10 things you need to know today: March 31, 2015

The Germanwings co-pilot was treated for suicidal tendencies, a man is killed in a shooting outside NSA headquarters, and more

Road closed.
(Image credit: (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky))

1. Germanwings co-pilot had been treated for suicidal tendencies

German prosecutors said Monday that Germanwings co-pilot Andreas Lubitz had been treated for "suicidal tendencies" years before he crashed the airline's Flight 9525 in the French Alps last week. Lubitz locked the plane's captain out of the cockpit and was alone at the controls when the flight went down, killing all 150 people on board. Lubitz, 27, was treated "over a long period of time" but showed "no signs of suicidal tendencies or aggression toward others" in follow-up visits, the public prosecutor's office in Dusseldorf, Germany, said.

2. One killed by gunfire as stolen vehicle approaches NSA security checkpoint

Police officers shot and killed a person in a stolen Ford Escape when the occupants tried to drive through a security checkpoint outside the National Security Agency headquarters at Fort Meade, Maryland, on Monday. The two men in the car reportedly were dressed as women. The second occupant and an NSA officer were hospitalized. Investigators did not believe the incident was a terrorist attack, and are looking into whether the men were under the influence of drugs after a night of partying. Cocaine was allegedly found in the car.

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.

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

Sign up

CNN

3. Talks heat up hours from deadline for Iran nuclear deal

Negotiators from the U.S., Iran, and five other nations made a final push to reach a deal curbing Tehran's controversial nuclear program hours ahead of a Tuesday deadline. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, returning to Switzerland to rejoin the talks, said "chances are high" for an accord on preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons, but diplomats said any agreement would be preliminary and incomplete, leaving key issues, such as uranium enrichment and lifting sanctions, for later.

Reuters The New York Times

4. Prosecution rests at Boston Marathon bombing trial

Prosecutors rested their case Monday in the Boston Marathon bombing trial. The state's 92nd and final witness, Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Henry Nields, brought jurors to tears as he described the devastating and fatal injuries suffered by 8-year-old Martin Richard, the youngest of four people killed in the twin April 2013 bomb blasts. Next Tsarnaev's lawyers will begin their defense. Seventeen of the 30 charges faced by Tsarnaev, 21, carry the death penalty.

Boston Herald

5. States and cities ban official travel to Indiana over "religious freedom" law

Connecticut Governor Dan Malloy on Monday signed an executive order barring state-funded travel to Indiana, which just approved a controversial new religious freedom law criticized as anti-gay. "We are sending a message that discrimination won't be tolerated.," Malloy tweeted. Washington state, Seattle, and San Francisco have enacted similar bans in response to the law, which critics fear would allow people and businesses to cite religious beliefs to discriminate against gays and lesbians.

NBC Fox News

6. Strike kills at least 40 at Yemeni refugee camp

An airstrike targeting Houthi rebels in north Yemen killed at least 40 people and wounded another 200 at a refugee camp on Monday. Yemen's state news agency Saba, now controlled by Houthis, said Saudi planes had intended the bombs for a rebel camp nearby. Saudi military officials said they were trying to confirm what happened. "It could have been that the fighter jets replied to fire, and we cannot confirm that it was a refugee camp," Brigadier General Ahmed Asseri said. A humanitarian worker said the strike hit a truck filled with Houthi fighters at the camp gate, killing nearby residents as well as fighters.

Reuters

7. Arizona governor vetoes bill on keeping officers' names secret after shootings

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R) on Monday vetoed a bill that would have temporarily blocked the release of the names of police officers involved in shootings. Proponents of the legislation said it would allow a 60-day cooling-off period to prevent retaliation against officers, and protests like those that broke out after the fatal shooting of an unarmed black teen by a white officer in Ferguson, Missouri, last year. Critics, including many police chiefs, said the measure could have escalated tensions by fueling distrust of police.

The Arizona Republic

8. Obama plans first presidential trip to Kenya

The White House announced Monday that President Obama will co-host a Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Kenya in July, his first trip to his father's homeland as president. It will be Obama's "fourth trip to sub-Saharan Africa and the most of any sitting U.S. president," note National Security Council staffers Grant Harris and Shannon Green, comparing the Kenya visit to "President Kennedy's historic visit to Ireland in 1963."

The New York Times

9. Jay-Z relaunches Tidal, a high-def, higher priced rival to Spotify

Music mogul Jay-Z on Monday relaunched Tidal, the high-definition music streaming service he acquired this year for $56 million. Jay-Z, whose real name is Shawn Carter, promised "a new direction for the music industry from both a creative and business perspective." Tidal will charge $19.99 per month, compared to $9.99 per month for established rival Spotify, but hopes to offer users earlier access to new releases by big-name musicians.

Techcrunch

10. Trevor Noah picked as Jon Stewart's Daily Show heir

South African comedian Trevor Noah will replace Jon Stewart as host of The Daily Show, Comedy Central announced Monday. Noah, 31, made his first appearance on the popular satirical news show in December, when he gave his thoughts on Ebola, Boko Haram, and police brutality in the U.S., from the perspective of a biracial South African. Stewart, 52, announced in February that he was leaving later this year after 16 years, although neither he nor Comedy Central has given a date for his last show.

The Washington Post

Explore More
Harold Maass, The Week US

Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.