Embattled Strauss-Kahn to face new sex allegation

Strauss-Kahn(left), Tristane Banon(Right).

French writer Tristane Banon is to file a complaint for attempted rape against former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn, her lawyer said on Monday.
Banon accuses Strauss-Kahn of trying to assault her as she tried to interview him in a Paris flat in 2003.
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.
Meanwhile, prosecutors of the New York sex assault case are going to drop all sex assault charges against the former IMF chief in the coming weeks because of doubts about his accuser's credibility.


"We all know this case is not sustainable," the newspaper quoted a top investigator in the case as saying.
However, the new sexual assault allegations in France are unlikely to affect his New York trial, experts have opined.
It was shortly after Strauss-Kahn was arrested in New York that 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 Strauss-Kahn's name was bleeped out.
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 yesterday to a Paris prosecutor.
He said the alleged incident took place in February 2003, and not in 2002 as previously reported.
Banon, 32, has claimed that during the interview, Strauss-Kahn said he would only speak to her if she held his hand.
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.

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Strauss, Cook lead Birthday Honours list

	Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook helped England win an Ashes series in Australia for the first time in 24 years.

England captain Andrew Strauss and team director Andy Flower have been awarded an OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire), while opening batsman Alastair Cook received an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) in the Queen's birthday honours list released on Saturday.

The trio was rewarded for their efforts in England's historic victory in the 2010-11 Ashes in Australia - their first series win in the country in 24 years. Strauss captained the team to three innings victories in the five-Test series, which England took 3-1, apart from scoring 307 runs at 43.85. Cook topped the batting charts, with 766 runs at an average of 127.66.

"It is a great honour to receive this accolade," said Strauss, who received an MBE after England's 2005 Ashes victory at home. "It's one of the better items of post you get through the letterbox - certainly better than a gas bill. I'm very proud to receive it and, more than anything, very proud of how the team performed out there in Australia.

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