Main News of August 21

A roundup of what has happened in the past 24 hours

WORLD

* The White House on Wednesday said it is “deeply concerned” about claims from Syrian opposition forces that as many as 1,300 people, including many women and children, were killed in a government-led chemical weapons attack in the Damascus suburb of Ghouta overnight

* A US military judge sentenced Army Pfc. Bradley Manning to 35 years in prison Wednesday for leaking hundreds of thousands of classified documents to the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks.

* A senior US congressman said Wednesday that Washington would be “shooting itself in the foot” if it allows the row with Russia over US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden to further sour relations between the two countries and get in the way of a unique kinship between Russians and Americans.

RUSSIA

* Moscow does not rule out that reports alleging the use of chemical weapons in Syria, claims released as a UN investigative team began working in the country, are a “planned provocation” by media outlets to sway public opinion against the ruling regime.

 

* Russia's federal communications agency, Roskomnadzor, will block file-sharing website Opensharing.org under a new anti-piracy law.

 

* Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov and US Acting Undersecretary of State Rose Gottemoeller have discussed missile defense and disarmament issues in London, the Russian Foreign Ministry said

 

* Russian scientists have confirmed the authenticity of a 3.4-kilogram (7.5-pound) fragment of the Chelyabinsk meteorite – the largest piece found so far from the meteorite that hit the Urals region in February

 

SPORTS

 

* Russian tennis superstar Maria Sharapova has dropped a bid to temporarily change her last name to “Sugarpova” during the upcoming US Open tournament to promote the brand of sweets she launched last year, her agent told US sports network ESPN.