Obama makes top news story of this year

New York, Dec 22: The epic election that made Barack Obama the first African-American president was the top news story of 2008. This was closely followed by the economic meltdown that will test his leadership, according to US editors and news directors voting in The Associated Press' annual poll.

The Mumbai terror attacks that killed at least 170 people, including foreigners, has been ranked the 8th top news story of this year.

The campaign, with subplots emerging throughout the year, received 100 first-place votes out of 155 ballots cast for the top 10 stories. Two other political sagas, the history-making candidacies of Hillary Rodham Clinton and Sarah Palin, also made the list.

The vast economic crisis, plunging the US into recession and ravaging many business sectors worldwide, was the No. 2 story, receiving 49 first-place votes. The precipitous rise and fall of oil prices was No. 3. The top story of 2007 was the massacre of 32 people at Virginia Tech University by a mentally disturbed student gunman.

OneIndia News (With inputs from Agencies)