Washington, D.C
Mr. Banga Goes To Washington
Ajay Banga, listens as Vice President Kamala Harris, speaks in the beginning of a gathering with Banga and … [+]
Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Instances through Getty Photographs
Ajay Banga, the 63-year-old former CEO of Mastercard, went to Washington D.C. this week to proceed his marketing campaign to develop into the following president of the World Financial institution. Because the Biden administration’s nominee, Banga had spent the previous few weeks on a four-continent “listening tour,” which noticed him clock over 39,000 miles and conferences with 37 completely different governments to construct assist for his candidacy.
Maybe he ought to have stayed at house since he has emerged as the only real nominee and is prone to obtain the World Financial institution membership’s endorsement to succeed David Malpass as president within the subsequent few weeks. Within the context of at present’s messy geopolitics, how ought to we view Banga’s putative appointment, and what does it imply for the way forward for the World Financial institution?
As a begin, the anachronistic “gents’s settlement” cast a long time in the past between Europe and America on who ought to run the World Financial institution and IMF has held. Though Banga was born and raised in India, he’s an American citizen and subsequently eligible to be nominated and appointed to run the Financial institution.
Throughout the road on Washington D.C.’s nineteenth Road, solely Europeans have ever held the reins on the IMF. There was a time when rising markets and growing nations railed in opposition to the U.S.-Europe compact, however have persistently didn’t unite and rally behind a rival candidate. The Individuals and Europeans might fairly make the argument that rising market candidates, or at the least these born in a single, fill the higher echelons of multilateral financial establishments.
Moreover Banga, this listing consists of Gita Gopinath, the IMF’s First Deputy Managing Director (India), Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the WTO’s Director Normal (Nigeria), Ilan Goldfajn, President of the Inter-American Improvement Financial institution (Brazil), and Mari Pangestu, the World Financial institution Managing Director who will quickly report back to Banga (Indonesia). It is a refreshing change in contrast with with even a decade in the past.
The elephant within the room for Banga’s appointment is, after all, China, which had earlier indicated that it was “open to supporting” different candidates based mostly on benefit. Since none has emerged, Beijing has a alternative of both going together with the doubtless world consensus (to nominate Banga) or to make a large fuss in regards to the inequities of the present system (and abstain). China additionally occurs to be a serious borrower of the World Financial institution, a persistent supply of anger in successive U.S. administrations, and it’s prone to pragmatically stability this consideration when the Govt Board meets to verify the appointment.
Whereas the World Financial institution’s faces profound challenges in realigning its mission and mandate to take care of challenges like local weather change, messy geopolitics additionally signifies that Banga’s main process might be to stability the calls for of main Western shareholders (for reforming the establishment), and to protect the establishment’s enterprise mannequin, which is closely geared towards financing initiatives in rising and growing nations.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has remodeled geopolitics with China, India, and different rising nations breaking away from the Washington-Europe consensus of imposing powerful sanctions in opposition to Russia. How this can play out on the World Financial institution might be fascinating to observe. A fair larger query is whether or not continued U.S.-China tensions will solid a shadow over Banga’s tenure.
In his Washington D.C. public appearances, Banga has not shied away from addressing the powerful points which can quickly fill his inbox. Talking on the Centre for International Improvement (CGD), for instance, he famous that the Financial institution ought to proceed to play a central position in coordinating world improvement insurance policies. Whereas talking in regards to the want for reforms, he’s additionally desperate to protect the financial institution’s financing mannequin of supporting low-income and middle-income nations (the latter listing consists of China, India and Indonesia).
Whereas he acknowledges the pivotal significance of local weather change, Banga framed the problem within the wider context of constructing financial alternative, decreasing inequality, better digitization, and creating jobs. The World Financial institution below his stewardship, he declared, shouldn’t “fail” due to a scarcity of ambition, however ought to fail due to the dearth of execution. That is typical non-public sector CEO speak, and years spent schmoozing world leaders additionally provides Banga a formidable benefit in shaking up the World Financial institution. Just like the IMF, it’s an important however dysfunctional establishment which urgently must be dragged into the tough geopolitical and local weather realities of the twenty first century.
Obama responded to the photobomb on Instagram, saying, ‘Preston and Belle, I hope you enjoyed peak bloom! My bad for stepping into the shot.’
Obama raps Eminem’s ‘Lose Yourself’ at Harris rally
Rapper Eminem introduced former president Barack Obama at a Kamala Harris rally. Obama returned the favor by reciting Eminem’s “Lose Yourself.”
A Virginia family’s cherry blossoms photoshoot in Washington D.C. didn’t go as planned after a bystander walked into a frame meant only to include their two toddlers.
However, Falls Church resident Portia Moore had no complaints as the photobomber in question was former President Barack Obama.
Dedicating her full attention to the photoshoot at 7 a.m. Monday morning, Moore said she did not notice the 44th president passing by until her husband pointed him out.
“Once their shoot is all done I was like, ‘Jamie, what did you say?’ He was like ‘That’s President Obama over there,’ and I was like ‘Oh my goodness,’” Moore told USA TODAY Wednesday. “I was like, ‘You should’ve grabbed me and made more of a big deal about it.’”
Briana Inell, the photographer the family hired, proceeded to snap photos of Obama from about 20 to 30 feet away as he roamed the Tidal Basin tourist area. Soon after, Inell looked through their photographs and noticed the Democrat casually walking right by Moore’s 20-month-old son, Preston, and four-month-old daughter, Belle.
Inell said the image will sit right at the center of a six-by-two grid framed at their home in Falls Church, about 10 miles from DC.
Photographer also didn’t notice Obama photobomb
Inell, who has previously worked with the family, said she failed to notice Obama’s photobombing as the Tidal Basin area is typically so packed during tourist season. It wasn’t until she heard Moore’s grandparents point him out that she spotted him along with several Secret Service agents.
After several years as a DC-based photographer, she finally got to cross photographing a former president off her bucket list.
“I’ve always wanted to see Obama, and I am so shocked and surprised that it actually happened to me,” Inell said.
Obama himself posted on Instagram Monday to show off his own photos of the D.C. cherry blossoms, which typically bloom between March and April.
“It’s fun to be able to play tourist once in a while. The cherry blossoms were beautiful this morning!” he wrote.
Obama even responded to the photobomb on Instagram, commenting under Smith’s post: “Preston and Belle, I hope you enjoyed peak bloom! My bad for stepping into the shot.”
The D.C. Council passed emergency legislation Tuesday that changes the city’s open meeting law to allow private meetings in certain situations. Critics of the measure are pouncing on the change, saying it would dramatically modify the way the city operates. But city officials insist it’s needed.
The D.C. Council passed emergency legislation Tuesday that changes the city’s open meetings law to allow private meetings in certain situations. Critics of the measure are pouncing on the change, saying it would dramatically modify the way the city operates. But city officials insist it’s needed.
Under this new law, council members will be allowed to have private meetings without the required two days of notice to the public, as long as the meeting is to discuss a possible terrorist threat, public health threats or to meet with the mayor. During those meetings, no votes or official actions can be taken.
Council Chairman Phil Mendelson argued that council members were not allowed to discuss items among themselves without the fear someone will claim they violated the current law.
“Sometimes we want to have a conversation, and they can’t be public, or we won’t have those conversations,” he said.
The council passed the emergency legislation 10-2. Once signed by Mayor Muriel Bowser, the law will be enacted for 90 days, during which the council will consider what changes it wants in a permanent bill. It will hold a public hearing April 22 to discuss the matter.
Mendelson said with the Trump administration in office, it is almost impossible for city officials to privately discuss strategy without running afoul of open meetings. He said the current law hinders getting anything done.
The bill gives the city more flexibility, Mendelson said, when it comes to dealing with federal issues and interference from Congress, especially after lawmakers passed a recent spending bill that cut $1 billion from the city’s budget.
But critics of the law are pushing back.
In a lengthy letter to the D.C. Council, the D.C. Open Government Coalition said the bill poses a substantial threat to government transparency and should not be enacted without more public input.
The coalition argued the council could resolve the issues “more efficiently through the modification of its rules without exacting such a toll on public access,” noting the bills have been in the works since at least last October.
“Regardless of what the DECLARATION says, there is no emergency — no ‘situation that adversely affects the health, safety, welfare, or economic well-being of the District, its residents, its businesses, or other persons or entities,’” Coalition Chairman Robert S. Becker said in the letter.
The legislation also gives an open meeting exemption to “consequential, large-scale business and economic development,” such as the recently completed, nearly $1 billion deal with Monumental Sports & Entertainment to remodel Capital One Arena.
Critics of the legislation say the timing is unusual, especially since the city, Washington Commanders and NFL could begin negotiations for a new stadium and they feel that information will be kept secret.
However, a city official told WTOP no member of the council has had any negotiations or discussions with the Commanders or the NFL about building a new stadium at the RFK Stadium campus and Mayor Muriel Bowser is the one taking part in those discussions.
Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.
© 2025 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.
Washington, D.C
Black Lives Matter Plaza’s end — like its beginning — is a barometer of the times – WTOP News
WASHINGTON (AP) — It started as an ordinary D.C. intersection — a tourist destination with a modest white church on…
WASHINGTON (AP) — It started as an ordinary D.C. intersection — a tourist destination with a modest white church on the corner, notable largely for an unobstructed view of the White House across Lafayette Park. Then, in the pandemic summer of 2020, it transformed.
The death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police turned the nexus of 16th and H streets into a focal point for decades-old grievances over police brutality and racial inequities.
Even before it was named Black Lives Matter Plaza, thousands of protesters descended there daily, many staying around the clock as support tents and infrastructure sprung up. At times, the protests turned violent: A groundskeeper building in the park burned down; the church, St. John’s Episcopal, briefly caught fire; and at least one night saw storefronts destroyed downtown.
At other times, the violence was directed at protesters, including when police abruptly used chemical agents to clear out protesters, so President Donald Trump could pose in front of St. John’s holding a Bible.
Later that year, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser ordered the creation of Black Lives Matter Plaza, with official street signs and “Black Lives Matter” painted in giant yellow letters on a multiblock stretch of 16th Street. The move was symbolic, but the impact concrete: BLM Plaza became a magnet point for years of political activism. Hundreds of protests started, ended or rallied there. Semipermanent protesters mingled with tourists; crowds brought vendors and food trucks, creating a street-fair vibe.
But Bowser’s move was derided by local activists, who accused her of co-opting an organic movement whose values she did not share. In a brief game of cat-and-mouse, activists erased the stars from the Washington, D.C., flag painted on the street, creating the image of an equal sign; they temporarily changed the message to “Black Lives Matter = Defund the Police.”
Despite local resistance, Bowser’s act of public defiance established her as a prominent foil for Trump in his first term.
Now, the site has changed again, an indicator of America’s political pendulum swings. Bowser announced early this month that the city would remove the words as she struggled with threats of encroachment from Trump and the Republican-controlled Congress.
The work was supposed to take at least six weeks, but appears to be finishing ahead of schedule. Workers have completed removing the letters.
And the street signs reading Black Lives Matter Plaza have come down.
___
Copyright
© 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
C.D.C. Cuts Threaten to Set Back the Nation’s Health, Critics Say
Thanks to the transfer portal, this March’s Cinderella stories are players, not teams
Why tennis media is a fragmented mess, from Grand Slam broadcast rights to social media highlights
‘White Lotus’ Theme Song Composer Won’t Return for Season 4
Trump’s Mantra from Schools to FEMA: ‘Move it Back to the States’
-
News1 week agoTrump Is Trying to Gain More Power Over Elections. Is His Effort Legal?
-
News1 week agoWashington Bends to RFK Jr.’s ‘MAHA’ Agenda on Measles, Baby Formula and French Fries
-
News1 week agoCompanies Pull Back From Pride Events as Trump Targets D.E.I.
-
Technology1 week agoTrump officials planned a military strike over Signal – with a magazine editor on the line
-
World1 week agoAt least six people killed in Israeli attacks on southern Syria
-
Technology1 week agoThe FBI launched a task force to investigate Tesla attacks
-
World1 week agoNo, Norway and Sweden haven't banned digital transactions
-
Culture1 week agoAnalysing Jamal Musiala’s bizarre corner goal for Germany against Italy