US: US President George Bush, Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk, Chinese environmentalist Ma Jun, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and hip hop renaissance man Sean "Puffy" Combs have made Time magazine's list of the year's 100 most influential people.
In a series of essays, some written by celebrities, Time lauded a few people for the second time in the three years since the list began. The repeats included Bush, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, former president Bill Clinton and Microsoft chief executive Bill Gates.Bush, despite high disapproval ratings and an unpopular war, is "already assured a large place in history," Time wrote.
Sean Combs, who began as a Harlem rapper, is now also a producer, clothing designer and philanthropist.
East German physicist Angela Merkel, Germany's first woman chancellor, "now boasts stratospheric approval ratings, and the improvement in the economy is put down to the 'Merkel effect'," Time wrote.
Time also praised writer Orhan Pamuk, who was forced to leave Turkey for a while in 2005 because of his book My Name is Red. Former journalist Ma Jun wrote China's Water Crisis (1999), which the magazine said may be "the country's first great environmental call to arms."