WikiLeaks, an organization that seeks out and publishes sensitive or secret government data, dropped two considerable bombshells with the July release of 77,000 U.S. military files chronicling the war effort in Afghanistan and a larger tranche of 400,000 war logs from Iraq in October both documenting previously unreported civilian casualties and incidents of abuse. Then WikiLeaks went veritably nuclear, leaking more than 200,000 U.S. diplomatic cables to a handful of media outlets in November. Though few of the revelations found within the cables were much of a surprise really, there's corruption in Russia? the leak has shaken technocrats in the world's major capitals and raised profound questions about the nature of secrecy in the digital 21st century. In the limelight is Julian Assange, WikiLeaks' silver-haired, reedy-voiced chief. The Australian former journalist was arrested in London Dec. 7 for alleged sexual assaults in Sweden charges his lawyers say are trumped up to ruin his reputation. Assange may yet have the last laugh: on an almost daily basis, dozens of new leaked cables are being published, forcing some of the world's greatest power brokers into awkward apologies and crisis meetings over and over again.
The Top 10 Everything of 2010
- Top 10 Albums
- Top 10 Animal Stories
- Top 10 Apologies
- Top 10 Biz Deals
- Top 10 Buzzwords
- Top 10 Campaign Ads
- Top 10 Comebacks
- Top 10 Crime Stories
- Top 10 Facebook Trends
- Top 10 Fashion Statements
- Top 10 Feuds
- Top 10 Fiction Books
- Top 10 Fleeting Celebrities
- Top 10 Food Trends
- Top 10 Gadgets
- Top 10 Green Stories
- Top 10 iPhone Apps
- Top 10 Late-Night Jokes
- Top 10 Magazine Covers
- Top 10 Medical Breakthroughs
- Top 10 Movie Performances
- Top 10 Movies
- Top 10 New Species
- Top 10 Nonfiction Books
- Top 10 Numbers
- Top 10 Oddball News Stories
- Top 10 Overreported Stories
- Top 10 Pictures
- Top 10 Plays and Musicals
- Top 10 Quotes
- Top 10 Political Gaffes
- Top 10 Reality-TV Moments
- Top 10 Religion Stories
- Top 10 Scandals
- Top 10 Scientific Discoveries
- Top 10 Songs
- Top 10 Sports Moments
- Top 10 Talented Web Videos
- Top 10 Toys
- Top 10 Travel Moments
- Top 10 TV Commercials
- Top 10 TV Episodes
- Top 10 TV Series
- Top 10 Tweets
- Top 10 Twitter Moments
- Top 10 World News Stories
- Top 10 Underreported Stories
- Top 10 U.S. News Stories
- Top 10 Video Games
- Top 10 Viral Videos
In 50 wide-ranging lists, TIME surveys the highs and lows, the good and the bad, of the past 12 months