Aung San Suu Kyi
After 7½ years of house arrest and repeated international demands for her release, Burmese pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi was freed in November.

She immediately called for national reconciliation, but said she would continue to press for change in the Asian country, also known as Myanmar.

Suu Kyi, 65, told the CBC it is widely known that the country's November elections, which gave the main military-backed party a solid majority, were "greatly flawed."

In an interview published on the website of the BBC, Aung San Suu Kyi, 65, said she was ready to seize any opportunity to discuss with the military junta in power.

“I do not want the fall of the military,” she said. ”I hope the soldiers scrambled onto the heights dignified professionalism and genuine patriotism,” she said in that interview at the headquarters of his party, the National League for Democracy





Julian Assange
To his supporters, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is a hero who's helping to keep the world's governments honest by releasing information.

To his detractors, he's a traitor who should face criminal charges for his role in the November publication of several hundred leaked U.S. diplomatic cables.
 
Assange, 39, faces other personal legal challenges. He is currently on bail and living under house arrest in Britain as he fights extradition to Sweden on accusations of sex offences.

One thing seems likely: Assange and the WikiLeaks site won't be fading from the spotlight anytime soon. More leaks are claimed to be on the horizon in 2011.







Kim Jong-un
Dear Leader has chosen a successor. It became official this fall that North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has named his third and youngest son, Kim Jong-un, as heir apparent.

The two were photographed together at military parade in October in a rare public appearance.

Even among foreign governments, little is known about Kim Jong-un, a testament to North Korea's slavish devotion to secrecy.

Still, not everyone is thrilled with the succession plan. Kim Jong-il's eldest son, Kim Jong-nam, told a Japanese TV interviewer that he opposes the transfer — but isn't interested in the job himself

Alexandre Bilodeau - This meant a lot to Canadians; the story is like a fairy tale.
Freestyle-skier Alexandre Bilodeau carved his way into history by claiming Canada's first-ever gold medal on home soil at the Vancouver Olympics in February.

Bilodeau's triumph in the moguls competition was the moment Canadians had been desperately waiting for, after being shut out at two previous Games. Celebrations erupted across the country.

"It's just the beginning, I think," Bilodeau said — and he wasn't kidding.

Bilodeau became a household name overnight and Canadian athletes topped the podium 13 more times, winning more gold than any other country.




Mark Zuckerberg
In choosing Mark Zuckerberg as its 2010 Person of the Year, Time magazine cited the 26-year-old Facebook founder "for changing how we all live our lives."

Zuckerberg's own life was in the spotlight this fall, with the release of a Hollywood movie — The Social Network — about his rise from enterprising Harvard student to billionaire tech titan.

Throughout it all, the Facebook social networking site continued its astounding growth, picking up its 500-millionth member in July.





Liu Xiaobo
An empty chair sat on the stage when the Nobel committee handed out its Peace Prize on Dec. 10. The Chinese government would not let recipient Liu Xiaobo travel to Oslo to accept his award.

Liu — serving an 11-year prison term for his role in writing Charter 08, a paper calling for political reforms in China — has found himself at the centre of an international firestorm ever since the award was announced in October.

Western leaders called on China to release Liu immediately. Beijing reacted with fury, calling Liu a criminal and denouncing Western interference in the country's affairs.

 :wait: Aight.