Merkel enige EU-politica in tophonderd Time Magazine (en)

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - According to Time magazine's latest list of the top 100 most influential people in the world, influence in Europe lies in the hands of its business entrepreneurs and celebrities rather than its leaders although one EU leader has made the list.

While China's President Hu Jin Tao, US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, Raul Castro, the brother of Fidel and acting president of Cuba, al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden and Sudan's president Omar Hassan al-Bashir have made the list, there is only one political place for Europe.

German chancellor Angela Merkel made the top 100 list for her "nuanced" leadership described by the magazine as giving "a new impetus to European integration" as the current leader of the EU presidency.

She is also compared to former UK prime minister Margaret Thatcher - "different in style yet comparable in results."

Other influential Europeans include Queen Elizabeth II and Pope Benedict XVI, while the business world provides Europe with two high-flyers - German founder of the World Economic Forum Klaus Schwab and UK entrepreneur Richard Branson.

European sports and celebrity people on the list include the world's best tennis player Swiss Roger Federer, French footballer Thierry Henry, supermodel Kate Moss, Sacha Baron Cohen - the comedian better known as Ali G or Borat - and Pop Idol founder Simon Fuller.

US president George W. Bush has not been included on the list of the world's top 100 influential people this year, a move that is set to spark some controversy in the US following the Time magazine's publication today.