Ricin secret police: Georgi Markov had defected from Bulgaria some years previously and had subsequently written books and made radio broadcasts that were highly critical of the Bulgarian communist regime. However, it was believed at the time that Bulgaria would not have been able to produce the pellet, and it was also believed that the KGB had supplied it. The KGB denied any involvement, although high-profile KGB defectors Oleg Kalugin and Oleg Gordievsky have since confirmed the KGB's involvement. Earlier, Soviet dissident Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn also suffered (but survived) ricin-like symptoms after an encounter in 1971 with KGB agents. Ten days before
London Waterloo station Rail announced that platforms 20–24 would be fully refurbished in order to increase capacity at Waterloo by 30%. Communications manager Kevin Parker stressed that the international platforms were only designed to cope with six trains per hour, well below the expected capacity for commuter services. The platforms closed in September 2017 for the works, with a revised timetable to be published the following year. Waterloo station was to be the central London terminus for the proposed Heathrow Airtrack rail service. This project, promoted by British Airport Authority Limited (BAA), envisaged the construction of a spur, from on the Waterloo to