IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn is taken out of a New York police station on May 15, 2011.
Dominque Strauss-Kahn, the Chief of the International Monetary Fund, is jailed in New York City today on charges he sexually assaulted a hotel maid over the weekend. Strauss-Kahn, of France, was removed from an Air France plane on Saturday afternoon just as it was preparing to leave Kennedy International Airport for Paris, according to the New York Times. He'll appear in court today.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has opened nine bays of the Morganza Spillway, according to the New Orleans Times Picayune. This will ease the backed up Mississippi River and prevent heavy flooding downstream in Baton Rouge and New Orleans. But it will inundate the surrounding river plain, and force up to 25,000 people to evacuate, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Israeli security forces remain on high alert a day after protesters surged across the border from Syria, Lebanon and Gaza. It was a response to Israel's birthday, which Palestinians mourn. CBS says at least 15 people were killed in the protests.
Air France says information is readable from two flight data recorders discovered in the wreckage of a jet that went down in the Atlantic Ocean nearly two years ago. The AP says investigators believe it will take several weeks to retrieve the data. They hope to learn why Air France Flight 447 tumbled into the ocean, killing all 228 aboard.
Open for business: after losing his convenience store to the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami in March, Takashi Watanabe began again. His 7-Eleven store is operating in a Miyagi prefecture parking lot with the help of family, friends and a refrigerated truck, according to Asahi News. They're open from 10 to 4 PM and are popular with local residents and volunteers. (HT: The Daily What).