These are some of the news items that did not make it to this year’s Malaysiakini Top 10 list. They are no less important.

Here they are, not in any particular order:

Media on a short leash

azlan The government slapped an indefinite suspension on PKR organ Suara Keadilan and show-cause letters were issued to DAP and PAS for The Rocket and Harakah . 

    

Malaysiakini cartoonist Zunar was probed for sedition for his ‘Cartoon-o-phobia’ book, while government-controlled did not escape scrutiny with state-owned RTM2 sacking producer Chou Z Lam and MCA-owned Chinese radio station 988 sacking popular DJ Jamaluddin Ibrahim .

Teoh Beng Hock: Suicide or murder?

The Teoh Beng Hock inquest came to an end this year with the coroner to deliver his finding on Jan 5. But there was enough drama in court to keep tongues wagging - the claim by Thai pathologist Dr Pornthip Rojanasunand that she was threatened, a mysterious note was found in Teoh’s bag and the antics of MACC prosecution head Abdul Razak Musa.

 

Apco-Umno and suspension of the Opposition Leader

Parliament closed the year with what many considered as a black mark in its history. Charges by Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim that Apco Worldwide - the public relations agency hired by the government - was linked to Israel, hit a raw nerve.

Anwar and three Pakatan MPs were subsequently banned from Parliament for six months amidst claims and counter-claims that the opposition leader was not given the opportunity to defend himself.

 

Scorpene submarines continue to surface

The sleazy world of defence contracts continue to haunt the government, with private investigator P Balasubramaniam daring the attorney-general to charge him after openly admitting to signing a false statutory declaration. This was after the government announced that the authorities have closed the case .

    

azlan In another scandal involving the missing two fighter jet engines, former sergeant N Tharmendran - who is accused of stealing the engines - in an unprecedented decision chose to go to jail to allegedly escape his torturers, who were claimed to be Air Force officers.

He eventually paid bail and left the Sungai Buloh prison but not for long. The Air Force rearrested him for failure to report for duty, despite Tharmendran having repeatedly claimed that he had left the force.

The fate of Sarawak and its long-time CM

Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud, who will celebrate his 32nd year in power next March, has a new enemy - Sarawak Report . The anonymous website has served up a potent mix of exposes involving alleged corruption by Taib and his family.

Taib will need to face Sarawak voters within the next six months and is likely to face his toughest election. But that has not stopped him from re-marrying - a year after the death of his wife Laila.

It was reported early this week that Taib, 74, married a 28-year-old Lebanese beauty said to be a former air stewardess.

 

Top 10 news of 2010

News that didn't make it to the list

And the Newsmaker of 2010 is...

The one WORD that defines 2010

The WORD from Malaysiakini readers