Free Republic

The British government sought on Tuesday to limit the information it would disclose at a planned inquest into the death of Alexander V. Litvinenko, a former officer in the K.G.B. who succumbed to radiation poisoning in London more than six years ago. The coroner hearing the case said that it may now be postponed. “Due to the complexity of the investigation which necessarily precedes the hearings,” the coroner, Sir Robert Owen, said, “it may not be possible to adhere” to the planned May 1 start date for the hearings. The inquest would be the first — and probably the only...

British and Nato pilots have been told to take the drastic action if they are fired on by Vladimir Putin’s air force during missions over Iraq. The move comes after British ministers warned Russia had made the situation in the Middle East “much more dangerous”. Senior defence sources say it is just a matter of time before our fighters are involved in a deadly confrontation with Russian jets.

Dmitry Peskov was reported to have made the comments in a briefing with Russian journalists at the G20 summit in St. Petersburg on Thursday night. “Britain is just a small island no one pays any attention to them,” Mr Peskov was reported to have said. Mr Peskov vigorously denied making the comments on Friday morning. “I simply can’t explain the source of that claim. Definitely it is nothing to do with reality. It is not something I have said,” M“I don’t know whose views it reflects. We have very positive dynamics in our relationship between Britain and Russia.”