The international chemical weapons watchdog has backed the UK’s findings on the identity of the chemical used to poison the former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury. The findings by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons will be a major relief to the UK, which has said novichok, a military-grade nerve agent developed by Russia, was used in the attack. The OPCW does not have the power to identify the source of the nerve agent, only to spell out its chemical properties. It seized on a blunder by Johnson, who wrongly claimed last week that the government science facility at Porton Down had attributed the nerve agent to Russia. The statement said her father remained seriously ill and that Yulia was still suffering from the effects of the nerve agent.

Source: The Guardian April 12, 2018 11:08 UTC