It reads like a John le Carre novel. The murdered former KGB spy, Alexander Litvinenko, was apparently working as a triple spy. On the payroll of MI6, bankrolled by the Spanish secret service and known to his barrister wife as Martin, to say Litvinenko’s life was a tad convoluted is an understatement.

At the time of his death, British and Russian governments were at loggerheads at each other as Britain demanded the extradition of former KGB agents Andrei Lugovoy and Dmitry Kovtun – the former was believed to have murdered Litvinenko – but Russia refused. This remains the case as a pre-inquest hearing yesterday established that Moscow has plenty to answer over the assassination in London.

 The Russian feminist punk-rock collective members Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Ms. Alekhina and Yekaterina Samutsevich pleaded not guilty on charges of hooliganism.

The three were arrested in February after singing an anti-Putin, punk prayer song in Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow. The chant was said to be a call for the Virgin Mary to rid Russia of Putin. Their action angered the Russian Orthodox Church, which in turn accused them of blasphemy. All three are now facing up to 7 years of imprisonment if found guilty on charges of “premeditated hooliganism performed by organized group of people motivated by religious hatred or hostility.”

Actually, the two entrepreneurs should have discussed the financial crisis - but during the broadcast on Russian television, the billionaire Alexander Lebedev suddenly went violent and punched his neighbors from the seat. Later the ex-KGB agent boasted of the attack.

Moscow - Heavy weight business executives clash live on TV: Russian TV; Financial tycoon and media entrepreneur Alexander Lebedev has beaten another businessman with his fists. As the station NTV reported on its Web site, Lebedev punched the ex-head of real estate company Mirax Group Sergei Polonsky. The whole thing happened during a debate on the financial crisis, which will be broadcast on Sunday.