Top news stories of 2008

When Dec. 31 comes and goes, and 2008 is officially history, the year will not soon be forgotten.

The Wall Street collapse. The rise of Barack Obama. Natural disasters. War. Piracy on the high seas.

The folks at Time had plenty from which to choose. In putting together their Top 10 News Stories, here’s what they came up with:

1. When We Realized the Sky Was Falling: Wall Street meltdown.

2. Yes, He Could!: Obama elected President.

3. Mumbai Held Hostage

4. Devastation in Islamabad

5. Pirates Rule the Waves

6. War in the Caucasus

7. Chinese Spread the Melamine: Food additive causes illness in hundreds of thousands.

8. Twilight of Cuba’s Patriarch: Castro’s waning days.

9. An Audacious Rescue in Colombia: The liberation of hostage Ingrid Betancourt.

10. Mother Nature’s Double Whammy: Cyclone in Burma; Earthquake in Sichuan.

To read about these big stories, and to see a slideshow, visit Time.