(Reuters) - New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo may demand the return of $4 billion in bonuses paid by Merrill Lynch & Co just before it was acquired by Bank of America Corp, Bloomberg said, citing a person familiar with the matter.

AP - The country tumbled deeper into recession and probably logged its worst economic performance in a quarter-century during the final three months of last year as battered consumers and businesses throttled back spending.

AP - The often chaotic and wasteful $125 billion Iraq rebuilding effort will face new trouble and uncertainty this year despite the decline in violence there, a new audit report says.

Reuters - New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo may demand the return of $4 billion in bonuses paid by Merrill Lynch & Co just before it was acquired by Bank of America Corp, Bloomberg said, citing a person familiar with the matter.

AFP - Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan stormed out of the World Economic Forum after a war of words with Israel's President Shimon Peres over the Gaza conflict.

AP - Residents displaced by a winter storm rested in every corner of a university theater, about 100 of them sprawled in aisles, propped in chairs, curled up on the stage. Some watched a movie while others settled in — but all could sleep soundly with the heat blasting, the assurance of food and water nearby.

AP - The aid money from Hamas came with a heavy dose of politics. A Hamas Cabinet minister carried a carton stuffed with checks worth nearly $2 million into a Gaza tent camp pitched on the ruins of the Salam neighborhood, close to the Israeli border.

AFP - Calls mounted Friday for a ceasefire in Sri Lanka amid growing fears for an estimated quarter of a million civilians trapped by fierce fighting between government troops and Tamil Tiger rebels.

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan received a hero's welcome on his return to Istanbul on Friday after accusing Israel of 'knowing very well how to kill' during a heated debate at the World Economic Forum.

AP - Weeks before the earliest signs of a national salmonella outbreak that now has been traced to peanuts from a Georgia processing plant, peanuts exported by the same company were found to be contaminated and were returned to the United States, The Associated Press has learned.

AP - President Barack Obama is playing to one of the Democratic Party's most reliable constituencies — organized labor — reversing a number of his predecessor's executive orders that critics regard as anti-union.

AP - Japanese electronics giant NEC Corp. says it plans to slash at least 20,000 jobs worldwide in an effort to cut 80 billion yen ($895 million) in costs over the next two years.

AP - Hardware stores and auto parts shops scored a post-holiday run of business this week as Anchorage-area residents stocked up on protective eyewear and masks ahead of a possible eruption of Mount Redoubt.

AP - After weeks of shocking twists and turns, the conclusion of Rod Blagojevich's tenure as Illinois governor offered no surprises at all.

AP - NFL jerseys of almost every team were crammed into Junior Raphael Prentice's flea market booth. He had the Steelers, Cardinals, even an old Green Bay Packers jersey from Hall of Famer Reggie White — with the name 'White' upside down on the back.

AP - The Orlando Magic are looking more and more like a contender in the Eastern Conference.

Reuters - Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan received a hero's welcome on his return to Istanbul on Friday after accusing Israel of 'knowing very well how to kill' during a heated debate at the World Economic Forum.

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea said on Friday it was scrapping all accords with South Korea, a move which the South's prime minister said could be timed to coincide with Barack Obama taking over as U.S. president.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's Middle East envoy said Friday there would be further setbacks in the search for peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

ZURICH (Reuters) - Roche cut its offer for Genentech Inc, launching a hostile bid which dashed investor hopes of a sweetened offer for the 44 percent of the U.S. biotech group its does not already own.

AP - Gabriel Hurles' sixth birthday party wasn't a surprise but his present sure was.

AP - Top-ranked Rafael Nadal is playing fellow Spaniard, Fernando Verdasco in an Australian Open semifinal match. The winner will take on No. 2 Roger Federer in Sunday's men's final. The Swiss star advanced with a straight-sets victory over American Andy Roddick.

Reuters - North Korea said on Friday it was scrapping all accords with South Korea, a move which the South's prime minister said could be timed to coincide with Barack Obama taking over as U.S. president.

Reuters - President Barack Obama's Middle East envoy said Friday there would be further setbacks in the search for peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

AFP - Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai said Friday his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) will join a unity government with President Robert Mugabe next month.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The economy shrank at its fastest pace in nearly 27 years in the fourth quarter, government data showed on Friday, sinking deeper into recession as consumers and business cut spending.

AP - The economy shrank at a 3.8 percent pace at the end of 2008, the worst showing in a quarter-century, as the deepening recession forced consumers and businesses to throttle back spending.

AP - Exxon Mobil Corp. on Friday reported a profit of $45.2 billion for 2008, breaking its own record for a U.S. company, even as its fourth-quarter earnings fell 33 percent from a year ago.

AP - New Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn says the ordeal is over, but now the work begins.

AP - Top-ranked Rafael Nadal outlasted fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco 6-7 (4), 6-4, 7-6 (2), 6-7 (1), 6-4 Friday to reach the Australian Open final after the longest match in the tournament's history.

Reuters - The economy shrank at its fastest pace in nearly 27 years in the fourth quarter, government data showed on Friday, sinking deeper into recession as consumers and business cut spending.

AFP - Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai said Friday he will join a unity government with President Robert Mugabe, almost a year after disputed polls that plunged the country into crisis.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's Middle East envoy said Friday that the new administration's push for Israeli-Palestinian peace after the war in the Gaza Strip faced big hurdles and he warned of setbacks ahead.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - More than 600,000 homes and businesses were still without power on Friday morning after snow and ice storms earlier this week left more than 1.5 million customers in the dark from Oklahoma to Pennsylvania, local utilities reported.

AP - Putting another Campaign 2008 stamp on his new administration, President Barack Obama signed executive orders he said should 'level the playing field' for labor unions against management.

AP - The economy shrank at a 3.8 percent pace at the end of 2008, the worst showing in a quarter-century, as the deepening recession forced consumers and businesses to throttle back spending.

AP - Exxon Mobil Corp. on Friday reported a profit of $45.2 billion for 2008, breaking its own record for a U.S. company, even as its fourth-quarter earnings fell 33 percent from a year ago.

AP - Call it the cold case file of drug safety. Federal health officials convened a public hearing Friday on whether to ban Darvon, a painkiller first approved in 1957, when there were few alternatives for treating pain except aspirin and powerful narcotics.

AP - Top-ranked Rafael Nadal outlasted fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco 6-7 (4), 6-4, 7-6 (2), 6-7 (1), 6-4 Friday to reach the Australian Open final after the longest match in the tournament's history.

Reuters - President Barack Obama's Middle East envoy said Friday that the new administration's push for Israeli-Palestinian peace after the war in the Gaza Strip faced big hurdles and he warned of setbacks ahead.

Reuters - More than 600,000 homes and businesses were still without power on Friday morning after snow and ice storms earlier this week left more than 1.5 million customers in the dark from Oklahoma to Pennsylvania, local utilities reported.

AFP - Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai said Friday he will join a unity government with President Robert Mugabe, almost a year after disputed polls that plunged the country into crisis.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama pledged on Friday to repeal labor laws enacted under his Republican predecessor George W. Bush that unions have long contended favored employers over workers.

AP - President Barack Obama signed a series of executive orders Friday that he said should 'level the playing field' for labor unions in their struggles with management.

AP - Utility crews made some progress Friday in restoring power to the more than 1.3 million homes and businesses darkened by an ice storm that crippled states from Missouri to West Virginia, but thousands were still bunking in toasty shelters because their homes had no water or heat.

AP - Watch an advertisement on a video screen in a mall, health club or grocery store and there's a slim — but growing — chance the ad is watching you too.

AP - 'Batman Forever' star Val Kilmer will reign as celebrity king when the Krewe of Bacchus parade rolls through New Orleans on Feb. 22, two days before Mardi Gras.

AP - A federal bankruptcy judge has approved hiring brokers to sell some of Michael Vick's cars and boats.

Reuters - President Barack Obama pledged on Friday to repeal labor laws enacted under his Republican predecessor George W. Bush that unions have long contended favored employers over workers.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama pledged on Friday to reverse labor policies from his Republican predecessor George W. Bush that unions have long contended favored employers over workers.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - On the eve of Iraq's provincial polls, reports of attempts to buy votes and fears about fraud threaten to cast a shadow over an otherwise vibrant campaign that will test the country's growing security.

AP - The State Department will not renew Blackwater Worldwide's contract to protect American diplomats in Iraq when it expires in May, a senior U.S. official said Friday. The official told The Associated Press that the contract will expire because of the Iraqi government's decision to deny Blackwater a license to operate.

AP - Iraq imposed a nationwide security lockdown Friday before key regional elections with blanket measures not seen since the deadliest years of the insurgency, underscoring the high stakes for Iraqi leaders desperate to portray stability after nearly six years of conflict.

AP - Two Republicans fought for the national party chairmanship Friday after Mike Duncan, former President George W. Bush's hand-picked national GOP chief, abandoned his re-election bid in the fact of dwindling support. His departure ensures a fresh face at the beleaguered GOP's helm as Republicans seek to rebound from back-to-back defeats in national elections that gave Democrats control of Congress and the White House.

AP - The government has opened a criminal investigation into the Georgia peanut-processing plant at the center of the national salmonella outbreak, federal officials said Friday.

AP - The Boss is owning up to a mistake. In an interview with Sunday's New York Times, Bruce Springsteen says he shouldn't have made a deal with Wal-Mart. This month, the store started exclusively selling a Springsteen greatest hits CD.

AP - In a gut-busting display of championship eating, a man nicknamed Super Squibb has won Philadelphia's Wing Bowl by downing 203 chicken wings in about 20 minutes. For his efforts, 23-year-old John Squibb of Berlin, N.J., gets a car, a $7,500 diamond ring and a crown of miniature chickens. And maybe a case of indigestion.

AP - The Red Sox and catcher Jason Varitek were close to a preliminary agreement Friday on a one-year contract that would guarantee the captain $8 million, a person familiar with the talks said.

Reuters - President Barack Obama pledged on Friday to reverse labor policies from his Republican predecessor George W. Bush that unions have long contended favored employers over workers.

Reuters - On the eve of Iraq's provincial polls, reports of attempts to buy votes and fears about fraud threaten to cast a shadow over an otherwise vibrant campaign that will test the country's growing security.

AFP - Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai said Friday he will join a unity government with President Robert Mugabe almost a year after disputed polls, but the US and others questioned if it would work.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Republican Party picked its first black chairman on Friday as it elected former Maryland Lieutenant Governor Michael Steele to rebuild the party after a string of devastating defeats.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama could eventually send five combat brigades to Afghanistan, including one devoted wholly to training the Afghan army, Pentagon officials said on Friday.

AP - The Republican Party chose the first black national chairman in its history Friday, just shy of three months after the nation elected a Democrat as the first African-American president.

AP - Republican Mitt Romney, a potential candidate for the White House in 2012, accused President Barack Obama on Friday of answering to the 'most extreme wing of the abortion lobby.' Even if the administration 'will say nothing on behalf of the child waiting to be born, we must take the side of life,' the former Massachusetts governor told House Republicans at a weekend retreat, according to his prepared remarks.

AP - Illinois lawmakers spent seven weeks using impeachment to scrub away the ethics stain of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich. But his successor says that doesn't mean the notoriously corrupt state has been cleaned up.

AP - How in the world does a woman with six children get a fertility doctor to help her have more — eight more? An ethical debate erupted Friday after it was learned that the Southern California woman who gave birth to octuplets this week had six children already.

AP - Rapper DMX was sentenced to 90 days in jail Friday for convictions on theft, drug-possession and animal-cruelty charges. DMX, whose real name is Earl Simmons, also was placed on at least 18 months' supervised probation by Maricopa County Superior Court Commissioner Phemonia Miller.

Reuters - As Wall Street suffers through its worst slump in memory, New York City risks tarnishing its image as the city that drives America.

Reuters - The Republican Party picked its first black chairman on Friday as it elected former Maryland Lieutenant Governor Michael Steele to rebuild the party after a string of devastating defeats.

Reuters - A U.S. court denied bail on Friday for Florida hedge fund manager Arthur Nadel, who surrendered to authorities this week to face securities and wire fraud charges.

AFP - Iraq on Friday prepared for its first election since 2005 with security forces on high alert for polling day violence as US President Barack Obama called the vote a 'significant milestone.'

NEW YORK (Reuters) - As Wall Street suffers through its worst slump in memory, New York City risks tarnishing its image as the city that drives America.

TAMPA, Florida (Reuters) - A U.S. court denied bail on Friday for Florida hedge fund manager Arthur Nadel, who surrendered to authorities this week to face securities and wire fraud charges.

KABUL (Reuters) - The United States must change its strategy in Afghanistan if it is to avoid a humanitarian crisis, with millions of Afghans struggling to survive and violence at its worst levels since 2001, an aid group said on Saturday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department has told Blackwater Worldwide, the private security firm whose guards are accused of killing Iraqi civilians while protecting U.S. diplomats, that it will not renew its contract in Iraq.

BLAKELY, Georgia (Reuters) - Residents of the self-proclaimed peanut capital of the world fear long-term fallout from a U.S. salmonella outbreak linked to a factory in their small town in southwestern Georgia.

AP - To President Barack Obama, Wall Street's $18.4 billion in bonuses is 'shameful.' To thousands of bank employees who don't sit in corner offices, that money helps pay the bills.

AP - The Arizona Department of Public Safety says a tour bus has crashed on a highway near the Hoover Dam, killing at least five passengers and injuring more than 15. A DPS news release says the crash occurred about 4 p.m. Friday in northwestern Arizona.

AP - A person close to Britney Spears says the singer has obtained a restraining order against former pal Osama 'Sam' Lutfi and one-time boyfriend Adnan Ghalib. Attorneys for Spears and her father, who is her legal conservator, received the order Friday. The person, who was not authorized to speak on the matter publicly and requested anonymity, said Lutfi and others were trying to gain control of Spears' affairs.

AP - The Boston Red Sox wrapped up their offseason bargain hunting Friday by reaching a preliminary agreement with catcher and captain Jason Varitek that pays him half as much in 2009 as he made last season.

Reuters - The United States must change its strategy in Afghanistan if it is to avoid a humanitarian crisis, with millions of Afghans struggling to survive and violence at its worst levels since 2001, an aid group said on Saturday.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The birth of octuplets in California, hailed as a medical triumph by doctors who delivered the tiny infants, has dismayed fertility experts who say high-number multiple births are an outcome they work hard to avoid.

AP - Former Sen. Tom Daschle, picked by President Barack Obama to lead his health reform efforts, recently filed amended tax returns to report $128,203 in unpaid taxes and $11,964 in interest, according to a Senate document obtained by The Associated Press.

AP - The country's leading doping lab is testing syringes and vials Roger Clemens' former personal trainer gave federal investigators to determine whether the items contain traces of performance-enhancing drugs, a person close to the case told The Associated Press.

AP - A tour bus crashed Friday afternoon on a highway near Hoover Dam, killing at least six passengers and injuring up to 16 others, an Arizona Department of Public Safety spokesman said. DPS spokesman Lt. James Warriner said six fatalities were confirmed on the scene. The injured were taken to hospitals in nearby Kingman, Ariz., and Las Vegas.

AP - Britney Spears has obtained a restraining order against former pal Osama 'Sam' Lutfi and one-time boyfriend Adnan Ghalib, court records show. Attorneys for Spears and her father, who is her legal conservator, received the order Friday. The documents state that Lutfi, Ghalib and attorney Jon Eardley have been trying to gain control of Spears' affairs.

Reuters - The U.S. State Department has told Blackwater Worldwide, the private security firm whose guards are accused of killing Iraqi civilians while protecting U.S. diplomats, that it will not renew its contract in Iraq.

AFP - Islamist leader Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed on Saturday was elected Somalia's president, leaving him in charge of a fragile peace process aimed at ending 18 years of civil conflict.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqis voted on Saturday in an election that will test the war-battered country's fragile security gains and perhaps ease lingering sectarian resentment still fuelling violence in some areas.

AP - Former Sen. Tom Daschle, picked by President Barack Obama to lead his health reform efforts, recently filed amended tax returns to report $128,203 in back taxes and $11,964 in interest, according to a Senate document obtained by The Associated Press.

AP - A tour bus overturned on a highway near the Hoover Dam on Friday, killing seven Chinese nationals and injuring at least 15 others, the Arizona Department of Public Safety said.

Reuters - Iraqis voted behind barbed wire and rings of police on Saturday in an election that tested the war-battered country's fragile security gains and which may ease lingering sectarian resentment still fuelling violence.