BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – The middle-aged woman, her husband and her son became perfect neighbors after they arrived a year ago on a quiet suburban cul-de-sac, residents recalled.
That peace was disrupted Wednesday as the media descended on the Bakersfield area after unconfirmed reports flashed across the Internet that former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was the father of the woman's 13-year-old son.
The reporters and photographers didn't see Mildred Patricia Baena or her family, the three having left just ahead of the horde.
Baena's name was first reported Wednesday by Radar Online and subsequently by other news outlets, including The New York Times, which cited two unnamed friends of the family.
The AP has not independently verified that she is the mother of Schwarzenegger's child.
As TV satellite trucks gridlocked the block and spilled over to an adjacent street, residents sat in their homes, stunned. Some worried about the effect the news would have on the polite 13-year-old boy who they say often walked a white poodle named Sugar through the neighborhood when he wasn't swimming in his backyard pool or playing basketball.
"We just want this child to be protected as much as possible. We've all made mistakes and to totally destroy a child's life over that would not be fair," said Marilyn Steelman, who lives next door.
Residents said the family was friendly and, like other homeowners on the block of fashionable houses with red-tiled roofs and two- and three-car garages, they kept up their house and its neatly trimmed lawn and palm trees.
While the boy was a fixture in the neighborhood, residents say, they rarely saw his mother until she retired 2 1/2 months ago. Until then, she told them, she had been working for Schwarzenegger's family and had kept an apartment near Schwarzenegger's Los Angeles home, 100 miles away.
The Schwarzenegger scandal exploded into public view on Monday when the former movie star confirmed to the Los Angeles Times that he had fathered a child out of wedlock years ago and that Shriver, a prominent TV journalist until she put her career on hold after her husband was elected governor, never knew until this year.
Since then Schwarzenegger has vanished and his office has declined to discuss the matter further.
Baena's adult daughter, Jacqueline Rozo, told The Associated Press her 50-year-old mother had worked for the former governor until recently but would not comment further.
A photo of the boy posted on Baena's MySpace page shows a fairly strong resemblance to Schwarzenegger, particularly when the former governor and movie star was younger.
"If I saw him or his picture, I would see the resemblance," Steelman said.
The birth certificate for Baena's son also shows he was born the same week as the youngest of Schwarzenegger's and Shriver's four children. It lists Baena's ex-husband as the father and says Baena is originally from Guatemala.
Charlene Powers, a real estate agent who represented the home's sellers, said she was told it was being purchased for an employee of Schwarzenegger's and that he was helping with the down payment. Property records show Baena took a loan of $219,224 to buy the $268,000 house.
She is listed on the deed as a single woman, although neighbors say she and her son lived there with a man they thought was her husband.
When the family moved in, Steelman said, Baena said she was planning to retire soon.
The Times has not named the mother of Schwarzenegger's child but quoted her Monday as saying she retired in January after working for Schwarzenegger and his family for 20 years.
Shriver, who has not discussed the matter since issuing a brief statement Monday, made a quick walk-on appearance this week at a taping of one of Oprah Winfrey's final shows that is to air Tuesday. There, she told the talk show host that she had given her "love, support, wisdom and most of all the truth."
A person familiar with the scandal said it has left Schwarzenegger humbled and embarrassed.
"It's been very, very hard for him," said the individual, who requested anonymity out of respect for the family's privacy. "He's embarrassed. He's not focused on what steps he needs to take for himself, but the steps he needs to take for his family."
The scandal has also returned to the public's attention the numerous allegations made over the years that Schwarzenegger is a notorious womanizer.
It has also threatened to bring forth more women. On Wednesday, Los Angeles attorney Gloria Allred confirmed she is representing Gigi Goyette, a former child actress who has said she had annual trysts with Schwarzenegger at a bodybuilding competition he sponsored in Ohio.
"I can confirm that I do represent Gigi Goyette," Allred said in an email. "We have no comment at this time and we will also have no comment tomorrow."
Shortly before Schwarzenegger was elected governor in 2003, the Times reported allegations from more than a dozen women who said he had groped them or made unwanted advances. He apologized at the time for having behaved badly in his younger years.
Schwarzenegger biographer Joe Mathews said the public shouldn't have been all that surprised by this week's revelations.
There had been rumors on the political circuit for years of a Schwarzenegger out-of-wedlock child, Mathews said, although the accounts could not be verified until now. The author of the 2006 book, "The People's Machine: Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Rise of Blockbuster Democracy," also noted that both Schwarzenegger and Shriver were careful to parse their words when they addressed the womanizing allegations in 2003, never issuing an outright denial.
"She didn't come out and defend him and say he's a faithful, great husband," he said of Shriver's defense of her husband. "She said he's a person who is really smart and really wants to do this job and has a lot to offer California."
Perhaps more telling, as early as 1999, Mathews said, Schwarzenegger, who was then considering a run for governor, called aides together in Los Angeles and, rather that discuss possible political positions, railed against the impeachment of President Bill Clinton for his sexual liaison with Monica Lewinsky. If that was the way politicians' personal lives were exposed, Schwarzenegger told them, he might not seek office.
Since leaving the governor's office earlier this year, Schwarzenegger has indicated some interest in continuing in politics, perhaps becoming a spokesman for environmental causes, including green energy development, one of the issues he worked hardest for as governor. Mathews noted that Schwarzenegger hasn't flatly ruled out a run for U.S. Senate either, although he speculated it would be hard for him to get elected now.
The former star has also made it clear he wants to return to Hollywood. He recently announced plans to play himself in an animated TV show called "The Governator" and is scheduled to begin filming this summer on "Cry Macho," a film drama in which he would play a horse trainer. The former world bodybuilding champion is also in negotiations to reprise what is arguably his most popular role, as the relentless killer cyborg in the "Terminator" films.
Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara has asked the International Criminal Court to investigate allegations of serious human rights crimes committed during the country's recent turmoil.
This was because "Ivorian justice [was] not at this time best placed to reveal the most serious crimes", he said.
An estimated 3,000 people were killed during the four-month election dispute.
More than 25,000 people are still living in the grounds of a church in the western city of Duekoue.
They say they fear for their safety because they belong to an ethnic group seen as loyal to former President Laurent Gbagbo, who was arrested last month after refusing to accept defeat in last year's elections.
After taking power, Mr Ouattara promised that crimes committed by all sides during the dispute would be investigated.
Several hundred people were reportedly massacred in Duekoue during the unrest.
People in the church are living there in desperate conditions.
"They are living in tents and it is the rainy season in the west of Cote d'Ivoire right now. When it rains, they have to all run away and sometimes they have to sleep standing up," reports the BBC's Abdourahmane Dia, who visited the church.
A number of mass graves have been found in the area.
NEW YORK – The maid came from one of the world's poorest countries to the U.S., working to support the teen daughter she raised alone. To her, the penthouse suite at the Sofitel Hotel was just another empty room to clean.
She says she had no idea there was a man inside or that he was a famous French politician. She says he was naked, chased her down and tried to rape her.
The man, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, remained jailed under a suicide watch Wednesday as a lawyer for the woman sought to rebut whispered allegations that her charges were a conspiracy and a setup.
Calls intensified for the 62-year-old Strauss-Kahn to step down as head of the powerful International Monetary Fund, with U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner saying Strauss-Kahn "is obviously not in a position to run" the agency.
Strauss-Kahn was one of France's most high-profile politicians and a potential candidate for president in next year's elections. His arrest on charges including attempted rape shocked France and cast intense attention on his accuser, a 32-year-old chambermaid from the West African nation of Guinea.
On Tuesday her lawyer, Jeffrey Shapiro, said he had no doubts his client was telling the truth about her encounter with Strauss-Kahn on Saturday.
"She came from a country in which poor people had little or no justice, and she's now in a country where the poor have the same rights as do the rich and the powerful," Shapiro said. "What (Strauss-Kahn) might be able to get away with in some countries, he can't here in this country."
Strauss-Kahn's lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, said at his client's arraignment this week that defense lawyers believe the forensic evidence "will not be consistent with a forcible encounter."
But Shapiro dismissed suggestions that the woman had made up the charges or tried to cover up a consensual encounter.
"This is nothing other than a physical, sexual assault by this man on this young woman," Shapiro said in an interview in his Manhattan office. He said that the woman didn't know who was staying in the 28th-floor suite she went to clean on Saturday afternoon, before she said she was attacked.
"She did not know who this man was until a day or two after this took place," Shapiro said. "She had no idea who this man was."
Strauss-Kahn is also charged with sex abuse, a criminal sex act, unlawful imprisonment and forcible touching. The most serious charge carries five to 25 years in prison.
Because of his high profile, he was being held Tuesday at Rikers Island in a section of the jail that normally houses prisoners with highly contagious diseases like measles or tuberculosis. Corrections spokesman Stephen Morello said Strauss-Kahn has been placed in a wing with about 14 cells, all of them empty except for his.
Norman Seabrook, president of the correction officers union, said Strauss-Kahn did or said something during a mental health evaluation that concerned doctors, and he is being monitored day and night.
A law enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of prisoner medical information, said Strauss-Kahn had not tried to harm himself.
Strauss-Kahn's cell has a toilet and a sink. He takes his meals there, with breakfast at 5 a.m., lunch at 11 a.m. and dinner at 4 or 5 p.m.
Morello said Strauss-Kahn can occasionally leave his cell and wander the wing, and can go outside for an hour each day. Because he is awaiting trial, Strauss-Kahn isn't required to wear a prison uniform. He may bring his own clothing and wear what he chooses, except for his shoes.
Meanwhile in Europe, Strauss-Kahn's past conduct with other women was getting new scrutiny.
The IMF investigated him following a 2008 affair with an employee, the Hungarian-born economist Piroska Nagy. The institution eventually cleared him of wrongdoing, but a person close to Nagy said Tuesday that she had sent the organization a letter at the time warning about his behavior toward women.
The letter voiced "doubts about Dominique Strauss-Kahn's suitability for running an international institution," according to the person, who declined to be identified, citing the sensitivity of the matter.
The New York Times published an excerpt of the letter, along with an account that said Strauss-Kahn had aggressively pursued Nagy, sent her sexually explicit messages and once had her summoned from the bathroom to speak to him.
The scandal comes at a delicate time for the IMF, which is trying to shore up teetering economies in Europe. The IMF is an immensely powerful agency that loans money to countries to stabilize the world economy. In exchange it often imposes strict austerity measures.
Strauss-Kahn seemed to anticipate that his problems with women could be a political liability ahead of France's presidential elections.
The French daily newspaper Liberation reported this week that at a meeting with Strauss-Kahn in April, he speculated that his presidential campaign might be subjected to low blows over "money, women and my Jewishness."
Strauss-Kahn also theorized that his enemies might try to pay someone to accuse him of rape, according to the newspaper.
The Associated Press does not name victims of alleged sex crimes unless they agree to it. But in the days since the alleged attack in Manhattan, details are beginning to emerge about Strauss-Kahn's accuser.
The woman came to the United States under "very difficult circumstances" in 2004 from Guinea, one of the world's most destitute countries, said Shapiro, her lawyer.
Guinea's average annual income of $1,000 per person is lower than Haiti's and Rwanda's and about the same as Afghanistan's, according to the CIA World Factbook.
The woman's daughter, then 8, came with her. The girl's father is dead, and they have no other relatives in the United States, Shapiro said.
"They are very much alone in this world," he said.
The United States gave the pair political asylum, he said, though he was unsure of the reason.
The woman found work as a chambermaid in hotels, he said, eventually landing a job in 2008 at the French-owned Sofitel Hotel on 44th Street in Manhattan. The hotel said she was a satisfactory employee.
The woman and her daughter moved into an apartment building in the Bronx about 10 months ago, said Zulema Zuniga, who lives on the same floor. The neighbors would occasionally meet in the elevator and say hello.
"She was very nice," Zuniga said.
But this humble immigrant life was shattered, police say, on Saturday afternoon, when the woman entered Strauss-Kahn's suite at the Sofitel to clean the room.
Strauss-Kahn came out of the bathroom naked, chased her down a hallway and pulled her into a bedroom, the woman told police. Then he dragged her into a bathroom, forced her to perform oral sex on him and tried to remove her underwear, she said.
She broke free, fled the room and told hotel security, but Strauss-Kahn was gone by the time detectives arrived, authorities said. They arrested him soon afterward on an airliner that was just about to depart for Europe.
Brafman said he is confident his client will be exonerated once all the physical evidence is collected.
Shapiro, a personal injury attorney, said he was put in touch with the woman through a mutual acquaintance. He said they had not discussed the possibility of a civil lawsuit against Strauss-Kahn.
Media attention has made it impossible for his client to return to her house or to work, Shapiro said. This week television crews and photographers hung around the employee entrance of the Sofitel and loitered outside her apartment, hoping for a glimpse of her.
Shapiro said his client is now in a "safe place," but would not elaborate.
"Her life has now been turned upside down," Shapiro said. "She can't go home, she can't go back to work. ... This has been nothing short of a cataclysmic event in her life."
The maid who has accused International Monetary Fund (IMF) head Dominique Strauss-Kahn of sexual assault is "scared" but will testify against him, her lawyer says.
Jeffrey Shapiro says when the 32-year-old woman discovered Mr Strauss-Kahn's identity a day after the incident she feared for herself and her daughter.
He said there was "nothing consensual about what took place in that hotel room" in New York on 14 May.
Mr Strauss-Kahn denies all the charges.
The woman told New York police Mr Strauss-Kahn tried to rape her and picked him out at an identity parade.
He is charged with a criminal sexual act, attempted rape, sexual abuse, unlawful imprisonment and forcible touching.
Mr Strauss-Kahn, 62, is currently on suicide watch at New York's infamous Rikers Island prison. He will be back in court on Friday.
His wife, former French television interviewer Anne Sinclair, is thought to be visiting him on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has said Mr Strauss-Kahn is not in a position to run the IMF and an interim replacement should be named.
'Man of great power'
Mr Shapiro told NBC television that his client was expected to testify before a grand jury later on Wednesday.
2006: Publication of Sexus Politicus, book by Christophe Deloire and Christophe Dubois, with chapter on Mr Strauss-Kahn and his tendency to "seduction to the point of obsession"
2007: French journalist Jean Quatremer, Brussels correspondent for Liberation, writes on his blog that Mr Strauss-Kahn "verges on harassment" with his behaviour towards women
2008: Mr Strauss-Kahn admits an affair with a colleague at the IMF; he is cleared of abuse but admits an "error of judgement"
2011: Writer Tristane Banon comes forward to say Mr Strauss-Kahn tried to assault her in 2002; she did not go to the police but did raise the allegation in a TV chat show in 2007, when Mr Strauss-Kahn's name was bleeped out
He said she had only become aware of Mr Strauss-Kahn's identity "a day later when a friend called her to tell her, 'do you have any idea who this man is who did this to you?'".
Mr Shapiro said his client was "scared and incredulous".
"When she found out this encounter was with a man of great power and wealth she feared not only for herself but more importantly for her daughter."
The woman had now been reunited with her 15-year-old daughter in a "safe place", he added.
Mr Shapiro said she had tried to return to her home - a sub-let flat in the Bronx - but had found about 30 people waiting outside.
He said: "She has been in a whirlwind since this has taken place... She has not had a moment of peace, has not been able to return home or seek help.
"She doesn't know what her future will bring."
The woman came originally from the West African state of Guinea. She arrived in the US seven years ago with her daughter and had been in her job at the Sofitel hotel for three years.
Mr Strauss-Kahn's lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, said on Monday that the defence believe the forensic evidence "will not be consistent with a forcible encounter".
But Mr Shapiro said that "when a jury hears her testimony and sees her in person" it would become clear that "there is nothing consensual about what took place in that hotel room".
He said that his client had "no agenda" and believed it was her responsibility to follow the judicial process "and she will do that".
Support in France
Public opinion in France appears to be largely on the side of Mr Strauss-Kahn, who until his arrest was considered one of the leading candidates for the French presidential election next year.
Lawyer Jeffrey Shapiro: "She had no idea who this man was when she went into the room"
An opinion poll for RMC radio, BDM television and the 20Minutes website found 57% of those who replied believed Mr Strauss-Kahn was the victim of a conspiracy.
That number rose to 70% among those who identified themselves as favouring Mr Strauss-Kahn's centre-left Socialist Party.
The philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy, a friend of Mr Strauss-Kahn for 25 years, has spoken out in his defence.
"Nothing in the world can authorise the way this man has been thrown to the dogs," he wrote on his blog.
"I do not know... how a chambermaid could enter on her own the room of one of the most watched people on the planet, against the normal practice in most big New York hotels, which provide for 'cleaning brigades' of at least two people."
But Mr Shapiro said: "The idea that someone would suggest she was involved in some form of conspiracy is ridiculous."
'Difficult position'
The US treasury secretary said the most important thing for the IMF was that it found a leader to fill Mr Strauss-Kahn's shoes.
Mr Strauss-Kahn is on suicide watch at Rikers Island prison
"He is obviously not in a position to run the IMF," Mr Geithner said.
"It is important that the board of the IMF formally put in place for an interim period someone to act as managing director."
It is the first time that a top official from President Barack Obama's administration has publicly spoken about the impact of Mr Strauss-Kahn's alleged sexual assault.
However, Mr Geithner refused to comment on the case or the details of the charges against Mr Strauss-Kahn.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague said Mr Strauss-Kahn was in a "very difficult position" and it was "important that the IMF... is able to run effectively".
The BBC's Steve Kingstone in Washington says that with the Americans seemingly distancing themselves from Mr Strauss-Kahn and some European figures saying similar things, there appears to be a groundswell of opinion that he should go.
Since Mr Strauss-Kahn's arrest last Saturday, his deputy John Lipsky has been serving as acting managing director.
The maid who accused International Monetary Fund (IMF) head Dominique Strauss-Kahn of sexual assault did not know who he was at the time of the alleged incident, her lawyer says.
The woman, 32, told New York police Mr Strauss-Kahn tried to rape her in his hotel suite on 14 May and picked him out at an identity parade.
Mr Strauss-Kahn denies all the charges.
An opinion poll suggests 57% in France believe the charges are part of a plot against him.
The maid's lawyer, Jeffrey Shapiro, said his client "had no idea who this man [Mr Strauss-Kahn] was when she went into the room" and only learned his identity the following day.
"The idea that someone would suggest she was involved in some form of conspiracy is ridiculous," he said. "This is someone who has been the victim of a violent act."
Mr Strauss-Kahn, 62, is currently on suicide watch at New York's infamous Rikers Island prison. He will be back in court on Friday.
US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has said Mr Strauss-Kahn is not in a position to run the IMF and an interim replacement should be named.
Support in France
The maid is now living through an "extraordinary" trauma and is in hiding, Mr Shapiro says.
"It's not just my opinion that this woman is honest," Jeffrey Shapiro said. "The New York City Police Department (NYPD) reached the same conclusion. This is a woman with no agenda."
Mr Geithner refused to be drawn on the legal challenges facing Mr Strauss-Kahn
He said his client came originally from the West African state of Guinea. She arrived in the US seven years ago, along with her daughter, now 15, and had been in her job for three years.
"There is no way in which there is any aspect of this event which could be construed consensual in any manner," Mr Shapiro said.
However, Mr Strauss-Kahn's lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, has said defence lawyers believe the forensic evidence "will not be consistent with a forcible encounter".
Public opinion in France appears to be largely on the side of Mr Strauss-Kahn, who until his arrest was considered one of the leading candidates for the French presidential election next year.
An opinion poll for RMC radio, BDM television and the 20Minutes website found 57% of those who replied believed Mr Strauss-Kahn was the victim of a conspiracy.
That number rose to 70% among those who identified themselves as favouring Mr Strauss-Kahn's centre-left Socialist Party.
2006: Publication of Sexus Politicus, book by Christophe Deloire and Christophe Dubois, with chapter on Mr Strauss-Kahn and his tendency to "seduction to the point of obsession"
2007: French journalist Jean Quatremer, Brussels correspondent for Liberation, writes on his blog that Mr Strauss-Kahn "verges on harassment" with his behaviour towards women
2008: Mr Strauss-Kahn admits an affair with a colleague at the IMF; he is cleared of abuse but admits an "error of judgement"
2011: Writer Tristane Banon comes forward to say Mr Strauss-Kahn tried to assault her in 2002; she did not go to the police but did raise the allegation in a TV chat show in 2007, when Mr Strauss-Kahn's name was bleeped out
The philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy, a friend of Mr Strauss-Kahn for 25 years, has spoken out in his defence.
"Nothing in the world can authorise the way this man has been thrown to the dogs," he wrote on his blog.
"I do not know... how a chambermaid could enter on her own the room of one of the most watched people on the planet, against the normal practice in most big New York hotels, which provide for 'cleaning brigades' of at least two people."
Mr Strauss-Kahn is able to leave his cell occasionally and is allowed outside for one hour each day.
According to the NYPD, the maid told officers that when she entered Mr Strauss-Kahn's suite on Saturday afternoon, he emerged from the bathroom naked, chased her and sexually assaulted her.
The woman was able to break free and alert the authorities, a NYPD spokesman added.
Impact on IMF
Addressing the Harvard Club in New York on Tuesday, Timothy Geithner said the most important thing for the IMF was that it found a leader to fill Mr Strauss-Kahn's shoes.
Mr Strauss-Kahn is on suicide watch at Rikers Island prison
"He is obviously not in a position to run the IMF," Mr Geithner said.
"It is important that the board of the IMF formally put in place for an interim period someone to act as managing director."
It is the first time that a top official from President Barack Obama's administration has publicly spoken about the impact of Mr Strauss-Kahn's alleged sexual assault.
However, Mr Geithner refused to comment on the case or the details of the charges against Mr Strauss-Kahn.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague said Mr Strauss-Kahn was in a "very difficult position" and it was "important that the IMF... is able to run effectively".
The BBC's Steve Kingstone in Washington says that with the Americans seemingly distancing themselves from Mr Strauss-Kahn and some European figures saying similar things, there appears to be a groundswell of opinion that would like to see him go.
Since Mr Strauss-Kahn's arrest last Saturday, his deputy John Lipsky has been serving as acting managing director of the global lending agency.
Former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has acknowledged he fathered a child with a member of his household staff more than 10 years ago.
"After leaving the governor's office I told my wife about this event, which occurred over a decade ago," Mr Schwarzenegger said in a statement.
Earlier this month the former actor and his wife Maria Shriver said they were separating after 25 years of marriage.
Ms Shriver moved out of their Los Angeles mansion earlier in the year.
In his statement, Mr Schwarzenegger said: "I understand and deserve the feelings of anger and disappointment among my friends and family."
He and Ms Shriver have four children together between the ages of 14 and 21.
The 63-year-old former governor has maintained a high public profile and worked to revive his movie career since finishing a seven-year run as California governor in January.
'Truly sorry'
The name of the former member of Mr Schwarzenegger's household staff with whom he fathered the child has not been made public. But reports said she worked for the family for 20 years and retired in January.
Arnold Schwarzenegger fell out of favour with Californians long before he left office. But political failings aside, today's revelation came as a bolt out of the blue. It will certainly cement the so-called Governator's image as a disgraced public figure.
He had long had a reputation as a womaniser but this affair is tawdry - the fact that his mistress continued to work in the Schwarzenegger household up to January of this year - without his wife knowing what happened.
Mr Schwarzenegger's legacy was already in serious question, thanks to the fallout from his decision (in his final hours in office) to commute a 16-year prison sentence for manslaughter to seven years for the son of a close friend. Last week the San Diego District Attorney filed papers to void the commutation. The scandals swirling around Mr Schwarzenegger must surely kill any changes of a future life in public service. But Hollywood may be more forgiving.
In an interview on Monday, before the former governor issued his statement, the woman told the Los Angeles Times that another man, her husband at the time, had fathered her child.
When the Times informed her of Mr Schwarzenegger's statement later on Monday, the woman declined to comment further.
"I have apologised to Maria, my children and my family. I am truly sorry," Mr Schwarzenegger said.
Ms Shriver supported her husband during his 2003 campaign, following accusations by more than a dozen women who said Mr Schwarzenegger had groped them in the past.
The former governor responded to the accusations by saying he "behaved badly sometimes".
The former first couple of California have been married for 25 years and did not mention a cause for the separation when it was announced last week.
Prior to taking office, Mr Schwarzenegger was best known for starring in the Terminator action films.
Ms Shriver, a member of the Kennedy dynasty, left her job as a TV reporter when her husband was elected as governor.
Emerging economies are expected to battle hard for the top job at the International Monetary Fund, following the arrest of current head Dominique Strauss-Kahn, analysts say.
That could pit the fast-growing markets of Asia and Latin America against Europe.
Developing countries are seeking more influence on the world stage as their economic clout increases.
Mr Strauss-Kahn has been charged with attempted rape in New York.
European officials, however, say the debt problems in the region mean any replacement should come from Europe.
The current structure for leadership at the IMF and the World Bank is one where the former is headed by a European and the latter by an American.
"There is growing disquiet, particularly among emerging nations, about this division of roles," said Jan Randolph, head of sovereign risk analysis at IHS Global Insight.
He says China could use its influence to support an emerging market candidate for the top IMF job.
"China is the biggest new IMF bondholder. Its huge financial contribution in 2008 effectively tripled the size of the IMF's lending power during the financial crisis."
That financial might is coming into focus as developing countries start taking a larger share of the global economy.
Possible successor
Although Mr Strauss-Kahn has not officially resigned, most analysts expect that he will do so.
John Lipsky, who was named as the IMF's acting managing director, has already said he will step down in August, when his term ends.
Names of potential candidates for the top job are already being bandied about.
Singapore's finance minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam, former South African finance minister Trevor Manuel and Kemal Dervis, Turkey's former minister of economic affairs are possible successor, according to former IMF official Eswar Prasad.
The highest profile European candidate for the job is France's finance minister Christine Lagarde, according to the Financial Times.
Reuters news agency has compiled its own list of names which also include Montek Singh Ahluwalia of India and Agustin Carstens of Mexico.
Pressure is mounting on Dominique Strauss-Kahn to step down as head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Austrian finance minister Maria Fekter called on him to consider his position.
Meanwhile, her Spanish counterpart, Elana Salgado, gave her support for the victim of his alleged sexual assault.
Mr Strauss-Kahn has been remanded in custody at New York's notorious Rikers Island jail, following his arrest on Saturday for the attempted rape of a hotel maid.
He was arrested after boarding a plane, prompting the judge to say that Mr Strauss-Kahn, 62, was a flight risk.
He faces seven charges and could be sentenced to up to 25 years in prison.
Mr Strauss-Kahn, who had been seen as a favourite in France's 2012 presidential elections, denies the charges.
The defence offered to post $1m (£617,000) bail, with Mr Strauss-Kahn to stay at his daughter's address in New York until the next hearing on Friday. However, Judge Melissa Jackson rejected the application.
'Very serious accusations'
"I don't comment on judicial matters," said Ms Fekter. "But in view of the situation, that bail has been refused, he himself must deliberate on whether he is hurting the institution."
The Spanish finance minister added her voice, saying that the IMF head faced "very serious accusations" but that any resignation "is only a decision that Mr Strauss-Kahn can take".
However, she went on to express sympathy for the alleged victim of the assault: "If I had to show my solidarity and support for someone, it would be towards the woman who has been assaulted, if that is really the case that she has been."
Ms Fekter's comments touched on concerns that, irrespective of the legal outcome, Mr Strauss-Kahn's detention creates a practical obstacle for his role in negotiating rescue loans for Portugal and Greece.
Mr Strauss-Kahn had been due to attend an EU finance ministers' meeting in Brussels to discuss financial bail-outs.
The IMF has played a central role in organising rescue packages for the troubled economies of Portugal and Greece.
However, according to the Portuguese finance minister, Fernando Teixeira dos Santos, the IMF head's absence had not been an issue.
Mr Strauss-Kahn received support from the Luxembourg prime minister and eurogroup head, Jean-Claude Juncker, a self-professed close friend.
"I'm very sad and upset," he said. "I didn't like the pictures I've seen on television."
French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde described Mr Strauss-Kahn's predicament as "crushing and painful".
Flight halted
The IMF said in a statement that it had been briefed on the charges against its managing director, and that it would "continue to monitor developments".
The charges relate to an alleged assault at the Times Square Sofitel hotel in New York.
Writer Tristane Banon alleges Mr Strauss-Kahn assaulted her in 2002
According to the New York Police Department, a 32-year-old maid told officers that when she entered his suite on Saturday afternoon, Mr Strauss-Kahn emerged from the bathroom naked, chased her and sexually assaulted her.
The woman was able to break free and alert the authorities, a NYPD spokesman added.
Later on Saturday, Mr Strauss-Kahn was detained on board an Air France flight at New York's John F Kennedy airport minutes before take-off.
The IMF chief underwent medical examinations on Sunday. Police were looking for scratches or any other evidence of his alleged assault.
He was later charged with a "criminal sexual act, unlawful imprisonment and attempted rape". Police say the maid formally identified him in a line-up.
'Thunderbolt'
Until he was arrested, Mr Strauss-Kahn was considered a favourite to become the Socialist candidate for the French presidency next year.
Opinion polls gave him a good chance of defeating President Nicolas Sarkozy.
Socialist party president Martine Aubry described his arrest as a "thunderbolt" but called for Mr Strauss-Kahn to be presumed innocent.
Mr Strauss-Kahn's wife, French TV personality Anne Sinclair, has also protested his innocence.
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.
Tristane Banon, 31, says Mr Strauss-Kahn tried to rape her when she went to interview him for a book she was writing.
"We're planning to make a complaint," Ms Banon's lawyer told AFP news agency. Mr Strauss-Kahn's lawyers have so far not responded to the allegation.
WASHINGTON May 16 - The White House remains confident in the International Monetary Fund and its ability to execute its mission in the wake of the arrest of IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn, a spokesman said on Monday.
"We note that the IMF has said that they have appointed an acting director and the IMF remains fully functional. And we remain confident in the institution of the IMF and its ability to continue to execute its mission effectively," White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters traveling to Tennessee on Air Force One with President Barack Obama.
Asked if Washington had any concern that Strauss-Kahn's arrest would have any effect on its handling of some European countries' debt problems, Carney repeated: "We're confident that the IMF will continue to function effectively."
Strauss-Kahn appeared in court in New York on Monday for the first time since he was accused of trying to rape a hotel maid in a case that has sent shockwaves through French politics and left the IMF in turmoil.
His lawyers said he would plead not guilt to charges of a criminal sexual act, attempted rape and unlawful imprisonment.
AP – Stephen Coleman, a cameraman for ABC News, photographs the home believed to be the residence of a household … 
