5 things you need to know Monday

Messy Monday morning

Snow, ice and freezing rain will strike states from Texas to New England through Tuesday, promising icy roads, power outages and general unpleasantness for much of the country. Today, precipitation will focus over much of New York state and inland New England, with freezing rain across central Pennsylvania.

Obamas to attend Mandela memorial service

President Obama and the First Lady will travel to Johannesburg, South Africa, Monday to attend the national memorial service for former President Mandela. The public service will be held on Tuesday at a soccer stadium. British Prime Minister David Cameron, Brazilian leader Dilma Rousseff and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will also attend. After the stadium memorial, Mandela's body will lie in state at the Union Buildings, the seat of government in Pretoria, from Wednesday to Friday, followed by the burial in Qunu.

American and US Airways to close merger

The merger that will unite American and US Airways and create the largest carrier in the world is expected to close today. Now, American and US Airways will need to integrate everything from flight schedules and frequent flier programs to booking systems. The new American Airlines represents what is likely to be the last major merger of U.S. carriers: United and Continental, Delta and Northwest and Southwest and AirTran paired up in the last five years. Counting the new American, roughly 80% of the U.S. aviation market will be dominated by four airlines.

Florida State, Auburn to play for BCS National Championship

Florida State and Auburn are ranked first and second, respectively, in the final Bowl Championship Series standings and will face each other for the national championship on Jan. 6 in Pasadena, Calif. In the final year of the BCS being the Football Bowl Subdivision's top postseason format, the Seminoles finished atop the standings for the first time since 1999. Florida State lost the first BCS championship during the 1998 season to an SEC opponent, Tennessee, before winning the title the next season against Virginia Tech.

Coalition of the tech willing

Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Twitter and Yahoo are banding together in a so-called Reform Government Surveillance coalition to push back against the tapping of data by the National Security Agency.

Contributing: Associated Press