- At least 10 dead in Florida after Hurricane Milton spawns tornadoes
- Internet Archive reels from 'catastrophic' cyberattack, data breach
- Wall Street stocks retreat from records on US inflation data
- Israel strikes central Beirut, killing 22
- Solar storm could impact US hurricane recovery efforts: agency
- Delta eyes Election Day travel pullback as profits climb
- Florida battered by hurricane, floods but spared 'worst-case scenario'
- UK's William and Kate in first joint public engagement since cancer treatment
- Over 200 women in legal talks with Harrods over Fayed abuse claims
- A very stiff breeze: BBC says sorry for 20,000 kph wind forecast
- Musk finally unveiling his long-promised robotaxi
- London's Frieze art fair goes potty for ceramics
- US, Europe stocks fall on US inflation data
- US consumer inflation eases to 2.4% in September
- Hurricane Milton tornadoes kill four in Florida amid rescue efforts
- South Korea's Han Kang wins literature Nobel
- Ikea posts fall in annual sales after lowering prices
- Stock markets diverge, oil gains after China rebounds
- World can't 'waste time' trading climate change blame: COP29 hosts
- South Korean same-sex couples make push for marriage equality
- Mumbai declares day of mourning for Indian industrialist Ratan Tata
- 7-Eleven owner restructures to fight takeover
- Sri Lanka recovering faster than expected: World Bank
- Hong Kong, Shanghai rally as most markets track Wall St record
- Uniqlo owner reports record annual earnings
- Hong Kong, Shanghai rally as markets track Wall St record
- Indonesia biomass drive threatens key forests: report
- Mumbai mourns Indian industrialist Ratan Tata
- China opens $71 bn 'swap facility' to boost markets
- Asian markets track Wall St record as Hong Kong, Shanghai stabilise
- 'Denying my potential': women at Japan's top university call out gender imbalance
- China's central bank says opens up $70.6 bn in liquidity to boost market
- Youth facing unprecedented wave of violence, UN envoy warns
- 'A casino in every kitchen': Brazil's online gambling craze
- Nobel chemistry winner sees engineered proteins solving tough problems
- Discord seen as online home for renegades
- US forecasts severe solar storm starting Thursday
- Ratan Tata: Indian mogul who built a global powerhouse
- One dead as storm Kirk tears through Spain, Portugal, France
- Indian business titan Ratan Tata dead at 86
- Fed minutes highlight divisions over rate cut decision
- Steve McQueen debuts new WWII film at London festival
- Nobel winners hope protein work will spur 'incredible' breakthroughs
- What are proteins again? Nobel-winning chemistry explained
- AI steps into science limelight with Nobel wins
- Overshooting 1.5C risks 'irreversible' climate impact: study
- Demis Hassabis, from chess prodigy to Nobel-winning AI pioneer
- Global stocks diverge as Chinese shares tumble
- Time runs out in Florida to flee Hurricane Milton
- Chad issues warning ahead of more devastating floods
US World Bank pick a straight-talker who 'gets things done'
The United States' candidate to lead the World Bank, Ajay Banga, has helmed large institutions and "helped bring 500 million unbanked people into the digital economy," according to US authorities.
And those who have worked with him describe him as a straight-talking leader who is able to work with people of different cultures.
Banga, 63, has walked an unusual path to potential leadership of the development lender.
Born in Pune, near Mumbai, his father was an Indian army officer and he moved around regularly in his childhood.
Banga, who is Sikh, wears a turban and has a full beard, started out at Nestle in India taking on sales and marketing assignments before moving to PepsiCo and eventually joining Citigroup in 1996.
There, he worked his way up to chief executive officer of the Asia-Pacific region before joining Mastercard in 2009 as chief operating officer and being named its chief executive a year later.
In 2021, he joined private equity firm General Atlantic.
While he was born and raised in India, spending a part of his career there, the Indian-American leader has also been described as an Americanized baseball lover who "owns practically every Elvis Presley album that you could think of," according to a Financial Times interview.
Banga's nomination as a candidate for World Bank president comes as current World Bank chief David Malpass announced recently he would step down nearly a year early.
The Washington-based development lender is accepting candidate nominations, in a process that will run until March 29.
- Different identities -
"His working style is 'get it done,'" said David Beasley, executive director of the World Food Program, who worked with Banga during his time at Mastercard.
"He's very articulate, he gets to the point... and is incredibly diplomatic when he does it," Beasley told AFP.
He added that Banga "knows how to work with people from different cultures."
The next World Bank president will need to "unite a very large group of countries behind a common agenda," said Clemence Landers, policy fellow with the Center for Global Development.
"I think having someone who can speak to many different identities and speak to many different constituencies is absolutely critical," she told AFP.
Looking ahead, the candidate would need to make the lender more able to respond to changing needs of countries, and the costs required to do this job is rising, she said.
"It's absolutely essential that this person isn't just seen as representing the US voice, but representing the voices of many of the different parts of the institution," added Landers.
The president of the World Bank is typically American, while the leader of the International Monetary Fund is customarily European.
But in recent years, growing emerging market countries have challenged the unwritten arrangement.
St.Ch.Baker--CPN