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Sex Charges Against IMF's Strauss-Kahn Send 'Thunder Clap' Through France

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International Monetary Fund leader Dominique Strauss-Kahn, center, is brought into the Municipal Court, early Monday in New York. (AP)
International Monetary Fund leader Dominique Strauss-Kahn, center, is brought into the Municipal Court, early Monday in New York. (AP)

The chief of the IMF, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, was arraigned today in New York City on charges that he sexually assaulted a hotel chamber maid in New York City.

Strauss-Kahn was widely expected to run for president of France next year, and opinion polls put him ahead of President Nicolas Sarkozy. In addition to his political aspirations, Strauss-Hahn was also dealing with economic crises in the EU. We look at how the scandal is reverberating in France with the BBC's Hugh Schofield, who says the news media is using terms like "thunder clap" to describe the news of the alleged assault.

This segment aired on May 16, 2011.

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