Those that score best tend to be mid-sized cities in wealthier countries. Melbourne tops the list for the sixth year in a row (see chart, right), and six of the top ten cities are in Australia or Canada. But Sydney, Australia’s largest city, drops out of the top ten due to fears over terrorism. 

in a row：連続して






Damascus is the lowest-ranked city with a rating of just 30.2 out of 100, scoring poorly in all categories (understandably, due to Syria’s ruinous civil war). Kiev, the only European city in the bottom ten, performs better for health care and education but has a low stability score due to Ukraine’s ongoing conflict with Russia. 

ruinous：致命的な

Increased instability over the past year has caused a drop in the score of nearly a fifth of the 140 cities surveyed (see chart, below). Ten of these cities are in western Europe, notably Paris, which has suffered multiple terrorist attacks. Some American cities, including Atlanta, San Francisco and Chicago have also dropped down the rankings after spikes in civil unrest. 

spikes：急上昇











Melbourne, Vienna, Vancouver, Toronto, Calgary 
Photo credits: Getty Images, Reuters, Alamy, Getty Images, Alamy

都市の評価だが、なるほどそうかもしれない。オーストラリアとカナダがいいというのは頷ける。あとは戦争とテロがあるところは確かに住むのは危険だ。日本の人口の４分の1が６５歳以上になったので、日本は今の住みやすい国を維持してほしい。いろいろ不満はあるが、東京はトップの部類に入っているのはありがたい。

Putin’s personnel moves
Dancing in the dark
Desk shuffles in the Kremlin signal something, but no one knows what
Aug 20th 2016 | MOSCOW | From the print edition

プーチンの個人的な動向
暗闇の中でダンスをしている
クレムリンのオフィスがごちゃごちゃになっているのは何かがあるからだが、それがなんだか誰にもわからない。

THE Kremlin’s political nature resembles its physical structure: a walled fortress whose interior is invisible to those on the outside. On August 12th, when President Vladimir Putin sacked Sergei Ivanov, his powerful chief of staff, the Kremlin released only a cryptic video in which Mr Putin thanked Mr Ivanov for his 17 years of service. The move’s real meaning was left to speculation. This aura of mystery is not happenstance, but a guiding principle. “We have a system that believes it can do anything without any explanation,” says Gleb Pavlovsky, a former Kremlin advisor. “We have only a black box.” 

fortress：要塞
chief of staff：首席補佐官
cryptic：不可解な
aura：前兆
happenstance：偶然の出来事
guiding principle：従うべき原則、指針、方針



Mr Ivanov, like Mr Putin an ex-KGB man from St Petersburg, was seen as one of Russia’s most influential figures, perhaps second only to the president himself. The decision to replace him with the 44-year-old Anton Vaino fits a broader pattern of Mr Putin’s old comrades being pushed out in favour of younger loyalists. “Those who don’t fit Putin’s vision of the new aims are leaving,” says Aleksei Chesnakov, a former presidential administration official. However, he adds, “no one except the president knows what those new aims are.” 

The switch comes at a sensitive time. Parliamentary elections loom in mid-September and the Russian economy remains weak. Tensions with Ukraine have escalated over Russian allegations of an attempted terrorist attack in Crimea. Russia is also expanding its presence in the Middle East, launching bombing runs into Syria from Iranian bases this week. 

switch：変化

So, Kremlinologists wonder, does the shake-up signal that Mr Putin wants early presidential elections next year, as a means to renew his mandate and launch needed economic reforms? Or does he instead plan to step down as president in 2018? Is Dmitry Medvedev, Mr Putin’s successor in 2008, destined to return once more? Or is Mr Putin seeking a new heir? “The bottom line is we don’t know much,” says Mark Galeotti, a veteran Russia expert. 

Kremlinologists：クレムリン研究者
mandate：権限・任期
destined：する運命にある

水曜日。今日はこれまで。PutinがSergei Ivanov首席補佐官を突然解雇したが、その背後には何かありそうだという話。プーチン独特の行動にこの記事はいろいろ憶測をしている。ロシアの動きは彼に動きと同期しているので、分かりやすい。

昨日は三菱樹脂の元社長の吉田さんと会食した。今日は海野塾がある。１日その準備だ。ではまた明日。