Pakistan's young rights activist Malala Yousufzai was declared runner-up yesterday as Timemagazine named President Barack Obama as its "person of the year" for the second time.

"Perhaps the most poignant alternative to Obama on Time's shortlist was Malala Yousufzai, the 14-year-old Pakistani girl who continued to campaign for the right to education after being shot and nearly killed by the Taliban," Timesaid.

The venerable American news magazine put Obama on its cover, striking a thoughtful, statuesque pose, and said he deserved the honour as "the symbol and in some ways the architect of this new America".

The magazine lauded President Obama's campaigning prowess, noting he was the first president since Franklin Delano Roosevelt to win more than 50 per cent of the vote in two straight elections.