- Brazil lifts ban on Musk's X, ending standoff over disinformation
- Harris holds slight edge nationally over Trump: poll
- Chelsea edge Real Madrid in Women's Champions League, Lyon win
- Japan PM to dissolve parliament for 'honeymoon' snap election
- 'Diego Lives': Immersive Maradona exhibit hits Barcelona
- Brazil Supreme Court lifts ban on Musk's X
- Scientists sound AI alarm after winning physics Nobel
- Six-year-old girl among missing after Brazil landslide
- Nobel-winning physicist 'unnerved' by AI technology he helped create
- Mexico president rules out new 'war on drugs'
- Israeli defense minister postpones trip to Washington: Pentagon
- Europe skipper Donald in talks with Garcia over Ryder return
- Kenya MPs vote to impeach deputy president in historic move
- Former US coach Berhalter named Chicago Fire head coach
- New York Jets fire head coach Saleh: team
- Australia crush New Zealand in Women's T20 World Cup
- US states accuse TikTok of harming young users
- 'Evacuate now, now, now': Florida braces for next hurricane
- US Supreme Court skeptical of challenge to 'ghost guns' regulation
- Sparks fly as Orban berates EU 'elites' in parliament trip
- US finalizes rule to remove lead pipes within a decade
- Solanke hungry for second England cap after seven-year wait
- Gilded canopy restored at Vatican basilica
- Zverev scrapes through, Djokovic cruises to Shanghai Masters last 16
- Trump secretly sent Covid tests to Putin: Bob Woodward book
- Gauff answers critics: 'It's hard to win all the time'
- Neural networks, machine learning? Nobel-winning AI science explained
- China says raised 'serious concerns' with US over trade curbs
- Boeing delivers 27 MAX jets in September despite strike
- German 'Maddie' suspect could be free in 2025 after cleared of other sex crimes
- Italy seek Nations League consistency as Germany continue rebuild
- From boom to budgeting as reality bites for Saudi football
- Stock markets diverge as Hong Kong sinks, oil prices fall
- US trade gap narrowest in five months as imports slip
- Stay and 'you are going to die': Florida braces for next hurricane
- England 96-1 after Salman's century lifts Pakistan to 556
- Hollywood star Idris Elba champions African cinema in Ghana
- Djokovic rolls Cobolli to make Shanghai Masters last 16
- Milan's Hernandez receives two-game suspension after referee rant
- Geoffrey Hinton, soft-spoken godfather of AI
- Ex-Barcelona and Spain great Iniesta retires aged 40
- Duo wins Physics Nobel for 'foundational' AI breakthroughs
- German 'Maddie' suspect could be free in 2025 after cleared of separate sex crimes
- China slaps provisional tariffs on EU brandy imports
- Ex-skipper Skelton eyes Wallabies November return
- Spanish great Iniesta leaves indelible legacy after retirement
- Indian Kashmir elects first regional government in a decade
- Hong Kong stocks crash, oil prices retreat on fading China boost
- Man City accuse Premier League of 'misleading' claims after legal case
- Duo wins Physics Nobel for key breakthroughs in AI
French minister targeted in sexual assault complaint
A French cabinet minister on Monday became the target of a complaint for attempted rape, prosecutors said, the latest sexual misconduct allegation against a member of President Emmanuel Macron's government.
The complaint against Solidarity and Social Cohesion Minister Damien Abad is "currently being examined", they told AFP.
News website Mediapart reported earlier Monday that a "centrist politician" had accused Abad of trying to rape her during a party at his home in 2010.
Abad denied the accusations in a written statement to media, saying he would sue the woman for libel.
"I will not leave these mendacious and scandalous accusations without a response," he said.
The woman's lawyer did not respond to AFP's request for comment.
Earlier this month, Mediapart published an article based on an interview with the woman.
At the time of the party she was head of a youth section of the Nouveau Centre (New Centrist) party, of which Abad was the national president. He was also a deputy in the European Parliament.
The woman -- whom Mediapart called "Laetitia", not her real name -- told the website that Abad offered her a drink that evening, but she noticed "something" floating at the bottom of the glass and spat out a mouthful of liquid in the bathroom.
When she came out, she said, Abad was waiting for her, pushed her into an adjacent room and tried to force her to perform oral sex on him.
"I was afraid, I was paralysed. I fought him, hit him in the stomach," Mediapart quoted her as saying.
"Laetitia" said she then managed to break free, thanks to the arrival of a party guest, and fled from the room.
Mediapart said she cited eight people whom she either confided in later, or who witnessed part of the evening's events.
The complaint is the third sexual assault allegation against the minister. Prosecutors have not launched any formal investigation to date.
The accusation against Abad follows other allegations of sexual assault against French ministers.
Last week, Macron's junior minister for development, Francophony and international partnerships Chrysoula Zacharopoulou denied allegations she had raped patients during gynaecological examinations, after three women filed criminal complaints.
Earlier, prosecutors investigated Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin over an allegation for rape filed in 2017.
He denied any wrongdoing and prosecutors in January asked for the case to be dropped.
D.Moore--AMWN