TRAVEL INDUSTRY NEWS AND WARNINGS

Cilla Black’s Spanish villa has been damaged by a fire. The TV host , 71, was in the UK when the house, in Estepona, Costa del Sol, was engulfed earlier this month. She said: “All the hedges have gone at the front of the house. A Good Samaritan - a neighbour opposite - saw these flames at three o’clock in the morning. “I have management over there and a gardener, but I could’ve been in the house when it happened. “It frightens me.” She said she usually flies to the luxury property in August but is having to go earlier to oversee repairs. Cilla, whose husband Bobby died in 1999, admitted she was nervous about staying there on her own. But she added: “I’ve got to go to Spain, it’s got to be done, to get over being frightened, the longer I leave it , the worse it’s going to be. “What frightens me most is being on my own - I don’t stay there on my own. "I usually don’t go there until August but I’m going early this time.” The star also has homes in London, Buckinghamshire and Barbados.

The world must build toilets to save lives THE practice of open defecation is increasingly dangerous to public health when people crowd close together. Worms and bacteria spread by human waste spread deadly disease and can be a big cause of malnutrition. India is, far and away, the country worst blighted by open defecation, made worse by the fact it has a large population crowded onto relatively little land. Why India suffers worse than much poorer countries, such as Congo or Afghanistan, and worse than fellow South Asian countries, such as Bangladesh, is a matter for contentious debate. One reason could be political leadership: for too long India’s government failed to make sanitation, the building of latrines, a public health priority. India’s new government now plans to build 130m latrines by 2019. A second, more controversial reason, could be the influence of traditional Hindu culture on sanitation habits. Studies of India’s population show strikingly higher rates of open defecation in Hindu-dominated villages compared with Muslim ones, despite lower incomes, education and worse water supplies of Muslims. That suggests a good way to get India’s sanitation closer to global standards would be to begin with an education campaign, to persuade households to build—and use—their own latrines. PreviousDaily chart: Apple versus lemon

Cor Pan probably didn't realize the effect his post would have when he shared it. The Dutch citizen was aboard the Malaysia Airlines plane that was carrying 295 people and was shot down over Ukraine on Thursday. But prior to taking off, Pan took a snapshot of the plane and posted the picture on his Facebook page with the caption that translates to, "If it disappears, this is what it looks like," poking fun at the Malaysia plane that went mysteriously missing in March. The aircraft, which was shot down near the Russian border, was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it fell near the city of Donetsk in a war-torn area which has become a stronghold for pro-Russian rebels. All the passengers onboard were killed.

On a normal travel day, the airspace over Ukraine is some of the most congested in the world. It serves as a major cross roads for flights connecting major hubs in Europe with megacities in Asia. However, after Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 was reportedly shot down earlier today, most of the world's major airlines have ordered their planes to avoid the area completely. The above map, which was tweeted by Newsweek, shows Ukranian airspace a few hours after MH17 lost contact with radar. Two of Europe's largest airlines, Lufthansa and British Airways, have both told Business Insider that they have ordered their planes away from the disputed region. To avoid the Russian-Ukraine conflict altogether, Lufthansa has specifically ordered their planes to take a southerly route over Romania.

Libyans are stunned after two days of fighting between rival militias leaves the country's main international airport out of action. At least eight people have died in the clashes and 12 planes were damaged. The airport remains in the hands of the Zintan militia which has controlled it since Muammar Gaddafi was ousted. The government has been unable to disarm the numerous armed groups that took part in the 2011 uprising and which have divided the country.

According to the World Health organisation, alcohol kills more than 3 million people worldwide each year, which translates to one person every 10 seconds. That’s more than the amount of people lost to AIDS, tuberculosis, and violence. The statistic includes alcohol-related driving fatalities, violence, and health issues arising from excessive alcohol consumption. Because alcohol is legal in most countries, and because—especially in the US and western culture in general—it is promoted in advertising and glamorised in film, its dangers are often minimised or disregarded by young people, and the warnings about problem-drinking and its consequences are viewed as the admonitions of uptight grownups. Unfortunately, the facts support the admonitions. So, how can alcohol kill you?

Here are a few ways it can—and does—end lives: Drunk driving accounted for ten thousand deaths in 2010—that was over thirty percent of all traffic fatalities. Acute alcohol poisoning kills over one thousand people each year. Nearly sixteen thousand people died in 2010 from alcohol-induced liver disease. Over fifty percent of people who die in fires have high blood-alcohol levels. One quarter of all emergency room admissions, one-third of all suicides and more than half of all homicides and incidents of domestic violence are alcohol related. Unintentional injuries related to alcohol consumption cause over eighteen hundred deaths each year among college students. Health problems, including increased likelihood of stroke, diabetes, cirrhosis of the liver, oesophageal cancer, and compromised immune system can lead, if untreated, to premature death. Alcohol in combination with other drugs, especially pain medications, tranquillisers, and sleep medications, can cause death by slowing down respiration as well as by causing the aspiration of vomit. The simple fact is that alcohol impairs judgment, cognition, inhibitions regarding excessive risk-taking and acting out of aggressive tendencies, and other faculties that reduce the likelihood of accident or death. If alcohol consumption becomes regular, increases over time, or increases in amount, or if consequences of drinking are accumulating, treatment is indicated, because yes, alcohol can kill you. 

A burka ban will be brought in by the government of Spain’s Catalonia region in the wake of a European Court of Human Rights ruling that banning veils does not breach human rights laws. Ramon Espadaler, Interior Minister for Catalonia, said that the ban, first proposed in 2013, was in no way an attack on religious freedom as the wearing of helmets and masks in public will also be forbidden. Espadaler announced that the Catalan government aimed to get the ban approved after the summer 2014 recess

Morocco announced on Thursday that it is tightening security measures in response to a "serious terrorist threat" linked to the growing number of its citizens joining jihadist groups in Syria and Iraq. Interior Minister Mohamed Hassad said there was "a serious threat of a terrorist attack against the kingdom because of the growing number of Moroccans belonging to extremist organisations in Syria and Iraq". "A certain number of these fighters rise to leading positions within such organisations and do not hide their intention of carrying out terrorist attacks in Morocco," he told a cabinet meeting in Rabat. His comments were relayed to the press by government spokesperson Mustapha Khalfi. Hassad did not elaborate on the reinforced security measures, except to say that actions have been taken "to guarantee the safety of citizens... and of strategic public sectors," without compromising economic activity.

All passengers flying into or out of the UK are being advised to ensure electronic and electrical devices in hand luggage are sufficiently charged to be switched on. Extra security checks came in at some UK airports last week for flights to the US, but these will now be extended. The government says the checks apply to unspecified flights to and from the UK. It comes after an apparent terror threat prompted the US to announce extra security checks last week.

A Spanish resident, from Guinea Conakry has been admitted to the La Fe hospital in the Spanish region of Valencia, with a suspected case of Ebola. The Spanish Health Ministry has informed that the patient remains in isolation and is “clinically stable” in the Hospital La Fe. The Health Ministry has yet to confirm if the results come back positive. A spokeswoman for the regional health authorities has confirmed that Valencia has activated their infectious disease protocols. Doctors Without Borders warned on Monday that the Ebola outbreak that has already left 337 dead in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone is “out of control”. According to the World Health Organization, those infected with the Ebola virus have a 90% rate of fatality.

Airports facing chaos after US declares it wont allow uncharged cellphones or laptops onto flights bound for America... with iPhones and Galaxy's at top of the hit list The new directive by the TSA affects flights out of Africa, the Middle East and Europe The TSA has announced that devices that won't power up will not be allowed on planes Owners may have to undergo additional screening at security checkpoints American officials are concerned that al-Qaeda has produced new bombs iPhones and Galaxy phones are to be singled out for extra attention Airports facing chaos over busy holiday period as school's finish

Security measures have been increased in airports in both the UK and the US over fears al-Qaeda is developing a new bomb which cannot be detected by scanners. Britain's Department of Transport (DfT) said the increased measures are in place following the warning from US security chiefs citing intelligence reports. It is believed the warning stems from fears Yemen-based terrorist group al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) has travelled to Syria to link up with the al-Qaeda affiliate there, known as the al-Nusra Front, to develop bombs which can be smuggled onto aircraft. Experts fear that the terrorists are planning an attack on the scale of the 9/11 bombings, to capture global media attention and remind the world of al-Qaeda's threat. While officials have not described what the bomb could be, there are fears the groups may be developing a non-metallic explosive device, which could be surgically sewn inside a would-be terrorist and be undetectable from all airport scanners and security checks.

Terrorist groups have previously come up with strategies to evade airport security and blow up planes carrying hundreds of passengers. On Christmas Day 2009, the so-called 'underwear bomber' Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab successfully carried a bomb with no metallic parts onboard a flight to Detroit with no metallic parts stitched into the fabric of his underwear. The attack failed after the bomb failed to ignite properly, with Abdulmutallab suffering burns to his legs in the process, before being subdued by passengers and flight attendants. Changes to airport security came into place following the failed 'liquid bomb' threat(Getty) British-born 'shoe bomber' Richard Reid also attempted to blow up a flight from Paris to Miami in December 2001 by hiding the plastic explosives in his shoes. It is believed that, mercifully, the sweat from Reid's feet saved the lives of the 747's passengers as it dampened the bomb and thus foiled Reid's attempts to ignite it. In 2006, Abdulla Ahmed Ali masterminded a so-called 'liquid bomb' made from hydrogen peroxide which could be hidden inside a drinks bottle and ignited with s small electrical charge. The plot was foiled before it could be carried out, resulting in huge changes to airport security measures. It is now feared the terrorist groups may be attempting to develop non-metallic bombs which could be stitched inside a person's body, making it virtually impossible to detect via x-ray scanners or pat-downs. "The surgeon would open the abdominal cavity and literally implant the explosive device in amongst the internal organs," Dr. Mark Melrose, a New York emergency medicine specialist, explained to ABC News. Authorities previously warned AQAP's chief bomb-maker, Ibrahim al-Asiri, could be working on the 'body bombs'.

Asiri is believed to have been responsible for producing the 'underwear bomb' as well as hiding bombs inside printer ink cartridges in another failed plot in 2010. He was also behind an attack which involved placing a bomb inside the rectum of his own brother to blow up Saudi Arabian intelligence chief Prince Muhammad bin Nayef in 2009. Again, the plot failed after the bomb went off prematurely, with the only victim of the explosion being Asiri's 23-year-old brother, Abdullah. However, according to author and historian Michael Burleigh, there are some design flaws in using a 'human bomb'. He wrote in the Daily Mail: "The blast is blunted by the body itself. Ninety per cent of the human body consists of water, which is a very effective blast absorber; and in this case [the bin Nayef attack] it 'shaped' the blast to go up to the ceiling rather than across the room." Burleigh added researchers have suggested the bomb could be placed inside a human in such a way that the explosion could cause the fragments of bone to act as 'shrapnel' in a similar effect to nail bombs. Despite the "enhanced security measures" at selected airports, both US and UK officials have downplayed the warnings, adding the extra security is out of an "abundance of caution. There has been no indication when an attack could occur and the UK security threat level has not altered from 'substantial' - a three of five level of threat it has had since July 2011. "The UK has some of the most robust aviation security measures and we will continue to take all the steps necessary to ensure that public safety is maintained," a DfT spokesperson added.

A tightening of security at UK airports may remain in place on a permanent basis in the face of a new extremist bomb threat to transatlantic aircraft, Nick Clegg has said as he warned of the dangers posed by a "medieval, violent, revolting ideology". Speaking after the government announced an increase in airport security amid fears in the US that terrorists in Syria and Yemen were developing explosives that could be smuggled on to planes, the deputy prime minister said the new measures would not be temporary. "I don't think we should expect this to be a one-off temporary thing," Clegg said on his weekly LBC phone-in. "We have to make sure the checks are there to meet the nature of the new kinds of threats. Whether it is forever – I can't make any predictions. But I don't want people to think that this is just a sort of a blip for a week. This is part of an evolving and constant review about whether the checks keep up with the nature of the threats we face."

The Department of State warns U.S. citizens of the risks of travel to Chad and recommends citizens avoid travel to eastern Chad and all border regions. The Embassy advises U.S. citizens to avoid public gathering spaces and locations frequented by expatriates, including markets, restaurants, bars, and places of worship. This Travel Warning replaces the Travel Warning for Chad dated April 15, 2014 to update U.S. citizens on the current security situation in Chad.

Hundreds of UK tourists are being evacuated from parts of the Kenyan coast, after the Foreign Office warned of a "high threat" from terrorists. Tour operators Thomson and First Choice cancelled all flights to Mombasa until October and said some 400 holidaymakers would be flown back as a precaution. The main threat has been linked to the militant Islamist al-Shabab group.

The cowboys have persuaded thousands of  our vulnerable pensioners — many in their 80s and 90s — to give up huge stakes of their property in exchange for investments that will never make a penny. 

The schemes are often sold by rogue financial advisers who exploit weak consumer laws on  the Continent by falsely claiming to be bona  fide accountants.

Most of the victims are Britons who retired to Spain or France and wanted to use the cash in their homes to help with soaring living costs. 

John Parsons, founder of the Costa del Sol Action Group that is helping some of the victims in Spain, says: ‘The effect of all this worry is enormous. The stress has brought on a lot of serious health issues and they are extremely worried about their futures.

‘These people were not greedy or stupid. They were on fixed pensions and being financially squeezed, so jumped at the possibility of solving that situation.’

The latest crisis follows a Money Mail  investigation in 2008, which exposed how hundreds of British pensioners living on the Costa del Sol had gambled their homes in a risky equity-release scheme run by failed Icelandic bank Landsbanki.

Now we can reveal how thousands more pensioners have fallen for other risky equity-release schemes on the Continent and are being hounded by banks demanding hundreds of thousands of pounds.

During the property boom at the start of this century, around 100,000 pensioners left Britain to live out their days in southern France and Spain — attracted by a warmer climate and cheaper way of life.

Many had a small pension, but hundreds of thousands of pounds from the sale of their UK home, which had soared in value over their lifetime.

This money was used to supplement their incomes and buy a new home abroad. But soon after they moved, the cost of living in some areas soared as hundreds of thousands of Britons and Germans bought second homes.

Many pensioners found they needed extra cash, and became easy prey for unregulated financial advisers who had left Britain to tap into the new wealth in these regions. 

Local rules meant they were able to act unchecked, selling investments from banks based anywhere in the world.

Sometimes they claimed to be chartered accountants, but were not — many had never even registered with local authorities. 

In Spain in particular, these advisers could largely sell whatever they wanted — including types of investments and equity-release schemes outlawed in the UK. These paid handsome commissions that could net advisers a £50,000 payday.

Banks offering equity-release loans included Icelandic bank Landsbanki, Scandinavian banks Nordea and Sydbank, and UK private bank Rothschild. However, Money Mail understands they are not the only banks involved.

The majority of victims were told they could borrow the entire value of their property. The loan would incur interest, typically of up to 6.5 per cent. It meant that after ten years, a €500,000 (£412,667) loan would balloon to €681,240 (£562,251). To offset this, a large chunk — usually around 75 per cent of the loan — would be invested in a fund sold by the adviser. 

Pensioners were told returns would be so good that not only would they cover the interest on the equity release, but give the borrowers a little extra to spend.

INVESTMENTS THAT TURNED TOXIC

But the promises made turned out to be very different to the theory. This meant returns did not cover the cost of the interest repayments on the equity release. 

As the fund fell in value, it ate into the capital that borrowers needed to repay the debt. Charges for fund managers and commission also reduced the returns further. 

Worse was to follow when house prices in Spain fell. They had risen by 44 per cent between 2004 and 2008, when many of the victims had bought their homes. They have since plummeted by around 20 per cent.

Those who had borrowed almost all of their property value were soon in negative equity — where the value of the property value was less than the money owed on it — leaving them unable to sell to clear their debt. 

In theory the borrowers were expected to pay off their loan at the end of four years. But because the value of the investments plunged so low, it triggered small print in the equity-release contract that allowed banks to demand repayment early.

In the case of those expats with Landsbanki, the bank collapsed and the investment fund was snatched by company liquidators. Then a further problem struck — the value of the pound plunged against the euro. 

Many of the victims were paid pensions in pounds and relied on converting the money into euros every month. The drop meant the value of their pensions fell by a third.

RETIREMENT DREAMS LEFT SHATTERED

Campaigners estimate thousands of British pensioners have lost money through these schemes. Former actress Julia Hilling, 88, fears her home will be swallowed up in repayments to her mortgage from Rothschild Bank.

She was sold the mortgage in 2005 by a Malaga-based British financial adviser. Today, this company is classed as unauthorised by the Spanish authorities. Her property was valued at €300,000 (£249,966) and she took out a loan for €262,000 (£217,827). Around €17,000 (£14,138) was used for living expenses and she put €245,000 (£203,693) in an investment fund. 

Tempted: Julia Hilling, pictured was an actress in the 1940s, says she went for a scheme because she needed to pay bills

Mrs Hilling, who starred in musicals in the Forties and in revues with Sir Bruce Forsyth at the Windmill Theatre, London, had never invested or even had a mortgage before. 

Since 2005, the fund has plunged by around a third and will no longer cover her mortgage. She owes €330,000 (£274,362) and the debt continues to grow. Mrs Hilling says she is unable to cover these costs and fears the bank will take her property when she dies.

‘I needed the money desperately to pay everyday bills while I was out here, as I didn’t want to rely on my family,’ she says. 

Rothschild told Money Mail it would not repossess Mrs Hilling’s home. It stressed it had not sold the investment to her and was not demanding repayment nor had it paid commission. It urged her to contact the bank. 

Another victim is Eric Mould, 64, who after a career in sales moved to a seaside villa in Puerto Banus, near Malaga, in 2007. He and his wife Mary, 60, sold their four-bedroom detached house in the UK to buy a three-bedroom villa with a swimming pool for €1,188,000 (£990,000).

But five years later they are living in a friend’s flat in the town and battling to pay €2,100 (£1,745) a month in mortgage repayments to Danish bank Nykredit.

Shortly after arriving in Spain, the couple borrowed €1 million against their villa with the bank. They say the British financial adviser who sold them the equity-release mortgage told them it would be a ‘win-win’ situation.

They were told they could free up hundreds of thousands of pounds from the mortgage, and the fund would pay off the loan. They believed the investment they were sold separately through Danish bank Sydbank would leave a little extra to boost their pensions.

To cover the mortgage, the Moulds have rented out their dream home. Their friend is letting them live rent-free in the apartment. The couple fear it is only a matter of time before their home is repossessed. And because property values have dropped, they could lose up to €300,000 (£249,966)

‘This has totally devastated us. It is heart-breaking — we face losing the home we worked for a lifetime to buy,’  says Mr Mould. 

Sydbank would not comment on  the case.

Others who took out equity-release schemes with collapsed Icelandic bank Landsbanki have been told it will settle — as long as they pay part of the money owed, in some cases hundreds of thousands of pounds.

One couple, Linda and Frances Barlow, aged 63 and 75, who live in Nice in the south of France, believe the bank’s liquidators will repossess their home by May unless they stump up €1.3 million (£1.08 million).

The liquidators proposed a compromise deal, but it would have required the couple to find €500,000, which they do not have.

The Barlows took only a small proportion of the loan as cash. The rest was invested by the bank, and lost when it collapsed in 2008.

‘We wanted some cash to renovate,’ says Mrs Barlow, a musician from London. ‘We didn’t want to take out a big loan, but the financial adviser told us we were foolish to be sitting on an asset and that we should get an equity release to have an income. Now we are going to lose everything.’

THE FIGHT TO KEEP THEIR HOMES

Airlines have warned the Home Secretary that Britain "risks gridlock" at airports including Heathrow and Gatwick over the Easter break due to staff shortages. More than 370,000 passengers will leave Heathrow airport between Good Friday and Easter Monday, and 200,000 will pass through Gatwick. A spokesman for Heathrow owner BAA told the Daily Telegraph: "Immigration waiting times during peak periods at Heathrow are currently unacceptable and we have called on the UK Border Force to address the problem as a matter of urgency. "There isn't a trade-off between strong border security and a good passenger experience. UK Border Force should be delivering both." Meanwhile, Britons attempting to travel by rail and road face delays because of engineering works taking place on motorways and train lines. Stretches of the M1 and M25 will be affected, and the seven million passengers travelling by train over the weekend will see disruption to travel to and from Euston, King's Cross, Liverpool Street, and Waterloo stations in London. British Airways and Virgin Airlines are among 11 firms that have written to Theresa May in anticipation of "unacceptable" delays to hundreds of thousands of passengers travelling over the long weekend. The UK Border Agency is under fire for a lack of staff able to carry out full security checks, which the airlines say must result in a recruitment drive or the relaxing of some of the more stringent measures currently in place. A spokeswoman for Virgin Airlines said: "While the decision on what level of check should be made at the border is, of course, a matter for Government, we are concerned that there is currently a mismatch between policy and resource. "After years of reducing frontline staff, returning to a 100% check system will undoubtedly mean lengthy queues at UK airports over critical holiday periods such as Easter and the Diamond Jubilee."

legal high known as "mexxy" is to be outlawed, the Government has announced. It follows concerns that two people whose bodies were found in Leicestershire in February may have taken some form of the drug after buying it over the internet. Methoxetamine, or mexxy, will initially be made illegal for 12 months while Government advisers decide whether to ban it completely. Crime Prevention Minister Lord Henley said: "Making this drug illegal sends a clear message to users and those making and supplying it that we are stepping up our fight against substances which are dangerous and ruin the lives of victims and their families. "But making drugs illegal is only part of the solution. "It is important for users of these harmful substances to understand that just because they are described as legal highs, it does not mean they are safe or should be seen as a 'safer' alternative to illegal substances." Anyone caught making, supplying or importing the drug faces up to 14 years in prison and an unlimited fine. Under the change in law, police and border officials will also have new powers to search or detain anyone they suspect of having the drug and seize, keep or dispose of a substance they suspect is methoxetamine. After its growing use as a party drug, the Home Office referred mexxy to the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) for its views on controlling it earlier this month. The drug, used as an alternative to ketamine, is widely available on the internet. Its effects include a faster heart rate, hallucinations, hypertension, loss of balance, higher blood pressure, agitation and cardiovascular conditions. Tests by the ACMD also found evidence that use of methoxetamine can lead to "significant additional toxicity". Professor Les Iversen, chairman of the ACMD, said: "The evidence shows that the use of methoxetamine can cause harm to users."

Russian banker shot five times close to London's financial district had been days away from giving evidence to an investigation into the attempted murder of a former business associate, his lawyer has said. German Gorbuntsov, who at the height of his business empire owned four Russian banks, was walking towards his apartment block near the Canary Wharf banking district when a gunman opened fire on Tuesday evening, leaving him badly injured. London police said on Saturday they were keeping an open mind about the motive of the attack. Gorbuntsov's lawyer, Vadim Vedenin, said the 45-year-old remained in a medically induced coma to give him a chance to recover, and that doctors were hoping to revive him in about three days. Vedenin said his client had been due to give evidence before the end of the month to an investigation by Russian prosecutors into the attempted murder of another Russian banker and former business associate of Gorbuntsov's, Alexander Antonov, in 2009. "He was preparing to give evidence on certain people. He has already given it in written form and he was going to do so in official testimony," Vedenin said by phone on Saturday, adding that Gorbuntsov had come to London because he feared for his life. The attack occurred outside the door of a block of high-end serviced apartments a short walk from the skyscrapers of Canary Wharf. A member of the building's staff, who declined to give his name, said he heard no shots, but ran outside when he heard frantic shouting. "He is a customer here. He was still alive. He spoke to us in Russian. I understood what he was saying," the member of staff, a Polish man, said. "He was swearing a lot." LONDON RUSSIANS London is home to thousands of Russian business people seeking capital, prestige and, in many cases, a haven from the rough and tumble of their home country's financial world. Alexander Antonov made his career in the nuclear industry, then became its banker as owner of Konversbank, a financial institution founded to serve the nuclear industry about two decades ago. Antonov said he and Gorbuntsov had disagreed over the terms of a bank sale just before the debt crisis of 2008, but that there had been no acrimony. "Our relationship is friendly, and it has always been friendly," he told Reuters. "I have a great personal interest in his testimony." The attempt on his life in 2009 was linked in Russia to the 2008 murder in Moscow of Ruslan Yamadayev, a powerful opponent of the Kremlin-backed Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov. The two incidents were tried as a single case and three men were convicted. But the person or persons who ordered the murders was never identified, and the case had lain dormant until this year. Diplomatic relations between Russia and Britain have been tested by a series of disputes involving Russian emigres. Russia has refused to extradite the man suspected of murdering former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko by putting radioactive polonium in his tea in London. Meanwhile London courts have refused to extradite men wanted in Russia, including the Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky, a former Kremlin insider turned fierce critic with criminal convictions in Russia. Berezovsky, who says the charges brought against him in Russia are politically motivated, said by telephone from London that he did not know Gorbuntsov personally, nor did he know of any Russian criminals hiding out in London. "One can give differing views, but it is important to understand that, from my not-exactly-dilettantish point of view, there is no place safer than London from Kremlin bandits or from Russian or international criminals," he said. "But that of course is no guarantee they won't get you."