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    Christy Goldsmith Romero Is Front-Runner to Lead F.D.I.C.

    The front-runner for the bank regulatory job is Christy Goldsmith Romero, a member of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.Three weeks after President Biden vowed to pick a new leader for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the bank regulator shaken by a vast workplace abuse scandal, a front-runner has emerged: Christy Goldsmith Romero, who sits on the five-member Commodity Futures Trading Commission, according to two people with knowledge of the administration’s thinking.Ms. Goldsmith Romero is a lawyer who, after the financial crisis, spent more than 12 years in an office created by Congress to investigate fraud and other misconduct by banks that received money from the government’s roughly $450 billion crisis rescue package, the Troubled Asset Relief Program. From 2011 to 2022, Ms. Goldsmith Romero led the office as the special inspector-general for the program.Her work exposing fraud, which often put her at odds with not only bankers but also some government officials who were concerned about the potential damage it would do to overall public opinion of the bailout, has made her especially appealing for the job of cleaning up the F.D.I.C., said the people, who asked for anonymity to discuss the matter.Mr. Biden has not made a final decision. Ms. Goldsmith Romero’s position as the front-runner for the job was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.Ms. Goldsmith Romero declined to comment for this article.Republicans and Democrats both want a new leader for the bank regulator as soon as possible. Managers there were routinely sexually harassing junior employees and working to silence anyone who complained, according to reports last fall by The Wall Street Journal. The fact that Ms. Goldsmith Romero is a woman and a member of the L.G.B.T.Q. community — she is bisexual — is also seen as a plus, the people said, because she may be better able to build trust and restore morale among embattled junior employees.And there’s another advantage to her candidacy: Ms. Goldsmith Romero has been unanimously confirmed by the Senate — twice. Her most recent confirmation, for the C.F.T.C. post, was in 2022, recently enough that the paperwork she submitted to the Senate as part of her nomination process, as well as the background check she underwent at the time, are likely to still be valid.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Virginie Viard Is Leaving Chanel

    Virginie Viard, who replaced Karl Lagerfeld at the French fashion house, spent nearly 30 years at the company.In yet another seismic shift in the fashion world, Chanel announced on Wednesday that Virginie Viard, Karl Lagerfeld’s handpicked successor, was leaving the fashion house after five years as its artistic director — years in which, though her collections received a critical drubbing and speculation was rife about her possible departure, sales exploded, reaching almost $20 billion in 2023.In a brief statement, Chanel, the second largest luxury brand in the world, thanked Ms. Viard for almost 30 years of service, “during which she was able to renew the codes of the house while respecting the creative heritage of Chanel.” No new designer was announced.Ms. Viard, 62, assumed the artistic director role at a precarious moment, following the death of Mr. Lagerfeld, who had led the brand for more than 35 years, in 2019.An unassuming presence who avoided the spotlight, Ms. Viard had worked side by side with Mr. Lagerfeld for decades and been his choice for a successor. He described her as both his left and right arm, and her appointment brought a sense of continuity to a house Mr. Lagerfeld had long dominated.But despite annual revenues rising to $19.7 billion under her tenure — a 16 percent increase over the previous year — Ms. Viard seemed more like a caretaker designer for the storied house than a change agent like her mentor, Mr. Lagerfeld. She toned down the runway theatrics he was known for, but her efforts to make Chanel feel younger often fell flat. Her runway signatures included bow ties, various kinds of shorts and a fondness for 1980s silhouettes.Ms. Viard’s departure comes just one month after Chanel’s cruise show, held on a bleak rainy day in Marseille, with guests including Lily-Rose Depp, Marion Cotillard, Sadie Sink and Tessa Thompson. It also follows a shake-up at Valentino, where the house’s longtime creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli was replaced by the former Gucci designer Alessandro Michele in March, and comes in the wake of rumors that Hedi Slimane will soon be departing his post at Celine.Not surprisingly, almost as soon as Ms. Viard’s departure was announced, speculation began that either Mr. Slimane or Mr. Piccioli might replace her.“A new creative organization will be announced in due course,” a representative for Chanel said in a brief statement.The next Chanel runway show, its couture presentation in Paris in June, will continue as planned. More

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    Sally Buzbee, Washington Post Editor, to Leave Role

    Matt Murray, the former editor in chief of The Wall Street Journal, will take her place temporarily.The executive editor of The Washington Post, Sally Buzbee, will leave her role, a major and sudden change at one of the nation’s pre-eminent news organizations.Matt Murray, the former editor in chief of The Wall Street Journal, will take her place through the presidential election, the company said on Sunday night. He will start in the role immediately. Robert Winnett, a deputy editor of the Telegraph Media Group in Britain, will take over after the election.Mr. Murray will then transition to a new role, the company said in a news release, building a new division of The Washington Post focused on service and social media journalism.At that point, Mr. Winnett, Mr. Murray and David Shipley, who oversees the opinion section at The Post, will each report independently to Will Lewis, the chief executive and publisher.Ms. Buzbee, 58, steered the newspaper for the last three years, a turbulent period that resulted in award-winning journalism as well as a drop in audience and an exodus of some top talent.The Post has greatly expanded its editing ranks under Ms. Buzbee, announcing the addition of roughly 41 positions in 2021, and revamping its vaunted Style section. It has received six Pulitzer Prize awards since she joined, three of them this year. The paper also shut down its Sunday magazine, a move that upset many of the newspaper’s feature writers.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Haiti Names New Prime Minister to Try to Lead Country Out of Crisis

    Garry Conille is taking on the office just ahead of the arrival of a Kenyan-led international police force charged with helping restore order to the violence-torn nation.An experienced international aid official, Garry Conille, was unanimously appointed prime minister of Haiti by a Presidential Transition Council on Tuesday, which tasked him with leading the country out of its current crisis until elections for a new president can be held.Mr. Conille will take on his new role just as a U.N.-backed security mission led by Kenyan police is scheduled to begin operations in the violence-torn Caribbean nation, which is battling to restore political stability and tackle armed gangs who control large parts of the capital, Port-au-Prince.Fluent in English, French and Creole, Mr. Conille’s credentials include a 25-year career working for the United Nations and other aid agencies. He also briefly led Haiti as prime minister over a decade ago during another period of crisis following the devastating 2010 earthquake.But Mr. Conille has spent many of the last few years outside the country, and his perhaps rusty domestic political skills are sure to be tested by the highly volatile situation he will encounter as prime minister.He will not, however, have to face any political battles with Haiti’s fractious Parliament, which has sat vacant for months because of the country’s inability to hold elections amid the violence and turmoil.“He is a safe choice to appease the international community, but he’s also spent the last two decades working mostly outside Haiti in the U.N. system,” said Jake Johnston, a Haiti expert at the Center for Economic and Policy Research.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Mayor Adams Fills a Key Commission With Allies and Donors

    Mayor Eric Adams named 13 people to a prominent city commission that could remake city government. Most are loyalists or have ties to his inner circle.Mayor Eric Adams has long valued loyalty, keeping his allies close as he rose through New York City’s political ranks to become mayor, and rewarding them with top administration jobs.So this week, as the mayor quickly sought to fill out a powerful commission that could reshape city government, possibly for generations to come, he predictably turned to a cadre heavy on loyalists.Roughly half are campaign donors, three are lobbyists with business before the city, and several are longtime allies, including three women who publicly defended the mayor after he was accused of sexual assault in a lawsuit still making its way through the court system.The roster of the Charter Revision Commission was released on Wednesday, just 24 hours after Mr. Adams announced he was creating one. The move may foil an effort by the New York City Council to exert more control over the mayor’s high-level appointments. And although the announcement came as a surprise, the mayor’s spokesman said the commission has long been in the making.“Today marks a significant step forward towards enhancing transparency, responsiveness in city government, and further civic engagement as we appoint all 13 dedicated members of the Charter Revision Commission,” the mayor said in a statement.The formation of the commission and its members outraged some civic leaders and the New York City Council.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Putin Replaces Defense Minister in Rare Cabinet Shake-up

    Mr. Putin shifted Sergei Shoigu to run the security council, and nominated an economist to run the defense ministry.President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia replaced his minister of defense on Sunday with an economist, shaking up his national security team for the first time since his invasion of Ukraine and signaling his determination to put Russia’s war effort on an economically sustainable footing.Mr. Putin kept the minister, Sergei K. Shoigu, in his inner circle, tapping him to run the country’s security council — a position giving Mr. Shoigu close access to the president but little direct authority. Mr. Shoigu will replace Nikolai P. Patrushev, a former K.G.B. colleague of Mr. Putin, who the Kremlin said would be moved to another position to be announced in the coming days.Andrei R. Belousov, an economist who had served as first deputy prime minister since 2020 and long been seen as one of Mr. Putin’s most trusted economic advisers, was nominated to become the new defense chief.The Kremlin said Russia’s ballooning defense budget warranted putting an economist in charge, and that Mr. Belousov would help make the Russian military “more open to innovation.”The cabinet shifts represented a rare overhaul for Mr. Putin, who tends to avoid rash changes, and they could mark a turning point in Russia’s more than two-year war in Ukraine.A photo provided by Russian state media showing President Vladimir Putin of Russia, right, with Andrei R. Belousov at the Kremlin in November.Gavriil Grigorov/Sputnik, via Associated PressWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Activist Ancora Wins Three Norfolk Southern Board Seats but Will Not Oust CEO

    An activist investment firm failed to replace the railroad’s top executive and all its directors, but did win three seats on its board.Shareholders of Norfolk Southern, the beleaguered freight railroad, on Thursday voted down an attempt by an activist investment firm to remove the company’s chief executive and take control of its board.But the activist, Ancora, a Cleveland firm, managed to secure a foothold at the company, after shareholders voted to place three of its directors onto Norfolk Southern’s 13-member board. Ancora had hoped to take control of the company’s leadership with an aim to cut costs and increase Norfolk Southern’s profits and stock price.The result is a partial victory for Norfolk Southern’s executives, who had to defend themselves against criticisms of the company’s safety record and its lackluster financial performance. A company train carrying hazardous chemicals derailed last year in East Palestine, Ohio, forcing residents to evacuate.The results of the shareholder vote, which are preliminary, were announced Thursday morning at a virtual company annual meeting.During the meeting, Alan Shaw, Norfolk Southern’s chief executive, said he looked forward to working with the new directors.“Norfolk Southern persevered through several challenges over the last year,” he said, “We have met every challenge and never lost sight of where we are taking our powerful franchise.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    ABC News’ President, Kim Godwin, to Step Down

    The first Black woman to run a broadcast news division, Ms. Godwin had a rocky tenure defined by infighting and damaging leaks.Kim Godwin, the president of ABC News, told employees on Sunday night that she was leaving the network, capping a tumultuous three-year tenure.In an email to employees, Ms. Godwin said that she reached her decision to depart after a period of “considerable reflection.” “Anyone who’s passionate about what we do knows there’s no other business like it, so this was not an easy or quick decision,” Ms. Godwin said in her note. “I’m certain it’s the right one for me as I look to the future and prioritize what’s most important for me and my family,” she added.Ms. Godwin, the first Black woman to run a broadcast news division, told employees she was planning on leaving broadcast journalism altogether. Her departure comes at a delicate moment, as ABC faces a competitive election, a chaotic news cycle as well as an increasingly difficult economic landscape for broadcast news divisions throughout the industry. Ms. Godwin’s leadership role had been imperiled for some time. Nearly three months ago, Disney, ABC’s parent company, effectively demoted her by tapping a company veteran, Debra OConnell, to oversee a new division that included all of ABC News as well as local stations.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More