Aesthetica and York St John University are bringing back The Creative Business Skills Academy this Spring, offering 12 fully funded places to creative founders and business owners.

After a successful launch in 2024, the free 12-week in-person programme will run from May 6 to July 29, taking place on Wednesdays from 6-9pm.

The programme aims to equip entrepreneurs with the practical tools, strategic frameworks and industry networks required to build sustainable ventures.

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The Academy supports creatives at the crucial early stages of starting, growing and scaling their businesses.

York is one of just 27 cities worldwide to hold a UNESCO City of Media Arts designation and the Academy aims to use this global recognition to help people get into the creative sector.

Cherie Federico, Director of Aesthetica, said: “York’s UNESCO City of Media Arts designation is not simply a title – it is a call to action. The Creative Business Skills Academy is about turning creative potential into sustainable businesses.

“By investing directly in founders and small enterprises, we are building the infrastructure that allows creativity to thrive, generate employment and shape the future of our city. Supporting entrepreneurial talent at grassroots level is how we secure long-term cultural and economic impact.”

The Academy is free to attend and tailored specifically for start-ups and early-stage founders working across architecture, film, fine art, gaming, XR, textiles, fashion and related disciplines.

Each weekly session includes a 1.5-hour practical workshop, a one-hour masterclass led by industry experts, and dedicated time for structured networking and peer exchange.

Key topics include branding, marketing, project management, developing income streams, accountancy, legal frameworks, HR, sales, negotiation, strategy, scaling and growth — core skills that underpin resilient creative enterprises.

Confirmed speakers include: Alison Grade, founder of Mission Accomplished; Farah Hussain, founder of Farah Networking; Kit Monkman, co-founder of Viridian FX; and Cherie Federico of Aesthetica, amongst others. Their collective expertise spans enterprise, publishing, immersive technology, networking and global brand building.

Professor Brendan Paddison, Dean of York Business School at York St John University, said: “As a university rooted in York, we recognise the transformative role creative enterprise plays in regional prosperity.

“Our partnership in the Creative Business Skills Academy reflects our commitment to equipping founders with the strategic insight, commercial awareness and leadership capability needed to scale successfully.

“By connecting academic expertise with industry practice, we are strengthening the creative ecosystem and ensuring that innovation translates into meaningful economic growth.”

For more details and to apply for any of the 12 free places, go to: https://creativeskillsacademy.org

Katie Price has declared there is “no going back” with her new husband Lee Andrews after she got his name tattooed onto her ring finger shortly after insisting he’s ‘not a conman’

Katie Price has declared that “there’s no going back now” as she got a tattoo to honour her new husband. The ex-glamour model, 47, tied the knot with Lee Andrews just days after she met him earlier this year and has now made her love into a permanent statement by getting inked.

In yet another update on the situation, the former I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! star, who has now married for the fourth time, revealed that Lee’s name had been tattooed on the back of her hand just below the knuckle, on her ring finger.

She said: “What’s going on now is that I’m a married woman – I am having Lee on my wedding finger. Call me crazy, call me what you want. I thought it would hurt but it actually doesn’t. There is no going back now is there?!”

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It also seemed as if she had undergone another tattoo procedure, as she shared a second video that featured herself wrapped in a bandage and cling film.

It all comes just hours after it emerged that there was no prenup signed ahead of the wedding. Katie then spoke out, insisting that while she can understand why her family may be concerned, she should be able to make her own decisions.

She told The Sun: “Of course my family are going to worry, I wouldn’t expect anything different. They love me and they’ve seen me go through so much heartache, and the most horrific times.”

“So I don’t blame them for being p***ed off and angry. They love me and I love them too. But I’m not a kid any more, I am 47, I can make my own choices, and I will. They have to give me that chance to go and find out for myself. You just got to let me be me; my life isn’t normal. There’s no textbook to any of this. Just let me enjoy the moment and enjoy my relationship

The former Page 3 star recently at claims that her latest husband is a “conman” after various exes came out of the woodwork claiming he had proposed to them in the same way.

She insisted to The Sun: “I’m not stupid. I’ve learned now that I don’t need a man. I always used to need a man in my life whereas now I don’t need a man, I just want one.

“So yes, I can reassure everyone at home that I haven’t gone for a con man. I haven’t gone for a scammer. There was no love bombing.”

But fitness guru, Alana Percival, claims the businessman proposed to her in exactly the same way as he did with Katie just four months earlier.

Taking to social media, posing on a beach, Alana wrote: “Catching flights not fiancés – lucky escape. Somebody with your ex right now thinking they found The One,” while tagging Katie in the post. Alana added: “More to come today’s news is just a warm up.”

“You guys wanted to know what he is all about? Well let me start to tell you.” She then concluded with the hashtag ‘Run for the hills’. Alana then followed up with an Instagram post as she slammed Lee for his behaviour during their brief relationship.

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Polling by YouGov suggests a surge in support for the Green party across the country following the Gorton and Denton byelection. According to the poll, Zack Polanski’s party now has a national vote share of 21%, leapfrogging the Labour party. The Greens now sit within the margin of error behind Reform’s 23%.

In light of this result, some have claimed that the Green party’s byelection victory has boosted its national polling by making it look like a party that can win in an election. This is a version of what is known among political scientists as the bandwagon effect. The idea is that voters jump on the bandwagon of parties that are very popular with other voters.

But it’s not necessarily the case that voters are now thinking of going Green just because the Greens won in the byelection. Coverage of byelection results has a longstanding tendency to focus too much on which party wins and not enough on trends in vote shares.

Hannah Spencer won the seat for the Greens on a share of the vote fully 28 percentage points higher than her predecessor managed in 2024. Changes in vote shares like this matter because they can give some insight into the scale and direction of shifts in the standing of parties across the country as a whole.

This is true regardless of whether such trends tip a party over the threshold required to win the seat. In other words, had the Greens won Gorton and Denton by a narrow margin, as constituency polling late in the campaign suggested they might, that would not have been quite so seismic a result. What has shaken British politics is that the Greens did so much better than they did in 2024, that they did so much better than Labour – and so much better than expected.

The effects of these two related factors – the victory and the swing – cannot be teased apart. The win itself is not necessarily what has motivated voters to jump on the bandwagon in subsequent polling. It could just as plausibly be the Greens’ improving electoral performance that is doing the important work.

The striking and substantial surge in support in the byelection may be inspiring voters across the country to go Green. That surge just happened to also propel them to victory in the byelection.

Indeed, decades of research on the bandwagon effect has struggled to find any consistent evidence that voters flock to the most popular party or the “winner”. But some evidence suggests that when parties become more popular, regardless of whether that growth propels them into first place, this growth can become self-perpetuating as more voters jump on the bandwagon.

Why this matters

This distinction matters because it can shape the story we tell about why the effect is happening. If we focus on the Greens’ victory as the most important factor driving their subsequent poll boost, we will tend to tell a story about viability: the Greens won this election, so they could win others, and that makes people want to back them.

If instead we focus on the Greens’ growth, we uncover a story about momentum: the Greens have gained ground, so they could gain more ground, and that makes people want to get involved.

Of course, viability and momentum are related. For one thing, we know from primary campaigns in the US that smaller election victories can be seen as generating a kind of momentum that boosts perceptions of viability in bigger elections. For another, my research has shown that when a party’s vote share increases, even if it doesn’t move into first place, this momentum raises expectations of its chances of winning a future election.

These findings suggest something important. Even if voters are now flocking to the Greens because they see the party as viable, that does not mean the byelection victory alone is driving them to jump on the bandwagon. The party’s growth, separate from the victory that growth brought about, also probably matters for these perceptions of viability – and, therefore, helps explain why people are now jumping on the bandwagon in subsequent polling.

What also matters is the way the Green party’s victory is being covered. Voters do not learn about the election result in a vacuum; it is always presented with interpretation. And many of those interpretations are focusing on what the victory means for the Greens’ viability. This understandably superlative coverage of the byelection result contributes significantly to the perception that the party is becoming a viable electoral force.

Indeed, it has long been argued that numerical data representing parties’ performance alone is probably insufficient to produce a bandwagon effect, and that any such effect probably relies on the interpretation of what the results mean. If perceived viability drives people to vote Green, then it is largely the media’s insistence on that viability that is causing this movement.

The council’s education committee approved a proposal to increase the planned capacity for placing requests at Dalziel High School to 80 per cent rather than the current level of 75 per cent.

North Lanarkshire Council is updating its policies on school admissions, including a formal change to rules for placing requests at a secondary school in Motherwell.

The council’s education committee approved a proposal to increase the planned capacity for placing requests at Dalziel High School to 80 per cent rather than the current level of 75 per cent.

Temporary allocation of pupils to Dalziel High School has historically operated on the basis of 75 per cent of its total capacity of 1,207 pupils, or 905. However this figure is to be increased to 80 per cent to allow more placing requests to be granted.

In fact, high demand for places at Dalziel mean the school has been operating at this level for some years, although this is now formally approved in council policy.

The committee also agreed to hold consultations on a new school admissions policy and a report on exclusion and appeal procedures is to be presented to a future meeting.

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READ MORE: New series from Coatbridge comic book king Mark Millar is filled with local place names

The One Show fans were floored by a Hollywood star’s youthful looks as she appeared on the BBC show

BBC viewers were stunned by Michelle Pfeiffer‘s youthful appearance as she was a guest on The One Show.

The Hollywood star was on the BBC programme’s sofa on Wednesday (March 4) to promote her latest television project The Madison, in which she stars alongside Kurt Russell, reports Wales Online.

However, whilst she was talking to the show’s presenters Alex Jones and Clara Amfo, viewers found themselves distracted by her timeless beauty. Many took to X, which was previously known as Twitter, expressing disbelief at how young the 67-year-old actress appeared.

One viewer wrote on the platform: “Dang Michelle Pfeiffer is still hot even at almost 70.”

“Michelle is unreal I mean look at her,” another enthused, whilst a fellow admirer noted: “I’m amazed how beautiful Michelle Pfeiffer looks on The One Show tonight x.”

“How does Michelle still look so amazing,” questioned one fan, whilst another revealed: “Michelle Pfeiffer in Grease 2 was my first crush oof!”

“Michelle Pfeiffer is so great and beautiful!” gushed another fan, as one viewer noted that the star “still looks great”.

“Love her,” said someone else, as another fan posted: “I b***** adore Michelle Pfeiffer.”

Another fan wrote: “Michelle Pfeiffer looks amazing. She looks so at ease on the sofa and interviews really well. I bet she’s great to work with. A seasoned professional.”

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Her new series The Madison centres on the Clyburn family, who relocate from New York to Montana following a tragedy in the family.

Hollywood star Michelle opened up about the role and the show as she appeared on The One Show, explaining: “I play Stacy Clyburn, and I am the matriarch of the family based in New York, and a tragedy fractures the family, and then actually pulls it back together in ways that were unexpected.”

The star went on: “And, you know, it’s a story about, you know, it’s tender and visceral and actually unexpectedly funny at times, and it is a story about self-discovery and the messy and profound work to rebuild everything that you knew that has fallen apart.”

For the latest showbiz, TV, movie and streaming news, go to the new **Everything Gossip** website

The One Show airs on BBC One at 7pm on weekdays

The warning mentioned several different sites as problematic and highlighted platforms with millions of user-created games as a place fraught with potential dangers for young people

A Northern Ireland primary school principal has been forced to send an urgent warning to parents and guardians after a disturbing incident where a pupil was targeted by an online predator.

The alarming encounter saw the child groomed by an adult posing as a peer on Snapchat who encouraged the student to give personal information and send them inappropriate photos.

Taking swift action Terry Rodgers – principal of St Teresa’s Primary School on the Glen Road in Belfast – sent out a letter to his school community on Monday informing them of the incident and urged parents to check their child’s devices.

Mr Rodgers told Belfast Live: “A lot of children have access to a mobile phone or tablet, and some of them are quite young. Many of our children have downloaded and used several social media platforms. Children can run rings around their parents when it comes to technology.”

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The principal said that some children were able to bypass parental settings, and believes the best solution was to keep them off social media altogether. He mentioned several different sites as problematic, and highlighted Roblox – a platform that is made up of millions of user-created games – as a place fraught with potential dangers for young people.

Law enforcement officials have previously spoken out about Roblox with one member of the Gardai telling Irish current affairs programme, Prime Time that they are “seeing grooming, sexual exploitation, and sexual abuse as a result of children being on gaming platforms, and in some cases, moving on to other platforms”.

Mr Rodgers advised that if a child is using Roblox, they should not be using it by themselves unsupervised. He declared that it should only be being used in the home somewhere where an adult can see what is happening.

“Through a series of ‘innocent’ interactions on Snapchat, a young child was groomed by an adult posing as a peer,” added Mr Rodgers in the letter.

“The predator used the ‘disappearing’ nature of the messages to build a secret relationship, eventually moving the conversation toward requests for personal information and inappropriate photos. This happened under the radar of well-intentioned parents who believed their child was simply chatting with school friends. We urge you to check your child’s devices today. If they have Snapchat or similar apps, we strongly recommend they be removed immediately.

“While the internet offers incredible opportunities for learning, we have seen an alarming rise in the number of primary-aged children accessing social media platforms that are neither designed for them nor safe for their use. Many parents believe that platforms like Snapchat, TikTok and Instagram are harmless fun. However, for a primary school child, these apps are often gateways to environments they are emotionally and developmentally unequipped to handle.

“The most pressing concern at our school currently involves Snapchat. Despite the app’s own Terms of Service stating that users must be at least 13 years old, we are aware that several of our pupils – some as young as six – have active accounts. Snapchat’s core features, while appealing to children, create significant safeguarding loopholes.“Disappearing messages creates a false sense of security, encouraging children to share images or messages they wouldn’t otherwise. It also makes it incredibly difficult for parents or teachers to monitor for bullying or inappropriate contact.”

Mr Rodgers stated that he wants to see all children off of social media and suggested if parents want to give their child a phone, they should ensure if cannot gain online access. He believes the older style brick phones that don’t have social media are the way to go when it comes to ensuring children’s safety while still being able to keep in contact.

He said: “Parents need to ensure no child has any social media access to any platform. Children need to be 13-years-old on a lot of platforms but I think at that age it can have a negative impact on children. We have seen issues with children ranging from anxiety to tiredness and the tone of my letter was serious because many people are apathetic on this issue.

“Avoid giving children access to a mobile phone during primary school years, the fear of missing out on social media is much less than the potential damage that can be caused to their safety. It is in everyone’s best interests that children are banned for under 16 for social media.

The PSNI was approached for comment.

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The first government-chartered flight to evacuate UK citizens from Oman is believed to have taken off this evening as the war in Iran continues to escalate.

Around 7pm UK time, the flight was scheduled to leave Muscat, in addition to eight commercial flights leaving the United Arab Emirates this evening.

Metro has contacted the Foreign Office to confirm that the flight is en route.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said two further Government-chartered flights will take off from the capital of Oman, Muscat, to London Heathrow on Friday and Saturday.

The first Government rescue flight and British Airways commercial flight from Muscat depart on Wednesday night.

More than 1,000 British nationals arrived back in the UK on commercial flights from the United Arab Emirates as of Tuesday.

Eight more UK flights are scheduled to depart the UAE today. Still, there is not expected to be a widespread evacuation of the 130,000 British nationals who have registered in the Middle East.

Some commercial flights are operating from Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the UAE, but most are cancelled because of airspace restrictions caused by the conflict between Iran and the US.

British Airways, which does not usually serve Muscat, said it remains unable to operate its scheduled flights from Abu Dhabi, Amman, Bahrain, Doha, Dubai and Tel Aviv.

Muscat has emerged as a key location for people to leave the Middle East, given the Foreign Office hasn’t advised against travel into the Oman airport – unlike the current advice for airports in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha.

Muscat can be reached by road from both Dubai and Abu Dhabi with journeys of about 300 miles.

The Foreign Office said: ‘There are a limited number of commercial options available, including by air from the UAE and from Oman.

‘If your presence in the UAE is not essential, you may wish to consider departing – if you judge you can access these options safely.’

Oman Air has continued to operate its two daily return flights between Muscat and Heathrow despite the war.

Flight-tracking service Flightradar24 said Muscat has ‘become a popular alternative for flying out of the region’ but warned that almost all scheduled flights from Muscat are fully booked.’

It added that private jets are being chartered to evacuate those who can afford it.

About half a million passengers per day usually use airports in Dubai, Doha or Abu Dhabi, which are vital hubs for travel between Europe and the continents of Asia and Australia.

Experts believe it could take weeks to clear the backlog of passengers.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.

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Hollywood star Michelle Pfeiffer was a guest on the BBC show on Wednesday (March 4)

BBC viewers were stunned by Michelle Pfeiffer’s youthful looks as she appeared on The One Show.

The actress was on the sofa on the BBC programme on Wednesday (March 4) to discuss her new TV series The Madison, which sees her sharing the screen with Kurt Russell.

But as she chatted to hosts Alex Jones and Clara Amfo, viewers were distracted by her ageless beauty. Many posted messages on X, formerly Twitter, saying that they could not believe how young the 67-year-old star looked.

One person commented: “Dang Michelle Pfeiffer is still hot even at almost 70.”

“Michelle is unreal I mean look at her,” said someone else, as another fan remarked: “I’m amazed how beautiful Michelle Pfeiffer looks on The One Show tonight x.”

READ MORE: BBC The One Show fans distracted by ‘handsome’ guest ‘ageing like fine wine’READ MORE: Aidan Turner floors BBC host with past career ‘are you last person to hear about this’

“How does Michelle still look so amazing,” asked one fan, as someone else shared: “Michelle Pfeiffer in Grease 2 was my first crush oof!”

“Michelle Pfeiffer is so great and beautiful!” exclaimed another admirer, as one person said the star “still looks great”.

Another fan posted: “Michelle Pfeiffer looks amazing. She looks so at ease on the sofa and interviews really well. I bet she’s great to work with. A seasoned professional.”

New series The Madison follows the Clyburn family, who move from New York to Montana after a tragedy in the family.

Speaking on The One Show, Hollywood star Michelle said: “I play Stacy Clyburn, and I am the matriarch of the family based in New York, and a tragedy fractures the family, and then actually pulls it back together in ways that were unexpected.”

She went on: “”And, you know, it’s a story about, you know, it’s tender and visceral and actually unexpectedly funny at times, and it is a story about self-discovery and the messy and profound work to rebuild everything that you knew that has fallen apart.”

For the latest showbiz, TV, movie and streaming news, go to the new **Everything Gossip** website

The One Show airs on BBC One at 7pm on weekdays

Pep Guardiola has revealed that Nico O’Reilly still felt ‘uncomfortable’ with his ankle injury ahead of Manchester City’s Premier League match against Nottingham Forest on Wednesday night.

The 20-year-old was forced off in the 70th minute of City’s 1-0 win away to Leeds United last Saturday.

In his pre-match press conference, Guardiola claimed that O’Reilly was in contention to play against Forest with a final assessment to be made after Tuesday’s training session.

But speaking before kick-off on Wednesday night when O’Reilly was not named in City’s matchday squad, Guardiola claimed the 20-year-old had not fully recovered from his ankle issue.

Asked for a timeframe on O’Reilly’s return, Guardiola said: ‘Yesterday we had a training session, he then felt uncomfortable from the knock he got against Leeds.

‘Hopefully he can come back but at the same time it’s happened, in this part of the season everybody is massively important for our experience in the periods where we fight for competitions, everyone is massively important.’

After Wednesday’s game against Forest, City are away to Newcastle United in the FA Cup on Saturday.

For more stories like this, check our sport page.

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