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When Detroit milliner Luke Song made Aretha Franklin's now-iconic 2009 inaugural hat — you know, the one with the big bow? — he had no idea he'd be making thousands more.

After the four-day hostage crisis in Algeria, the death toll has risen to at least 81. Algerian forces that were searching the natural gas plant in the Sahara that was taken over by Islamist militants found at least 25 more bodies on Sunday.

The widow of a slain Mississippi civil rights leader Medgar Evars will help open the inaugural ceremony Monday. President Obama has selected activist Myrlie Evers-Williams to deliver the invocation. She's the first woman and lay person to have the honor.

Both India and the U.S. seem disappointed with each other after the high expectations raised by President Obama's election in 2007. India is concerned about the uncertainty in U.S. policy toward China and Afghanistan.

All eyes will be on the First Lady Michelle Obama's fashion choices at Monday's inaugural events. Presidential fashions do make history — think Ronald Reagan's brown suits, or Jimmy Carter's cardigans.

The Inaugural parade will have floats and marching bands and for science geeks, a special treat: life-size replicas of the Mars rover, Curiosity and the Orion space capsule. The biggest attraction may be marching along side of the replicas. Bobak Ferdowsi, the go to guy for last years Mars landing, told Wired magazine he'll reveal a special hairstyle just for the parade.

Vice President Joe Biden first ran for president in the 1980s. He tried again in 2008 before becoming President Obama's running mate. At a weekend inaugural event, Biden declared, "I'm proud to be president of the United States." His son politely corrected him. One persistent question is whether Biden may try one more run in 2016.

Morning Edition has a team of reporters spread out across the city, getting a feel for how things are going in different areas. Thousands of people are descending on the nation's capital to be a part of President Obama's second inauguration.

Join "It's All Politics" blogger Frank James and other NPR journalists to talk about the day's events and the issues coming up in President Obama's second term.

"Being true to our founding documents does not require us to agree on every contour of life; it does not mean we will all define liberty in exactly the same way, or follow the same precise path to happiness," he says. "But it does require us to act in our time."