World Bank Hopes to Select New Chief by May

The World Bank. (Asharq Al-Awsat Arabic)
The World Bank. (Asharq Al-Awsat Arabic)
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World Bank Hopes to Select New Chief by May

The World Bank. (Asharq Al-Awsat Arabic)
The World Bank. (Asharq Al-Awsat Arabic)

The World Bank said Wednesday it hopes to find a successor by early May to chief David Malpass, who has announced he will step down nearly a year early.

The Washington-based development lender will begin accepting candidate nominations on Thursday, a process that will run until March 29. The bank says women candidates would be "strongly" encouraged, reported AFP.

A shortlist of three candidates will then be issued, followed by "formal interviews... with the expectation of selecting the new president by early May 2023."

By informal agreement, not cited in the statement, the president of the World Bank is typically an American, while the head of the International Monetary Fund is customarily a European.

The 66-year-old Malpass, was appointed in 2019 when Donald Trump was president after previously serving as Under Secretary of the Treasury for international affairs.

A week ago, he made a surprise announcement that he would leave his post nearly a year before his term was due to expire in 2024.

His tenure at the World Bank saw the organization grapple with global crises such as the Covid-19 pandemic, the Russian invasion of Ukraine and an international economic slowdown.

In recent months, Malpass has faced calls for his resignation or removal, with environmental activists accusing him of climate change denialism.

Last September at a forum, Malpass declined to say if he believed fossil fuels were driving climate change, drawing sharp condemnation from the White House.

Malpass later told CNN that he was not a climate change denier and that human-generated emissions were "clearly" contributing to warming.



Dutch Tighten Controls on Military and Dual Use Exports to Israel

Containers in the Port of Rotterdam are seen in Rotterdam, Netherlands, November 1, 2022. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw/File Photo
Containers in the Port of Rotterdam are seen in Rotterdam, Netherlands, November 1, 2022. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw/File Photo
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Dutch Tighten Controls on Military and Dual Use Exports to Israel

Containers in the Port of Rotterdam are seen in Rotterdam, Netherlands, November 1, 2022. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw/File Photo
Containers in the Port of Rotterdam are seen in Rotterdam, Netherlands, November 1, 2022. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw/File Photo

The Dutch government said on Monday it had tightened export controls for all military and 'dual use' goods destined for Israel.

All direct exports and the transit of these goods to Israel will be checked to see if they comply with European regulations, and will no longer be covered by general export licences, the government said in a letter to parliament.

"This is desirable considering the security situation in Israel, the Palestinian territories and the wider region," foreign minister Caspar Veldkamp and trade minister Reinette Klever wrote, Reuters reported.

"Exporters will still be able to request permits, that will then be checked against European regulations."

The government said no military goods for Israel had been exported from the Netherlands under a general permit since Israel started its war in Gaza following the attacks by Hamas on October 7, 2023.

It said that the general licence for the export of "low risk information security goods", such as routers for network security, was frequently used for export to Israel.

It estimated that between 50 and 100 permits for the export of those goods would now have to be requested on an individual basis.

A Dutch court last year ordered the government to block all exports of F-35 fighter jet parts to Israel over concerns they were being used to violate international law during the war in Gaza.