Newsademic British English edition 260

World’s Most
Powerful People 2015
1. Vladimir Putin
President o f Russia
2. Angela Merkel
Chancellor o f Germany
3. Barack Obama
President o f the USA
4. Pope Francis
Leader of the Roman Catholic Church
5. Xi Jinping
President o f China
6. Bill Gates
Boss of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
7. Janet Yellen
Boss of the Federal Reserve (the Fed)
8. David Cameron
Prime minister o f the UK
9. Narendra Modi
Prime minister o f India
10. 
Larry Page
Co-founder and boss of Google
(nowAphabet) 
Source: Forbes
Mr Putin first became Russia’s 
president 15 years ago. Then, Rus­
sian people elected their president 
every four years. However, the 
president could serve only two suc­
cessive four-year terms. After eight 
years as president, Mr Putin became 
prime minister for four years. He 
was then re-elected as president 
again in 2012.
While Mr Putin was prime min­
ister, the constitution was changed. 
This is the set of rules, or laws, 
by which a country is governed. 
Russian presidential elections are 
now held every six years and not 
four. So a president can serve two 
six-year terms. If M r Putin wins the

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12th November 2015 
N e w s a d e m ic .co m ™
 - British English edition 
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next election in 2018, he will be 
Russia’s president until 2024.
Forbes
claims that M r Putin ‘is 
one o f the few people in the world 
who is powerful enough to do what 
they w ant’. In Russia, he is a very 
popular leader. Germany is the lead­
ing European Union (EU) coun­
try. Therefore, Mrs Merkel ‘has 
pow er’ over 500 million people, or 
the populations o f all 28 EU mem­
ber countries. The USA is still the 
w orld’s greatest economic and mili­
tary power. However, 
Forbes
be­
lieves that M r Obama’s influence is 
declining. This is because less than 
50% o f Americans now approve of 
his leadership. Also, M r Obama is 
in his last year as president. □
M