The US says it stands in solidarity with its closest ally the UK and supports its decision to expel 23 Russian diplomats, according to the BBC. Prime Minister Theresa May said the diplomats would be expelled after Moscow refused to explain how a Russian-made nerve agent was used on a former spy in the UK.

British Prime Minister Theresa May on Wednesday expelled 23 Russian diplomats and suspended high-level contacts including for the World Cup, saying her government found Moscow “culpable” of a nerve agent attack on a former spy.

May said she would be pushing for a “robust international response” when the UN Security Council meets later Wednesday in New York to discuss the attack on Sergei Skripal and his daughter on March 4.

Russia has repeatedly denied any involvement and its London embassy warned that May’s response was “totally unacceptable and shortsighted”.

Angela Merkel has been voted in as Germany’s chancellor for the fourth time, Germany’s parliament, the Bundestag, confirmed Wednesday. She received 364 out of 709 votes in the first round of voting – 11 more than required to gain an absolute majority, but also 35 fewer than if all the members of her next governing coalition had cast their ballot in her favour.

Unilever, one of the world’s biggest consumer products companies, has chosen Netherlands over Britain in one of the changes to its corporate and governance structure. In a statement, the company said it has unified its two legal entities, N.V. and PLC, into a single legal entity incorporated in the Netherlands.

U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May announced a series of measures to punish Russia Wednesday, following a nerve agent attack on a former Russian spy and his daughter in Salisbury, CNBC reports. The measures include the expulsion of 23 Russian diplomats, the single biggest expulsion in over 30 years. May said the U.K. would also not send an official government representative to the soccer World Cup in Russia this year.

Award-winning physicist and influential, Stephen Hawking, has died, a spokesperson for his family has confirmed. He was 76. “It is with great sadness we announce the death of Professor Stephen Hawking CH CBE FRS FRSA at the age of 76,” the statement reads.