NEW YORK The epic election that made Barack Obama the first African-American president was the top news story of 2008 followed closely by the economic meltdown that will test his leadership, according to U.S. editors and news directors voting in The Associated Press' annual poll.

NEW YORK (AP) Retail gas prices swung higher Friday the first increase in 43 days as analysts warned that a direct hit on U.S. energy infrastructure by Hurricane Gustav could send pump prices hurtling toward $5 a gallon.

KEY WEST, Fla. Hurricane Ike grew to fierce Category 4 strength Saturday as it plodded on an uncertain path that forced millions along an arc of coastline from the Caribbean to Florida, and Louisiana to Mexico to nervously wonder where it would end up.

... Category 3 storm could grow stronger and veer to north within a few days, putting it on a possible course for the U.S. Gulf Coast, but it cautioned, "it is still to early to be more specific about the threat." Yucatan state Gov. Patricio ...

... their homes on the island before taking aim at the U.S. Gulf Coast. Residents in South Louisiana faced their second ... A hurricane watch was declared for the northern U.S. Gulf Coast in Texas to the mouth of the Mississippi River ...

... be written about this," said National Hurricane Center Director Max Mayfield. No deaths were reported along the U.S. Gulf Coast. Injuries included three people hurt in Louisiana -- two in a roof collapse and a deputy whose cruiser was hit ...

... breathtaking size - tropical storm-force winds extending 350 miles across - practically the entire western end of the U.S. Gulf Coast was in peril, and even a slight rightward turn could prove devastating to the fractured levees protecting New Orleans ...

... Sunday for the Cayman Islands as a tropical depression moved through the Atlantic on a path that could threaten the U.S. Gulf Coast later this week as a hurricane, forecasters said. The system was expected to become Tropical Storm Wilma by Monday ...

... said. Its 240 kph (150 mph) winds made it more powerful than Hurricane Katrina at the time it plowed into the U.S. Gulf Coast on Aug. 29, killing more than 1,200 people. The National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida said that by Thursday ...