Hyderabad, Feb. 5 -- Bill Gates has apologised for his association with American billionaire and convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, even as he strongly denied allegations that he hid a sexually transmitted disease from his former wife Melinda French Gates after contact with "Russian girls."

"Every minute I spent with him, I regret, and I apologise that I did that," Gates said in an interview with Australian channel9Newson Wednesday, February 4, breaking his silence on the controversy that have surfaced in newly released documents.

The Microsoft founder called the allegations "absolutely absurd and completely false," suggesting Epstein was trying to extort or defame him by writing an email to himself in 2013 that made the claims.

"Ap...