Beyonce delivers at Super Bowl show
Beyonce sang like she had something to prove at the Super Bowl, balancing out the testosterone levels on the football field with a dance-heavy performance that featured her Destiny's Child band mates and an all-female band.
She emerged onstage singing some of "Love on Top," transitioning to her hit "Crazy In Love" in an all-black ensemble, which matched the dark stage. She ripped off part of her shirt and skirt as she danced hard with background dancers doing the same.
She sang live - and sounded good. Days after admitting to singing to a pre-recorded track at President Barack Obama's inauguration, she proved herself to any doubters and added a few off-script remarks as if to show her microphone was on.
Her background singers helped out as Beyonce danced around the stage throughout most of the 13-minute performance. She was especially top-notch during "End of Time" and "Baby Boy."
She had a swarm of background dancers and band members spread throughout the stage, along with videotaped images of herself dancing. And the crowd got bigger when she was joined by her Destiny's Child band mates.
Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams popped up from below the stage to sing "Bootylicious." They were in similar outfits, singing and dancing closely as they harmonized. But Rowland and Williams were barely heard when the group sang "Independent Woman," as their voices faded into the background.
They also joined in for some of "Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)," where Beyonce's voice grew stronger.
She asked the crowd to put their hands toward her she belted the slow groove "Halo" on bended knee - and that's when she the performance hit its high note.
Before the game, Alicia Keys performed a lounge-y, piano-tinged version of the national anthem that her publicist assured was live. The Grammy-winning singer played the piano as she sang "The Star Spangled Banner" in a long red dress with her eyes shut.
She followed Jennifer Hudson, who performed "America the Beautiful" with the 26-member Sandy Hook Elementary School chorus, a performance that had some players on the sideline on the verge of tears.
The students wore green ribbons on their shirts in honor of the 20 first-graders and six adults who were killed in a Dec. 14 shooting rampage at the school in Newton, Conn.
The students began the song softly before Hudson, whose mother, brother and 7-year-old nephew were shot to death five years ago, jumped in with her gospel-flavored vocals. She stood still in black and white as the students moved to the left and right, singing background.
Google boss Schmidt labels China an 'IT menace'
Google Chairman Eric Schmidt uses a new book to call China an Internet menace that backs cyber-crime for economic and political gain, reports say.
The New Digital Age - due for release in April - reportedly brands China "the world's most active and enthusiastic filterer of information".
China is "the most sophisticated and prolific" hacker of foreign companies, according to a review obtained by the Wall Street Journal(WSJ).
China denies allegations of hacking.
Revolution coming?
Beijing has been accused by several governments, foreign companies and organisations of carrying out extensive cyber espionage for many years, seeking to gather information and to control China's imageThe New Digital Age analyses how China is dangerously exploiting an Internet that now permeates politics, business, culture and other aspects of life, the WSJ says.
It quotes the book as saying: "The disparity between American and Chinese firms and their tactics will put both the government and the companies of the United States at a distinct disadvantage."
This, it says, is because Washington "will not take the same path of digital corporate espionage, as its laws are much stricter (and better enforced) and because illicit competition violates the American sense of fair play".
The book argues that Western governments could do more to follow China's lead and develop stronger relationships between the state and technology companies.
States will benefit if they use software and technology made by trusted companies, it suggests.
"Where Huawei gains market share, the influence and reach of China grow as well," the WSJ quoted the authors as writing.
The WSJ this week said its computer systems had been hacked by specialists in China who were trying to monitor its China coverage.
It was the second reported attack on a major US news outlet in days, as the New York Times reported earlier that Chinese hackers had "persistently" penetrated its systems for the last four months.
China's foreign ministry dismissed the New York Times' accusations as "groundless" and "totally irresponsible".
Pound sees biggest one-day fall against euro since 2010
The pound has continued to weaken against the euro, seeing its biggest one-day fall in almost three years, on continuing signs that the worst may be over for the eurozone economy.
At one point on Friday, sterling fell 1.8% against the single currency from a day earlier, the largest percentage fall recorded since May 2010.
This meant one pound was worth 1.1473 euros, the lowest since October 2011.
The pound has also been weakened by fears about the UK's AAA credit rating.
This follows after credit rating agency Fitch warned last month that the UK could lose the top rating if the government does not reduce its sovereign debt.
Continuing concerns about the UK economy, which contracted by 0.3% in the final quarter of 2012, have also hit sterling.
Eurozone improvements
At the same time, the eurozone economy is showing more signs of slow recovery, helping to boost confidence in the euro.
Data on Friday showed that while contraction in the eurozone's manufacturing sector had continued in January, the rate of decline had slowed.
In later Friday exchanges, the pound recovered some ground against the euro to stand at 1.15000 euros, 1.5% lower than a day earlier.
The euro also rose strongly against the dollar, hitting a 14-month high, and a 33-month peak against Japan's yen.
Iraq violence: Suicide attack on Kirkuk police HQ
A suicide bomber and gunmen have attacked a police headquarters in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk.
Unconfirmed reports say 30 people have been killed and 70 injured.
A city official told AFP news agency that militants had tried to seize the compound but were unsuccessful.
No group has said it carried out the attack. Kirkuk is ethnically mixed, and at the centre of a dispute between the Iraqi government and Kurds over oil and land rights.
--BBC
Barclays bank chief Antony Jenkins to waive bonus
The chief executive of Barclays bank, Antony Jenkins, is to waive his bonus for last year.
He said it would be wrong for him to receive a bonus, given what had been a "difficult" year for Barclays.
It is thought Mr Jenkins was in line to receive about £1m of a potential maximum entitlement of £2.75m.
Mr Jenkins took over as chief executive last August, just as Barclays was being rocked over mis-selling scandals and other issues.
He said in a statement: "To avoid further unnecessary public debate on this matter, I wish to make clear that I concluded early this week that I do not wish to be considered for a bonus award for 2012 and I have communicated that decision to the board.
"The year just past was clearly a very difficult one for Barclays and its stakeholders, with multiple issues of our own making besetting the bankI think it only right that I bear an appropriate degree of accountability for those matters and I have concluded that it would be wrong for me to receive a bonus for 2012 given those circumstances."
Mr Jenkins' total potential pay package, including pension, basic salary, and incentives, was £8.6m.
Banks are currently reviewing the size of bonuses for senior staff, and there were reports this week that Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), which is 82% owned by the government, will set aside £250m for payments. Last year, RBS's chief executive, Stephen Hester, waived his bonus for 2011 and in June said he would not take a bonus for 2012.
Chancellor George Osborne told the BBC chief economics correspondent, Hugh Pym, that he welcomed Mr Jenkins' announcement.
Mr Osborne said: "All the banks need to understand it is a very difficult economic environment out there, that they have to be very sensible about their pay this year given that."
Commenting on the bonus situation for senior employees at RBS, the chancellor added: "Stephen Hester, the chief executive of RBS, has already decided not to take his bonus.
"I think RBS need to pay attention to the times we live in, and I'm confident they will."
Sign up, or resign
Barclays hit trouble last June, when it was fined £290m by British and US regulators for attempted manipulation of Libor and Euribor interbank rates between 2005 and 2009.
The scandal sparked the resignations of three Barclays senior board members, including ex-chief executive Bob Diamond. He was replaced by Mr Jenkins, who was formerly head of retail and business banking.
Barclays has also set aside £2bn to compensate customers for the mis-selling of payment protection insurance.
On Friday, Barclays faced new claims that UK financial regulators were investigating the bank over money received from Qatar.
The Financial Times alleged that Barclays lent Qatar money to invest in the bank in 2008. Barclays was not immediately available for comment.
Last month, Mr Jenkins ordered all Barclays staff to sign up to a new ethical code of conduct or quit.
Eurozone manufacturing 'on course' for return to growth
The contraction of manufacturing across the eurozone slowed in January amid signs that the worst may be over, according to a survey.
The Markit Purchasing Managers' Index rose to 47.9, from 46.1 in December.
The index has been below the 50 mark that separates growth from contraction since August 2011.
But Markit's chief economist Chris Williamson said the January data pointed to the eurozone returning to growth in mid-2013.
In Germany, the PMI figure rose to 49.8 in January from 46.0 the previous month, coming in just below the 50 threshold. Although it was the 11th straight month of decline, it was easily the slowest rate of contraction in that time.
"The improvement was led by Germany, which saw the strongest gain in output of all eurozone states, but rising exports are also helping to revive the manufacturing sectors of other countries, most notably Spain and Italy," Mr Williamson said.
While the industrial sector looks likely to have acted as a drag on the eurozone economy in the final quarter of last year, deepening the double-dip downturn, the PMI provides hope that the first quarter could mark the start of a turnaround.
"Providing there are no further setbacks to the region's debt crisis, these data add to the expectation that the euro zone is on course to return to growth by mid-2013," he said.
In Spain, the index rose from 44.6 in December to 46.1 last month. In Italy the index rose for the second month to 47.8 in January from 46.7 last month.
Eurozone unemployment
However, in France the downturn deepened, with the manufacturing PMI for the bloc's second-largest economy sinking to a four-month low of 42.9.
"Confidence [in France] seems to have evaporated in the face of an increasingly uncertain economic environment, leading manufacturers to make sharper cuts to employment, purchasing and input stocks," said Jack Kennedy, senior economist at Markit.
Despite the better manufacturing news for the eurozone as a whole, the bloc's continuing problems were underlined in the latest unemployment figures for December.
Unemployment in the region remained at a euro-era high of 11.7%, according to figures from the European Commission's statistics agency, Eurostat.
Although the figure was slightly lower than the 11.9% forecast by many economists, it was still higher than the Commission's year-end 11.3% prediction.
Slow growth
Separate PMI data from China indicated that the country's manufacturing sector was continuing to grow, albeit slowly.
China's PMI, which surveys big firms, fell to 50.4 in January from 50.6 in December.
In the UK, activity in the manufacturing sector edged higher in January despite falling export orders.
The PMI measure fell slightly to 50.8 from 51.2 in December.
Twitter Hit by Cyber Attack
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Social media giant Twitter says it was hacked this week, in a sophisticated cyber attack that exposed the passwords and other information of about 250,000 users.
The company said in a blog post Friday that it had detected unauthorized attempts to gain access to its user data. The site's information security director, Bob Lord, said Twitter employees discovered one live attack and shut it down in process moments later.
Twitter said it reset passwords and that it was notifying affected users.
Unlike the New York Times and Wall Street Journal newspapers, which said they were attacked by Chinese hackers this week, Twitter did not provide any information on where the hacking had originated. But Lord said in the posting that the attack was "not the work of amateurs," and that Twitter does not believe it was an isolated incident. He called the attackers "extremely sophisticated."
The company said it is working with government and federal law enforcement in their effort to track down the attackers to make the Internet safer for all users.
Abu Sayyaf militants release two hostages in Philippines
Islamist militants in the Philippines have released two Filipino members of a TV crew, who were kidnapped last June.
Ramel Vela and Roland Letriro have been taken to a hospital in the southern Sulu province after their release. It is unclear why the Jordanian reporter they were working with was not freed.
The men were captured as they set out to interview Abu Sayyaf militants, a group linked to al-Qaeda.
A number of foreigners are being held for ransom in the southern Philippines.
Areas within Sulu province, whose capital is Jolo, and the wider region are used as bases by Islamist militants and rebel groups.
Mr Vela, a cameraman, and Mr Letriro, an audio technician, were taken hostage as they set out to interview Abu Sayyaf militants in their jungle lair in the autonomous Sulu island province.
"They really lost weight because they were constantly under stress each day," provincial police chief Antonio Freyra told the Associated Press.
A Jordanian reporter, Abdulla Atyani, captured along with Mr Vela and Mr Letriro, is believed to still be in captivity, Mr Freya said.
Meanwhile, Warren Rodwell, an Australian kidnapped by Abu Sayyaf militants in 2011, was shown alive in a video posted on social media last December.
Looking thin and haggard in the video, Mr Rodwell said: "I personally hold no hope at all for being released."
The Abu Sayyaf is on the US list of terrorist organisations.
It is considered the smallest and most radical of the extremist movements in the southern Philippines.
The group remains a security threat in the impoverished region where minority Muslims have been fighting for self-rule for decades.
The main Muslim separatist group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, recently signed a peace accord with the government in exchange for broad autonomy.
But the Abu Sayyaf were among the rebel groups who refused to sign up to the peace deal.
Britain Hosting Talks with Afghan, Pakistani Leaders
High level delegations from Afghanistan and Pakistan have begun arriving in London for a summit with British Prime Minister David Cameron aimed at improving relations between the South Asian neighbors.
A Downing Street spokesman said Cameron will meet informally on Sunday with Afghanistan's Hamid Karzai and Pakistan's Asif Ali Zardari. The formal summit on Monday will also involve military leaders, foreign ministers and intelligence chiefs from both countries.
A British statement said London expects the Afghans and Pakistanis to make further progress on the outlines of a strategic partnership accord discussed in September on the sidelines of a United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York.
Pakistan has long been accused of using insurgent proxies to wield influence in Afghanistan, and many Western analysts believe Islamabad is continuing to shield senior members of the Taliban and other terrorist groups on Pakistani soil. Pakistan denies all involvement in Afghan affairs.
Britain's Telegraph newspaper quotes a Karzai spokesman as saying Afghans will agree to greater cooperation with its neighbor only if Islamabad shows evidence of improving border security.
White House posts Obama shooting picture on Flickr
The White House has released a picture of Barack Obama skeet-shooting - seemingly to settle a row over whether the president had fired a gun before.
Mr Obama recently told the The New Republic magazine: "Up at Camp David, we do skeet shooting all the time."
The photo, dated 4 August 2012, shows Mr Obama standing in jeans, polo shirt, sunglasses and ear defenders, aiming a shotgun that has a smoking barrel.
He is due in Minneapolis on Monday to discuss his gun-control proposals.
Asked this week why more had not been said about Mr Obama's shooting habits before, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said: "Because when he goes to Camp David, he goes to spend time with his family and friends and relax, not to produce photographs."
Bridging gaps
The photograph apparently shows Mr Obama shooting clay targets on the range at the Maryland retreatThe New Republic interview, carried in the magazine's 11 February issue, quotes Mr Obama as saying he has great respect for US hunting traditions, while advising gun-control advocates to be better listeners in the firearms debate.
"I have a profound respect for the traditions of hunting that trace back in this country for generations," he is quoted as saying. "And I think those who dismiss that out of hand make a big mistake. Part of being able to move this forward is understanding the reality of guns in urban areas are very different from the realities of guns in rural areas.
"And if you grew up and your dad gave you a hunting rifle when you were 10, and you went out and spent the day with him and your uncles, and that became part of your family's traditions, you can see why you'd be pretty protective of that."
"So it's trying to bridge those gaps that I think is going to be part of the biggest task over the next several months. And that means that advocates of gun control have to do a little more listening than they do sometimes," Obama said.
President Barack Obama last month proposed sweeping measures on guns, including a renewed ban on assault rifles and wider background checks on buyers.
The announcement came a month after the 14 December killings of 20 children and six adults at a primary school in Connecticut.