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WORLD NEWS Tuesday 25 OcTOber 2022
Rishi Sunak, U.K.’s next PM, faces major economic problems

By JILL LAWLESS Sunak was cheered wildly
Associated Press by Conservative lawmak-
LONDON (AP) — Former ers during a packed pri-
Treasury chief Rishi Sunak is vate meeting in Parliament
set to become Britain’s first minutes after he won the
prime minister of color af- contest on Monday.
ter being chosen Monday Former Cabinet minister
to lead a governing Con- Chris Grayling said Sunak
servative Party desperate had urged the party “to
for a safe pair of hands to unite and fix the problems
guide the country through the country faces” and
economic and political tur- had got “a rapturous re-
bulence. ception.”
The challenges facing the Therese Coffey, who was
U.K.’s third prime minister Truss’ deputy prime minis-
this year are enormous: ter, said the whole party
He must try to shore up an should support Sunak now.
economy sliding toward “We need to get behind
recession and reeling after him,” she said.
his predecessor’s brief, di- But Sunak still faces re-
sastrous experiment in lib- sentment from support-
ertarian economics, while ers of Johnson for quitting
also attempting to unite a the government in July, a
demoralized and divided Britain’s Rishi Sunak, centre, poses for a photo with members of the 1922 Committee, in the Houses move that helped topple
party that trails far behind of Parliament, after it was announced he will become the new leader of the Conservative party, the then-leader. His back-
the opposition in opinion in London, Monday, Oct. 24, 2022. Associated Press ground as an investment
polls. banker at Goldman Sachs
In his first public statement, Liz Truss, who quit last week warnings that inflation must laid-off workers and shut- and his wife’s vast wealth
Sunak said “the United after 45 tumultuous days in be tamed. tered businesses. she is the daughter of an
Kingdom is a great country, office. His only remaining ri- Truss conceded last week He now faces the huge Indian billionaire also fuel
but there is no doubt we val, Penny Mordaunt, con- that she could not deliver challenge of calming mar- a sense he is out of touch
face a profound economic ceded and withdrew after on her plans but only after kets and trying to tame in- with the struggles of ordi-
challenge.” failing to reach the nomi- her attempts triggered mar- flation at a time of weak- nary people.
“We now need stability nation threshold of 100 ket chaos and worsened ened government financ- He takes the reins after
and unity, and I will make it Conservative lawmakers inflation at a time when mil- es, a worsening economic Truss’ proposal for aggres-
my utmost priority to bring needed to stay in the race. lions of Britons were already outlook and a wave of sive tax cuts that would
our party and our country Sunak will now be asked struggling with soaring bor- strikes. Treasury chief Jer- be paid for through gov-
together,” said Sunak, who by King Charles III to form a rowing costs and rising en- emy Hunt, appointed by ernment borrowing pum-
at 42 is Britain’s youngest government and becomes ergy and food prices. Truss 10 days ago, is due to meled the value of the
prime minister in 200 years. the prime minister in a han- The party is now desper- make an emergency bud- pound, drove up the cost
Sunak will be the first British dover of power from Truss ate for someone to right get statement Oct. 31 if of government borrowing
prime minister with South on Tuesday. the ship after months of Sunak keeps him in the job. and home mortgages, and
Asian roots and its first Hin- Victory is vindication for Su- chaos both during Truss’ Britain also faces broader forced emergency Bank of
du leader a milestone for nak, who lost out to Truss in short term and at the end economic problems stem- England intervention. Truss
a country with an extensive the Conservative election of Johnson’s. ming from the pandemic, executed a series of U-turns
colonial past, and one that to replace former Prime As finance minister, Su- the war in Ukraine and the and replaced her Trea-
is still contested. Minister Boris Johnson over nak steered the economy country’s exit from the Eu- sury chief but faced rebel-
Elected party leader on the the summer when party through the coronavirus ropean Union in 2020. Su- lion from lawmakers in her
major Hindu festival of Di- members chose her tax- pandemic, winning praise nak was a firm supporter of party that obliterated her
wali, Sunak takes over from cutting boosterism over his for his financial support for Brexit. authority.q

Fierce winds rip off roofs, cut power in

northern France

PARIS (AP) — Tornado-like as objects flew through the that the storm “ravaged
storms that tore through air. The winds ripped away the near-totality of the vil-
northern France sheared sections of the roof of the lage. ... Some homes were
off part of a church roof, village church in Bihucourt razed, collapsed, there
felled trees and power lines and damaged its belltow- were roofs ripped off.
and left scores of people er. Roof beams and shin- Some 70 kilometers (40
without a safe place to live, gles littered roads, along miles) to the south, fierce
authorities said Monday. with trees and power lines. winds damaged about 60
One person suffered light The firefighter service in homes and other buildings
injuries in the storms Sunday the Pas-de-Calais region in the French towns of Con-
and some 150 people were described “tornado-type” ty and O-de-Selle, accord-
evacuated, according to winds that targeted Bihu- ing to local authorities, and
the regional administration court, Ervillers and Hende- villagers were evacuated.
for the Pas-de-Calais re- court-les-Cagnicourt. Strong winds also buffeted
gion.Images shared online Bihucourt mayor Benoit- Belgium and the Nether- Destroyed homes are seen after a tornado struck the area in
showed dark clouds sud- Vincent Caille said on pub- lands but no major dam- Bihucourt, northern France, Monday, Oct. 24, 2022.
Associated Press
denly spinning over fields lic broadcaster France-Info age was reported.q