Trump: I didn't know of meeting with Russians

WASHINGTON • United States President Donald Trump yesterday denied knowing about the 2016 meeting his son and other campaign staff held at Trump Tower with Russians who offered damaging information about rival Hillary Clinton.

"I did NOT know of the meeting with my son, Don jr," Mr Trump wrote on Twitter, after a CNN report cited his lawyer, Mr Michael Cohen, as saying Mr Trump had known about the meeting in advance.

REUTERS

Fire paralyses traffic at major Paris station

PARIS • A major fire in the Paris suburbs paralysed traffic in and out of the city's Montparnasse train station yesterday, just as thousands of French travellers head off on their holidays this weekend.

It shut down traffic just before noon at Montparnasse, the main station linking Paris to western and south-western France.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

Plastic bag sales drop at England supermarts

LONDON • Plastic bag sales in England's seven biggest supermarkets have fallen by 86 per cent since a 5 pence (9 Singapore cents) charge was introduced in 2015, the government said yesterday.

Customers bought nearly a quarter fewer plastic bags last year compared with the previous one - a decrease of nearly 300 million bags, it said.