THE COMPANY YOU KEEP:

Poisoning Inquiry Extends to Germany, Where Radiation Is Found (Peter Finn and Mary Jordan, 12/10/06, Washington Post)

Russian authorities, who have said they will lead the interrogations and have essentially consigned British detectives to the role of observers in Moscow, told the Associated Press on Saturday that they intend to send their own investigators to London.

That has caused some consternation among emigres who were close to Litvinenko, many of whom are fierce critics of Putin. Two of Litvinenko's associates, exiled tycoon Boris Berezovsky and Chechen separatist Akhmed Zakayev, are wanted by the Russian authorities on various charges.