Sandy Hook choir, Hudson delight Super Bowl crowd

NEW ORLEANS As 26 children in white polo shirts excitedly walked to center of the Superdome field and prepared to sing, a packed Super Bowl crowd revved up by a day of partying in the Big Easy fell silent.

The chorus from Sandy Hook Elementary School, nearly two months removed from a deadly shooting rampage, joined Jennifer Hudson to deliver a stirring rendition of "America the Beautiful" on Sunday that had some players on the sideline and countless fans in the stands on the verge of tears.

Judging by the responses on social media, the performance appeared destined to become one of the most poignant memories of the Super Bowl, regardless of what played out in the game.

"Sandy hook elementary chorus singing America the beautiful and Alicia keys national anthem makes me proud to be American," model Kate Upton said on her Twitter page.

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Super Bowl XLVII highlights

Gerald Rokoff, standing near a portal in the Superdome's upper deck, turned and said, "Beyond beautiful," when the children finished singing.

Sandy Hook is the school in Newtown, Conn., where 20 first-graders and six adults were killed by a gunman on Dec. 14.

An NFL spokesman said no one with the chorus was available for interviews, but a statement was delivered on behalf of the school.

"We have come to New Orleans to represent the Sandy Hook Family and the community of Newtown, Connecticut," the statement said. "Our wish is to demonstrate to America and the world that, `We are Sandy Hook and We Choose Love."'

The children wore green ribbons on their white shirts, which seemed to symbolize the innocence of youth, and stood in two rows of 13 on the NFL's red, white and blue shield logo for the performance. Many smiled excitedly as they sang the first verse. Then Hudson, wearing a black blouse and long, white skirt, fronted them for a second verse that showcased her sterling voice.

Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh watched with his left arm around daughter, Alison, and his right hand over his heart.

Ravens nose tackle Terrence Cody could be seen on the stadium's video board tilting his head back, appearing to hold back tears.

Fans offered a rousing ovation at the finish, and the chorus then trotted to the 20-yard line and turned, with their hands on their hearts, to watch Alicia Keys sing the national anthem.

Caitlin Hamilton, a 22-year-old English teacher from Dodge City, Kansas, said on Twitter she thought the performance would, without a doubt, be the best part of the Super Bowl.

"It just shows that they're still persevering despite what's happened to them," Hamilton said. "It was a great way to lift up the people of Sandy Hook as well, and to let them know that the people of America support them."

Hamilton said that as a teacher, when she thinks about the shooting she thinks of herself in the same situation. She said Hudson did well leading the song, but the kids were the main event.

"I thought the kids were more inspirational that they could get up there and sing despite everything that had happened to them," she said.

During the season, NFL stars including Victor Cruz of the Giants and Chris Johnson of the Titans honored victims of the Sandy Hook rampage during games by writing the names of the victims' on their shoes.

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Super Bowl XLVII Live Blog: Niners Rising

10:06 p.m. ET: Incomplete throw on the two-point conversion attempt. Kaepernick’s run was the longest rushing touchdown for a quarterback ever in the Super Bowl. 31-29 Ravens.

10:05 p.m. ET: Kaepernick rushes for a touchdown. Niners trying for two-point conversion to try to tie this game up.

10:04 p.m. ET: TOUCHDOWN 49ERS.

10:03 p.m. ET: And Gore picks up another one. Niners inside the Ravens 20.

10:02 p.m. ET: Randy Moss picks up a first down at the Ravens 39.

9:57 p.m. ET: Incomplete on 3rd and goal. 19-yard field goal attempt is good. 31-23 Ravens.

9:56 p.m. ET: On 1st and goal, Ravens stopped one yard short of the end zone. 2nd and goal.

9:54  p.m. ET: Bernard Pierce not expected to return to the game with a leg injury.

9:51  p.m. ET: First down for the Ravens with an 8-yard gain. Bernard Pierce looks really shaken up after that tackle. Third quarter ends with score still 28-23 Ravens.

9:46  p.m. ET: Scary looking tackle of Jones on the return. Impressive that he kept hold of the ball.

Related: Obama: Safety a Concern for Young Football Players

9:44  p.m. ET: Akers gets a redo, and drills it. 17 unanswered points in a 4:10 drive for the 49ers. 28-23 Ravens.

9:43  p.m. ET: Replay of fourth down on a penalty. Ravens player ran into Akers. 4th and 2 for the Niners.

9:43  p.m. ET:  Akers kick no good, but there’s a flag on the field

9:41  p.m. ET: Superdome representative releases statement apologizing for the incident, and NFL statement says authorities are “investigating the cause of the power outage.”

9:40  p.m. ET: Fumble recovered by the 49ers. Momentum definitely swinging the 49ers way.

9:36  p.m. ET: It’s a one score game as Akers drills the extra point. He’s having a surprisingly good game, considering his dismal season. 28-20 Ravens.

9:34  p.m. ET: Frank Gore gets the ball into the end zone, and there’s a player down on the field. 28-19 Ravens.

9:32  p.m. ET: TOUCHDOWN 49ERS.

9:32  p.m. ET: First down by Vernon Davis – this game suddenly got much more interesting. 1st and goal for the Niners.

9:30  p.m. ET: Sack by Admad Brooks – big change of momentum as Ravens punt (badly) – with a big return by the 49ers.

9:28  p.m. ET: Now it’s up to the 49ers defense to keep San Francisco in this game. Jacoby Jones carried the ball to the Ravens 17. His previous carry, intially listed at 109 yards, has been changed to 108 yards, tying the all-time record, not breaking it.

Evan Vucci/AP Photo

9:25  p.m. ET: First touchdown for San Francisco this game, after Kaepernick connects with Crabtree, who runs it into the end zone after an 80-yard drive. 28-13 Ravens.

9:24  p.m. ET: TOUCHDOWN 49ERS.

9:21  p.m. ET: Randy Moss has his first grab of the game, and San Francisco takes a timeout.

9:20  p.m. ET: Great throw by Kaepernick, dropped by Crabtree. 3rd and 8.

9:19  p.m. ET: There it is – a scramble for 15 yards – a first down and some. That’s 36 yards rushing for him now.

9:18  p.m. ET: Kaepernick scrambles for a gain of five. For somebody who has used his legs so successfully this season, he seems really hesitant to try it in this game. 2nd and 5 49ers.

9:15  p.m. ET: Touchback – 49ers will start with the ball at their 20-yard line.

9:12  p.m. ET: Game resumes largely as it played out before the delay. Flacco immediately gets a first down with a 15 yard toss.

9:11  p.m. ET: Not a great start after the delay for the 49ers. A gain of 7, but short of a first down. Andy Lee comes out for the punt.

9:10  p.m. ET: That was a 34 minute delay. No statement from the NFL yet, but that must have been really frustrating for both teams.

Read more: Social Media Reacts to the Super Bowl Blackout

9:10  p.m. ET: Apparently, part of the holdup was the electrical equipment on the 49ers side going out with the power. Play set to resume in the next minute or so.

9:08  p.m. ET: Luckily, so far there have been no disturbances reported in the crowd during this blackout delay.

9:05  p.m. ET: Obviously, how each team reacts in the first drive right after this power outage and long delay will be huge. In case you forgot, the 49ers will get the ball at the SF 40 after a Kaepernick sack. 3rd and 13 for the Niners.

9:00  p.m. ET: And there’s already a @SuperbowlLights twitter account.

8:59  p.m. ET: Law enforcement source tells ABC News the power outage is just a technical issue, nothing nefarious. Reporters at the game say they heard a boom in the stadium before the lights went out. Lights slowly coming back on, and players still on the field.

Matt Slocum/AP Photo

8:54  p.m. ET: The AC is apparently also out at the closed stadium, and people say it’s getting hot in there with such a huge crowd and the lights that are on.

8:51  p.m. ET: Considering the score, the fact that this power outage delay may last as long as 20 minutes, and the fact that the halftime show is over, I wonder how many people are tuning out right about now.

8:51  p.m. ET: Power surge to blame, apparently.

8:48  p.m. ET: “Bring Beyonce Back” trending on Twitter now.

Read more: The Internet Love Beyonce

8:45  p.m. ET: Players trying to stay warmed up on the field, and fans sound like they’re getting really antsy.

8:44  p.m. ET: Commercials cost around $4 million for a 30-second spot, and with these extra commercial breaks, some of them might really be getting their money’s worth.

8:40  p.m. ET:  Sideline reporter says half the lights in the stadium are out, including the scoreboard.

8:40  p.m. ET: 100 million people are expected to be watching the game today…a game that is suddenly not happening as the power cut out during the third quarter.

8:38  p.m. ET: Cut to commercial as the power goes out at the stadium. The game just got even stranger.

8:38  p.m. ET: And the power is out at the Super Dome.

Read more: New Orleans in the Spotlight for the Super Bowl

8:37  p.m. ET: Kaepernick sacked for a loss of 6. 3rd and 13.

8:35  p.m. ET: 49ers to start their drive at the 13-yard line.

8:34  p.m. ET:  The biggest deficit ever overcome in the Super Bowl is ten points. It’s been done twice.

Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

8:32  p.m. ET: That was fast (11 seconds to be exact) – a 109-yard kickoff return touchdown by Jacoby Jones. An all-time NFL record. 28-6 Ravens.

8:32  p.m. ET: TOUCHDOWN RAVENS.

8:31  p.m. ET: Back to football. Ravens to receive to start off.

Read more: Beyonce Sings Biggest Hits with Surprise Guests

8:27  p.m. ET: First Lady Michelle Obama liked the halftime show. She just tweeted “Watching the #SuperBowl with family & friends.@Beyonce was phenomenal! I am so proud of her! -mo” from her FLOTUS twitter account.

8:22  p.m. ET: And Beyonce ends an impressive and energetic halftime performance with “Halo.”

8:19  p.m. ET: Looks like the DC reunion is over – it was fun while it laster!

Gerald Herbert/AP Photo

8:16  p.m. ET: Destiny’s Child reunion for “Bootylicious!”

8:14  p.m. ET: So many Beyonces!

8:12  p.m. ET: For the halftime performance, there are 135 dancers on the field, and 2,000 fans. And really cool visuals on the stage.

8:10  p.m. ET: Beyonce kicks off the halftime show with “Love on Top” followed by “Crazy in Love.”

8:07  p.m. ET: Here’s what the President and First Lady are eating at their Super Bowl party: Chesapeake Crab Cakes and San Francisco Cioppino Stew with Sourdough Toast. There are also wings, and they’re drinking Anchor Steam and Clipper City beers.

Related: Obama Hoping for Close Match in Super Bowl

8:05  p.m. ET: Still, the 49ers rallied from a 17-0 deficit to make it to the Super Bowl so it’s tough to count them out just halfway through.

8:04  p.m. ET: Ravens dominating so far, and it’s not even really close. While the teams take a breather, Beyonce heads to the field for the half time show.

8:00  p.m. ET: First half ends with a Ray Lewis sack. The likely future Hall of Famer is retiring after this game. Strangely enough, his first NFL sack was of Jim Harbaugh – who is currently coaching the 49ers. Also in that game? Randy Moss, who is currently having a rough game for the 49ers.

7:59  p.m. ET: Field goal is Good. 21-6 Ravens at the half.

7:58  p.m. ET: Really looks like the big game jitters are getting to Kaepernick. Ray Lewis sack brings out Akers for a field goal attempt.

7:55  p.m. ET: Fun Fact – Kaepernick was drafted by the Chicago Cubs as a pitcher in 2009. You can see the pitcher still in him with some of these throws.

7:54  p.m. ET: 49ers back in the red zone after a few big gains. They still have two timeouts with less than one minute left in the second quarter.

7:52  p.m. ET: 15-yard penalty and automatic first down for the 49ers on a roughing the passer call.

7:50  p.m. ET: That’s Flacco’s 11th touchdown pass this postseason.

Dave Martin/AP Photo

7:49  p.m. ET: 21 – 3 Baltimore as incredible throw, catch and run lead to a touchdown for the Ravens. 49ers have A LOT of  work to do in the second half.

7:48  p.m. ET: TOUCHDOWN RAVENS.

7:45  p.m. ET: No flag on what looked like offensive pass interference as Culliver breaks up a Flacco long throw, and we hit the two-minute warning.

7:44  p.m. ET: 2nd and 10 for the Ravens with 2 minutes left in the second quarter. The Ravens will be receiving the ball at the beginning of the second half.

7:41  p.m. ET: Kaepernick, who had been noted for his great decision making calls under pressure, is having a rough game so far. At 25 years old, this start is only the tenth pro start of his career.

7:39  p.m. ET: Awesome 9-year-old girl football player Sam Gordon is in the house!

Obtained by ABC News

7:37  p.m. ET: Volkswagen’s controversial ad just aired – here’s Jamaica’s reaction to it.

Related: Controversial Volkswagen Super Bowl Ad Gets Viewer Approval

Harry How/Getty Images

7:37  p.m. ET: Gutsy fake field goal call considering the Ravens’ rookie kicker is about as sure a thing as there is for points.

7:36  p.m. ET: Tricky – fake field goal by the Ravens, but short of a first down.

7:34  p.m. ET: Almost an interception by the Niners, but it’s just an incomplete pass by Flacco. 3rd and 9.

7:31  p.m. ET: Another first down for the Ravens.

7:30  p.m. ET: Personal fouls by both teams cancel each other out. Ravens first down at 49ers 38.

7:29  p.m. ET: That interception is evidently the first time a 49ers quarterback has ever been intercepted in the Super Bowl (that’s five previous games). And Reed ties the record with his 9th postseason interception.

Jamie Squire/Getty Images

7:28  p.m. ET: Interception by Baltimore but flag is down and teams fighting on the field.

7:24  p.m. ET: After that commercial about sports fans’ superstitions – here’s an interesting article about when those superstitions cross the line into OCD.

7:22  p.m. ET: Penalties and that fumble killing San Francisco so far. 14-3 Ravens. Ten touchdowns and no interceptions so far this postseason for Flacco.

Harry How/Getty Images

7:22  p.m. ET: TOUCHDOWN BALTIMORE.

7:21  p.m. ET: Automatic first and goal for Ravens after another penalty – a personal foul on 49ers’ Whitner.

7:20  p.m. ET: Flacco connects with Dickson, and a flag is down.

7:19  p.m. ET: While they’re on the subject of Patrick Willis, here’s an interesting story about him and his “brother for life,” the Baltimore’s Michael Oher.

7:17  p.m. ET: Another first down for the Ravens. That’s 4/5 third down conversions for the Ravens so far.

7:16  p.m. ET: Major change of momentum, as Ravens get gain of about 5 after 49ers fumble.

7:12  p.m. ET: Fumble recovered by Ravens. First down for Baltimore.

7:12  p.m. ET: Another first down for the Niners.

7:11  p.m. ET: Another first down on gain of eleven with reception by Davis. Another another small scuffle breaks out. Teams clearly (obviously) passionate.

7:10  p.m. ET: Looks like Davis is okay – gain of 29 yards on great throw from Kaepernick.

7:08  p.m. ET: First Harbaugh parent sightings of the night! They’ve said tonight will be really bittersweet for them.

Read more: Super Bowl Bittersweet for Harbaugh Family

7:08  p.m. ET: They may be brothers, but side-by-side comparison of the Harbaugh brothers’ reactions to last play show totally different styles.

7:05  p.m. ET: Flacco sacked with 12 seconds left in quarter.

7:04  p.m. ET: Incomplete throw by Flacco with 17 seconds left in the 1st quarter.

7:03  p.m. ET: Unbelievable throw and catch by Boldin for 31-yards.

7:02  p.m. ET: 3rd and 7 for Ravens after incomplete pass by Flacco.

7:00  p.m. ET: 9-yard gain for the Ravens. Ed Reed in locker room for evaluation.

6:57  p.m. ET: Jacoby Jones returns kick to the 22-yard line. Ravens’ Ed Reed and 49ers’ Vernon Davis both apparently being checked out after Reed hit Davis on previous drive.

Harry How/Getty Images

6:55  p.m. ET: And to the relief of 49ers fans, David Akers field goal attempt is good. 7-3 Ravens.

6:54  p.m. ET: Kaepernick sacked. 49ers going for field goal.

6:53  p.m. ET: Davis out and being worked on by trainers. Second and goal, incomplete in the end zone, off of Crabtree’s hands.

6:52  p.m. ET: Vernon Davis, a super speedy tight end, with another first down on a 24-yard reception from Kaepernick. 1st and goal.

6:51 p.m. ET: And Gore with another first down.

6:50 p.m. ET: Kaepernick scrambles for a gain of seven, 2nd and 3.

6:50 p.m. ET: Kaepernick, who shocked the league with his legs when he took over from Alex Smith, gets a 1st down and then some.

6:49 p.m. ET: Gore gains nine, after having a rough few carries early.

6:48 p.m. ET: Huge, 19-yard game for Michael Crabtree, who broke out this season once Kaepernick took over the starting QB job.

6:46 p.m. ET: Already looking to be a really physical game as scuffle between players breaks out after 49ers loss of two yards.

6:45 p.m. ET: And here’s the GoDaddy commercial everybody has already been talking about – supermodel makes out with Hollywood’s favorite extra.

6:44 p.m. ET: Penalties already hurting the 49ers – big game jitters?

McNamee/Getty Images

6:41 p.m. ET: And the extra point is good. 7-0 Ravens

6:40 p.m. ET: TOUCHDOWN BALTIMORE. Ravens take an early lead with a reception by Anquan Boldin.

6:39 p.m. ET: On 3rd and 9, same thing happens, but flag is down for defensive offsides – five yard penalty and replay of 3rd down.

6:39 p.m. ET: Given some time, Flacco throws ball beyond end zone for an incompletion on 2nd and 9.

6:38 p.m. ET: Ravens QB, Joe Flacco, known for his exceptionally strong arm, gets the ball to Torrey Jones at the SF 19.

6:37 p.m. ET: And a first down for the Ravens from SF 39.

6:36 p.m. ET: Better start for the Ravens, who pick up eight yards on their first down of the game.

6:36 p.m. ET: And the first drive of the game goes nowhere; Andy Lee punts on 4th down, and Jacoby Jones returns to near the 50-yard line.

6:34 p.m. ET: On first and 15, no gain for 49ers all-time leading rusher, Frank Gore.

6:33 p.m. ET: Five yard penalty for the 49ers for illegal formation.

6:32 p.m. ET: Kaepernick connects with Vernon Davis for a gain of 20, but a flag is down.

6:31 p.m. ET: Here we go – 49ers start the first drive at the 20-yard line.

6:28 p.m. ET: Ravens chose heads, and elected to defer their choice until the second half. 49ers to receive at kickoff.

6:27 p.m. ET: Newest members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame join the team captains for the coin toss.

6:22 p.m. ET: Alicia Keys performs the Star Spangled Banner, wearing a red dress and playing a white piano at the 50-yard line.

6:21 p.m. ET: Joint Armed Forces Color Guard present the flags.

6:20 p.m. ET: Hudson wearing a green ribbon in honor of the victims of the Sandy Hook school shooting while performing with the students.

Jamie Squire/Getty Images

6:19 p.m. ET: In a touching performance, Sandy Hook Elementary School students perform “America the Beautiful,” with Jennifer Hudson.

6:18 p.m. ET: Jason Witten wins the 2012 Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award.

6:12 p.m. ET: And out come the 49ers.

6:11 p.m. ET: The Ravens players are introduced in the stadium to a raucous crowd.

6:09 p.m. ET: And another historic first tonight – the two head coaches are brothers, born just 15 months apart. John Harbaugh, 50, is in his fifth season as the Baltimore Ravens head coach, and has won playoff games in each of his previous seasons. Jim Harbaugh, 49, is in his second season as head coach of the San Francisco 49ers, leading his team to the playoffs both seasons.

6:05 p.m. ET: The San Francisco 49ers are going for their 6th Lombardi trophy, which would tie them for the most championships ever with the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Baltimore Ravens are trying for their second Super Bowl victory. Neither team has ever lost a Super Bowl game – and at the end of the night, there will only be one team left in the NFL to have never lost a Super Bowl game.

6:00 p.m. ET: It’s here – the biggest spectacle in American sports, the Super Bowl. We’ll be covering the game, performances and, of course, the commercials right here.

It’s been an incredible season so far, and everything has led up to tonight’s game in New Orleans, where the NFC Champion San Francisco 49ers face the AFC Champion Baltimore Ravens in Super Bowl XLVII. Keep refreshing for the latest updates throughout what promises to be a great game.

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Iran hedges on nuclear talks with six powers or U.S.

MUNICH (Reuters) - Iran said on Sunday it was open to a U.S. offer of direct talks on its nuclear program and that six world powers had suggested a new round of nuclear negotiations this month, but without committing itself to either proposal.

Diplomatic efforts to resolve a dispute over Iran's nuclear program, which Tehran says is peaceful but the West suspects is intended to give Iran the capability to build a nuclear bomb, have been all but deadlocked for years, while Iran has continued to announce advances in the program.

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said a suggestion on Saturday by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden that Washington was ready for direct talks with Iran if Tehran was serious about negotiations was a "step forward".

"We take these statements with positive consideration. I think this is a step forward but ... each time we have come and negotiated it was the other side unfortunately who did not heed ... its commitment," Salehi said at the Munich Security Conference where Biden made his overture a day earlier.

He also complained to Iran's English-language Press TV of "other contradictory signals", pointing to the rhetoric of "keeping all options on the table" used by U.S. officials to indicate they are willing to use force to keep Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

"This does not go along with this gesture (of talks) so we will have to wait a little bit longer and see if they are really faithful this time," Salehi said.

Iran is under a tightening web of sanctions. Israel has also hinted it may strike if diplomacy and international sanctions fail to curb Iran's nuclear drive.

In Washington, Army General Martin Dempsey, the top U.S. military officer, said in an interview broadcast on Sunday that the United States has the capability to stop any Iranian effort to build nuclear weapons, but Iranian "intentions have to be influenced through other means."

Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, made his comments on NBC's program "Meet the Press," speaking alongside outgoing Defense Secretary Leon Panetta.

Panetta said current U.S. intelligence indicated that Iranian leaders have not made a decision to proceed with the development of a nuclear weapon.

"But every indication is they want to continue to increase their nuclear capability," he said. "And that's a concern. And that's what we're asking them to stop doing."

The new U.S. secretary of state, John Kerry, has said he will give diplomacy every chance of solving the Iran standoff.

THE BEST CHANCE

With six-power talks making little progress, some experts say talks between Tehran and Washington could be the best chance, perhaps after Iran has elected a new president in June.

Negotiations between Iran and the six powers - Russia, China, the United States, Britain, France and Germany - have been deadlocked since a meeting last June.

EU officials have accused Iran of dragging its feet in weeks of haggling over the date and venue for new talks.

Salehi said he had "good news", having heard that the six powers would meet in Kazakhstan on February 25.

A spokesman for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, who coordinates the efforts of the six powers, confirmed that she had proposed talks in the week of February 25 but noted that Iran had not yet accepted.

Kazakhstan said it was ready to host the talks in either Astana or Almaty.

Salehi said Iran had "never pulled back" from the stuttering negotiations with the six powers. "We still are very hopeful. There are two packages, one package from Iran with five steps and the other package from the (six powers) with three steps."

Iran raised international concern last week by announcing plans to install and operate advanced uranium enrichment machines. The EU said the move, potentially shortening the path to weapons-grade material, could deepen doubts about the peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear program.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that Israel's mission to stop its arch-enemy from acquiring nuclear weapons was "becoming more complex, since the Iranians are equipping themselves with cutting-edge centrifuges that shorten the time of (uranium) enrichment".

"We must not accept this process," said Netanyahu, who is trying to form a new government after winning an election last month. Israel is generally believed to be the only country in the Middle East with nuclear weapons.

(Additional reporting by Myra MacDonald and Stephen Brown in Munich, Dmitry Solovyov in Almaty, Yeganeh Torbati in Dubai and Jim Wolf in Washington; Editing by Kevin Liffey and Will Dunham)

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Beyonce brings out Destiny's Child for Super Bowl thrill

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana: Pop diva Beyonce thrilled the Super Bowl crowd Sunday with a pyrotechnic half-time spectacular that doubled as a much-anticipated Destiny's Child reunion.

Fireworks burst into the sky from the Superdome field just vacated by the game-leading Baltimore Ravens and lagging San Franciso 49s as the 31-year-old chart-topper took the stage with "Crazy in Love".

Blowing a kiss to the live television camera after her opening number, she looked relieved to get the much-hyped, 15-minute show underway, but the real treat came when Destiny's Child bandmates Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams joined her on stage.

They appeared in matching Rubin Singer black leather warrior-woman bodysuits and dizzying stilettos as did an ever-growing, all-female army of dancers, with musicians cast off on the sidelines.

"Bootylicious", "Halo", and "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" rounded out the greatest-hits performance with a sci-fi edge that set it apart from Madonna's hyperactive Super Bowl half-time effort last year.

"Thank you for this moment," a beaming Beyonce told the cheering crowd at the conclusion, "God bless you all."

Beyonce had promised to sing live at the Super Bowl, acknowledging that she had sung over a pre-recorded version of "The Star-Spangled Banner" at President Barack Obama's second-term inauguration on January 21.

Singing the pre-game national anthem Sunday was Alicia Keys, performing solo at a grand piano, after Jennifer Hudson and the Sandy Hook Elementary School choir from Newtown, Connecticut sang "America the Beautiful".

The school was the scene of one of the worst mass murders in US history in December when a lone young gunman cut down 20 pupils and six teachers before taking his own life. He had earlier killed his mother at their home.

-AFP/fl

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Super Bowl play stopped for 34 minutes as Superdome lost power

The Superdome after a sudden power outage in the second half during Super Bowl XLVII.

(Credit:
Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

As the second half got underway at the Super Bowl, old-fashioned technology got in the way of play. Power at the Superdome reportedly surged, knocking out a majority of lights as well as CBS' play-by-play announcers. According to Entergy, which supplies the power to the Superdome, the issue is on the "customer's side."

An outside power feed coming to the stadium got disrupted according to NFL officials, said CBS's announcer on the sidelines Steve Tasker. Play-by-play announcers Jim Nance and Phil Simms were off the air for more than 30 minutes. Power was restored and play resumed after a 34-minute delay.

The Twitter football fans watching the game had some fun while waiting for the game to resume:

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Bus hits overpass in Boston, injuring passengers

In this photo released by the Boston Fire Department via Twitter, firemen work to remove injured passengers from a bus that hit an bridge as it traveled along Soldiers Field Road in the Allston neighborhood of Boston Saturday night, Feb. 2, 2013. / AP Photo/Boston Fire Department

Updated 9:33 PM ET

BOSTON A charter bus full of passengers struck a bridge in Boston on Saturday night, injuring several people, authorities said.

The bus carrying 42 people was coming from Harvard University and was heading back to Pennsylvania when it struck an overpass in the Allston neighborhood shortly before 8 p.m., according to the Boston Fire Department.

Massachusetts State Police said several people aboard the bus were injured, though it had no immediate details on the nature of the injuries.

State Police said the Calvary Coach Bus out of Philadelphia was too high for the roadway. A spokesman for the bus company said he had no immediate information on the crash.

Photos posted on the Fire Department's website showed firefighters extracting people from the bus.

The accident happened on Soldiers Field Road, a major crosstown roadway in Boston that curves along the Charles River and passes by Harvard and Boston University. It is a major roadway to the Massachusetts Turnpike

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Body of Missing Mom Reportedly Found in Turkey

The body of an American woman who went missing while on a solo trip to Turkey has been pulled from a bay in Istanbul, and nine people have been held for questioning, according to local media.

Sarai Sierra, 33, was last heard from on Jan. 21, the day she was due to board a flight home to New York City.

The state-run Andolu Agency reported that residents found a woman's body today near the ruins of some ancient city walls in a low-income district, and police identified the body as Sierra.

Rep. Michael Grimm, R-NY, who with his staff had been assisting the Sierra family in the search, said he was "deeply saddened" to hear the news of her death.

"I urge Turkish officials to move quickly to identify whomever is responsible for her tragic death and ensure that any guilty parties are punished to the fullest extent of the law," he said in a statement.

Courtesy Sarai Sierra's family

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The New York City mother, who has two young boys, traveled to Turkey alone on Jan. 7 after a friend had to cancel. Sierra, who is an avid photographer with a popular Instagram stream, planned to document her dream vacation with her camera.

"It was her first time outside of the United States, and every day while she was there she pretty much kept in contact with us, letting us know what she was up to, where she was going, whether it be through texting or whether it be through video chat, she was touching base with us," Steven Sierra told ABC News before he departed for Istanbul last Sunday to aid in the search.

Steven Sierra has been in the country, meeting with U.S. officials and local authorities, as they searched for his wife.

On Friday, Turkish authorities detained a man who had spoken with Sierra online before her disappearance. The identity of the man and the details of his arrest were not disclosed, The Associated Press reported.

The family said it is completely out of character for the happily married mother, who met her husband in church youth group, to disappear.

She took two side trips, to Amsterdam and Munich, before returning to Turkey, but kept in contact with her family the entire time, a family friend told ABC News.

Further investigation revealed she had left her passport, clothes, phone chargers and medical cards in her room at a hostel in Beyoglu, Turkey.

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Turkey says tests confirm leftist bombed U.S. embassy

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - A member of a Turkish leftist group that accuses Washington of using Turkey as its "slave" carried out a suicide bomb attack on the U.S. embassy, the Ankara governor's office cited DNA tests as showing on Saturday.

Ecevit Sanli, a member of the leftist Revolutionary People's Liberation Army-Front (DHKP-C), blew himself up in a perimeter gatehouse on Friday as he tried to enter the embassy, also killing a Turkish security guard.

The DHKP-C, virulently anti-American and listed as a terrorist organization by the United States and Turkey, claimed responsibility in a statement on the internet in which it said Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan was a U.S. "puppet".

"Murderer America! You will not run away from people's rage," the statement on "The People's Cry" website said, next to a picture of Sanli wearing a black beret and military-style clothes and with an explosives belt around his waist.

It warned Erdogan that he too was a target.

Turkey is an important U.S. ally in the Middle East with common interests ranging from energy security to counter-terrorism. Leftist groups including the DHKP-C strongly oppose what they see as imperialist U.S. influence over their nation.

DNA tests confirmed that Sanli was the bomber, the Ankara governor's office said. It said he had fled Turkey a decade ago and was wanted by the authorities.

Born in 1973 in the Black Sea port city of Ordu, Sanli was jailed in 1997 for attacks on a police station and a military staff college in Istanbul, but his sentence was deferred after he fell sick during a hunger strike. He was never re-jailed.

Condemned to life in prison in 2002, he fled the country a year later, officials said. Interior Minister Muammer Guler said he had re-entered Turkey using false documents.

Erdogan, who said hours after the attack that the DHKP-C were responsible, met his interior and foreign ministers as well as the head of the army and state security service in Istanbul on Saturday to discuss the bombing.

Three people were detained in Istanbul and Ankara in connection with the attack, state broadcaster TRT said.

The White House condemned the bombing as an "act of terror", while the U.N. Security Council described it as a heinous act. U.S. officials said on Friday the DHKP-C were the main suspects but did not exclude other possibilities.

Islamist radicals, extreme left-wing groups, ultra-nationalists and Kurdish militants have all carried out attacks in Turkey in the past.

SYRIA

The DHKP-C statement called on Washington to remove Patriot missiles, due to go operational on Monday as part of a NATO defense system, from Turkish soil.

The missiles are being deployed alongside systems from Germany and the Netherlands to guard Turkey, a NATO member, against a spillover of the war in neighboring Syria.

"Our action is for the independence of our country, which has become a new slave of America," the statement said.

Turkey has been one of the leading advocates of foreign intervention to end the civil war in Syria and has become one of President Bashar al-Assad's harshest critics, a stance groups such as the DHKP-C view as submission to an imperialist agenda.

"Organizations of the sectarian sort like the DHKP-C have been gaining ground as a result of circumstances surrounding the Syrian civil war," security analyst Nihat Ali Ozcan wrote in a column in Turkey's Daily News.

The Ankara attack was the second on a U.S. mission in four months. On September 11, 2012, U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three American personnel were killed in an Islamist militant attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya.

The DHKP-C was responsible for the assassination of two U.S. military contractors in the early 1990s in protest against the first Gulf War, and it fired rockets at the U.S. consulate in Istanbul in 1992, according to the U.S. State Department.

It has been blamed for previous suicide attacks, including one in 2001 that killed two police officers and a tourist in Istanbul's central Taksim Square. It has carried out a series of deadly attacks on police stations in the last six months.

Friday's attack may have come in retaliation for an operation against the DHKP-C last month in which Turkish police detained 85 people. A court subsequently remanded 38 of them in custody over links to the group.

(Writing by Nick Tattersall; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

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Three injured as plane veers off Rome runway

ROME: A Romanian plane carrying 50 passengers veered off the runway while landing at Rome's Fiumicino airport on Saturday, injuring three people who were rushed to hospital, authorities said.

The ATR 72 turboprop plane of the Romanian airline Carpatair arriving from Pisa finished up at an angle on grass with its landing gear damaged, emergency services and airport officials said.

One of the three people hospitalised, a Romanian flight crew member, was said to have suffered spinal injuries but his condition was not life-threatening.

Another of those hurt had pelvic injuries.

Investigators were attempting to establish the cause of the accident, with bad weather -- winds and rain may have made the landing difficult -- or pilot error suspected.

A passenger on the plane told Ansa that the plane had touched down twice. "The second time the landing gear was bent out of shape and we ended up off the runway."

He described scenes of panic and screaming.

The Rome airport remained open though one of its runways was closed.

According to Italian media, several recent incidents have shed an unfavourable light on the partnership between Alitalia and Carpatair.

The Carpatair plane involved in Saturday's accident was carrying out an Alitalia flight.

In a statement Alitalia said that "strong winds" had forced the plane off the runway and announced the suspension of all its flights operated by Carpatair from Pisa and Bologna.

Last month, a Carpatair flight between Ancona and Rome made an emergency landing soon after take-off.

Earlier in January, another of the Romanian company's planes was forced to make a U-turn following cabin pressure problems which obliged passengers to use oxygen masks.

On January 10 the company issued a statement, denying any reliability problems and denouncing a "media campaign" against it fuelled by "Italian trade unions and pilots" unhappy with Carpatair's partnership with Alitalia.

Carpatair signed the flight-sharing deal with Alitalia last September.

-AFP/ac

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For Valentine's Day, Cupid ditches arrows, opts for e-cards

Admit it. You've always wanted to love like John Travolta.

(Credit:
Screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET)

Romance isn't dead.

It's merely been reduced to the level of a friend request, a poke, and a privacy control.

Often in that order.

How else can one interpret the staggeringly predictable research -- performed on behalf of SOASTA, the oddly named company that performs cloud and mobile testing -- that suggests more than a third of American human beings will send an e-card for Valentine's Day?

It's true that some e-cards can be amusing, uplifting, even offering an instant surprise on an otherwise moribund day. But can they truly incite a loving feeling on America's most commercially amorous day of the year?

You will be stunned into loving only yourself for the rest of your days when I tell you that -- of the 2,474 American adults surveyed -- men seem a little keener on Valentine e-cards than women.

Indeed, this research offered that 47 percent of men between the ages of 35 and 44 indicated that the love of their life deserved merely a few clicks and a canned expression of love.

Next in enthusiasm were men aged 18-34, 41 percent of whom will let their fingers do the loving.

But let's not besmirch these men any more than they deserve. 41 percent of women aged 18-34 also claimed that e-cards were their chosen method to stroke their chosen one.

Clearly, convenience is at the heart of this e-card enthusiasm, just as it is at the heart of modern romance.

Respondents were radiant at the idea that e-cards are free. 35 percent beamed at the fact that they offer the possibility of animation. And a deeply serious 34 percent felt the need to point out they were environmentally friendly.

A surprisingly paltry 6 percent admitted that they loved e-cards because you could happily include NSFW content.

More Technically Incorrect

Because ours is an acquisitive society, those who send these free, convenient things to express their temporarily undying love actually expect something in return.

A kiss is expected by 8 percent. A fulsome 10 percent expect sex. They must be among those who believe you can get something for nothing.

There will be those who reach for their Latin and mutter: "Sic transit tragoedia mundi." (Oh, look it up, e-carders.)

But when a whole new personal version of oneself is being created and spun online, who can be surprised that other expressions of love might seem not merely passe but also downright unexpressive?

E-cards surely allow you a far greater breadth than paper cards or balloons to display precisely what you really feel about the most important person in your life.

Which, in the case of 3 percent of the respondents in this moving survey, is "the hot receptionist at work."

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