Ketamine, the anaesthetic taken by Elon Musk to control his moods, could be reclassified as a class A drug by the Home Office after illegal use reached record levels last year. Currently controlled as a class B substance, ministers are seeking “expert advice” on reclassification after an estimated 299,000 people reported use of the drug…
Key events Show key events only Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature Trump moves to block release of special counsel report as sentencing on hush-money sentencing nears Good morning, US politics blog readers. Donald Trump may be less than two weeks away from returning to the White House, but his lawyers are keeping…
The Conservative leader, Kemi Badenoch, should sack Robert Jenrick for “divisive comments,” the Lib Dems have said, after the shadow justice minister doubled down on his comments about immigrants with “alien cultures”. Jenrick was challenged repeatedly on Tuesday morning for having failed to act on the outcome of an inquiry into grooming gangs while he…
The threat of a terrorist attack on France is being fuelled by social media and has never been greater, the country’s interior minister has said, 10 years after gunmen killed 12 people in an attack on the Charlie Hebdo newspaper. Speaking on the anniversary of the massacre at the paper’s offices, Bruno Retailleau said French…
Food price inflation jumped to 3.7% last month, the highest level since March, helping fuel a bumper season for supermarkets. Sales at the big grocery chains were up 2.1% over the four weeks to 29 December compared with a year before, according to the analysts Kantar. However, that rise was flattered by food price growth,…
UK annual house price growth slowed last month, with experts warning that mortgage affordability could counter some demand from house hunters in the year ahead. Data released by Halifax, Britain’s biggest mortgage lender, showed that the price of the average home climbed by 3.3% in December compared with the same period a year earlier –…
The luxury tights and lingerie brand Wolford has apologised after heavy criticism from customers over delays to orders and refunds, admitting its delivery services were overstretched. Shoppers have taken to the reviews site Trustpilot to warn others against making orders, with some saying they had waited for more than a month for their goods to…
Key events Show key events only Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature As well as Kathmandu, areas around Lobuche in Nepal in the high mountains near Everest were also rattled by the tremor and aftershocks, AFP reported. “It shook quite strongly here, everyone is awake,” said government official Jagat Prasad Bhusal in Nepal’s…
The Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has weighed in on a drama unfolding on the country’s beaches, declaring that beachgoers who use portable cabanas to claim a patch of sand are going against the nation’s spirit of equality. Asked about the practice on morning television on Tuesday, Albanese said it was “not on”. Australia’s beaches…
Police have shot and killed a 40-year-old man in Adelaide after they said he confronted officers with a knife during a mental health episode. South Australian police shot the man at his home in the suburb of Craigburn Farm in the early hours of Tuesday morning after they said they were called to reports he…
