Two Faces of the same week

The lighter side of Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn’s (left) personality seems to have shone through on the sidelines of the Third Arab-Africa Summit in Kuwait early last week, as he chatted with fellow East African leaders. Not only did Uhuru Kenyatta (right), Kenya’s new President, seem to thoroughly enjoy what must have been particularly witty banter from the Ethiopian leader, but even the usually rather stern Rwandan President Paul Kagame (centre) cracked a wide grin. Just a couple of days later, however, his audience at the latest round of the ongoing United Nations talks aimed at reaching a global agreement on climate change did not look nearly as captivated as his African counterparts. It could be due to the PM’s speech extending for 12 minutes, well past the three-minute limit, but perhaps the two-week long summit, which began over a week before the PM arrived in Warsaw, Poland, had drawn on too long for the participants whose enthusiasm seemed to have deflated as a gridlock loomed. In fact, unlike the first event that ended with a simple declaration that “stronger ties to combat terrorism” are needed, the climate talks that were meant to end on Friday extended into extra time on Saturday, as negotiators made a last-ditch push to break a stalemate over laying stepping stones towards a 2015 deal.