Belarus Expels US Diplomats

Belarus ordered most of the staff of the US embassy to leave the country today, a sign of souring relations between the states, the AP reports. The top US diplomat in the former Soviet republic says all but six staffers have been ordered out within 72 hours.

The US has been criticizing Belarus over its authoritarian president and has been demanding the country release its political prisoners; Washington has also imposed sanctions on a state-owned oil and chemical company.