doggers that Police have had to issue a warning.Ashdown Forrest in East Sussex is known the world over for being the inspiration for AA Milne's Hundred Acres Wood in the Winnie the Pooh stories.As a result, hundreds of families visit the spot each year hoping to walk through the scenery associated with the books and films.However, due to a spike in dirty behaviour, these days families are more likely to see a rocking transit van than a charming animated bear.Police have now urged people engaging in “acts of a sexual nature” not to visit the Sussex beauty spot.In a statement on Facebook after a number of reports, officers from Wealden Police reminded those who engage in the act that they can be arrested if caught.They said: “The Ashdown Forest is a beautiful place visited regularly by families and people relaxing and unwinding.“We remind visitors that his wonderful space and the surrounding car parks should not be the location for acts of a sexual nature amongst consenting adults.“Those engaging in these acts could be arrested and charged with outraging public decency.”Sussex Police is also stepping up patrols in the Ashdown Forest area in an effort to literally catch offenders with their trousers down.Interestingly (if you find this sort of thing interesting that is), dogging isn't actually a crime in the UK.That's right, the law allows consenting adults to get it on pretty much anywhere but there are some caveats to dissuade people from going at it in supermarket car parks.Under the Sexual Offences Act 2003 people caught having sex in public can be charged with public lewdness and indecent exposure.Of course, you could try to argue that your act was neither lewd nor indecent - but you probably wouldn't look that

PETER Andre has sent his thoughts and prayers to the innocent people caught up in Russia’s attack on Ukraine. The singer acknowledged the escalating situation in a sombre post this morning as he marks his 49th birthday today.

Dashboard Confessional have appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live – watch them perform ‘Everyone Else Is Just Noise’ below.The emotive set saw the group deliver their latest single from new album, ‘All The Truth That I Can Tell’ – the group’s first new album in over four years. The album arrived on Friday (February 25) via Hidden Note Records/AWAL.The new song sees frontman Chris Carraba reflecting on ageing and getting older.

King Crimson founder Robert Fripp and his wife, singer Toyah Willcox, have shared a cover of The Black Keys‘ hit ‘Lonely Boy’ – check it out below.The cover is a part of the pair’s ‘Sunday Lunch’ video series which was launched in 2020. The series has so far seen the couple share renditions of songs by Ramones, Nirvana, David Bowie, Metallica, Billy Idol, The Rolling Stones, Judas Priest, The Prodigy, Guns N’ Roses, Alice Cooper and many more through Willcox’s YouTube channel.In recent weeks, they’ve covered ‘Bullet With Butterfly Wings’ by the Smashing Pumpkins and given a special Valentine’s Day performance of ‘Too Drunk To Fuck’ by The Dead Kennedys.Today (February 27), Sunday Lunch headed to 2011 with a hit single from The Black Keys’ breakout album ‘El Camino’.Watch Fripp and Willcox take on ‘Lonely Boy’ below.In August, Willcox released her 16th studio album ‘Posh Pop’, which she previewed with the single ‘Levitate’ featuring Simon Darlow and Bobby Willcox.Discussing the album in a recent interview with NME, Willcox explained how it came about. “When COVID stopped everything last year, it allowed me to concentrate on writing and recording the next album,” she said.

Prizes are up for grabs for cyclists across South Lanarkshire as part of a programme which takes place next month.

Russia. The 44 year old was previously mocked for his non-political background as a comedian and an actor, who once starred in a TV show about becoming President of Ukraine by mistake.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is reportedly “raging” in his lair in the Urals, demanding to know why the invasion of Ukraine is taking so long. Russian troops are encountering fierce resistance as they lay siege to the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, and are taking unexpectedly high casualties in the hand-to-hand fighting in Ukraine's second city Kharkiv.Riho Terras, Estonia’s former defence chief, tweeted: "Putin is furious, he thought that the whole war would be easy and everything would be done in one to four days.“The Russians are in shock of the fierce resistance they have encountered."He added that the Russian forces don’t appear to have a "tactical plan" to take Ukraine.Terras said Putin's invasion plan relied on “sowing panic among civilians and armed forces and forcing [Ukrainian President] Zelenskyy to flee".But in response to a US offer of a flight out of the besieged capital, Zelenskyy replied, “The fight is here; I need ammunition, not a ride.”Terras also shared an image of what he says is a Russian military intelligence report that he captioned: "Putin is raging.

Foxtel in Australia has become the latest broadcaster to suspend transmission of the Kremlin-backed RT channel in the region.

James Brown documentary produced by Mick Jagger and Questlove in on the way.A&E Network announced the four-part documentary yesterday (February 26) and said it’s expected to arrive in 2023.James Brown: Say It Loud will be directed by Deborah Riley Draper and will be executive produced by Mick Jagger, Questlove and Black Thought, among others.In a statement, Jagger said he was “thrilled” to executive produce the project, saying: “He was a brilliant performer who inspired me from the beginning and was deeply committed to the Civil Rights movement. I have always admired James and learned so much from him.”Questlove and Black Thought added: “The life of James Brown is significant not only to understand his immense musical impact, which inspires us and other artists to this day, but also for the deep and lasting impression he has had on American culture.“Brown’s life is a crucial and timely story of struggle, redemption, and self-identity and we are honoured to have the chance to share it.”In 2014, the late Chadwick Boseman starred as James Brown for the biopic Get On Up, which Jagger also produced.

Eddie Vedder was joined by The Police drummer Stewart Copeland at a California show this weekend to perform ‘Message In A Bottle’ – check out footage below.Vedder and his all-star band The Earthlings, which features Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith and former RHCP guitarist (and current Pearl Jam touring member) Josh Klinghoffer, are currently towards the end of a short US tour behind Vedder’s new solo album, ‘Earthling’.At Friday night’s (February 25) show at the YouTube Theater in Inglewood, California, Copeland joined the band on drums for an extended run through one of The Police’s biggest hits.It also saw Chad Smith, usually drummer for the band as he is in Red Hot Chili Peppers, taking up guitar duties instead.See footage of the performance below.At an earlier show on the tour in Seattle, Vedder paid a moving tribute to the late Mark Lanegan following the grunge icon’s death.The former Screaming Trees frontman passed away yesterday morning at his home in Killarney, Ireland.There was an outpouring of grief from artists across the music world from the likes of Manic Street Preachers, The Charlatans frontman Tim Burgess, Anton Newcombe and many others.Vedder, who was performing at the Benaroya Hall, paused his show to honour the late 57-year-old.“I got here about four o’clock and all of a sudden my body started shaking a little bit,” he told the audience. “I started to feel really terrible and I think it was because I was having an allergic reaction to sadness.“Because we lost… there’s a guy called Mark Lanegan.

Emergency services raced to a fire in Ferguslie in the early hours of this morning.

A mushroom cloud has been seen billowing in the sky after an explosion at a gas pipeline near a Ukrainian city.

Vladimir Putin. The sporting world has been heavily critical of the Russian president following his decision to undergo what he calls "a special military operation" against Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been branded a "sex icon" after gathering a new fan base while fighting on the frontline. Fans have flooded Twitter with their admiration for Zelensky's leadership skills, which has left people "swooning" over him since Russia declared war on Thursday ( February 24).

Greater Manchester is looking even more stunning than normal this morning as glorious sunshine bathes the region.

the border of Poland.“So we’re really dealing with women and children at the border in Poland. We just had an incident with a woman whose husband was pulled out of the car. He was taken because he’s Ukrainian, and the men can’t leave,” Frankel said in a video shared to her Instagram Story.“He’s never held a gun in his life, and now he’s a soldier, so she’s coming through with her family, and we have to get her family to Spain, where she has family because she doesn’t have family in Poland,” she continued.Frankel first announced BStrong’s assistance on Thursday.

Vladimir Putin "could use nuclear weapons in Ukraine" one top Conservative MP has warned.Tory MP Tobias Ellwood, chair of the Commons Defence Select Committee has urged the Government to start rolling out sanctions "every day" to combat Russian aggression in the country.The former veteran also said that the worst-case scenario would be low yield nuclear weapons being used in the conflict. Putin has already boasted of the "cutting-edge weapons" Russia has to hand in the conflict with Ukraine.

Demi Lovato has shared a photo of them hanging out with Turnstile, who they call their “favourite band”.Turnstile are currently on tour in the US behind their recent album ‘GLOW ON’, which was placed at Number Nine in NME‘s 50 Best Albums of 2021 list.On Thursday night (February 24), the band played at The Novo in Los Angeles, and after the show Lovato shared a photo of them hanging out with the band.“My favorite band (Turnstile) & my favorite hat (apparently),” Lovato wrote on Instagram. See the post below.A post shared by Demi Lovato (@ddlovato)Last week, Turnstile shared a new video for their song ‘UNDERWATER BOI’, with the visual captured using characters from the world of the 2003 MMORPG video game Second Life by drummer Daniel Fang.Earlier this month Turnstile played a run of UK shows to celebrate ‘GLOW ON’ including dates in London, Leeds and Nottingham.The band were forced to reschedule their European tour dates to June and July – see details of those gigs below and find any remaining tickets here.JUNE18 – Hamburg, Gruenspan20 – Paris, Elysee Montmartre22 – Hasselt, ModJULY5 – Berlin, Astra Kulturhaus6 – Haarlem, Patronaat18 – Cologne, PalladiumTurnstile will also headline Outbreak Festival 2022 and 2000Trees Festival in the UK this summer.