Strauss-Kahn to face Tristane Banon rape allegation

French writer Tristane Banon is to file a complaint for attempted rape against former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn, her lawyer says.

Ms Banon accuses Mr Strauss-Kahn of trying to assault her as she tried to interview him in a Paris flat in 2003.
Mr Strauss-Kahn said he would sue Ms Banon for making false statements.
He was recently freed from house arrest in New York in a separate alleged case. He denies sexually assaulting a hotel maid in the city on 14 May.
It was shortly after Mr Strauss-Kahn was arrested in New York that Ms Banon came forward to say that he had tried to assault her.
She did not go to the police at the time, but did raise the allegation in a TV chat show in 2007, when Mr Strauss-Kahn's name was bleeped out.
Ms Banon's lawyer, David Koubbi, said on Monday that she had instructed him "to file a formal criminal complaint for attempted rape" against Mr Strauss-Kahn. He said the complaint would be filed on Tuesday to a Paris prosecutor.
"These acts are extremely serious," Mr Koubbi said as he announced the legal action in France. "These events were combined with a violence that was absolutely remarkable for these kinds of cases."
He said the alleged incident took place in February 2003, and not in 2002 as previously reported.
'Word against word' Ms Banon, 32, has claimed that during the interview, Mr Strauss-Kahn said he would only speak to her if she held his hand.

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“Start Quote

If I want one day to put an end to this hell that has lasted eight years, it needs to be tried in court”

End Quote Tristane Banon

According to her version of events, she eventually had to fight him off as they wrestled on the floor and he undid her bra and pulled open her jeans.

"When I realised that he really wanted to rape me I started kicking him with my boots. I was terrified," she said in an interview published on Monday in French weekly L'Express.
She said she had not pursued the case eight years ago because at the time, "everyone told me it would never succeed".
But she said that following the allegations in New York there was "perhaps a chance to finally be listened to".
"If I want one day to put an end to this hell that has lasted eight years, it needs to be tried in court," she added.
"I'm well aware that in these kinds of cases, where it's one person's word against another - without even mentioning people who are that powerful - suspects are often released."
Mr Strauss-Kahn's French lawyers said on Monday they had been instructed to file a legal complaint against Ms Banon for making false statements about "imaginary" events.
Presidential bid 'unlikely' Mr Strauss-Kahn had been a leading contender to be the French Socialist Party's presidential candidate before his arrest in May.

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Strauss-Kahn allegations

• 2006: Publication of Sexus Politicus, book by Christophe Deloire and Christophe Dubois, with chapter on Mr Strauss-Kahn and his tendency of "seduction to the point of obsession"
• 2008: Mr Strauss-Kahn admits an affair with IMF colleague; he admits an "error of judgement"
• 2011: Mr Strauss-Kahn arrested on 14 May in New York, accused of sexually assaulting a hotel maid
• 16 May: Writer Tristane Banon comes forward to say Mr Strauss-Kahn tried to assault her in an interview nearly a decade before
• 1 July: Mr Strauss-Kahn freed without bail from New York house arrest

• French harassment claims increase

Concerns about the reliability of his accuser in New York have left that case reportedly in trouble, and led to speculation that he might return to French politics.

However, on Monday Socialist Party spokesman Benoit Hamon said the idea that Mr Strauss-Kahn could now run for the presidency was "the weakest" of all possible scenarios.
Ms Banon's mother, Anne Mansouret, herself a politician from Mr Strauss-Kahn's centre-left Socialist Party, said she had persuaded her daughter not to file a complaint at the time of the alleged incident.
But Ms Mansouret has said she is "revolted" by the gleeful reaction of many men in France to news the case in New York might fail.
Mr Koubbi told L'Express that he and his client had decided to press charges in mid-June, and that the timing of the decision was not linked to Mr Strauss-Kahn's US trial.
He had previously said it would not be filed until "later", to avoid any competition with the New York case against Mr Strauss-Kahn.
"I have always said that the French case and the American case ought not be linked," Mr Koubbi said on Monday.
Ms Banon is the god-daughter of Mr Strauss-Kahn's second wife, Brigitte Guillemette.(BBC News)

Greece vote protests turn violent

Police have fired tear gas in running battles with stone-throwing youths in Athens, where a 48-hour general strike is being held against a parliamentary vote on tough austerity measures.

Thousands of protesters have gathered outside parliament in the capital where public transport has ground to a halt.
PM George Papandreou has said that only his 28bn-euro (£25bn) austerity plan would get Greece back on its feet.
If the package is not approved, Greece could run out of money within weeks.
Without a new plan in place, the EU and IMF say they will withhold 12bn euros of loans which Greece needs to repay debts due in mid-July.
'Declared war' More than 5,000 police officers were deployed in the centre of Athens as the protesters marched towards parliament.
The rally started peacefully, but escalated into running skirmishes on the fringes of the main demonstration.
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What went wrong in Greece?

Greece's economic reforms, which led to it abandoning the drachma as its currency in favour of the euro in 2002, made it easier for the country to borrow money.

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Hundreds of protesters with faces covered by scarves or gas-masks started throwing stones, debris and bottles at the police in one corner of the central Syntagma Square.

Police fired tear gas and stun grenades to keep them back.
Two communications vans with mobile telecoms transmitters were daubed with graffiti condemning the media and banks before being set alight by protesters who had apparently mistaken them for satellite TV trucks.
Four police officers and four demonstrators were injured in the scuffles, police said, while a number of demonstrators were treated for breathing difficulties.
Some 18 people were detained by police, Reuters reported.
There were also skirmishes as trade unionists tried to persuade anarchists to leave the square, saying their violent protests were only harming the aims of the demonstrations, says the BBC's Jon Sopel in Athens.

The general strike has halted most public services, banks are closed and hospitals are operating on skeleton staff.
Airports are shutting for hours at a time, with air traffic controllers walking out between 0800 and 1200 (0500-0900 GMT) and 1800 and 2200 (1500-1900 GMT).
A number of flights were also cancelled at Athens international airport.
Trains, buses and ferries are also affected.
In Athens, the metro is the only form of public transport which will work "so as to allow Athenians to join the planned protests in the capital", metro drivers said.

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At the scene

Malcolm Brabant BBC News, Athens

It was a very Greek riot, complete with an angry, Orthodox cassock-clad priest in among the anarchists.
Impervious to clouds of tear gas and flying chunks of marble, smashed by sledgehammer-wielding youths from the walls of a fountain, the priest went face to face with riot police, telling them to leave the square.
He seemed to be preaching to the converted. Although 5,000 police were supposedly deployed in Athens to protect the city centre, they surrendered Syntagma Square to the anarchists, moving back to form defensive lines around the parliament.
The promises of the Socialist government to never again allow a repeat of the riots of 2008 went up in flames.

• Greek violence echoes 2008 riots

Protesters blockaded the port of Piraeus, near Athens, which links most Greek islands with the mainland.

"The situation that the workers are undergoing is tragic and we are near poverty levels," said Spyros Linardopoulos, a protester with the PAME union at the blockade.
"The government has declared war and to this war we will answer back with war."
The unions are angry that the government's austerity programme will impose taxes on those earning the minimum wage, following months of other cuts which have seen unemployment rise to more than 16%.
Polls suggest that between 70% and 80% of Greek people oppose the austerity plan.
"We're opposed to what they're trying to do to us," said bank worker Kali Patouna.
"We know very well that these measures will be our tombstone. They will have extreme consequences for workers and for everyone on---bbc

Clashes after River Plate relegated

Police used water cannon to disperse River Plate fans at the end of the match

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• Argentine trauma at River Plate's decline
• Fury after River Plate relegation
• Country profile: Argentina

Dozens of people have been injured in clashes that broke out in Buenos Aires after Argentina's legendary football club River Plate were relegated to the second division.

The violence erupted inside the stadium. Street battles between angry fans and police continued outside.
River needed to win by two clear goals against Belgrano de Cordoba, but only managed a 1-1 draw.
This meant that River dropped to the country's B league for the first time.
The match, held in River's Monumental stadium, had to be abandoned in the final minute, amid chaotic scenes.

River Plate's fate seemed sealed after Mariano Pavone missed a penalty

Police fired water cannon up into the stands, following a pitch invasion by furious River fans.
Players from both teams had to be escorted off the field.
The violence continued after the game, with clashes outside the stadium between hardcore fans and helmeted riot police, as helicopters hovered overhead.
Police fired rubber bullets and tear gas, and also deployed mounted units to try to disperse the fans, who threw rocks and set fire to vehicles and rubbish bins.
At least 65 people were hurt, among them more than 20 police officers, according to Argentine media.
In all, more than 2,000 police had been deployed before the game in an unparalleled security operation for a club game.
Tears The game itself was a fiercely fought contest. River had gone 1-0 up within the first five minutes.

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Media reaction to River's woes

"From hope and euphoria to sadness and violence" - Clarin, Argentina
"River Plate: 110 years of glory and a day of infinite sadness" - Telam, Argentina
A football game saw the Monumental (stadium) go from hope to senselessness in 90 minutes - La Nacion, Argentina
"Like a true Argentine tango, River's last three seasons end in tragedy" - Gazeta Esportiva, Brazil
"A giant falls, setting off a roar that reverberates around the world" - El Pais, Uruguay
"Drama of the 'millionaires': it is as if Real Madrid were relegated - El Pais, Spain
"The nightmare has come true...League B is no longer a spectre but a harsh reality" -La Gazzetta dello Sport - Italy

But they saw their lead slip in the second half, after a Belgrano goal.

Then the man who had scored River's goal, Mariano Pavone, had a penalty saved, to the stunned reaction of more than 50,000 home fans. And that effectively sealed their fate.
By the end of the game, some of their players were in tears.
River, which has won more domestic titles than any other club (33), was one of only three never to have dropped out of the first division.
Many commentators have described it as a drop into the "abyss".
Argentina's press reacted to the result with disbelief.
The national daily, Clarin, wrote: "No-one, absolutely no-one, will be able to forget this day."
It said while Belgrano had been the "executioner", they did not bear most of the responsibility for River's fate.
And it added that "even the poor refereeing... and the management errors" that had helped bring the club to this point did not justify the incidents at the end of the game.
"Incredible but real" was the headline in the sports paper, Ole.
It flagged up the fact that River's descent has been presided over by one of its all-time greatest players - Daniel Passarella, the club's current president.

Police were among the injured in the troubles that marred the match

In recent weeks, River's fans have reacted angrily to a string of poor results, demanding his resignation.
It has been a steep fall from grace for Passarella, the man who captained Argentina's World Cup winning squad in 1978.
He was idolised by River's supporters when he played for club.
River's decline on the pitch has been mirrored by financial problems.
The club is currently carrying an estimated $19m (£12m) of debts.
This could mean River is forced to sell off several players(bbc)

UK Armed Forces Day parade takes place in Edinburgh

A parade of 2,500 military personnel, veterans and cadets has marched down the Royal Mile in Edinburgh to mark UK Armed Forces Day.

The celebrations were attended by the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall, Prime Minister David Cameron and First Minister Alex Salmond.
Thousands of people have turned out at events across the Armed Forces Day official host city.
Street parties and parades are also taking place throughout the UK.
Events in Edinburgh got under way on Friday, with tours of HMS Portland, which is moored in Leith, and an aerial display by the Red Arrows.
Charles and Camilla, known as the Duke and Duchess of Rothesay when they are in Scotland, were watching the main parade from the Edinburgh Castle Esplanade to Holyrood Park.
It ended with a short ceremony of thanks, where the royal couple met veterans and service personnel.

The parade was being followed by an afternoon of entertainment and ending with a Beating Retreat and a Typhoon and Tornado flypast from RAF Leuchars and RAF Lossiemouth.


The Red Arrows display over the Firth of Forth on Friday was their first full performance in the city for 23 years.
Squadron Leader Ben Murphy said being involved in Armed Forces Day was "massively important".
He said: "Most of us have come from operational backgrounds, having served in Afghanistan and Iraq and other theatres.
"For us to be able to come up here and participate in these types of events is a massive honour."
Defence Secretary Liam Fox said: "Armed Forces Day provides a unique opportunity for us all to pay thanks to the men and women who serve this country with such distinction.
"I would especially like to thank the City of Edinburgh for hosting this national event.
"The city has a long and proud military history, and provides the perfect setting for us all to say thank you to our Armed Forces."

Libya UK operations cost £250m so far - sources

The cost of UK military operations in Libya has cost £250 million so far, government sources say.

Details are expected to be announced in a written ministerial statement on Thursday.
Last week, Treasury Chief Secretary Danny Alexander said it could run "into the hundreds of millions" of pounds.
The UK has been contributing to Nato's operation in Libya to enforce a no-fly zone since 19 March. The government had said it would cost tens of millions.
When military strikes against Col Muammar Gaddafi's forces began, Chancellor George Osborne estimated that the cost of British involvement would be "in the order of tens of millions of pounds, not hundreds of millions".
Treasury reserves The Ministry of Defence will set out the most recent financial situation in the Commons.
Pressed by shadow chancellor Ed Balls about the issue of costs during Treasury questions in the Commons on Tuesday, Mr Osborne said the cost was being met by the Treasury special reserve and was "very much lower than the ongoing operation in Afghanistan".
The government has clashed with military leaders recently over military operations in Libya.
Air Chief Marshal Sir Simon Bryant, the RAF's second-in-command, said morale among personnel was "fragile" and their fighting spirit was being threatened by being over-worked.
Prime Minister David Cameron said on Tuesday that military leaders were "absolutely clear" the mission could be kept going for as long as necessary.