10 h. ago ‘People pay to be told lies’: the rise and fall of the world’s first ayahuasca multinational

Alberto Varela claimed he wanted to use sacred plant medicine to free people’s minds. But as the organisation grew, his followers discovered a darker realityThe first time Dalia* took ayahuasca nothing happened. The second time it changed her life. It was 2017, and she had joined a dozen strangers in a chalet outside Barcelona. Everyone was searching for something. For many it was a way out of misery: an escape from years of addiction, or a last-ditch attempt to survive crippling depression. Dalia, a therapist in her early 30s, hoped ayahuasca would help her process the recent death of her mother. “I felt completely alone at that time,” she said. “And I think in some form that’s how everyone there felt.”The retreat, run by a wellness company called Inner Mastery, began with the two dozen participants talking about their expectations, before imbibing ayahuasca. The Amazonian plant brew, which contains dimethyltryptamine (DMT), a powerful naturally occurring psychoactive, induces an a...

Politics

20 h. ago DAN HODGES: What one Cabinet minister has told me about what REALLY lies behind Reeves's public breakdown, the truth about Angela Rayner's role

We may never properly learn what finally brought Rachel Reeves to break down in tears in the House of Commons chamber yesterday.

Politics

23 h. ago People will have to pay to use this previously free Cardiff car park depending on why they're there

Cardiff Council mentioned the proposal as part of an announcement on a number of changes

Politics

26 h. ago Millions of people over State Pension age set to pay tax in retirement this year

HMRC estimates 8.7 million pensioners will pay tax for the 2025/26 financial year.

Economics

2 d. ago Martin Lewis shares which currency you should use on card payments abroad

The money saving guru has settle the debate on what currency you should pay in when you're overseas - and it appears that many people have been making a costly mistake

Transport

3 d. ago HMRC confirms over seven million people set to pay higher rate of income tax this year

Frozen tax thresholds have pushed people into higher brackets as their pay has increased.

Economics

3 d. ago HMRC to impose higher tax rate on 7m UK households as frozen thresholds take effect

The number of people paying higher rate tax is expected to hit more than 7 million this year as HMRC issues a warning to 5 million people who will pay the highest rate of tax

Politics

3 d. ago Tennis fans told NOT to travel to Wimbledon with queue 'at capacity' and crowds facing 'several hours to get in' in 34C on hottest opening day ever

Those who had opted for a slightly later lie-in faced disappointment then when they were told that non-ticket holders risk not getting in, or at best 'several hours' waiting in the queue.

Politics

7 d. ago Scotland will become a 'pimp nation' unless we ban the purchase of sex, says MSP

Alba's Ash Regan has introduced her bill to clampdown on people who pay for sex to Holyrood's Criminal Justice Committee.

Politics

8 d. ago India suffer humbling defeat but rise and fall in fighting spirit is biggest worry | Simon Burnton

With first Test against England in the balance the tourists revealed another of their plentiful flawsThe day started with drama and tension and later, for a while, they returned. But the period in between was in its own way equally intriguing, a phase that exposed in the tourists a deficiency not of quality, but of spirit. This turns out to be a team whose shoulders suffer from such severe premature drooping someone should invent some kind of blue pill to deal with it.They started with spirits high and performance levels to match, Jasprit Bumrah from the Kirkstall Lane End and Mohammed Siraj coming up the hill from the other, lines and lengths unerring. Ben Duckett hit the third ball for four, after which seven overs passed before the next boundary. Continue reading...

Events

1 week ago Four groups of people who don't need to pay BBC TV licence fee

The majority of people in the UK need to pay £174.50 fee to watch live TV and catch-up content on BBC iPlayer.

Politics

1 week ago JIM McMAHON: 'Council tax bailiff system isn't right or fair

Local Government Minister Jim McMahon writes for e Mirror that vulnerable people are being forced to pay a years' council tax in one hit or face bailiffs - which 'isn't right or fair'

Politics

1 week ago BBC TV licence: Four groups of people who don't need to pay £174.50 fee

You need a TV licence to watch or record live TV, or to watch anything - whether it is live, or catch-up - on BBC iPlayer

Economics

2 w. ago Warm Home Discount Scheme to expand and pay six million people £150 this winter

A further 240,000 households in Scotland will receive the energy bill boost this winter.

Economics

2 w. ago ‘He just told me lies to have sex with a teenage girl’: Natalie Fleet MP on grooming, statutory rape and fighting back

At 15, she began seeing an older man and conceived her beloved daughter. It was years before she properly understood it as abuse. Now she is working tirelessly in parliament for other survivorsNatalie Fleet is nervous about this interview. Her assistant has warned me and Fleet tells me several times, before and during. “I just feel sick,” she says. “I don’t know if it’s because it’s about me or because of the subject. It just doesn’t seem to get any easier.”The subject is rape – specifically Fleet’s experience of being groomed by an older man when she was 15, becoming pregnant and having the baby. That daughter, “the love of her life”, is now 24. Since entering parliament last summer as the Labour MP for Bolsover, Fleet has spoken a good deal about rape, her life story and the lack of support for mothers whose children were conceived this way – and each time it upsets her. “My husband said: ‘I don’t want you to be the “rapey MP”,’ and I don’t want that either,” says Fleet. “But it’s...

Events

2 w. ago Brit soldier's fight for life after Thailand holiday fall as medical bills rise to £75k

Liam Gibson, 21, fell at the Na Muang Waterfall 2 in the Ko Samui District area of Thailand on April 12. He spent two hours waiting for a rescue operation and then five hours having life-saving surgery that left him bleeding out

Economics

2 w. ago UK house prices fall at fastest pace in four years after stamp duty rise

Annual house price growth halves to 3.5% in April as temporary tax relief ends

Politics

2 w. ago Mastercard compensation payments DELAYED as new legal challenge launched

The payment card provider has agreed to pay £200million to settle a case against it - with millions of people due up to £70 each

Politics

2 w. ago Meghan Markle warns ‘a lie can’t live forever’ and says 'tell the truth’

Meghan referred to a "lie" told eight years ago, saying "a lie can't live forever. Eight years is a long time, but not forever".

Events

2 w. ago Meghan warns ‘a lie can’t live forever’ and would ‘ask people to tell the truth’

The duchess referred to a ‘lie’ told eight years ago after she was asked how she would rewrite her public narrative.

Events