U.K. expels Russian diplomats

British Prime Minister Theresa May on Wednesday said the country will expel 23 Russian diplomats following this month’s nerve agent attack against a Russian ex-spy in southern England. The expulsion is the largest since the Cold War more than 30 years ago. British security officials have continued investigations after they found former spy Sergei Skripal and his adult daughter, Yulia, unconscious in Salisbury on March 4. The two remain in comas. May said their attacker used Novichok, a Soviet-era military-grade nerve agent. May told lawmakers on Wednesday the expelled diplomats have a week to leave the country. She also suspended high-level bilateral contacts with Russia, among other economic and diplomatic measures. “They have provided no credible explanation that could suggest they lost control of their nerve agent,” May said, and added Russia has so far responded with “sarcasm, contempt, and defiance.” The Russian Embassy in London said it considered May’s decision a hostile action that was “unacceptable, unjustified, and shortsighted.”