Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has entered the top 100 authoritative people of 2012, The Times said.
The top 10 consists of Angela Merkel, Si Xingping, the Duchess of Cambridge, Tim Cook, who replaced Steve Jobs as Apple head, and writer Charles Dickens, whose 200th anniversary is marked this year. Other politicians are British PM David Cameron, US President Barack Obama, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Queen Elizabeth II and Sarkozy’s main opponent in the upcoming presidential polls, Francois Hollande.
The paper says that Britain can sense the development of Azerbaijan. Baku is increasing the number of trade centers and five-star hotels in the country. An Azerbaijani restaurant opened in London and BAKU magazine is published in English.
The paper notes economists Jens Weidmann, head of the German Central Bank, Christine Lagarde, IMF head, daughter of Rupert Murdoch Elizabeth Murdoch and head of the Mashable website Pete Cashmore. The culture list includes British playwright Tom Stoppard, Irish actor Michael Fassbender, who stars in three films this year, British actor Martin Freeman, starring as Doctor Watson in the “Sherlock” series and the band The Stone Roses .
