Текст 1

Hunger crisis grips Horn of Africa – but 80% of Britons unaware, poll
shows
The UK government has been urged to give the hunger crisis gripping the
Horn of Africa “proper attention”, as new polling showed just two in 10 people in
Britain are aware that the worst drought in 40 years is even taking place, let alone
threatening famine.
The combined effect of three failed rainy seasons has pushed parts of Kenya,
Somalia and Ethiopia to the brink, killing livestock, forcing people to leave their
homes and increasing levels of child malnutrition.
However, according to polling commissioned by Christian Aid, only 23%
know about the worsening humanitarian crisis in east Africa.
Patrick Watt, CEO of Christian Aid, said the findings were “deeply
concerning”.
“Across the Horn of Africa, up to 20 million people are facing hunger.
Droughts have become increasingly severe and frequent, and so this is not a
surprise. With rocketing food and energy costs around the globe, we are seeing
people in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia facing a crisis like no other”.
In Somalia, about 6 million people, 40% of the population, are suffering
extreme levels of hunger, and the World Food Programme warned last month there
was “a very real risk of famine” if the drought continued and assistance wasn’t
received.
In Kenya, the number of people in need of food assistance has risen more
than fourfold in less than two years, WFP said. In southern and south-eastern
Ethiopia an estimated 7.2 million people wake up hungry every day, it added.

The Guardian, May 12, 2022

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Meet Elisabeth Borne, France’s new prime minister

In 2022 it ought to be unremarkable for a woman to be appointed to run a

European government. Yet the nomination on May 16th of Elisabeth Borne as
prime minister of France was anything but. It is the first time in 30 years that a
woman has held the post, and only the second time ever.
An engineer by training, and a career technocrat, the 61-year-old is known as
a no-nonsense details person who gets on with the job. Ahead of
France’s parliamentary elections on June 12th and 19th, her immediate task will be
to help win another majority for the centrist grouping led by President Emmanuel
Macron, and to draw up plans to ease the soaring cost of living. An even trickier
challenge will be to negotiate the pension reform that Mr Macron has promised for
his second term, including a controversial rise in the pension age from 62 to 64 or
65.
Mr Macron has put her in the job in part because Ms Borne has shown that
she can be an efficient negotiator. In a previous post as his transport minister, and
as a former head of the Paris metro, she brought in a reform of the national
railways.
Employment will also be near the top of her in-tray. Serving as Mr Macron’s
labour minister, Ms Borne expanded apprenticeships and reformed the rules for
unemployment benefits. Having already brought joblessness down from 9.2% to
7.1%, Mr Macron has promised to bring about full employment by the end of his
second term.

The Economist, May 17, 2022

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EU seeks bigger role in Asia's 'theatre of tensions', warns on China

European Union leaders said on Thursday that the EU wants to become a
bigger actor in Asia, which they termed a "theatre of tensions", warning of an
increasingly assertive China even as they called on Beijing to defend the
multilateral global order.
The call came in a joint news conference in Tokyo after an EU-Japan
summit featuring European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen,
European Council President Charles Michel and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio
Kishida. It also came a day after Beijing warned the summit not to "speak ill" of
China.
Michel and von der Leyen, in Japan for the latest in a series of annual talks,
said they were aware that regional tensions existed in Asia as well, and that the EU
wanted - and needed - to take on a bigger role.
"The Indo-Pacific is a thriving region. It is also a theatre of tensions," von
der Leyen said. "Take the situation in the East and South China Sea and the
constant threat of the DPRK."
"The European Union wants to take a more active role in the Indo-Pacific.
We want to take more responsibility in a region that is so vital to our prosperity."
Both warned of China's close relationship with Russia and condemned
unilateral moves to change the status quo in any region of the world. "We believe
that China must stand up to defend the multilateral system that it has benefited
from," Michel said.

Reuters, May 12, 2022

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France’s re-elected president prepares for a tough second term

Standing before the illuminated backdrop of the Eiffel Tower on election
night, Emmanuel Macron made history, and then a promise. In a run-off vote on
April 24th that defied modern precedent, the 44-year-old centrist president was re-
elected with 58.5% of the vote. He roundly defeated the nationalist-populist
Marine Le Pen, who secured 41.5%. Mr Macron is now the only sitting president
with a governing majority since the Fifth Republic was established in 1958 to have
been re-elected by direct universal suffrage.
It was a personal triumph for Mr Macron, who has run for election only
twice: each time for the presidency, each time with success. His political party was
set up just six years ago.
It was also, at least partially, a victory for centrist, broadly liberal, pro-
European politics over the forces of nationalism and populism. Mr Macron framed
the run-off vote as one for or against tolerance, freedom and the European Union.
Ms Le Pen called it a choice between the people and the “globalist” Parisian elite.
Indeed at Mr Macron’s victory rally the mood was one of relief, not
euphoria. When Mr Macron took to the stage, he stressed the point: “I know that
many citizens voted for me not in support of my ideas but to keep out those of the
far right.” Hence the promise he made that night: of a “new era”, of “five better
years” not just five more years, with a more inclusive and consultative governing
style.

The Economist, April 30, 2022

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Indian power plants are running out of coal

Electricity has been getting increasingly scarce in India. In a recent survey
two-thirds of households said they had been facing regular power cuts. Residents
of some rural areas in the northern states report receiving only a few hours of
electricity a day. The shortage has even reached posh parts of Delhi, the capital,
whose pampered residents are usually insulated from many of the discomforts
suffered by their compatriots.
The most immediate reason for the crisis is scorching heat. The past couple
of months have been even hotter than usual in South Asia. In north-west and
central India average temperatures in March and April were the highest since
records began 122 years ago. That has come on top of already rising demand after
the easing of Сovid-19 restrictions and an uptick in economic activity.
India no longer lacks capacity. Over the past two decades it has built more
coal plants, which generate about 70% of the country’s power. It has also
connected all but a tiny percentage of households to the grid.
But in recent weeks coal plants have not been receiving enough coal to
operate at capacity. At the start of this month more than 100 of India’s 173 thermal
plants had critically low stocks. At the end of April, officials in Delhi said the
capital could run out of coal in a matter of days, threatening electricity supply to
hospitals and the metro system.

The Economist, May 7, 2022