الرئيسية
NEW YORK (AP) — The killing of Osama bin Laden during a raid by Navy
SEALs on his hideout in Pakistan was the top news story of 2011,
followed by Japan's earthquake/tsunami/meltdown disaster, according to
The Associated Press' annual poll of U.S. editors and news directors.
The
death of bin Laden, the al-Qaida leader who masterminded the Sept. 11
terror attacks, received 128 first-place votes out of 247 ballots cast
for the top 10 stories. The Japan disaster was next, with 60 first-place
votes. Placing third were the Arab Spring uprisings that rocked North
Africa and the Middle East, while the European Union's financial turmoil
was No. 4.
The international flavor of these top stories
contrasted with last year's voting — when the Gulf of Mexico oil spill
was the top story, President Barack Obama's health care overhaul was No.
2, and the U.S. midterm elections were No. 3.
Here are 2011's top 10 stories, in order:
—OSAMA
BIN LADEN'S DEATH: He'd been the world's most-wanted terrorist for
nearly a decade, ever since a team of his al-Qaida followers carried out
the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. In May, the long and often-frustrating
manhunt ended with a nighttime assault by a helicopter-borne special
operations squad on his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Bin Laden was
shot dead by one of the raiders, and within hours his body was buried at
sea.
—JAPAN'S TRIPLE DISASTER: A 9.0-magnitude earthquake off
Japan's northeast coast in March unleashed a tsunami that devastated
scores of communities, leaving nearly 20,000 people dead or missing and
wreaking an estimated $218 billion in damage. The tsunami triggered the
worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl after waves knocked out the cooling
system at a nuclear power plant, causing it to spew radiation that
turned up in local produce. About 100,000 people evacuated from the area
have not returned to their homes.
SEALs on his hideout in Pakistan was the top news story of 2011,
followed by Japan's earthquake/tsunami/meltdown disaster, according to
The Associated Press' annual poll of U.S. editors and news directors.
The
death of bin Laden, the al-Qaida leader who masterminded the Sept. 11
terror attacks, received 128 first-place votes out of 247 ballots cast
for the top 10 stories. The Japan disaster was next, with 60 first-place
votes. Placing third were the Arab Spring uprisings that rocked North
Africa and the Middle East, while the European Union's financial turmoil
was No. 4.
The international flavor of these top stories
contrasted with last year's voting — when the Gulf of Mexico oil spill
was the top story, President Barack Obama's health care overhaul was No.
2, and the U.S. midterm elections were No. 3.
Here are 2011's top 10 stories, in order:
—OSAMA
BIN LADEN'S DEATH: He'd been the world's most-wanted terrorist for
nearly a decade, ever since a team of his al-Qaida followers carried out
the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. In May, the long and often-frustrating
manhunt ended with a nighttime assault by a helicopter-borne special
operations squad on his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Bin Laden was
shot dead by one of the raiders, and within hours his body was buried at
sea.
—JAPAN'S TRIPLE DISASTER: A 9.0-magnitude earthquake off
Japan's northeast coast in March unleashed a tsunami that devastated
scores of communities, leaving nearly 20,000 people dead or missing and
wreaking an estimated $218 billion in damage. The tsunami triggered the
worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl after waves knocked out the cooling
system at a nuclear power plant, causing it to spew radiation that
turned up in local produce. About 100,000 people evacuated from the area
have not returned to their homes.