Disgraced former International Monetary Fund boss Dominique Strauss-Kahn told a French court today that he was unaware that women who participated in orgies at luxury hotels in Paris and Washington DC were prostitutes.
	The 65-year-old and 13 co-defendants are on trial in this northern French city, accused of aggravated pimping in connection with a sex ring centered on the Hotel Carlton in Lille.
	In his first testimony since the trial began February 2, Strauss-Kahn reaffirmed his long-standing defence that he did not know of the "prostitutional character" of the women who took part in his orgies.
	Strauss-Kahn's arrival at the courthouse was disrupted by three topless protesters from the provocative group Femen, who were detained by police.
	Strauss-Kahn's chances of becoming French president were ruined over a separate sex scandal in New York.
	The economist, known widely as DSK, faces up to 10 years in prison and a 1.5 million-euro (USD 1.7 million) fine if convicted.
	Strauss-Kahn 

Strauss-Kahn trial: I didn't know women were prostitutes

PTI Automatic

A pair of fierce partisans running from the edges of their US parties, liberal Sen Bernie Sanders and conservative Gov Bobby Jindal are struggling to win over base voters longing for other choices.
	It's not for a lack of effort. A self-described "democratic socialist" from Vermont, Sanders ought to be a natural fit for liberals. Instead, they're largely pining for Massachusetts Sen Elizabeth Warren to get into a White House race she insists she will not run.
	The sharp-tongued Jindal, an Indian-American, appears to spend as much time in Washington as he does at home in Louisiana, trying to ignite his campaign.
	Yet he is often eclipsed by other conservative Republicans who are expected to join him in the crowded fray for the party's nomination.
	Neither prospective candidate has committed to a White House bid, and they're not likely to decide for a few months whether to move ahead. While both are regarded as an intellectual leader in their respective parties, they have yet to line up 

Sanders, Jindal seek support from those longing for others

Officials say separate attacks in Iraq have killed at least eight people and wounded 25.
	Police say the deadliest of today's attacks took place in Mahmoudiya, about 30 kilometres south of Baghdad, where a parked car bomb ripped through an outdoor market, killing four civilians and wounding 11.
	They say another bombing killed two civilians and wounded nine in Madain, about 20 kilometres southeast of Baghdad.
	Police say a final bombing killed two soldiers and wounded five in Tarmiyah, 50 kilometres north of Baghdad.
	Medical officials confirmed the casualty figures. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they weren't authorised to speak to journalists.
	Iraqi forces are now battling the Islamic State group, which holds a third of the country and neighbouring Syria.

Officials say attacks outside Iraq's capital kill 8 people

Japanese mobile carrier Softbank said today it will incorporate artificial intelligence technology from IBM into its empathetic robot Pepper that goes on sale in Japan this month.
	The AI engine "Watson" is already used in health care, travel and insurance services in English, but an adaptation was needed to make it work and think in Japanese, said Steve Gold, Vice President, IBM Watson Group.
	Unlike other cognitive technology that responds rather mechanically, Watson can learn over time like a human brain, and understands the concept of probability, which makes it very sophisticated and more human-like for applications, according to IBM.
	"It depends on the context of the conversation as to what the right answer would be," as opposed to how a computer would generally try to answer correctly, Gold told The Associated Press. "The world is seldom absolute."
	Watson will be used in Pepper, Softbank's empathetic robot going on sale in Japan this month for 198,000 yen (USD1,700) and will .

Softbank to add learning technology to empathetic robot

Two powerful explosions in Albania's capital Tirana have gutted a business owned by the family of the country's interior minister and damaged the apartment of a senior police officer.
	Authorities said no one was injured in the pre-dawn explosions today. Socialist Prime Minister Edi Rama described the incidents as a coordinated "act of terrorism."
	Police say a third device was destroyed in central Tirana after they received a warning telephone call.
	There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the explosions that occurred 25 minutes apart. The first destroyed a pharmacy owned by the family of Interior Minister Saimir Tahiri and shattered nearby windows.

Twin bomb attack in Albania, no injuries

British police say they are reviewing the policy of keeping a watch on WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who has taken refuge at the Ecuadorean Embassy in London.
	Metropolitan Police Commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe told LBC radio today police are reviewing options because of the resources used to keep tabs on Assange.
	He said the round-the-clock guard is "sucking our resources."
	Assange has taken refuge at the embassy since June 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden for questioning about possible sexual assaults. He denies any wrongdoing. He says he fears being sent to the United States to face trial for his WikiLeaks work.
	Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said last week that it has cost roughly 10 million pounds (USD 15 million) to keep a police presence outside the embassy in central London.

UK police reviewing policy on watching WikiLeaks' Assange

Taliban suicide attackers assaulted an Afghan police station today, killing one officer as a separate roadside bombing targeted a prominent female politician in the country's east, authorities said.
	The attack on a police headquarters in Afghanistan's northern Kunduz province saw insurgents first detonate a suicide car bomb followed by a suicide bomber on foot, Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said. Three gunmen attacked following the bombings and died in a shootout with police, Sediqqi said.
	A statement from President Ashraf Ghani condemned the attack, saying it killed one police officer.
	Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed the attack in a message on Twitter.
	Meanwhile, the roadside bomb in Jalalabad near a school exploded as Angeza Shinwari, a Nangarhar province councilwoman, drove past.
	The blast killed her driver and severely wounded Shinwari and another person, said Ahmad Zia Abdulzai, a spokesman for the provincial governor.
	No group immediately claimed ..

Taliban suicide attackers assault Afghan police station

Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi has made series of calls to Arab Gulf leaders after audio recordings surfaced in which he and a top aide purportedly mock them and discuss milking them for money.
	Egyptian Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb told the Saudi-owned al-Hayat newspaper today that the recordings released by an Islamist TV station on Saturday are "fake."
	He accused the Muslim Brotherhood group of ousted President Mohammed Morsi of fabricating the recordings in order to "drive a wedge" between Egypt and its Gulf patrons.
	A presidential statement says el-Sissi has called Kuwaiti, Saudi, Bahraini and Emirati leaders. It says he praised their "wisdom" and said "relations won't be undermined by nefarious attempts."
	Gulf nations have provided several billion dollars in aid to Egypt since el-Sissi overthrew Morsi in 2013.

Egypt leader calls Gulf rulers after purported leaked tape

Thailand's junta leader says the military will return to the barracks once a civilian government is chosen, but he stopped short of ruling out another coup "if something cannot be solved" by the new government.
	"The military has its proper role as a government agency, so don't worry," Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, the junta leader, told the Nikkei newspaper in an interview published today.
	An election for a new government will be held as early as the end of this year, he said.
	When asked about the possibility of another coup, Prayuth didn't answer directly, but said that "Thailand is different from other countries. If something cannot be solved, the military will solve it."
	Prayuth, who is on a visit to Japan, led a coup that toppled the government last May and assumed the premiership later in 2014.
	The interview was also published online in English by the Nikkei Asian Review, an affiliate of Nikkei, Japan's leading economic newspaper.

Thai junta leader suggests military could step in again

The Philippines has protested Chinese land reclamation at a disputed reef in the South China Sea, saying it violates Manila's exclusive economic zone.
	Foreign Affairs Department spokesman Charles Jose said today a diplomatic protest was handed to a Chinese Embassy representative on Feb 4 urging Beijing to stop the land reclamation at Panganiban Reef, also called Mischief Reef.
	China occupied the reef in 1995, and later expanded stilt structures into a concrete building several stories high. The Philippines protested both moves at the time.
	Jose said it appears China is constructing an artificial island at the reef.
	China claims virtually the entire South China Sea, resource-rich waters where the Philippines and other neighbouring nations also have claims.
	Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines have separately protested Chinese land reclamation at a number of reefs in the Spratly Islands, fearing they could be used for air, naval or logistic bases to bolster China's territorial ...

Philippines protests China land reclamation at another reef

Saudi Arabia's state news agency says authorities have executed a Syrian man convicted of smuggling a large quantity of amphetamine pills.
	The Saudi Press Agency says Abdullah Mohammed al-Ahmed was executed today in the northwestern al-Jawf province after the Supreme Court confirmed his conviction and sentencing.
	It does not say how he was executed.
	Saudi Arabia has executed 25 people this year, mainly for drug smuggling. Most executions in the kingdom are by beheading or firing squad.
	An Associated Press tally based on SPA reporting shows 83 people were executed in Saudi Arabia in 2014.
	The kingdom follows a strict interpretation of Islamic law and applies the death penalty on crimes such as murder, rape, apostasy and witchcraft. Rights groups have criticised executions carried out for non-lethal crimes.

Saudi executes Syrian for drug smuggling

Would Picasso have donated 271 works to an electrician who worked for him for a few years in southeast France?
	A French court began to contemplate that mystery today at the start of a three-day trial of Pierre Le Guennec (Luh Gehn-EK) and his wife, Danielle.
	They claim that the artist, or his wife, gave them the 180 lithographs, collages and paintings and 91 drawings around 1970 when Le Guennec began working as a general handyman at Picasso's estate.
	Picasso heirs and a state prosecutor describe the couple's account as ridiculous.
	Le Guennec quietly kept the works in a garage for decades.
	Produced between 1900 and 1932, the works have never been displayed publicly. The Le Guennecs face up to five years in prison and a 375,000-euro fine if convicted for concealing stolen goods.
	The case is shaping up largely as one of "he said, she said" because some potential witnesses have died in the interim, because hard evidence of theft 40 years ago may be hard to come by, and because even .

Picasso's ex-electrician, wife on trial over disputed cache

The price of oil is poised for a "relatively swift" recovery following the recent collapse to under USD 50 a barrel, but it will not come close to returning to the highs of past years, the International Energy Agency predicted today.
	In a report, the Paris-based organisation of 29 major oil-importing nations said the rebound in recent days of the oil price "will be comparatively limited in scope, with prices stabilising at levels higher than recent lows but substantially below the highs of the last three years."
	The US benchmark oil contract fell from nearly USD 110 a barrel last summer to under USD 45 this year before a recovery to around USD 53 in recent days.
	The IEA says the current price recovery is unlike those of the past, because of the sharp increase in production by non-OPEC countries, especially in the United States, as well as slowing demand in China and slimmed down fuel intensiveness in the developed world.
	The agency also said that unlike past cycles, the low oil ...

Global agency sees oil price recovery but no return to highs

A man who slashed two members of the popular Japanese female pop group AKB48 last year has been sentenced to six years in prison.
	Kyodo news service says that Satoru Umeta was sentenced Tuesday after pleading guilty to attacking the two 19-year-old singers with a saw at a fan event in May in northeast Japan. A male staffer who tried to protect them was also injured. All three were hospitalised overnight.
	According to Kyodo, the presiding judge said the 24-year-old Umeta attacked them because he was frustrated over not being able to find a job.
	Established in 2005, AKB48 has a rotating cast of more than 90 young women, and affiliates across the country and in Indonesia, China and Taiwan.

Man who slashed AKB48 members gets 6-year sentence in Japan

Insurgents have attacked a police headquarters in northern Afghanistan, carrying out two suicide attacks and wounding at least one policeman.
	Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi says today's assault in Kunduz province began with a suicide car bomb attack followed by a suicide bomber on foot and a shootout in which three more attackers were killed.
	The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack. Taliban insurgents have stepped up their attacks on Afghan soldiers and police in recent months.
	US and NATO forces concluded their combat mission at the end of last year and Afghan troops took charge from January 1.

Double suicide attack on Afghan police station wounds 1

Watch what you say in your living room. Samsung's smart TV could be listening. And sharing.
	Voice recognition technology in the South Korean company's Internet connected TVs captures and transmits nearby conversations.
	The potential for TVs to eavesdrop is revealed in Samsung's smart TV privacy policy available on its website.
	"Please be aware that if your spoken words include personal or other sensitive information, that information will be among the data captured and transmitted to a third party through your use of Voice Recognition," the policy said.
	For the voice command feature to work, the TV listens for speech which is translated by third-party software into text and sent back to the TV as a command.
	Samsung declined to name the software company. The TV also transmits other information including its unique identifier. Samsung said data collection is aimed at improving TV performance but users can disable it.
	In a statement, the company said it takes consumer privacy "very 

Samsung reveals potential for smart TVs to eavesdrop

The oldest living crew member of the battleship USS Arizona to have survived the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor has died in Northern California at the age of 100.
	Retired Navy Lt Cmdr Joseph Langdell died February 4 at a nursing home in Yuba City, according to his son, Ted Langdell.
	A tally maintained by the USS Arizona Reunion Association, for which Langdell had served as president, identified him as not only the oldest Arizona survivor, but the last surviving officer from the naval ship that lost 1,177 men nearly four-fifths of its crew when it was bombed on December 7, 1941.
	Langdell was an ensign on an assignment that had him sleeping on a military base adjacent to the ship in Honolulu on the morning Pearl Harbor was attacked. He spent the following hours and days trying to rescue shipmates from the burning water, preparing for another possible air assault and leading the survivors tasked with removing the remains of the dead from the partially sunken ship, his son said.
	"I ..

Survivor of USS Arizona from Pearl Harbor attack dies at 100

An American Airlines jet has been evacuated after it made an emergency landing at Tulsa International Airport following a report of fumes in the cockpit.
	Tulsa Airport Authority spokeswoman Alexis Higgins says the plane, which was traveling to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, from Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport was evacuated on the runway at about 6:15 pm (local time) yesterday. She says the plane was able to safely taxi down the runway after landing.
	Higgins says none of the 67 passengers or crew members was injured. She did not know what caused the fumes in the cockpit, and referred questions to the airline.
	American Airlines spokeswoman Victoria Lupica says the airline is still trying to determine the cause of the fumes.

Plane evacuated after making emergency landing

A onetime California school official has been sentenced to 10 years in state prison for sexually assaulting two women when they were her students, including a woman who confronted her in a recorded phone call that went viral on YouTube.
	Andrea Cardosa, 41, of Perris, was yesterday sentenced in Riverside County Superior Court on three charges of committing lewd acts on a child. She avoided a potential life sentence by pleading guilty last month. Prosecutors dropped more than a dozen other counts.
	Cardosa was charged with abusing a former student at Chemawa Middle School in Riverside beginning when the girl was 12. The abuse lasted from 1997 to 2001, prosecutors said. In court papers, prosecutors said Cardosa molested the girl more than 100 times in a locker room and Cardosa's car, and at the home of Cardosa's sister.
	In a recording that was posted online in January 2014, the former student telephoned Alhambra High School, where Cardosa was assistant principal, and confronted ...

Ex-school official gets 10 years for abusing 2 students

The US has designated a German citizen as a global terrorist for fighting for the Islamic State.
	The State Department says Denis Cuspert joined the militants in 2012, appearing in numerous propaganda videos. In one from November, the 39-year-old from Berlin holds the head of a man he claimed was executed for opposing the group.
	Designating a European citizen as a "global terrorist" is rare. Monday's announcement coincided with German Chancellor Angela Merkel's visit to Washington.
	The action bans Americans from doing business with Cuspert and blocks any US assets he has. The United Nations put him on its global blacklist.
	The State Department said Cuspert, who now identifies himself as Abu Talha al-Almani, recruits German speakers for Islamic State. Germany wants him on suspicion of terrorism at home.

US names German global terrorist for helping Islamic State

At least 29 migrants have died from hypothermia while traveling from North Africa to Italy aboard a smuggler's life raft in heavy seas, amid a surge of migrants making the dangerous sea crossing despite the harsh winter conditions.
	The victims were among 106 people packed aboard an inflatable life raft who were trying to cross the Mediterranean in rough seas and freezing temperatures, Italian coast guard Cmdr. Filippo Marini said yesterday. The migrants had summoned help late Sunday via satellite telephone while still off Libya's coast.
	Marini said a merchant ship in the area responded until the coast guard arrived from the southernmost Italian island of Lampedusa and took on board both the survivors and the victims in seas with waves as high as 9 meters, roughly the height of a three-story building.
	Rescuers found seven corpses on board the raft, while the rest of the victims, in very poor physical condition, died during the rescue and while being transported to land, Marini ...

AP

AP

Page 2328 - Ap/pti Reuters