most influential people in the world

In 1996, after a Libyan prison uprising, Gaddafis regime refused to release the names of the thousands of inmates they had killed. Many family members who questioned Gaddafi ended up in prison themselves. Fathi, aware of the risk, took up their case and was of course arrested not long after. His arrest, however, led to rioting and demonstrations that ended the regime of a brutal dictator.

The subject of much controversy, this Australian born hacker was chosen to be the face of wikileaks from among his peers due to the fact that he had no wife, kids, or even permanent residence, and therefore the least to lose. He willingly filled the role and is now facing the consequences.

As director of the Global Viral Forecasting Initiative (GVFI) Wolfe spends most of his time in remote regions of Africa and Asia taking blood samples and tracking down viruses before they make the jump from animals to humans. Its not exactly the safest job in the world, but millions of people are glad he does it.

Always one to think outside the box, Larry and his friend Sergey did with Google what most people would never have considered possible allow people to find anything they want on the web. Its that resolve and willingness on his behalf to think big coupled with his stubborn relentlessness that make him such a powerful innovator.

As hard as being prosecutor general can be, doing it in Afghanistan where the rule of law is borderline non-existent is much worse than that. Maria, however, in spite of being the only female prosecutor general in the country, refuses to bow to the death threats and corrupt law enforcement but rather presses on in her fight for justice in Afghanistan.

His song Rais Lebled became the anthem of revolution across the Arab world, inspiring young people, and becoming a driving force in the overthrow of President Zine el Abidine Ben Ali.

He has been sometimes described as the Marco Polo of neuroscience and his discoveries have led to a much deeper understanding of that mysterious mass within our heads that we call our brain.

At 37 years old Kathi learned that she only had 3 years left to live after being diagnosed with multiple myeloma. Drawing on her previous experience from working in the pharmaceutical industry and with her 18 month old daughter as her motivation, she started the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation. 13 years later she is still going strong and pushing for more efficiency in the world of pharmaceutical research.

As the first black president Obama has already proven that goals we may once have thought to be impossible are in fact attainable. Although his presidency has drawn both praise and criticism he has undeniably been responsible for leading a world which has become ever so complicated both politically and economically.

Although being a Japanese politician usually involves being as tame and moderate as possible, after the nuclear crisis threatened the town of Minami Soma Mayor Sakurai forsook the status quo as he posted a 10 minute video to Youtube lashing out against the national government for ignoring the pleas of his village while they starved to death. Not surprisingly, the world took notice.