Washington - US President Barack Obama on Friday created a new bipartisan advisory board to develop solutions to the country's economic crisis as he warned lawmakers that immediate action was critical to pulling the US out of a serious recession.

The 17-member board, led by former Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker, includes conservative and left-leaning economists from academia, labour unions and business.

"This is just the beginning of a long journey back to progress and prosperity," Obama said in prepared remarks released by the White House.

Munich  - Tanks, guns and nuclear warheads were set to top the agenda Friday as world leaders headed to the German city of Munich to attend the city's prestigious annual security conference.

Diplomats including German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Russian Deputy Premier Sergey Ivanov and Iran's speaker of parliament, Ali Larijani, were set to debate Iran's nuclear programme, Russia's withdrawal from a key arms-control treaty and the future for nuclear-arms talks between Russia and the United States.

The conference comes just two weeks after the inauguration of US President Barack Obama raised hopes that the US would be willing to hold talks with both Moscow and Tehran on disarmament issues.

Washington - The US economy shed 598,000 jobs in January, the worst monthly loss since 1974 and a sign that the country's recession is worsening, the Labour Department said Friday.

The unemployment rate climbed to 7.6 per cent, the highest level since 1992, from 7.2 per cent in December, when companies cut 577,000 jobs. Economists had expected a rise in the jobless rate to 7.5 per cent.

About 3.6 million jobs have been shed since the start of the US recession in December 2007, the Labour Department said.

Washington - The US economy shed 598,000 jobs in January, making it the second worst

New York, Feb 6 : American singer Etta James has revealed that she was only joking when she said that she cannot stand Beyoncé and also when she made fun of President Barack Obama's ears at a concert in Seattle.

James said she meant no harm when she poked fun at the President and spoke ill of Beyoncé's performance of her song "At Last" during the inauguration.

"I didn''t really mean anything," the New York Daily News quoted James as saying.

"Even as a little child, I''ve always had that comedian kind of attitude. ... That''s probably what went into it," she said.

Washington, February 6 : Claustrophobic actress Dame