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The UK will expel 23 Russian diplomats after Moscow refused to explain how a Russian-made nerve agent was used on a former spy in Salisbury, the PM says.

Theresa May said the diplomats, who have a week to leave, were identified as "undeclared intelligence officers".

She also revoked an invitation to Russia's foreign minister, and said the Royal Family would not attend the Fifa World Cup later this year.

Russia denies being involved in the attempted murder of Sergei Skripal.

The Russian Embassy said the expulsion of 23 diplomats was "unacceptable, unjustified and short-sighted".

Former spy Mr Skripal, 66, and his daughter, Yulia Skripal, 33, remain critically ill in hospital after being found slumped on a bench on 4 March.

Det Sgt Nick Bailey also fell ill responding to the incident, and is in a serious but stable condition, but is thought to be improving.

Moscow refused to meet Mrs May's midnight deadline to co-operate in the case, prompting Mrs May to announce a series of measures intended to send a "clear message" to Russia.

Among them are:

The expulsion of 23 diplomats - who have one week to leave

Increased checks on private flights, customs and freight

The freezing of Russian state assets where there is evidence they may be used to threaten the life or property of UK nationals or residents

Ministers and Royal Family to boycott the Fifa World Cup in Russia later this year

The suspension of all planned high level bi-lateral contacts between the UK and Russia

Plans to consider new laws to increase defences against "hostile state activity"

Mrs May told MPs that Russia had provided "no explanation" as to how the nerve agent came to be used in the UK, describing Moscow's response as one of "sarcasm, contempt and defiance".

She said the use of a Russian-made nerve agent on UK soil amounted to the "unlawful use of force".

The PM, who was earlier briefed by senior intelligence chiefs in Downing Street, added there was "no alternative conclusion other than that the Russian state was culpable" for the attempted murder of Mr Skripal and his daughter.

She said it was "tragic" that Russian President Vladimir Putin had "chosen to act in this way".

The foreign office has updated its advice on travel to Russia, saying "heightened political tensions" mean Britons should "be aware of the possibility of anti-British sentiment or harassment at this time".

Meanwhile, police and army have sealed off areas of Gillingham, Dorset, as part of the attempted murder investigation.

They have cordoned off an area surrounding a truck, which it is thought recovered Mr Skripal's car from Salisbury, about 20 miles from Gillingham.

About 180 troops have been deployed to Salisbury to assist with removing vehicles and objects from affected areas, while the Zizzi restaurant and Bishop's Mill pub where the Skripals visited before falling ill remain closed.

A top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee distanced himself Tuesday from one of the panel's most explosive findings in its Russia investigation — that the FBI, CIA and NSA overplayed their hand when they declared Russia preferred a Donald Trump victory in the 2016 election.

Rep. Trey Gowdy of South Carolina said that the evidence gathered by the committee clearly showed Russia's disdain for Trump's rival, Hillary Clinton, and was "motivated in whole or in part by a desire to harm her candidacy or undermine her Presidency had she prevailed."

Historians said the demonstrations were shaping up to be one of the largest youth protests in decades.

“It seems like it’s going to be the biggest youth-oriented and youth-organized protest movements going back decades, to the early ’70s at least,” said David Farber a history professor at the University of Kansas who has studied social change movements.

The morning after Democrats eked out a probable narrow win in a formerly pro-Trump district in Pennsylvania, House Republican leaders publicly waved away the result as a fluke and doubled down on the idea that their tax cut bill will save them from a blue wave in this November’s midterm elections.

“This is something you’re not going to see repeated,” House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) insisted on Wednesday, moments after he reportedly told his caucus behind closed doors that the flipped seat was a “wakeup call” for Republicans.

Ryan told reporters that Democrat Conor Lamb “ran as a pro-gun, pro-life, anti-Nancy Pelosi conservative.” He did not mention that Lamb also ran a staunchly pro-union, pro-Obamacare and anti-GOP tax bill race, or that Lamb has said publicly that he will not vote for abortion restrictions favored by Republicans.

Ryan also claimed that “there are more Democrats in that district than Republicans,” though President Donald Trump won the district by 20 points in 2016. Though the race has been viewed by both parties as a brutal referendum on Trump’s presidency and a sign of building Democratic enthusiasm ahead of November’s midterm elections, where many far more purple districts will be contested, Ryan insisted that Trump did not negatively impact the special election.

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Republican strategists have struggled to explain away the apparent loss in an historically deeply red district, with one reportedly blaming Saccone’s “porn ‘stache” for his woes.

In total, during the 10 a.m. hour, MSNBC spent the full 60 minutes on the student protests, not even breaking for commercials, CNN spent just over 21 minutes on the protests, making it the most dominant story of the hour, and Fox News devoted just five and a half minutes to the story.

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The Koch-backed Americans for Prosperity is reportedly planning to "step up its advertising" in Indiana and Missouri, spending nearly $4 million in the hopes of defeating Sens. Claire McCaskill and Joe Donnelly.

Students across the country today called BS on the NRA, Trump, and oralloy.

A man who registered as a Green Party candidate for Montana's U.S. Senate race was on the state Republican Party's payroll and heads a newly formed anti-tax group, according to a review of election documents.

Timothy Adams filed as a challenger Monday against Democratic Sen. Jon Tester, who faces a tough re-election campaign, in a race where a Green Party candidate could siphon votes from the Democrat.

Ryan insisted that Trump did not negatively impact the special election.

Finally, Pennsylvania 18 was yet another example of a Democratic turnout advantage — the telltale sign of an enthusiasm gap — helping the party do better than expected in special elections. The number of votes Lamb received was 80 percent of the number of votes Clinton received in this district in 2016 — but Saccone got just 53 percent of the number of votes Trump got. Anecdotally, turnout was also much higher in Democratic precincts than it was in Republican precincts. But, crucially for Democrats, the results hinted that maybe that Democratic turnout advantage is transferable to the higher-turnout environment of a midterm election. The 228,177 votes cast in the special election exceeded the 214,912 votes the 18th District cast in Pennsylvania’s 2014 gubernatorial election. In other words, turnout on Tuesday was even higher than it was in the last midterm.

In total, during the 10 a.m. hour, MSNBC spent the full 60 minutes on the student protests, not even breaking for commercials, CNN spent just over 21 minutes on the protests, making it the most dominant story of the hour, and Fox News devoted just five and a half minutes to the story.