Stars converged on the Super Bowl both on and off the field, with celebrities including Britney Spears and Mark Wahlberg among the spectators and an elaborate half-time show by Katy Perry.

What if there was no right answer and all you had to work with were the least imperfect options, followed by a couple of wrong answers?

To mark the end of the elections, Dave Kenny picks the top 10 political gaffes of all time

In 2008, just before his 90th birthday, the United States gave Nelson Mandela a special present, striking him from a decades-old terror watch list and ending what US officials called “a rather embarrassing matter”.

FASHION and feminism traditionally have little in common.

President Barack Obama has aimed to be both visible and cautious in his response, declaring the attack an “act of terror” while warning the nation against jumping to conclusions.

Compared to the discomfort he experienced a year ago, Augusta National chairman Billy Payne looked a picture of relaxation as he answered questions from the media this week following his annual State of the Masters address.

More players will make the halfway cut in the Masters this year after Augusta National chairman Billy Payne announced changes to the system used for 50 years.

The Hillary Effect on women’s rights has spread across the globe. But will it last without her at the helm, asks Kathleen Parker

South Africa’s Richard Sterne and Trevor Fisher Jnr are tied for the lead at the halfway stage of the Joburg Open, three shots clear of the chasing pack.

Susana Trimarco’s quest to find her kidnapped daughter has uncovered the dark underbelly of Argentina’s sex trade. Scott Johnson reports

Arnold Schwarzenegger says his wife Maria Shriver was criticised by her mother for trying to persuade him against running for California governor in 2003 – a confrontation that ultimately opened the door to his successful candidacy.

From celeb-filled fundraisers in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village to state dinners at the White House, rumours of political aspirations for the Vogue editrix are flying around town.

Paul Ryan, a hero to conservatives and lightning rod for Democrats, accepted the Republican nomination as Mitt Romney's vice presidential running mate today, saying the moment for President Barack Obama's Democrats "came and went".

Augusta National’s decision to have women members for the first time inevitably means the spotlight will fall even more now on the Royal and Ancient Club, golf’s ruling body for most of the world.

For the first time in its 80-year history, Augusta National Golf Club has female members.

Genetically modified crops are important for all Irish farmers — but maybe not for the obvious reasons.

With Mitt Romney now all but assured of winning the Republican nomination, he embarks on one of his critical quests of the campaign: finding a running mate who can help him defeat President Barack Obama.

A memo released on harsh interrogation techniques shows that a former USState Department official strongly dissented from the George W Bush administration’s secret legal view in 2005 that an international treaty against torture did not apply to CIA interrogations in foreign countries.

IMF director Christine Lagarde arrived at last month’s World Economic Forum on a mission.

SATURDAY

During nearly 42 years in power in Libya, Muammar Gaddafi was one of the world’s most eccentric dictators.

DEATH or prison is the only fate that awaits any Irish youth who joins a gang, former gangsters warned yesterday.

Former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has toured an aid and donation centre in an area of her home city that was heavily damaged by tornadoes.

Former US defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld said his biggest mistake during his six years in the Pentagon was not resigning after shocking photos of the treatment of Iraqi inmates by American soldiers at Baghdad’s Abu Ghraib prison were published.

FOR the third straight year, President Barack Obama ranks as the man most admired by people living in the US, according to an annual USA Today-Gallup poll.

ARAB rulers secretly lobbied America to launch air strikes to destroy Iran’s nuclear programme according to leaked US diplomatic cables, it was reported last night.

Arab rulers secretly lobbied America to launch air strikes to destroy Iran’s nuclear programme according to leaked US diplomatic cables, it was reported tonight.

Former US president George Bush and ex-British Prime Minister Tony Blair joined Nigeria’s elite at a ceremony honouring its political and business establishment, but one winner’s absence highlighted the endemic corruption and other problems plaguing the oil-rich nation.

A WIDE-RANGING inquiry into British involvement in the Iraq war began yesterday, aiming to throw light on former prime minister Tony Blair’s case for invasion but risking embarrassment for the current government.

British officials secretly discussed the prospects for "regime change" in Iraq in late 2001 - more than a year before the invasion - the official inquiry into the war was told today.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton promised personal involvement in stalled Middle East peace efforts today as she criticised Israel’s demolition of Palestinian homes in Jerusalem.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is using her second overseas trip to assess Mideast peace prospects, reconnect with European allies and remind her Russian counterpart that US efforts to rebuild relations with Moscow have their limits.

Palestinian militants fired a volley of rockets into Israel today threatening to reignite violence just hours after a ceasefire had been called.

Capping four years as the Bush administration’s top diplomat, a teary-eyed Condoleezza Rice bade a spirited farewell tonight to an assembly of several hundred State Department employees.

Israel said today it will not stop its offensive in the Gaza Strip despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire.

The United Nations Security Council approved a resolution today, calling for an immediate and durable ceasefire between Hamas militants and Israeli forces fighting in the Gaza Strip.

Egypt was preparing to meet representatives of Israel, Hamas and the Palestinian Authority today in an attempt to halt the fighting in Gaza.

Israeli warplanes and gunboats blasted more than two dozen Hamas positions today, targeting weapons storage facilities, training centres and homes of leaders as its offensive against Gaza’s Islamic militant rulers entered a second week.

Israel assassinated a Hamas strongman today by dropping a one-ton bomb on his house, also killing two of his wives and four of his children.

Israel defied mounting international pressure for a ceasefire and continued its devastating air attacks on Gaza today.

Hundreds of people today returned to the Israeli Embassy in London to protest at the country’s bombardment of opponents in Gaza.

US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice hailed the election of Barack Obama as the first African-American president as a key moment in history.

The two most influential women in President George Bush’s White House launched a fierce defence of the president’s legacy against critics calling his administration one of the worst in history.