World's Most Powerful Woman Is...

Forbes ' most powerful rise to the top of politics, industry

(NEWSER) - Forbes names the 100 most powerful women in the world, putting Oprah one spot south of Ruth Bader Ginsburg—and placing Meredith Vieira ahead of Katie Couric and Diane Sawyer. The top 10:

1. German chancellor Angela Merkel
2. Chinese vice premier Wu Yi
3. Temasek Holdings chief executive Ho Ching
4. Condoleezza Rice
5. Pepsico president and CEO Indra K. Nooyi

And you can bet Forbes knew it would provoke headlines like this one

(NEWSER) - As if Barack Obama wasn’t having a bad enough week, Forbes has dropped him to No. 2 on its annual “Most Powerful People” list, citing his electoral defeat as a major reason. “It's quite a come-down for last year's most powerful person, who after enacting widespread reforms in his first two years in office will be hard-pressed to implement his agenda in the next two,” Forbes writes. Taking his place? Chinese President Hu Jintao. More»

The first lady beats Hillary Clinton ... and Lady Gaga and Beyonce

(NEWSER) - Hillary Clinton is pretty powerful, but she’s still no Oprah Winfrey. The secretary of state does, however, wield more heft than Lady Gaga on Forbes ’ annual list of the world’s 100 most powerful women. This year's list still took wealth into account, but gave more weight to social and creative influence and media attention, the Independent reports. The top 10:

1. Michelle Obama
2. Irene Rosenfeld, chief executive of Kraft Foods
3. Oprah Winfrey
4. Angela Merkel, German chancellor
5. Hillary Clinton

(NEWSER) - German leader Angela Merkel keeps her spot as the world's most powerful woman for the fourth straight year on the annual Forbes list. Other notables in the top 100: Michelle Obama debuts at 40, just ahead of Oprah (41) and Queen Elizabeth (42). Hillary Clinton is 36, down from 28 and just a notch behind Nancy Pelosi at 35. FDIC chief Sheila Bair is No. 2, while Sonia Sotomayor debuts at 54 and Kathleen Sebelius at 56. More»