New York Police boarded an Air France plane as it waited for takeoff at JFK this Saturday and took French economist Dominique Strauss Kahn into custody. The 62-year-old man was the head of the International Monetary Fund and until Saturday, was considered the likely candidate to challenge Nicholas Sarkozy in France’s 2012 elections. By Sunday, Strauss-Kahn was standing in a Manhattan court, in front of a crowd of tabloid reporters. The incident has caused a “political earthquake” as the IMF – and the French Socialist Party – struggle to replace him. Liz Alderman, chief business correspondent for the International Herald Tribune, joins from Paris to discuss the scandal.
The story you just read is not locked behind a paywall because listeners and readers like you generously support our nonprofit newsroom. Now more than ever, we need your help to support our global reporting work and power the future of The World. Can we count on you?