US PRESIDENT George Bush has chosen Robert Zoellick, a one-time US trade representative and former senior official at the state department, to lead the World Bank.

THE crisis surrounding the departure of World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz has exposed the antiquated leadership selection arrangement in place at the bank.

THE former head of the World Bank Paul Wolfowitz, who resigned in a row about his companion’s promotion, yesterday said he had been forced to quit because emotions at the organisation had become “overheated”.

The White House today said it will move quickly to find a successor - preferably an American – for departing World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz as the administration sought to rebuild relationships strained by the controversy.

Embattled World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz will resign at the end of June, the bank board announced tonight.

US President George Bush today seemed resigned to the possibility that World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz could lose his job over conflict-of-interest charges involving his girlfriend.

World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz is reportedly negotiating a deal to resign.

The White House offered an apparent olive branch to international critics over embattled World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz, saying “all options are on the table” about who should lead the bank, even as it continued to defend the former Pentagon number two.

The White House defended embattled World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz today, saying findings that he broke bank rules in arranging a hefty pay package for his girlfriend did not amount to “a firing offences.”

World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz broke the rules in arranging a huge compensation package for his girlfriend, which caused a "crisis in the leadership" at the institution, according to a report released today by a special panel.

THE World Bank executive board has concluded that president Paul Wolfowitz broke ethics rules in arranging a pay rise for his girlfriend, and will try to end his tenure next week, The Washington Post reported at the weekend.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice quietly has come to the aid of World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz, whose job is in jeopardy for his handling of a promotion and pay package for his girlfriend.

A special panel has found that World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz broke bank rules in arranging a pay package and promotion for his girlfriend, it was claimed.

The World Bank's board expressed fresh concerns today regarding bank president Paul Wolfowitz's handling of a hefty pay package for his girlfriend.

World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz condemned what he called a “smear campaign” against him and told a special bank panel he acted in good faith in securing a promotion and pay rise for his former girlfriend.

World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz will get an opportunity next week to address a panel that is investigating whether he properly handled a promotion and pay package for his girlfriend.

Calls for the resignation of World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz grew today as the European Parliament voiced its displeasure over allegations that he arranged a promotion and big pay package for his girlfriend.

World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz has hired a prominent US lawyer as he fights to keep his job after arranging a generous compensation package for his former lover.

THE World Bank’s board on Friday ordered an ad hoc group to discuss the fate of President Paul Wolfowitz, whose leadership has been thrown into turmoil by revelations that he helped his girlfriend get a high-paying job.

EMBATTLED World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz clung to his job yesterday after a stormy week of revelations on a pay scandal involving his girlfriend that is to be examined soon by the organisation’s board of directors.

Embattled World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz said he will continue to lead bank efforts to reduce global poverty, resisting calls to step down over his involvement in securing a huge pay increase for his partner.

WORLD Bank president Paul Wolfowitz said he plans to stay in his job as employees demand he quit over his role in the promotion of his girlfriend.

The woman at the heart of the controversy that has embroiled World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz said she is a victim and was forced into a job transfer because of their relationship.

THE woman at the heart of the controversy that has embroiled World Bank president, Paul Wolfowitz, says she is a victim and was forced into a job transfer owing to their relationship.

The United States has been vocal about the corruption at the United Nations Organisation, the World Bank, and other international institutions.

World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz is facing calls to quit today after he admitted he made a mistake in helping his girlfriend get transferred to a high-paying job.

International donors today pledged $7.6bn (€5.9bn) in aid and loans for Lebanon’s US-backed prime minister and his economic reform programme for the war-scarred country.

IMF chief Rodrigo de Rato today welcomed the passage of reforms giving a bigger voice to four emerging economies, but warned that members face daunting challenges in keeping global growth on track.

WORLD Bank President Paul Wolfowitz yesterday acknowledged that donors should not penalise poor people for the abuses of their leaders by withholding aid.

Fighting corruption is an essential part of overcoming poverty, World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz said today, but he acknowledged that donors should not penalise poor people for the abuses of their leaders by withholding aid.

THE US can revive the stalled trade talks with a better offer of cuts in US farm subsidies, which would prompt other nations to accept concessions, World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz has said.

The British Foreign Secretary today urged world leaders to settle a stalemate over a trade liberalisation document billed as a chance to lift millions from poverty.

World Bank chief Paul Wolfowitz is urging leaders at next week’s summit of the world’s most industrialised nations in Russia to resolve a stalemate over a commerce liberalisation pact billed as a recipe for lifting millions from poverty.

THE European Commission’s refusal this week to give Bulgaria and Romania its blessing to join the EU over corruption concerns once again highlights the growing consensus that no economy can prosper unless the cancer of corruption is first eliminated.

The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank have received new guidelines to deal with high and rising oil prices, trade gaps and other problems that threaten to disrupt global economic growth.

The World Bank’s directors approved a £37bn (€53.4bn) debt relief package for poor countries, many of them in Africa, after resolving yesterday how the international lending institution will find money for future loans.

World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz has defended the bank’s support for a massive hydroelectric dam in Laos that has been strongly opposed by environmental and social groups.

World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz said today that both African nations and developing countries had a responsibility to tackle corruption that is damaging the continent.

NEW World Bank chief Paul Wolfowitz yesterday praised the historic deal to cancel the foreign debt of some of the world’s poorest nations.

New World Bank chief Paul Wolfowitz praised a historic deal to cancel the foreign debt of some of the world’s poorest nations today and said he was hopeful debt relief was also on the way for Africa’s biggest debtor, Nigeria.

Paul Wolfowitz, who will soon take his first trip to Africa as head of the World Bank, said a case can be made for more development aid to flow to the struggling continent.

THE World Bank last night unanimously confirmed Paul Wolfowitz as its president, despite quiet misgivings by some members over his role as the Bush administration’s architect of the Iraq war.

EU officials appear ready to accept Paul Wolfowitz as head of the World Bank after talks today in which the architect of the Iraq war tried to soothe concerns about his reputation as a unilateralist.

EU officials quizzed World Bank president nominee Paul Wolfowitz on his development agenda today, while France pushed for more European influence in the delivery of global aid.