- British police told TV channel Sky News that they will investigate Litvinenko's case as a murder, given preliminary results of the forensic examination
- Russian and British investigators have begun questioning witnesses in Litvinenko's case, the Russian Prosecutor General's Office said
- British experts investigating Litvinenko's death found insignificant traces of radiation in the U.K.'s Moscow Embassy, a diplomatic spokesman said
- Investigators might not be able to question Andrei Lugovoi, a key Russian witness in Litvinenko's case as he is undergoing a medical examination, a source close to the witness said
* St. Petersburg Governor Valentina Matviyenko, near the end of her first term, has submitted her resignation to President Vladimir Putin, the government of Russia's second-largest city said
* President Vladimir Putin:
- signed a law cancelling the minimal voter threshold in elections at all levels
- promised an adequate response to attempts to instigate racial, interethnic and interfaith conflict in the country
- appointed Police Colonel Igor Alyoshin interior minister of the northern republic of Karelia
* Russia's lower house of parliament, the State Duma, adopted in the first reading a president-sponsored nuclear power reform package, which will allow Russian companies to possess nuclear materials, plants and storage facilities for civilian purposes
* At least 100 violations of environmental regulations have been discovered in the Shell-led Sakhalin-II oil and gas project in Russia's Far East, local prosecutors said
* Russian law enforcement agencies have seized documents at IBM's Moscow office, leaving the company building at around 7:00 p.m. Moscow time (4:00 p.m. GMT), a security guard said
* Major Russian electronics retailers said they might withdraw Panasonic products from sale over the Japanese manufacturer's alleged involvement in shady import practices in Russia
* Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said Russia's GDP growth in 2006 could reach 7%, exceeding official forecasts
