The BBC has reported that Alexander Litvinenko was poisoned with thallium, which The Telegraph decided was a liquid; then the Beeb suggested the poison was radioactive thallium; then became very excited over unusual objects appearing on his X-rays, though how the BBC had seen his X-rays and why they were breaching the usual confidentiality rules, they didn’t say.
The mystery of the mysterious objects mysteriously vanished as the BBC changed its mind again and decided that Litvinenko had been poisoned with Polonium.
I really don’t think this has been sensible reporting. Now, the BBC News 24 channel is telling me not to panic. As Alpha particles are readily stopped by a sheet of paper and I live around 140 miles away from the sushi bar in Piccadilly Circus in which Litvinenko was poisoned, I wasn’t feeling terribly concerned for my own health in any case.