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German prosecutors have dropped the case against a suspect in the murder of the Russian dissident, Alexander Litvinenko, in London. Former KGB agent Mr Litvinenko died in 2006 after he was poisoned with the radioactive substance polonium-210. Hamburg prosecutors say there is not enough evidence to continue investigating Russian Dmitri Kovtun.

German prosecutors have dropped the case against a suspect in the murder of the Russian dissident, Alexander Litvinenko, in London. Former KGB agent Mr Litvinenko died in 2006 after he was poisoned with the radioactive substance polonium-210. Hamburg prosecutors say there is not enough evidence to continue investigating Russian Dmitri Kovtun.

"Exiled Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky won £150,000 ($220,000, 165,000 euros) in libel damages on Wednesday over a claim he was linked to the murder of ex-spy Alexander Litvinenko. A judge in London said there was "no evidence" that Berezovsky -- a fierce critic of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin -- was behind the poisoning by radiation of Litvinenko in 2006. "I can say unequivocally that there is no evidence before me that Mr. Berezovsky had any part in the murder of Mr. Litvinenko," said judge David Eady, handing down his ruling at the High Court. "Nor, for that matter, do I see any basis for reasonable grounds to suspect him of it," he added."

An inquest is to be opened into the deaths of two Manchester University academics who died of pancreatic cancer after working for years in the building where Ernest Rutherford, the father of nuclear physics, conducted his experiments. The Manchester coroner, Nigel Meadows, has acted after hearing from the families of the two academics that their deaths may be linked to deposits of nuclear materials still contaminating the building in which the pioneering scientist worked, now known as the Rutherford Building. These materials include polonium, which killed Alexander Litvinenko, as well as radon and mercury.

An inquest is to be opened into the deaths of two Manchester University academics who died of pancreatic cancer after working for years in the building where Ernest Rutherford, the father of nuclear physics, conducted his experiments. The Manchester coroner, Nigel Meadows, has acted after hearing from the families of the two academics that their deaths may be linked to deposits of nuclear materials still contaminating the building in which the pioneering scientist worked, now known as the Rutherford Building. These materials include polonium, which killed Alexander Litvinenko, as well as radon and mercury.

Mining giant BHP Billiton is risking the lives of its staff and employees at Olympic Dam in South Australia by exposing them to unsafe levels of radiation, according to a company whistleblower. Documents received by The Independent Weekly say BHP Billiton has been warned about the risks, and has chosen to take no action. The documents show BHP Billiton uses manipulated averages and distorted sampling to ensure its "official" figures slip under the maximum exposure levels set by government. But experts have warned exposure levels currently regarded as the international limit should be lowered, following the poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko in London four years ago."

The lurid London murder of former Russian secret agent Alexander Litvinenko with polonium-210 looks set to equal the tale of Jack the Ripper as a generator of inconclusive theories that open the way for ever more books. ``The Terminal Spy'' by Alan S. Cowell of the New York Times is the latest installment.

James Lovelock Normally the media can smell a rat better than a hungry terrier, and I was slightly surprised that they did not wonder more about the murder of the Russian dissident Alexander Litvinenko in 2006 in London. He was cruelly poisoned by a few hundred nanograms of the radioactive isotope polonium210. When swallowed it soon finds its way to every cell of the body, where it emits helium atoms that plough through the vital structures. An evil way to kill someone: a slow, unstoppable, tortured death.