Former Russian PM Poisoned

What the heck is going on? First we had Litvinenko who died from radiation poisoning, leading to the discovery of traces of Polonium 210 in several places in London, not to mention the possibility that some 33,000 airline passengers are now on alert after the same radioactive element was found on 3 767s. Now, it's being reported that former Russian prime minister Yegor Gaidar has allegedly been poisoned as well, although the source is not yet known:

Mr Gaidar became violently ill during a visit to Ireland last week, and his daughter Maria told the BBC that doctors believe he was poisoned.

An aide to Mr Gaidar said his condition was improving.

Mr Gaidar, 50, fell ill a day after Russian ex-spy Alexander Litvinenko died of radiation poisoning in London.

Mr Gaidar briefly served as prime minister in 1992 under Russian President Vladimir Putin's predecessor, Boris Yeltsin.

He now heads a Moscow-based think-tank which has criticised President Putin's economic policies, but he is a marginal political figure who is not regarded as a prominent political opponent of the Russian leader.

It looks like it's an extremely dangerous time for Putin's critics...