Barack Obama’s Election Voted Top News Story of 2008
Yearly AP top ten list includes the economic crisis and the rise and fall of oil prices. Transcript of radio broadcast: 02 January 2009
This is IN THE NEWS in VOA
Special English.
Each December the editors
and news directors of the Associated Press vote for the top ten news stories of
the year.
Barack Obama during his acceptance speech in Chicago, Illinois on November fourth
They
chose the election of Barack Obama as president of the United States as the top
news story of two thousand eight.
President-elect Obama is the first black man to be elected president of
the United States. His decisive victory over Republican Senator John McCain
brought down the last racial barrier in American politics. His campaign for the White House lasted
twenty-one months.
The
American economic crisis was second on the list of top stories last year. Wall Street investment banks and other
financial companies collapsed. The stock
market suffered huge losses. Two thousand eight was considered the worst
economic year since the nineteen thirties.
The
price of oil was voted the third top story of the year. Less than six months ago, oil traded at a
record one hundred forty-seven dollars a barrel. Now, oil is trading for less
than forty dollars a barrel. At the root
of the sharp price decrease is reduced demand because of the economic downturn.
Michael Phelps with one of eight gold medals he won in the Beijing Olympic Games
The
war in Iraq was fourth on the list. The American
troop surge helped reduce violence in Iraq.
But bombings and kidnappings continued. A recent security agreement
between Iraq and the United States sets a plan for American troop withdrawal by
two thousand twelve.
The
Beijing Olympic Games were next on the list.
After seven years of preparations, the Summer Olympic Games were held in
China for the first time. American
swimmer Michael Phelps won eight old medals, breaking the record for the most
gold medals won at a single Olympics.
Also
among the top news stories was the huge earthquake that struck China in
May. Seventy thousand people were killed
in Sichuan province. Another five
million lost their homes.
Alaska Governor Sarah Palin also
made the list of major news stories. She
became well-known after Republican presidential candidate John McCain chose her
as his vice presidential running mate.
She was the first female vice presidential candidate of the Republic
Party.
The Taj Hotel in Mumbai burning during the terrorist attacks
In November, ten terrorists
attacked India's financial center, Mumbai. More than one hundred sixty people
were killed during two and a half days of violence.
Hillary
Clinton's candidacy for president was also among the top news stories. She came
closer than any other woman in American history to becoming a major party's
presidential candidate. Barack Obama nominated her to become the next secretary
of state.
And finally, the tenth news story
of the year was the five-day war between Russia and Georgia. The war was the worst violence since South
Ossetia declared independence from Georgia in nineteen ninety-two.
And
that's IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English, written by Brianna Blake. You can find other reports from the past year
on our web site at voaspecialenglish.com.
I'm Steve Ember.