World Leaders pt. 2

World Leaders Up Close & Personal
Brazil:
-federal republic
-headed by President Dilma Rousseff
-opposed Brazil's military dictatorship- 1960s & 70s
-tortured in prison
-divorced twice
-degree in economics, now rules the country with the 8th biggest economy in the world
-underwent chemotherapy for lymphoma in 2009
-now in remission

China:
- a communist state
- ruled by President Xi Jinping
- son of a revolutionary veteran Xi Zhongxun, one of the communist Party's founding fathers
- married folk singer Peng Lijuan- holds rank of army general in 1987
- have a daughter named Xi Mingze, who is studying at Harvard University in U.S.

France:
- federal republic
- headed by Francois Hollande
-no previous experience in a natural government position
- mother of 4 children- Segolene Royal, with whom he has shared a 30- year relationship with
- born in 1954 the city of Rouen to an extreme- right physician father & progressive social worker mother

Germany:
-federal republic
-president Joachim Gauck
-Chancellor Angela Merkel
- graduated from the University of Leipzig in 1978 with a degree in physics and physical chemistry; earned Academy of Sciences in Berlin in 1986
-has been chancellor since 2005
- earned the top spot on the FORBES List of Most Powerful Women in the World for 8 of the past 10 years

India:
-federal republic
- President Pranab Mukherjee
-taught political science at Vidiyangar College, worked as a journalist before entering politics
-rated as one of the best finance ministers of the word in 1984 and was adjudged the best parliamentarian in 1997
- had a conflict with Rajiv Gandhi (who took over as a prime minister from his mother Indira after she was assassinated in 1984) and started his own party- Rashtriya Samajwadi Congress

Israel:
-parliamentary democracy
-headed by President Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Netanyahu
- as a child/youth he lived with his family in the US in the years 1956-58 and again in 1963-67
-after his brother Jonathon (Yonni) was killed, in July 1976, in the course of Entebbe Operation of which he was one of the commanders, Netanyahu returned to Israel and started to advocate international cooperation in fighting terrorism