World's most powerful' person coming to the Philippines

World's most powerful' person coming to the Philippines

Metro Manila (CNN Philipines) — The "world's most powerful" person — at least by the standards of Forbes magazine — will be coming to the Philippines two weeks from now, during the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders' meeting in Manila. In its annual "Ranking of the World's Most Powerful People" Forbes gave the top spot this year to Russian President Vladimir Putin. According to the magazine, he is "one of the few men in the world powerful enough to do what he wants — and get away with it." The list of 73 individuals consists of a mix of figures from business, media, and politics.

Despite Russia's seizure of Crimea, the conflict in Ukraine, and international sanctions, the magazine pointed out that Putin has enjoyed strong public support at home. In June, his approval ratings reached an all-time high of 89%. Forbes also said that Putin's bombing of ISIS forces in Syria and face-to-face meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad have made "the U.S and NATO look weak in the region, and [have helped] rebuild Russian influence abroad."


It is the third consecutive year for Putin to top the list. German Chancellor Angela Merkel rose to second place while U.S. President Barack Obama slid to third. Pope Francis, the spiritual leader of over one billion Roman Catholics around the world remained at fourth place. Chinese President Xi Jinping slid to fifth from third last year.


source : cnnphilippines