Russia Denies US Accusation it Violated Chemical Weapons Ban in Ukraine 

A handout picture made available by the Odesa Regional State Administration Oleh Kiper Telegram channel shows the storage site of the "Nova Poshta" postal service following a missile strike in Odesa, Ukraine, 29 April 2024. (EPA/Odesa Regional State Administration handout)
A handout picture made available by the Odesa Regional State Administration Oleh Kiper Telegram channel shows the storage site of the "Nova Poshta" postal service following a missile strike in Odesa, Ukraine, 29 April 2024. (EPA/Odesa Regional State Administration handout)
TT

Russia Denies US Accusation it Violated Chemical Weapons Ban in Ukraine 

A handout picture made available by the Odesa Regional State Administration Oleh Kiper Telegram channel shows the storage site of the "Nova Poshta" postal service following a missile strike in Odesa, Ukraine, 29 April 2024. (EPA/Odesa Regional State Administration handout)
A handout picture made available by the Odesa Regional State Administration Oleh Kiper Telegram channel shows the storage site of the "Nova Poshta" postal service following a missile strike in Odesa, Ukraine, 29 April 2024. (EPA/Odesa Regional State Administration handout)

Russia on Thursday denied a US accusation that its forces in Ukraine had violated an international ban on chemical weapons by using substances including a prohibited choking agent.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Moscow remained bound by its obligations under the treaty that bans chemical weapons.

The United States on Wednesday accused Russia of violating it by deploying the choking agent chloropicrin against Ukrainian troops and using riot control agents "as a method of warfare" in Ukraine.

"As always, such announcements are absolutely unfounded and are not supported by anything. Russia has been and remains committed to its obligations under international law in this area," Peskov said.



Traffic on French High-Speed Trains Gradually Improving after Sabotage

Workers operate to reconnect the signal box to the track in its technical ducts in Vald' Yerres, near Chartres on July 26, 2024, as France's high-speed rail network was hit by an attack disrupting the transport system, hours before the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. (AFP)
Workers operate to reconnect the signal box to the track in its technical ducts in Vald' Yerres, near Chartres on July 26, 2024, as France's high-speed rail network was hit by an attack disrupting the transport system, hours before the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. (AFP)
TT

Traffic on French High-Speed Trains Gradually Improving after Sabotage

Workers operate to reconnect the signal box to the track in its technical ducts in Vald' Yerres, near Chartres on July 26, 2024, as France's high-speed rail network was hit by an attack disrupting the transport system, hours before the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. (AFP)
Workers operate to reconnect the signal box to the track in its technical ducts in Vald' Yerres, near Chartres on July 26, 2024, as France's high-speed rail network was hit by an attack disrupting the transport system, hours before the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. (AFP)

Traffic on France's TGV high-speed trains was gradually returning to normal on Saturday after engineers worked overnight repairing sabotaged signal stations and cables that caused travel chaos on Friday, the opening day of the Paris Olympic Games.

In Friday's pre-dawn attacks on the high-speed rail network vandals damaged infrastructure along the lines connecting Paris with cities such as Lille in the north, Bordeaux in the west and Strasbourg in the east. Another attack on the Paris-Marseille line was foiled, French rail operator SNCF said.

There has been no immediate claim of responsibility.

"On the Eastern high-speed line, traffic resumed normally this morning at 6:30 a.m. while on the North, Brittany and South-West high-speed lines, 7 out of 10 trains on average will run with delays of 1 to 2 hours," SNCF said in a statement on Saturday morning.

"At this stage, traffic will remain disrupted on Sunday on the North axis and should improve on the Atlantic axis for weekend returns," it added.

SNCF reiterated that transport plans for teams competing in the Olympics would be guaranteed.