Hello and welcome to the Intelligence on Economist Radio. I'm your host, Jason Palmer.

Every weekday, we provide a fresh perspective on the events shaping your world.

Terrorist attacks have struck in Mindanao, an island of the southern Philippines, ahead of a vote today for greater regional autonomy.

It's hoped the referendum will calm a region that has suffered violence since Spanish colonists arrived in the 16th century.

As Lunar New Year celebrations continue, our correspondent heads to the heart of China's gold industry.

The country often buys more than America and India combined, thanks in part to a New Year's gold rush. First up, the World Bank will soon have a new leader,

and President Donald Trump will probably get to decide who.

Today, he's expected to formally announce his nomination,

senior US Treasury official David Malpas.

In some ways, he's quite a conventional Republican pick for an institution like this.

What perhaps sets him apart is that he's been quite fiercely critical of the World Bank and

of the international organizations. And he's also quite hawkish on China in a way that could

complicate his relationship with China

if he were to become president of the bank.

Simon Cox is our emerging markets editor, based in Hong Kong.

He was early on a supporter of the Trump presidency.

He served the Reagan administration.

He served the first Bush administration.

He then was a chief economist at Bear Stearns, the ill-fated investment bank.

Last month, Jim Kim resigned from the presidency, leaving an empty seat at the head of the

world's most influential development bank.

The World Bank's mission is to fight poverty all around the world, and it does that in various

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