Newsnight

16/05/2011 (2011x92)

Air date: May 16, 2011

The head of the IMF, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, is appearing in court in New York to face charges of sexual assault. Mr Strauss-Kahn, who had been seen as a contender in France's 2012 presidential election, denies allegations that he tried to rape a hotel maid on Saturday. His appearance had been delayed for forensic tests to be carried out. Meanwhile, another allegation against Mr Strauss-Kahn has emerged. A French writer says she may file a complaint for an alleged sexual assault in 2002. Tonight Peter Marshall will consider what impact this news will have on the political and cultural life of France, and we'll be joined in debate by French commentators Esther Leneman and Agnes Poirier. Then Michael Crick will be asking if Lib Dem cabinet minister Chris Huhne is politically finished. A senior detective has been tasked with investigating claims he asked someone else to take his penalty points for a 2003 speeding offence, Essex Police say. And on the day when the first coded bomb threat warning outside Northern Ireland has been received in a decade, Liz Mackean reports on Queen Elizabeth II's visit to Dublin tomorrow, when she'll become the first monarch to set foot in the Republic since George V. We hope to be joined by Lord Major, the former prime minister credited with establishing the Northern Ireland Peace Process in the early 1990s.