Super Rally: Mahomes, Chiefs win Super Bowl with late surge

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Uncomfortable and under duress for much of the game, Patrick Mahomes suddenly recaptured his mojo and lifted Andy Reid and the Chiefs to a Super Bowl victory, the team's first NFL championship in a half-century.

All it took was falling behind by double digits in the post-season again. Then Mahomes, selected MVP, hit two long passes on touchdown drives for a 31-20 victory Sunday over the San Francisco 49ers.

"We never lost faith," Mahomes said. “That's the biggest thing. Everybody on this team, no one had their head down. We believed in each other. That's what we preached all year long.”

The vaunted 49ers defence wilted late, particularly on passes of 44 yards to Tyreek Hill and 38 to Sammy Watkins. The touchdowns came on short throws to Travis Kelce to cut the deficit to three and to Damien Williams for the lead. The first NFL title in Chiefs coach Reid's two-decade career was clinched by Williams' 38-yard TD run, sending red-clad Chiefs fan into chants of “Andy!" Andy!"

Reid, 61, won a Super Bowl ring with the 1996 Packers while in charge of tight ends. He's been seeking one as a head coach since being hired by Philadelphia in 1999. The Eagles lost in their only trip to the big game after the 2004 season.

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China finishes new hospital for virus patients as toll grows

BEIJING (AP) — China sent medical workers and equipment Monday to its just-completed 1,000-bed hospital for treating victims of a new virus that has caused 362 deaths and more than 17,300 infections at home and abroad.

Reopening of schools was also delayed to keep the virus from spreading further in hardest-hit central Hubei province, where the specialized hospital in the provincial capital Wuhan was completed in just 10 days. A second hospital with 1,500 beds is under construction. Restrictions were tightened still further in one city by allowing only one family member to venture out to buy supplies every other day.

Medical teams from the People's Liberation Army continued to arrive in Wuhan to relieve the city's overwhelmed health workers and to work at the new hospital, located in the countryside far from the city centre. Footage shown by state broadcaster CCTV showed prefabricated wards equipped with state-of-the-art medical equipment and ventilation systems.

Leading Chinese epidemiologist Zhong Nanshan said additional hospital space was crucial to stopping the spread of new infections.

“The lack of hospital rooms forced sick people to return home, which is extremely dangerous. So having additional (beds) available is a great improvement,” Zhong told CCTV's 24-hour news channel.

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In Iowa, anxiety and unpredictability cloud caucus finish

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — On the eve of the Iowa caucuses, Democratic presidential candidates hustled across the state on Sunday trying to fire up voters and make one last appeal to those struggling to reach a final decision about their choice in the crowded field.

Campaigns and voters acknowledged a palpable sense of unpredictability and anxiety as Democrats begin choosing which candidate to send on to a November face-off with President Donald Trump.

The Democratic race is unusually large and jumbled heading into Monday’s caucus, with four candidates locked in a fight for victory in Iowa and others still in position to pull off surprisingly strong finishes. Many voters say they're still weighing which White House hopeful they'll support.

“This is going to go right down to the last second,” said Symone Sanders, a senior adviser to former Vice-President Joe Biden campaign.

Polls show Biden in a tight race in Iowa with Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, as well as former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg. Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar and entrepreneur Andrew Yang are also competing aggressively in the state.

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Man wearing fake bomb stabs 2 in London and is shot to death

LONDON (AP) — A man recently released from prison after serving time for terrorism-related offences strapped on a fake bomb and stabbed two people on a busy London street Sunday before being shot to death by police, officials said.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Lucy D’Orsi said police identified the attacker as 20-year-old Sudesh Amman. He had been convicted for publishing graphic terrorist videos online and had stockpiled instructions on bomb making and knife attacks, according to police.

Officers had been trailing Amman at the time of Sunday's attack, D'Orsi said, but were unable to head off the bloodshed in the commercial and residential south London neighbourhood of Streatham, where Amman struck outside a major pharmacy on a busy shopping afternoon.

The incident in London recalled a November stabbing attack carried out by another man who had served prison time for terrorism offence. Two were killed in that attack.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said measures will be introduced Monday to bring “fundamental” change to the way people convicted of terrorism offences are handled in prison and afterward.

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Shanghai Composite index plunges 8.7% as market reopens

BANGKOK (AP) — China's Shanghai Composite index plunged 8.7% but then rebounded slightly as regulators moved to steady markets that reopened Monday from a prolonged national holiday amid news the outbreak of a deadly virus has spread further.

Other Asian markets also fell sharply, with Taiwan's benchmark initially down 2.8%. The declines followed a day of bloodletting Friday on Wall Street.

After nosediving on the open, the Shanghai Composite was down 7.7% at 2,747.13, likely reflecting action by the central bank, which on Sunday announced it was injecting 1.2 trillion yuan ($173 billion) into the markets to ensure there would be enough liquidity.

Chinese authorities reported Monday that the number of people infected by the virus first found in Wuhan has risen above 17,000 as of Sunday night. The virus has killed more than 360 people, all but one in China.

While shares in many sectors fell, prices for some pharmaceutical companies hit their 10% upside limit in early trading. Shandong Lukang Pharmaceutical, Jiangsu Sihuan Bioengineering and Harbin Pharmaceutical Group Co. were among the limit-up companies. Major conglomerate New Hope Group plunged to the 10% downside limit, as did Dongfang Electric Co.

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Impeachment trial heads to historic end in frenetic week

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's impeachment trial heads toward a historic conclusion this week, with senators all-but-certain to acquit him on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress after narrowly rejecting Democratic demands to summon witnesses.

There’s still plenty of drama to unfold before Wednesday's vote.

The vote is expected to cap a months-long investigation spurred by a whistleblower complaint that Trump improperly withheld U.S. military aid from Ukraine in a bid to pressure it to launch investigations into 2020 Democratic rival Joe Biden.

In the Senate, Republicans hold a 53-47 advantage and there’s nowhere near the two-thirds needed for conviction and removal. On Friday, Republicans blocked consideration of new witnesses and documents, setting up the speedy acquittal vote for the coming week.

It will be a frenetic next few days.

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The best and worst of Super Bowl ads

NEW YORK (AP) — During advertising's biggest night, Super Bowl Sunday, marketers battled it out to bolster their brands and promote new products. Advertisers paid up to $5.6 million for 30 seconds, and almost 100 million people tune into the big game.

This year, Hyundai and Jeep scored with whimsical humour by poking fun at Boston accents and reuniting the “Groundhog Day” cast, Punxsutawney Phil included. Google struck heartstrings with a quiet message about aging and remembrance. Cheetos and Doritos both played off exaggerated dancing to good effect.

But Pop Tarts and a Hard Rock action-movie commercial failed to connect with viewers.

BEST

HYUNDAI

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The critical fight inside Democrats' establishment primary

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Within the Democrats' sprawling presidential contest is a smaller, yet critical competition among a handful of candidates jockeying to secure the backing of their party's establishment wing.

The first answers come Monday in the Iowa caucuses when voters begin sorting out the fight between progressive candidates, who are arguing for revolutionary change, and more moderate contenders, who many in the party believe have the better chance to defeat President Donald Trump in November.

Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar have been making the case in Iowa that they can assemble a broader coalition of voters in states essential to denying Trump's reelection. Waiting for them on the Super Tuesday primaries in March is Mike Bloomberg, an ideologically similar candidate who is skipping the early contests as he spends hundreds of millions of dollars in larger states.

Their candidacies are rooted in the idea of electability, and a belief that Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren are proposing ideas that excite core Democratic voters with sweeping, expensive calls for structural change but would fall well short of winning an electoral majority against the Republican incumbent.

Former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a leading establishment figure, believes Biden enters the caucuses as the moderate front-runner, even as McAuliffe acknowledges he has questioned whether the 77-year-old former vice-president can sustain his strength.

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Al-Qaida in Yemen claims deadly Florida naval base shooting

CAIRO (AP) — Al-Qaida's branch in Yemen claimed responsibility Sunday for last year's deadly shooting at the Naval Air Station Pensacola by an aviation student from Saudi Arabia.

The shooter, 2nd Lt. Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani, was a member of the Saudi Air Force in training at the base. He opened fire inside a classroom at the base on Dec. 6, killing three people and wounding two sheriff’s deputies before one of the deputies killed him. Eight others were also hurt.

Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP, released a video claiming the attack. SITE Intelligence Group, which tracks messaging by militant groups, reported the claim.

AQAP has long been considered the global network’s most dangerous branch and has attempted to carry out attacks on the U.S. mainland.

The 18-minute video did not provide evidence of training the shooter, but did indicate that Alshamrani and AQAP were in communication, said Rita Katz, director of SITE. It was not clear when the video was recorded.

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Lopez, Shakira in joyful, exuberant halftime show

NEW YORK (AP) — Seizing their opportunity to make a cultural statement, Jennifer Lopez and Shakira infused the Super Bowl halftime show with an exuberance and joy that celebrated their Latina heritage.

Their breathless athleticism matched that of the football players waiting in the locker room.

Shakira opened with, yes, a hip-shaking performance of “She Wolf” and a fast-moving medley that included bits of “She Wolf,” “Whenever, Wherever” and a snippet of Led Zeppelin's “Kashmir.” She managed a belly dance, some rope dancing and even backed into a crowd surf. Shakira ended her with her signature song, “Hips Don't Lie.”

Lopez, in a black leather outfit that her dancers matched, started with a nostalgic snippet of “Jenny From the Block.” She exhibited some startling pole-dancing moves, a reference to her much-celebrated turn in the movie “Hustlers.” At one point she bent into a deep squat while standing on the shoulders of a dancer that likely had muscles aching across the country in sympathy.

She tore through “Love Don't Cost a Thing,” “Get Right, ”On the Floor" and “Que Calor,” finding time to slip away from the black leather in to sparkling silver outfit that left little to the imagination.

News from © The Associated Press, 2020