Forbes Magazine publishes its annual “most powerful people” list, ranking Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as number 21, five slots above the number 26 spot he received last year.
Russian President Vladimir Putin holds a meeting with senior government officials at the Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow, Russia on Wednesday, September 30, 2015. (Alexei Nikolsky/RIA Novosti, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Number 1 on the list is Russian President Vladimir Putin (for the third year in a row), followed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel who ousted US President Barack Obama from last year’s number 2 ranking. Obama dropped to third place this year.
The top 10 include six political leaders, Pope Francis (4), Microsoft’s Bill Gates (6) and Google co-founder Larry Page (10).
In this Sunday, Nov. 1, 2015 file photo released by the office of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the regime’s leader speaks at a meeting with Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and the country’s diplomats in Tehran. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP, File)
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei came in at number 18, three spots above Netanyahu and one above Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg.
Other notables include presidential hopefuls Hillary Clinton (68) and Donald Trump (72).
Head of the Islamic State terror group, Abu Baker al-Baghdadi, is one spot more influential than Clinton, according to Forbes.
The war with Iran has been draining for all of us in Israel. But when I heard about a high casualty incident – ballistic missile impacts in Arad and Dimona that left nearly 200 people wounded – I drank a cup of coffee, packed a bag, and headed south.
There, I spoke with Shilgit, the head of an after-school program for underprivileged youth. Standing outside her destroyed center, Shilgit said it was a miracle that no children were hurt and spoke about the community coming together in the hours since.
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From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, November 4, 2015
