Champagne drinkers are being advised to think carefully before pouring themselves a glass of fizz this week, as a man has died after drinking from a spiked bottle.
Moët & Chandon Imperial Ice bottles are being recalled over fears they may have been contaminated with potentially lethal doses of the class-A substance MDMA, also known as ecstasy.
A food safety watchdog has reported that there have been a series of reports of ecstasy poisoning amongst people who have drunk bottles of Moët & Chandon Ice Imperial last month.
The first (and, according to its makers, the only) champagne designed to be drunk over ice has caused problems for a number of drinkers, with eleven people falling seriously ill last month as a result of the contamination.
One man in Germany has tragically died as a result of consuming the laced champagne.
Several incidents have occurred involving the three-litre double-magnum bottles, causing the drinkers to become very unwell in both Germany and the Netherlands.
The Times reports that Herald Georg Z, 52, died after drinking a glass of the tainted champagne whilst dining in a restaurant in the Upper Palatinate region of Germany.
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According to authorities, the bottle from which the man had drunk contained as much as 100g of MDMA.
On average an ecstasy pill contains 75 to 100mg, meaning that the spiked bottle held roughly a thousand times more than what might be deemed ‘safe’ by some recreational users.
Eight other guests were also poisoned at the dinner event, which had been organised to celebrate a friends’ appearance on a TV dating show.
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Drug smugglers are suspected of lacing the bottles with drugs, according to reports in The Times of Malta, which adds that the champagne was likely emptied out and replaced with pure liquid ecstasy.
German police have said they think the bottle was delivered to the restaurant by mistake.
In the Netherlands, four more people found themselves taken seriously ill after drinking from bottles that had been ordered online.
“Touching and/or drinking the contents of the bottles is life-threatening,” said the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority in a statement.
They added: “Even dipping a fingertip in the liquid and tasting it can lead to serious health problems, even without swallowing. Taking a small sip can be fatal.”
8 million Brits are predicted to write their Christmas cards using AI this year, new research finds
Emily Sergeant
Millions of Brits are predicted to use AI to help them write their Christmas cards this year.
According to some new Royal Mail research, AI is most likely to be used for researching gifts (19%), festive party ideas (13%), and decoration inspiration (13%) throughout this festive season, but in what is a revelation many will find surprising – and even alarming – it’ll even be used for the timeless tradition of sending Christmas cards.
2,000 UK adults who celebrate Christmas were surveyed by the postal service early last month on how they plan to make use of technology this festive season.
The new research found that 11% of respondents will be using AI to help write the messages for their Christmas cards, which works out to be around eight million people.
It’s the under-55s who are driving the trend, as you can probably imagine – with 57% of this age group planning to lean on AI for guidance, compared to just 14% of those over 55.
Oh, and you’ll want to keep an extra eye on the Christmas cards that come from the men in your life too, as men are 67% more likely than women to use AI to help them.
Eight million Brits are predicted to write their Christmas cards using AI this year / Credit: KoolShooters
Although it may be largely frowned upon, it’s fairly easy to see why people are turning to tech to find the right words, as the Royal Mail’s research found that nearly one in five (19%) Brits say they don’t know what to write in cards, and this figure rises even further to 31% when it comes to 18-24-year-olds.
Despite the use of AI as a helping hand, three quarters of Brits (74%) do still think it’s important to keep the tradition of sending handwritten Christmas cards alive.
“AI is becoming part of everyday life for many people,” says technology journalist and broadcaster, Georgie Barrat. “So it’s natural we’ll see it used during the festive season. When it comes to writing cards, it can help you go beyond a simple ‘Merry Christmas’ and choose words that feel more unique.
“Often, people know what they want to say – they just need a little help expressing it.”
Richard Travers, who is the Managing Director of Letters at Royal Mail, concluded: “No matter what you include in your card, or how you choose to write your message, cards are truly a way of spreading festive cheer.”
Featured Image – Richard Bell (via Unsplash)
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Manchester’s 2025 Christmas Parade in pictures as tens of thousands turn out for festive event
Emily Sergeant
Tens of thousands of residents flocked to the city centre this past weekend for Manchester’s annual Christmas Parade.
Over the past few years since it first took place in 2022, Manchester Christmas Parade has become a festive favourite with both locals and visitors alike, and with more than 400 participants and performers gracing the city’s main shopping streets this year, it’s really not hard to see why it’s a much-loved fixture in the city’s countdown to Christmas.
Seen by many as the heartwarming event of the festive season, Manchester Christmas Parade was even ‘bigger and better’ than last year’s fantastic crowdpleaser.
Even a drop of the classic Manchester rain didn’t stop play on the day, as the fabulous festive Parade made its way through the packed city streets to the smiles and cheers of all those watching.
Despite the Manchester weather, tens of thousands of you turned out to make Sunday’s Christmas Parade truly magical. 🎅 👼 🥁
A huge thank you to everyone who joined us for the heart-warming event of the season.
“I remember thinking at the end of our fabulous Manchester Christmas Parade last year that we would never be able to top it,” commented Cllr Pat Karney, Manchester City Council’s Christmas spokesperson. “But this year’s parade has been off-the-scale brilliant – it was so much fun and you could see how much all the children loved it.
“The city centre was heaving, it felt like millions of Mancs had turned out for the parade, and what a performance we put on for them.”
The streets were filled with music and laughter this year, as well as the return of Manchester’s very-own Elf Express, complete with VIP passenger Santa hitching a ride on his way to the North Pole, together with his trusty team of elves.
Tens of thousands of people turned out for Manchester Christmas Parade 2025 this past weekend / Credit: Manchester City Council
Not only that, but Nutcracker-inspired toy soldiers also sweept their way through the Parade on segways, alongside a roaming Christmas tree, a pair of gentle giant-sized reindeer, a stunning arctic fox, and Jack Frost himself.
Brand-new for this year will be the fantastic Festive Fantasy Candyland Castle, which stood over three-meters tall and truly was the stuff of fairytales.
“Manchester once again helped make the magic and the memories for a whole generation of families from across the city and beyond,” Cllr Karney concluded.
Georgina Pellant -
7th March 2022 
