1. RAVENS WITHSTAND 49ERS COMEBACK TO WIN SUPER BOWL
The Baltimore Ravens held off a late surge by the San Francisco 49ers to narrowly win the Super Bowl, by a score of 34-31, in New Orleans on Sunday. The 49ers fought back from a 22-point deficit, but the Ravens stopped their comeback with a goal-line stand. The victory capped the end of a 17-year pro football career for Ray Lewis, the Ravens' star linebacker, and gave the team's coach, John Harbaugh, an emotional win over his brother, Jim, coach of the 49ers. "It wasn't pretty, it wasn't perfect, but it was us," John Harbaugh said. Hundreds of elated fans poured into the streets of Baltimore after the game to celebrate. [Baltimore Sun, CBS News]
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2. EX-MARINE CHARGED WITH MURDER OF NAVY SEAL SNIPER
Authorities said Sunday that ex-Marine Eddie Ray Routh was charged with murder in the shooting death of former Navy SEAL sniper and Iraq War veteran Chris Kyle and another man, Chad Littlefield, at a shooting range 70 miles southwest of Fort Worth. Routh was reportedly an acquaintance who had accompanied the victims to the gun range. Police say the three were at the range when Routh allegedly turned a gun on the other two and then fled in his truck. He is charged with one count of capital murder and two counts of murder. [Wall Street Journal]
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3. OBAMA SAYS BOY SCOUTS SHOULD END BAN ON GAYS
President Obama said Sunday that the Boy Scouts of America should end its ban on gays. The organization's national board, which last year reaffirmed the prohibition, is expected to vote this week on whether to reverse its policy, and allow local groups to decide themselves whether to admit gay scouts, volunteers, and staff. "My attitude is that gays and lesbians should have access and opportunity the same way everybody else does in every institution and walk of life," Obama said in a CBS News pre-Super Bowl interview. Texas Gov. Rick Perry said he hoped the Boy Scouts would preserve its "historic position," which he said helped preserve the values the organization stands for. [Washington Post]
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4. TOUR BUS CRASH KILLS EIGHT
At least eight people were killed and dozens injured on Sunday when a tour bus from Mexico crashed in the Southern California mountains. The bus apparently rear-ended a sedan, collided with a pickup truck pulling a trailer, and rolled over. Rescuers had trouble reaching the scene due to the rough terrain and narrow, snaking roadway. It took time to extricate some of the victims, and Highway Patrol officers said they expected the death toll to rise. [CNN]
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5. FOXCONN PLANS LABOR UNION VOTE
Foxconn, the Chinese electronics manufacturer whose biggest customer is Apple, will be holding its first "genuinely representative" labor union elections. This would be the first such exercise at a large Chinese company, where labor unions have typically been controlled by management and local government. Foxconn is the country's largest private sector employer with 1.2 million mainland workers. Since a wave of worker suicides at the company's Chinese plants in 2009 and 2010, Foxconn's treatment of its employees has attracted intense scrutiny. [Financial Times]
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6. OBAMA TO PUSH GUN-CONTROL MEASURES IN MINNEAPOLIS
President Obama will speak in Minneapolis on Monday to tout his plan to overhaul the nation's gun laws. The president's choice of Minneapolis is significant because the city has been successful in reducing gun violence and shedding its moniker of "Murder-apolis," the ugly nickname it was tagged with during the worst days of the crack and gang wars of the 1990s. Obama's visit comes as Minnesota's state legislature begins debate this week on a slew of proposals to change gun regulations, including bills calling for a statewide ban on assault weapons and a limit on the size of ammunition clips, proposals that mirror what Obama wants to do on a federal level. [Associated Press]
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7. U.S., SOUTH KOREA BEGIN NAVAL DRILLS AMID TENSION
The U.S. and South Korea began three days of naval exercises on Monday in what is seen as a show of force against North Korea. The drills, including a U.S. submarine, come after North Korea said it was planning a third test of a nuclear device. Both the U.S. and South Korea say the North will suffer "significant consequences" if it goes ahead with an underground explosion. Pyongyang says the joint naval drills, taking place off the east coast of the Korean peninsula, are "war-mongering." U.S. and South Korean officials say the exercises were planned before the latest tensions with North Korea. [BBC]
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8. IRAN SAYS ISRAEL WILL REGRET AIRSTRIKE
On Monday, Saeed Jalili, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, told a news conference in Damascus that Israel will regret its airstrike against Syria last week. Jalili likened Israel's attack on a military compound northwest of Damascus last Wednesday to previous conflicts, including its 34-day war with Lebanon's Shiite militant group Hezbollah in 2006, battles that he said Israel had lived to regret. But Iran did not indicate whether it planned any response for the latest aggression from Israel. Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Sunday the attack showed Israel is serious about preventing the flow of heavy weapons into Lebanon. [Reuters]
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9. EXHUMED BONES IN BRITAIN ARE THOSE OF KING RICHARD III
British researchers announced Monday that they had proven "beyond reasonable doubt" that bones found beneath a Leicester parking lot were those of King Richard III, who was king of England from 1483 to 1485. The remains were found in the ruins of an ancient priory where historians long believed that Richard III had been buried following his death in the Battle of Bosworth, which ended a brief and violent reign. The skeleton had an arrowhead in its back, along with other signs of battle wounds, and showed spinal curvature matching contemporary descriptions of the long reviled monarch's appearance. DNA tests helped confirm, lead archaeologist Richard Buckley said, that the person exhumed was "indeed Richard III." [New York Times]
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10. BEYONCE'S SUPER BOWL HALFTIME SHOW ECLIPSES LIP SYNC SETBACK
Pop star Beyonce moved past the mini-scandal of her lip-syncing the national anthem at President Obama's January inauguration, delivering a memorable headline performance during the Super Bowl halftime show Sunday night. Wearing a revealing leather jacket and miniskirt, Beyonce strutted across the stage at New Orleans' Mercedes-Benz Superdome alongside Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams, the other members of her former girl group Destiny's Child, for the trio's first public performance since 2006. The trio sang three songs, including Beyonce's hit "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)," in a performance aiming to energize Beyonce's comeback following the birth of her first child with rapper and husband Jay-Z in January 2012. [New York Times]
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