10 things you need to know today: January 21, 2013

Early birds gather near the U.S. Capitol for Obama&#039;s second inauguration.

(Image credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

last updated 8 January 2015

1. OBAMA'S SECOND INAUGURATION KICKS OFF IN WASHINGTON

Thousands have descended on the nation's capital to witness President Obama's second inauguration. Obama was officially sworn in on Sunday in a private ceremony at the White House, but he will repeat the oath before the country around noon. Afterwards Obama will feast on steamed lobster, hickory grilled bison, and apple pie for the 57th inaugural luncheon, attended by roughly 200 people, including Cabinet members, Supreme Court justices, and high-ranking members of Congress. About 6,000 members of the National Guard are assisting with crowd management, and movement into the capital seems to be running smoothly. Obama is set to participate in the inaugural parade and later in the evening, two inaugural balls. [Washington Post]

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Algerian Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal is expected to give details on Monday about the siege of a gas field in the country by Islamist rebels, which left American, British, French, Japanese, Norwegian, Filipino, and Romanian workers dead or missing. A security source said on Sunday that Algerian troops had found the bodies of 25 hostages, raising the number of hostages killed to 48 and the total number of deaths to at least 80. He said six militants were captured alive and troops were still searching for others. Much of the details of how the attack was carried out remain unclear, but an Algerian newspaper said the attackers had arrived in cars painted in the colors of state energy company Sonatrach but registered in neighboring Libya, a country awash with arms since Moammar Gadhafi's fall in 2011. [Reuters]

India's Supreme Court has agreed to hear a plea requesting a change of venue for the trial for one of the six men accused in the brutal rape and murder of a woman last month in New Delhi. The lawyer for defendant Mukesh Singh says it would not be possible for his client to receive a fair hearing in the city where the Dec. 16 attack took place. It's unclear whether the overall proceedings will be delayed by the hearing that is to be held Tuesday. Five of the six men, including Singh, are set to face trial beginning Monday in a special fast-track court established to circumvent India's notoriously slow justice system. The sixth, who is under 18, will be tried in juvenile court. [Voice of America]

The San Francisco 49ers and Baltimore Ravens will meet in the Super Bowl on Feb. 3, as will the teams' coaches, Jim Harbaugh and John Harbaugh, who are brothers. The 49ers defeated the Atlanta Falcons 28-24 to win the NFC title on Sunday hours before the Ravens beat the New England Patriots 28-13, grabbing the AFC title. San Francisco and Baltimore will face off in New Orleans for the first brother-against-brother matchup in Super Bowl history. [ESPN]

Kim Dotcom, the internet tycoon who faces pirating and money-laundering charges in the U.S. stemming from his file-sharing site Megaupload, launched a new site on Sunday. In the first 14 hours of the site's operation, more than half a million people registered to use it. "This should not be seen as the mocking of any government or Hollywood," Dotcom, 39, who was arrested one year ago yesterday and awaits extradition from New Zealand, said at a news conference. "This is us being innovators and executing our right to run a business." American prosecutors declined to comment on the new site, referring only to a court document that cites promises Dotcom made while seeking bail, including one that he would not start a Megaupload-style business until the criminal case was resolved. [New York Times]

According to a study published by researchers at Imperial College London, introducing smoke-free laws in public places can lead to swift drops in the number of children admitted to the hospital for asthma attacks. The study found that there was a 12.3 percent fall in hospital admissions for childhood asthma in the first year after laws against smoking in enclosed public places and workplaces came into effect in England in July 2007. "The findings... should encourage countries where public smoking is permitted to consider introducing similar legislation," said Christopher Millett from Imperial's school of public health, who led the study. [Reuters]

After taking a controversial trip to North Korea earlier this month, Google chairman Eric Schmidt is sharing his thoughts on the hermit kingdom. "Overall, the technology in North Korea is very limited right now," Schmidt noted in a post on Google Plus. He explains that North Korea has one 3G network that does not have data service, but it "would be very easy for them to turn the internet on for this 3G network." Schmidt also added that "as the world becomes increasingly connected, the North Korean decision to be virtually isolated is very much going to affect their physical world and their economic growth." [Slashgear]

The yen rose from a two-and-half-year low against the dollar on Monday, as traders trimmed large bets against the treasury just in case expected measures from an upcoming Bank of Japan meeting fall short. The Bank of Japan is to meet on Tuesday and is expected to double its inflation target and increase its asset purchase program. Traders and analysts said if the BOJ meets expectations, then the dollar would lose a bit more ground. [Reuters]

Katie Couric has landed the first on-camera interview with Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o since Deadspin broke the news that the athlete's girlfriend — who had become the subject of numerous media reports after she was said to have died of leukemia — was part of an elaborate hoax. Te'o spoke with ESPN last week in an off-camera interview and reiterated that he was not part of the hoax, but that he was duped by a friend who orchestrated it all. The televised interview is scheduled to air on Couric's daytime talk show Katie on Thursday. [NPR]

Frances is a senior editor at TheWeek.com, managing the website on the early morning shift and editing stories on everything from politics to entertainment to science and tech. She's a graduate of Yale and the University of Missouri journalism school, and has previously worked at TIME and Real Simple. You can follow her on Twitter and on Tumblr.

Subscribe to The Week

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox