A French prosecutor has opened a preliminary investigation into allegations of rape in a Washington hotel by former IMF chief and one-time French presidential hopeful Dominique Strauss-Kahn.

Former world finance boss Dominique Strauss-Kahn has made a $1m (€777,000) counter-claim against the New York hotel maid who accused him of sexual assault, saying she seriously damaged his reputation with what he calls a bogus allegation.

French investigators are studying accusations that Dominique Strauss-Kahn was involved in a rape in a Washington hotel in 2010, a judicial official said.

A hotel maid’s lawsuit claiming that former French presidential contender Dominique Strauss-Kahn sexually assaulted her can proceed to trial, a New York judge has ruled.

A judge may decide today whether former IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn will face a civil case accusing him of sexually assaulting a hotel maid.

Two demonstrators were arrested after clashing with police while French politician Dominique Strauss-Kahn addressed one of the UK’s most famous university debating societies.

The former chief of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Dominique Strauss-Kahn, has been released from a French police station after two days of questioning over a suspected hotel prostitution ring.

Former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn will be questioned today by French police investigating a suspected hotel prostitution ring.

The prosecutor who charged Dominique Strauss-Kahn with sexually assaulting a hotel maid said he dropped the case because he ultimately was not sure what transpired between the two.

Former International Monetary Fund head Dominique Strauss-Kahn has begun his return to public life with a speech at a business conference in Beijing after the scandal earlier this year in New York over a sexual assault accusation.

Surveillance videos aired publicly for the first time show former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn leisurely checking out of a New York hotel where he was accused of sexually assaulting a chambermaid, and his accuser appearing to act out the alleged attack.

Shamed former IMF boss Dominique Strauss-Kahn has blamed his sex scandal downfall on the fact “the flesh is weak”.

Former International Monetary Fund leader Dominique Strauss-Kahn does not have diplomatic immunity from a lawsuit by a hotel maid who claims he sexually assaulted her in his room, according to court papers.

Lawyers for Dominique Strauss-Kahn have disputed the Paris prosecutor’s statement that the former head of the International Monetary Fund admitted to sexually assaulting a French writer.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn, claiming he has diplomatic immunity, has asked a New York court to dismiss a lawsuit by the hotel maid who says he sexually assaulted her.

The Paris prosecutor’s office says Dominique Strauss-Kahn and the woman who accuses him of trying to rape her have been ordered to appear before a judge to tell their version of the events.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the former head of the International Monetary Fund, says his sexual encounter with a New York hotel maid “did not involve violence, constraint or aggression” but still was a “moral failing” on his part.

French police have questioned former IMF boss Dominique Strauss-Kahn for three hours over claims he tried to rape a writer during a 2003 interview.

French police have questioned former IMF boss Dominique Strauss-Kahn for three hours over claims he tried to rape a writer during a 2003 interview.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn has returned home to a mixed welcome in France – for the first time since attempted rape accusations by a New York hotel maid unleashed an international scandal that dashed his chances of the French presidency.

Former International Monetary Fund leader Dominique Strauss-Kahn arrived in his native France today, for the first time since the collapse of a sensational sexual assault case that cost him his job and possibly his presidential ambitions.

Former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn returned to the IMF's headquarters to say goodbye to staff and meet his successor, five days after New York prosecutors dismissed sex attack charges against him.

Former International Monetary Fund leader Dominique Strauss-Kahn might take legal action in civil court against the hotel maid who accused him of sexually assaulting her in a now-dismissed criminal case and in her ongoing civil suit, one of his lawyers said.

A judge dismissed the sexual assault case against former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn today but put the order on hold for the accuser and her lawyer to ask that a special prosecutor should be appointed.

Prosecutors sought to dismiss the criminal charges in a sexual-assault case against former International Monetary Fund leader Dominique Strauss-Kahn, saying persistent lying by the hotel maid who accused him of trying to rape her in his suite made it impossible for them to determine what really happened.

Prosecutors in New York plan to recommend to a judge that charges in the sex assault case against Dominique Strauss-Kahn be dropped.

The sexual assault case against former International Monetary Fund leader Dominique Strauss-Kahn is likely to be dropped by New York prosecutors, an official close to the case said.

The lawyer for the woman who accused former International Monetary Fund head Dominique Strauss-Kahn of sexual assault has said he believes prosecutors plan to dismiss some or all of the charges.

The hotel maid accusing Dominique Strauss-Kahn of sex assault has been wrongfully portrayed as a money grabbing opportunist in newspaper accounts of her recorded remarks to an incarcerated friend, her lawyer said after they reviewed the tapes during a nearly eight-hour meeting with prosecutors.

The hotel maid who says former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn sexually assaulted her in a Manhattan hotel room has broken her silence over the alleged attack.

French investigators questioned a leading presidential hopeful about a writer's claim that former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn tried to rape her.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn’s next court date in his New York sexual assault case was postponed, with prosecutors saying the delay was for further investigation and defence lawyers saying they hoped it would lead to the end of the tumultuous case.

Paris prosecutors have opened a preliminary investigation into accusations by a French writer that former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn tried to rape her.

Lawyers for Dominique Strauss-Kahn have met US prosecutors for what the defence called a productive discussion, but there was no immediate word on what would happen to the sex assault case hit by doubts about the accuser's credibility.

The hotel maid at the centre of the Dominique Strauss-Kahn sex assault case is suing the New York Post after it called her a prostitute.

Former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn faced a potential new sexual assault investigation after a young French writer said she would formally accuse him of trying to rape her during a 2002 interview.

A French novelist who accused former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn of attempted rape is pressing ahead with legal action against him.

Former International Monetary Fund leader Dominique Strauss-Kahn has been released from house arrest by a New York judge.

Prosecutors will agree to the release of ex-IMF leader Dominique Strauss-Kahn without bail at a hearing today, reports say.

It has been reported that US prosecutors have agreed to free former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn from house arrest and return his bail money.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn declared he had diplomatic immunity and complained that his handcuffs were too tight after he was taken into custody on allegations he tried to rape a Manhattan hotel maid, court documents show.

The former International Monetary Fund head charged with trying to rape a hotel maid formally said he was innocent of the charges today in his first court appearance in the case in two weeks.

A judge in New York has allowed Dominique Strauss-Kahn to move to a new location.

The New York apartment building where former IMF leader Dominique Strauss-Kahn is under house arrest on sexual assault charges has become a new tourist hot spot.