The chief of ISIS terror group Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi and Republicans’ US presidential candidate Donald Trump are among the eight candidates shortlisted by the Time Magazine for its annual ‘Person of the Year’ title.
For Al-Baghdadi nomination, the magazine said, “As leader of ISIS has inspired followers to both fight in his self-declared caliphate of Iraq and Syria, and also stage attacks in countries like Tunisia and France”.
About Mr Trump, Time Magazine said that his populist rhetoric has made him the frontrunner in the race for the Republican presidential candidacy and stirred debate about the party’s future.
The final list also includes ‘Black Lives Matter’ activists, who have protested inequality towards African Americans, especially in their treatment by law enforcement.
In the run for the ‘Person of the Year’, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani and Google’s India-born CEO Sundar Pichai were among the initial 58 contenders but did not make it to the final eight that were announced today.
PM Modi last year did not win the ‘Person of the Year’ by Time editors, but was named winner of the readers’ poll, securing more than 16 per cent of the almost five million votes cast.
The global leaders on the list include German chancellor Angela Merkel, Iran president Hassan Rouhani and Russian president Vladimir Putin who the magazine said “Has defied Western sanctions over his country’s military activity in Ukraine to play a critical but precarious role in the war on ISIS”.
The magazine said that Mr Rouhani is seeking to bring his country “out of pariah status and repair its sanctions-crippled economy by pursuing a nuclear deal with the West”.
Transgender reality TV star Caitlyn Jenner, who transitioned from Olympic winner Bruce Jenner, and Uber CEO Travis Kalanick are also among the final eight.
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