The lethal poison that struck down a former Russian spy and his daughter last month in England was a highly pure type of Novichok nerve agent, the global chemical weapons watchdog concluded on Thursday, backing Britain's findings. Moscow denied any involvement and suggested Britain had carried out the attack to stoke anti-Russian hysteria, but Britain asked the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to check samples from Salisbury. Testing by four laboratories affiliated with the global chemical weapons watchdog confirmed Britain's findings and showed that the toxic chemical was "of high purity." The chemical weapons watchdog did not explicitly name Novichok in its published summary, say where the poison may have come from or assign blame for the attack. The results will be debated at an emergency OPCW session next Wednesday, to be convened at Britain's request.

Source: dna April 12, 2018 13:51 UTC