Main News of July 24

A roundup of what has happened in the past 24 hours

WORLD

* The United States would be “deeply” disappointed if Edward Snowden were allowed to depart the Moscow airport where he has reportedly been living for the last month, the US State Department said Wednesday amid a flurry of contradictory reports about the fugitive former intelligence contractor’s plans to leave the airport’s transit zone

* Two senior UN chemical weapons experts, tasked with investigating alleged chemical attacks in Syria, have arrived in Damascus to discuss details of their possible future inquiry, Western media reported

* Doctors at a Moldovan children’s hospital have for years been using household drills and pliers to perform surgery because the hospital director will not allocate funds for new equipment, according to local media reports and a video that have sent shockwaves across the impoverished ex-Soviet nation

RUSSIA

* The United States’ plans to conduct strikes on Syrian territory conflict with agreements between Moscow and Washington on the convocation of an international peace conference, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Wednesday

* Imprisoned Pussy Riot member Maria Alyokhina was denied parole for a second time Wednesday, a decision her lawyer called “legally unfounded,” the RAPSI legal news agency reported

* Russia’s arms disposal program has failed to meet any of its declared goals in the past two years, the government’s financial controller said

BUSINESS

* Texas-based oil and gas exploration and production company Range Resources has announced its merger partner International Petroleum is in talks to sell off its Russian assets, business website Interactive Investor reported