Chancellor Angela Merkel: Angela Merkel

York Prosecutors Dept: The charges levelled by New York prosecutors have thrown French politics into disarray ahead of next year’s presidential race and unleashed turmoil at the IMF as it struggles to contain the debt crisis in Europe. The accusations also unearth a troubling history for the man sometimes dubbed “the Great Seducer” in his native France, where a complaint regarding a prior sexual assault was filed on Monday, according to Globe And Mail. Married to a well-known journalist, Mr. Strauss-Kahn has a reputation in France as a womanizer. One prior indiscretion – an affair with an IMF employee – earned him a reprimand from the fund’s board. There have also been suggestions of darker behaviour, but no allegations by authorities against Mr. Strauss-Kahn had emerged before Saturday and the judge’s decision was the latest startling twist in an improbable journey that has turned Mr. Strauss-Kahn, 62, from one of the most powerful figures on the global financial scene into a source of scandal and disgrace, stripped of the protections he may have enjoyed by virtue of his position. The dimly lit corridors of Manhattan’s criminal court complex are the last place one would expect to find Mr. Strauss-Kahn, who served as a minister in two different French governments and has led the IMF since 2007. He spearheaded the organization’s response to the financial crisis, carving out a key role in the rescues of debt-laden countries from Hungary to Portugal. On Saturday, he was flying back to Europe ahead of a meeting with Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel. As reported in the news.
@t globe and mail, strauss kahn