Inquiry puts ex-World Bank officials under scrutiny on China

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former officials of the World Bank are under pressure after an investigation found that they pressured staff members to alter data on global business conditions in order to favor China and some other governments. The World Bank said it would discontinue its “Doing Business” report in the wake of the investigation, which was conducted by the law firm WilmerHale after internal assertions of “data irregularities” in the 2018 and 2020 editions of the report and possible “ethical matters” involving bank staff.