Carrying signs reading “Gun Control Now,” “We Are Sandy Hook,” and “What Would Jesus Pack?,” thousands of people marched from the Capitol to the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C., Saturday to rally for gun control. Organized by members of the local Arena Stage and cosponsored by the group One Million Moms for Gun Control, the Washington National Cathedral, and several other churches, the march was orchestrated as a reaction to the Sandy Hook shootings. Speakers included Education Secretary Arne Duncan and D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, while Washington Mayor Vincent Gray and about 100 residents from Newtown, Conn., participated in the rally.

His first donation to his alma mater was just $5 the year after he graduated. But on Sunday, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg will become the most generous university donor to ever in the U.S. when he makes a $350 million gift to Johns Hopkins University. The gift brings Bloomberg’s four-decade total to $1.1 billion in donations. The money over the years has helped fun campus remodels, a physics building, a school of public health, a children’s hospital, a physics building, a stem-cell research institute, a library wing, and 20 percent of all need-based financial aid grants over the past few years. Famously, Bloomberg plans to give away all of his $25 billion fortune before he dies.

U.S. Senator Tom Harkin announced Saturday that his fifth term will be his last and he will not seek reelection in 2014. The 73-year-old Iowa Democrat claimed it was “time to step aside” and open the door to a new generation of Democrats. Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, he will be 75 at the end of this term. If he were to seek a sixth, he would be 81 by the time he left. Nevertheless, his announcement is surprising, considering his $2.7 million campaign coffers and a fundraising gala planned for February. The move paves the way for the GOP to regain the Senate majority, which they’ll need six seats to do. Let the games begin.

The 2013 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland—“a gathering a the world’s elite”— showcased some of the most exciting new research and trends worldwide this year, from climate change to technology.  Taking a break from the interminable economic debate about government debt, participants offered jaw-dropping predictions for the world to come. Oxford University physicist Tim Palmer said that the Earth could warm by 6 degrees within a century, leading to “catastrophic consequences.” Sebastian Thrun, leader of Google's Self-Driving Car Project, said driverless cars will be on the road within five years.  Paul Jacobs, the CEO of Qualcomm, said the famous “Moore’s Law” may lead to infinite computing power. Long story short: stay tuned, world.

After weeks of conflict between the government of Mali and Islamic extremists attempting to overtake the country, the Obama administration is looking to get involved. The State Department announced Friday that it was making a request to Congress to provide $32 million to train troops in the African nation. Despite a promise not to give money directly to the government—the current president took over in a coup over a democratically-elected one—the U.S. has already provided aid to the French effort to bolster Malian troops. French troops arrived in Mali on Jan. 11 to help bolster attempts to overthrow the government.

Chief Judge David B. Sentelle is no more mr. nice guy. A federal appeals-court panel ruled unanimously that President Obama violated the Constitution by making his Labor appointments during a congressional recess—which could invalidate hundreds of decisions. In the holiday recess last year, Obama named three people to the National Labor Relations Board after Republicans had held up the appointments for months.The decision could invalidate all the decisions made by the NLRB since then—and could raise questions about Obama’s nomination of Richard Cordray to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The White House said Friday that it strongly disagrees with the decision, calling it novel and unprecedented.

Still reeling from yesterday’s deadly two-year anniversary of the uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak, Egypt’s vicious cycle of violence continues. At least 30 people were killed and estimates of 200 wounded during a deadly riot that exploded in Port Said Saturday, after a court verdict sentencing 21 people to death. The prosecution is linked to the case of a 2012 Port Said soccer riot that killed 74 fans of the opposing, Cairo-based team. Military forces were dispatched to the area, where angry relatives of the defendants had stormed the prison, shooting two police officers in the process. Six rioters were also killed when police fired rubber bullets and tear gas into the crowd.

In the wake of alarming GDP figures—which left the world wondering if Britain was headed for a triple-dip recession, London Mayor Boris Johnson is man on fire. At the 2013 World Economic Forum in Davos, Johnson laid a heavy hit on Britain’s Treasury Chief George Osbourne, exclaiming that he needs to “junk the rhetoric stuff” and start investing in growth-boosting opportunities. “The hair shirt stuff, the Stafford Cripps agenda,” Johnson quipped, “that is not the way to get Britain motoring again.” According to the Guardian, the mayor will soon be announcing a “seven-point plan” to bring London back to life.

Welcome back, backpacks. The newest bag making waves in the fashion world is the original geek-turned-sleek backpack. Deemed the new “It” bag, it boasts a secret weapon, one that many bags ignore: comfort. “After a decade wearing a punishing combination of high heels and heavy bags, fashionable women have apparently had enough,” reads The Times of London. Fashion experts say they’ve spotted them on trendsetters from across the globe—most recently Rihanna, Kristen Stewart, and Kate Bosworth. In the UK, “rucksack” (as they call them) sales are up 30 percent at three major department stores. So zip up that pack fashionistas, nerdy is the new black.

“This isn’t basketball. This is the movies,” Joseph Gordon-Levitt said at the Sundance Film Festival awards ceremony, which he hosted Saturday night. “There are no winners and losers. This is art.” Still, prizes were handed out. This year’s big winner was Fruitvale, about the 2009 shooting of Oscar Grant, which won the both the Grand Jury Prize and the U.S. Dramatic Audience Award. Also taking home honors were Pussy Riot—A Punk Prayer, which won the World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award, and The Special Jury Prize for acting went to Miles Teller and Shailene Woodley for their work in the coming-of-age romance The Spectacular Now.

“A line was crossed” when Internet activist Aaron Swartz committed suicide two weeks ago, said the website of the U.S. Sentencing Commission on Saturday morning. No, it was not the work of the commission itself: the website was hijacked by the hacker group Anonymous. The coalition claimed to be protesting the case of the Reddit cofounder and freedom-of-information activist Aaron Swartz, who killed himself during a long legal battle after he illegally downloaded and shared court documents and academic papers online. Anonymous says it now has secret information from several government computer systems and is threatening to release it.

It’s a rite of passage to techies the world over: unlocking, or “jailbreaking,” a cell phone to make it usable on networks other than the one to which it was initially attached. But after Saturday, such an act—which can, for instance, make a Verizon iPhone compatible with the T-Mobile network—may be illegal. In October, the Library of Congress invalidated a copyright exemption for unlocking cell phones, but that exemption expires Saturday, leaving the door open to repercussions for such actions. Beginning today, consumers may receive warnings from carriers if they are found unlocking their device. For tech geeks, the word “jailbreak” just got a little more sinister.

Philippines President Benigno Aquino finished up his debut performance at Davos this year with a near-standing ovation. Mr. Aquino said he was honored to be a part of the global event. “We can participate in the world stage and not feel—how should I put it—like a second-class citizen.” The Philippines is now ready and willing to “boost its participation in global events.” Aquino took a break from meetings at the World Economic Forum’s annual conference in Davos, Switzerland, on Saturday to announce that his country had agreed to host next year’s WEF East Asia Summit, a smaller regional summit in the forum’s network.

Three women from the Ukrainian activist group Femen, angry about women's oppression in the world economy, tried to crash one of the conference's events on Saturday by climbing a fence and setting off pink flares. Just prior, they had torn off their shirts, revealing the words "SOS Davos" printed on their chests. It didn't end well. They were escorted away by police, kicking and screaming the whole time.

“Freedom for women!” shouted hundreds of protestors in India on Saturday as they marched toward parliament. The group, mostly students, was calling for quick implementation of laws suggested on Wednesday by a government panel brought together in the wake of December’s violent gang-rape. The proposed laws, drawn from over 80,000 suggestions, include a stricter enforcement of sexual-assault laws, speedier rape trials, and an end to political interference in sex-crime cases.

Lance Armstrong's Tour de Redemption continues. The disgraced athlete’s attorney told the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency that Armstrong plans to cooperate with efforts to “clean up cycling.” Armstrong also plans to appear before the International Cycling Union’s “truth and reconciliation” commission. Armstrong’s attorney Tim Herman also warns, however, that if the USADA truly hopes to clean up the sport, it must turn to the World Anti-Doping Agency and the International Cycling Union to take the lead. It’s unclear at this point, but there’s a possibility that if Armstrong cooperates, his lifetime ban from the sport may be scaled back to eight years, the Associated Press reports.

It’s official, the galaxy is his. In a statement released Friday night, Star Wars creator George Lucas endorsed the decision to bring on J.J. Abrams as director of the new Star Wars film, set for release in 2015. “He’s an ideal choice to direct the new Star Wars film and the legacy couldn’t be in better hands.” said Lucas, who is set to retire and hand off his beloved Star Wars empire. Lucasfilm chief Kathleen Kennedy confirmed the move in a separate statement release Friday night. Abrams himself, who directed Mission: Impossible III, says the opportunity is an “absolute honor.” “I may be even more grateful to George Lucas now than I was as a kid.”

John Kiriakou, a former CIA officer, was sentenced Friday to 30-months in prison after pleading guilty in October for leaking classified information to the press. The 14-year CIA veteran named an undercover agent off the record in an interview with a journalist in 2009. Kiriakou’s lawyers portrayed him as an upstanding citizen who exposed CIA torture of detainees in secret prisons, but the courts were not convinced. The judge in the case said Kiriakou had damaged the agency and even called his sentence, the result of a plea deal, “way too light.” He is the first person in 27 years to be sentenced under the Intelligence Identities Protection Act of 1982.

A New Jersey teacher was arrested on Thursday for allegedly having a sexual relationship with a student. The algebra teacher, 28, reportedly began the relationship with her 16-year-old student in December. The two had multiple sexual encounters, all of which took place inside the school. The relationship was discovered after the student told a family member about it, although fellow students claim he also bragged about it at school. The teacher has been charged with second-degree sexual assault and fourth-degree child abuse. That’s a kind of sex ed we can’t get behind.

And the Kristen Stewart cheating saga finally comes to an end. British model Liberty Ross, the wife of film director Rupert Sanders, filed for divorce on Friday after months of estrangement. Her soon-to-be ex was photographed in July getting a little too close for comfort with Kristen Stewart, the star of his film Snow White and the Huntsman. The photos set off weeks of tabloid drama, with Ross caught in the middle. In the end, Stewart lost the Snow White job, Ross will get the kids, and Sanders will keep on directing.

Victoria Azarenka, the Belarusian tennis player and current world champ, defended her Australian Open title (along with her number-one status) on Saturday against popular Chinese player Li Na. Coming back from a poor opening set, Azarenka eventually beat Li 4-6 6-4 6-3, giving Azarenka her second Grand Slam title. Li, the French open champion, twice rolled her ankle during the match, as well as hitting her head after two falls.