Putin is a good one but I feel like he wasn't a top newsmaker this year, and further that he will most likely be a newsmaker next year (look at current happenings in Ukraine, continued things like that, and then the mother of all craziness that's going to be Sochi Olympics)

Snowden seems like the best bet for sheer impact/newsmaker. Tho I'm not sure how 'international' TIME is these days, and perhaps Snowden is only really know in the West.