Dominique Strauss-Kahn handcuffed - the image that shocked the French

The arrest and detention of the head of the International Monetary Fund, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, or DSK as he's more commonly known in France, on charges of alleged sexual assault have made the headlines around the world over the past few days.

But perhaps the one image that those in France have found most difficult to accept is that of the "man who would be president" being handcuffed.

The image that shocked many French (screenshot from BFM TV)

In France, what happened - or didn't happen - on Sunday in New York has of course been major news; DSK was the front-runner in the Socialist party's primary to choose its candidate for next year's presidential election.

Even though he hadn't officially declared his intention to run, everyone knew he would when he decided the time was right.

Since Sunday the Socialist party has been thrown into headless chicken mode wondering how to cope with the accusations.

Its leader, Martine Aubry, had reportedly agreed not to stand in the primary, leaving the way clear for DSK.

Now though she is having to rethink her position, keep the party focused on it policies and manage the upcoming presidential campaign while all the time insisting that everyone in the party is profoundly shocked by the allegations.

The governing centre-right Union pour un Mouvement Populaire (Union for a Popular Movement, UMP) has on the whole been pretty reticent at drawing any conclusions or pointing the finger, declaring that the "presumption of innocence" must take precedence.

And even though the French president has called for "dignity" and requested government ministers from commenting publicly, there have been a few dissenting voices within his party.

UMP, parliamentarian Bernard Debré didn't mince his words when questioned by Europe 1 radio shortly after news broke of DSK's arrest.

"It's humiliating for France to have a man like that who wallows in sex and has done for some time as everyone knows," he said.

"Of course there's the presumption of innocence, but he is a disreputable man."

Not surprisingly Marine Le Pen, the leader of the far-right Front National took up the theme that many surrounding DSK knew of his behaviour and reputation towards women.

"The truth is that both politicians and journalists have been talking for the past couple of months about Strauss-Kahn's almost 'pathological' relations over the years with women," she told RTL radio.

"He has been definitively discredited as a potential presidential candidate."

French politicians and French society simply hasn't known how to handle what has been reported and the media hasn't made life easier.

It's borrowing courtroom images from the United States - something that simply wouldn't happen in the French judicial system - and happily - if that's the appropriate word - running them in endless loops on the country's many all-news channels.

Legal experts, political colleagues and opponents, friends, associates, pyscho-analysts - you name it - they've all be dragged in front of the cameras and asked for their opinions.

But perhaps the most shocking thing - and there are more than enough elements in the whole affair to shock - to many in France has been the sight of DSK appearing in handcuffs.

Remember this is a man who until the weekend looked as though he could well be the next French president.

This time next year he could have been in office and forming his first government.

Seeing pictures and clips of him in handcuffs seems to have hurt profoundly many French already embarrassed by the unsavoury way in which the equally sordid affair has been reported.

What's more there's actually a law in France - the Guigou law from 2000 - to protect an individual's "presumption of innocence by forbidding the dissemination of any image of a person in handcuffs - before he or she has been found guilty.

Divisions in France of over dangers of H1N1 virus

There are two quite different perspectives that have appeared in France over the past couple of days on the same story: perhaps reflecting the attitude held by many people here and elsewhere over the real dangers associated with "swine flu" - or "grippe A" (influenza A) as it's called in France.

In Sunday's edition of le Journal du Dimanche there was an interview with one of this country's most well-known doctors and a member of parliament for the centre-right Union pour un Mouvement Populaire (Union for a Popular Movement, UMP) professor Bernard Debré.

He played down the dangers of the (H1N1) virus and accused the government of over-reacting and responding to media pressure.

The following day there was a reply from fellow UMP member and minister of health, Roselyne Bachelot, who insisted in an interview with the national daily, le Figaro, that the government's response was measured and appropriate.

The crux of the matter as far as Debré is concerned is that the current strain is no more dangerous than seasonal flu and in fact could be less threatening.

Part of the problem, he insists, is the reaction there has been to the latest outbreak in light of the so-called bird flu which he describes as "Being very dangerous to human beings with a mortality rate of 60 to 65 per cent but at the same time less contagious because it's difficult to cross from species to species."

"This (H1N1) flu isn't dangerous. We've even realised that it could be less threatening than seasonal flu," he said.

"At the moment there have been around 800 deaths worldwide and the southern hemisphere has undoubtedly reached its peak of contamination," he added.

"Of course the virus could become more virulent, but that's not the opinion that has been expressed by a majority of virologists."

Debré says that the reaction from the French government has to an extent only served to increase fear among the general public. But at the same time he admits that governments around the world have had their hands forced somewhat.

"From the moment the World Health Organisation started issuing daily reports and holding press conferences, governments really didn't have an option but to follow that lead," he told le Journal du Dimanche.

"It's my contention that the French government has come under pressure because of the political over-dramatisation within the media of the risks the virus presents."

The flip side of the argument of course comes from Bachelot, who told le Figaro that as far as she was concerned the government's reaction to the threat had been the right one.

"I treat this pandemic very seriously and I don't base my approach on the opinion of politicians or try to make a media splash," she said.

"From the beginning I've consulted the most renowned and respected experts - French and European - and if we look at what they have had to say in the media about the government's response to this health crisis, they point to it having been in proportion and correct."

In answering Debré's assertion that the virus isn't dangerous and is no more harmful than the possible effects of seasonal flu, Bachelot perhaps not surprisingly, is more cautious.

She admits that the virus might not be particularly harmful at the moment, but its ability to spread quickly requires that governments have a system in place that can cope with a wider outbreak.

And for Bachelot, the threat lies in the potential rate of infection based on statistics for those who catch seasonal flu.

"On average seasonal flu kills around 2,500 people in France - among 2,5 million people who catch it," she says.

"Some experts say that this virus could lead to around 20 million people becoming ill and that presents a potentially serious problem to public health even if the virus remains relatively harmless in many cases."

The number of cases of "grippe A" reported here in France so far has been 483, of which none has been deadly.