The suspected poisoning deaths of six tourists in Laos last week has sent shockwaves through the backpacker scene, and highlighted Southeast Asia's problem with tainted alcohol.

A Briton, two Australians, two Danes and an American are all believed to have been poisoned by methanol – a chemical often used to increase the potency of bootleg alcohol – in the tourist town of Vang Vieng. The six victims had all stayed at or visited Nana Backpackers Hostel, where it has been alleged that staff had been offering shots of vodka "as a gesture of hospitality", according to The Associated Press. Eight "members of the staff and management" have since been detained over the suspected poisoning, said Australia's ABC News.

What is methanol poisoning?
Methanol is a type of alcohol, but it's cheaper and stronger than the ethanol found in alcoholic drinks. Unscrupulous manufacturers add this toxic chemical to bootlegged liquor to increase its potency. Ingesting even a small amount can cause blindness, kidney failure, liver damage and even death.

How widespread is the problem?
This tragedy is the "latest of several mass poisonings" to make global headlines, said The Times. In June, about 60 people died and more than 200 were hospitalised in India. In 2018, more than 100 died in Indonesia, and there have also been cases in Brazil, Peru, Turkey and Norway.

Southeast Asia has the "highest rates of methanol poisoning globally", said Al Jazeera, and this is often blamed on "economic pressures and weak regulations". Laos, despite its increasing popularity with backpackers, is one of the poorest nations in the region.

What has been the reaction in Laos?
The Laotian government had vowed to bring perpetrators to justice. The poisonings have had "an immediate effect" on Vang Vieng's tourism industry, a "crucial economic driver" in the region, said Al Jazeera.

But the deaths have also cast a light on broader issues, including the "absolutely abysmal" state of the country's healthcare system, said Damien Phillips, fellow of economics think tank the Cobden Centre, in The Spectator. Almost all the tourists fell ill and had to be flown or driven to Thailand, "delaying urgent treatment", because Laos has "not one decent hospital".

"Ahem, 'Wicked' moviegoers," said The Indianapolis Star. "Break out your best pink ensemble. Paint yourself green. But resist the urge to make watching the film adaptation of the Broadway musical a sing-a-long."

That's the message from US cinema chain AMC Theatres, which earlier this week introduced strict new rules for fans attending screenings of the movie musical. On the list? "No singing."

'Sing!'
The policy has reignited long-standing feuds around cinema etiquette and "sparked" a fierce online debate, which has even drawn in the film's stars, said The Independent.

Cynthia Erivo, who plays Elphaba, attempted to play both sides, telling Stay Tuned NBC: "I say, if you come the first time and you sing, sing through. But come a second time and let us sing to you."

Even Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has weighed in on the debate. "Sing! You've paid your hard earned money for a ticket, and you've gone into a musical, and you're into it", he told the BBC at the premiere of "Moana 2", the musical sequel in which he reprises the role of Maui.

'Deeply embarrassing'
But others are not so patient. It's astonishing that people are holding up this type of behaviour as "some kind of fundamental act of self-expression", said Patrick Lenton in The Guardian. Singing along during a film is "obviously annoying and disrespectful". Buying a cinema ticket gives you the right to "sit in a chair" and watch the film, not to completely "bypass social conventions". Above all, it's "deeply embarrassing to inflict your voice without consent on the public. Who do you think you are to compete with the trained musical prowess" of Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande? "It's wildly egotistical."

As the debate intensifies, a potential solution emerged this week when more than 1,000 cinemas across North America announced plans to "double up" screenings, to include shows "where every one can sing along", starting on Christmas Day, said Forbes. "That might put the 'Wicked' controversy to rest for good."

In the next two years, a "dazzling array" of swanky trains is set to launch, ushering in a new "golden age" of rail travel, said Adrian Bridge in The Telegraph.

In July 2025, Belmond's new sleeper train, the Britannic Explorer, will be offering a series of itineraries departing from London to locations across the UK, including the Lake District, Cornwall and Wales. Also launching next year is La Dolce Vita Orient Express, which has announced multi-day routes including Venice and the Italian Riviera, Rome and Sicily, and through the Tuscan countryside. And in autumn 2026, the Norient Express is set to "open up the dramatic landscapes of Norway's lakes, mountains and, for those pining for them, the fjords".

These new rail journeys tap into an "idealised" view of train travel from "glittering, glamorous soirees in the piano bar" to "impeccable, unflappable service", all set against a "stunning backdrop" of ever-changing scenery.

Although "nostalgia is certainly a factor in the appeal", the surge in luxury rail routes also embodies a more recent trend for "slow travel", said J.D. Shadel in Condé Nast Traveler. The trains typically travel at around 50mph, so guests can enjoy the journey and soak up the views along the way.

An eco-conscious desire to travel more sustainably, coupled with the "burgeoning network of sleeper services", is driving this demand, said Ben Clatworthy in National Geographic. With new routes currently on offer in an array of locations from Portugal to Budapest, it's clear that rail travel in Europe is "having a bit of a moment".

We've always had assisted dying – it used to be 'the code'
Suzanne Moore in The Telegraph
"I am sure there are some 'good deaths'," writes Suzanne Moore, but "I just haven't seen one". There is already a "fine line between palliative care and assisted dying" – the drugs that "ease anxiety and sedate" dying patients "will at certain levels hasten death", but "we cannot speak about this 'grey area' because it is illegal". "So much death is hidden or euphemised away", and when it comes to assisted dying "much still remains unsaid".

Did Covid vaccines really save 12 million lives?
Carl Heneghan and Tom Jefferson in The Spectator
The BBC reported that AstraZeneca and Pfizer saved "more than 12 million lives in the first year of Covid vaccination", say Oxford University academics Carl Heneghan and Tom Jefferson, but "sadly, many journalists don't check their numbers or facts". The mathematical model used to make that calculation uses "incorrect" assumptions, and its conclusions are "implausible". "Large, well-designed, well-reported, and data-accessible trials" should be used to make public health decisions, not flawed "models".

Kate Nash selling pictures of her backside to OnlyFans? Why not?
Katie Edwards in The Independent
Singer Kate Nash "isn't selling photos of her bottom for a laugh", writes Katie Edwards, "she's doing it to fund her current tour" and to "highlight the appalling state of the music industry". It "isn't just an astute business move", it's "also an incisive cultural comment" on our "prurient fascination" with women's bodies, and the "insidious nature of 'whorephobia'". She's making "important points" about "collective cultural stigma" and "the way female artists are viewed as commodities".