On this day in conspiracies

The Court of Cassation makes the convictions final: Fioravanti and Mambro are confirmed as material perpetrators of the bombing, and Licio Gelli, Francesco Pazienza, and SISMI officers Pietro Musumeci and Giuseppe Belmonte are confirmed guilty of the depistaggio. The cover-up by state-linked figures is now established in law.

Forty-six states, five territories, and the District of Columbia sign the Master Settlement Agreement with the four largest cigarette makers, ending state suits to recover smoking-related health costs. The companies agree to pay about 206 billion dollars over time, accept marketing restrictions, and fund an anti-smoking foundation; millions of internal documents are placed in public archives.

Litvinenko dies, aged 43. Tests identify the cause as polonium-210, a rare radioactive isotope. In a statement dictated days earlier and released after his death, he directly accuses President Putin of responsibility.

The federal government rejects the report. Lai Mohammed calls it 'the triumph of fake news' and 'tales by moonlight' and insists the government's position, that there was no massacre, is unchanged.