The World Bank's board on Thursday unanimously approved US Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz as its next president, the... AP/Yahoo! News reports. Although President Bush "raised the hackles" of some poverty and international aid advocates when he nominated Wolfowitz to the position last month, the incoming bank president has "sought to counter those concerns," according to the AP/Yahoo! News. "I really believe in the mission of the bank. I think one of the challenges of the institution, and therefore for me, is how to make sure that it makes the best use of the considerable resources at its disposal, which are both financial and human," Wolfowitz said in an earlier interview with the Associated Press (Aversa, AP/Yahoo! News, 3/31). After securing the board's approval, Wolfowitz said, "Nothing is more gratifying than being able to help people in need and developing opportunities for all the people of the world to achieve their full potential" (USA Today, 4/1). He added that debt relief and the upcoming U.N. summit in September to review the U.N. Millennium Development Goals will be "pressing issue[s]" when he begins his presidency on June 1, AFP/Yahoo! News reports (AFP/Yahoo! News, 4/1).

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