10 things you need to know today: April 2, 2015

Houseboats float in a drought-lowered lake.

(Image credit: (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File))

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1. Arkansas governor says he won't sign "Religious Freedom" bill without changes
2. Brown orders California's first mandatory water restrictions
3. Former teachers convicted for Atlanta cheating ring
4. Iran nuclear negotiations extended for second time this week
5. Sen. Bob Menendez indicted on corruption charges
6. McDonald's hikes wages as workers demand better pay
7. GoDaddy shares jump by 31 percent on debut
8. Duke investigates noose found in a tree on campus
9. Militants kill at least 14 in attack at university in Kenya
10. Russian trawler sinks, killing at least 54 crew members

published 2 April 2015

1. Arkansas governor says he won't sign "Religious Freedom" bill without changes

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) said Wednesday that he would not sign the state's Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which passed Tuesday, unless legislators amended it to make it consistent with a federal law signed by former president Bill Clinton. Hutchinson had previously said he would sign the bill, but now insists it include protections against discrimination based on sexual orientation. Indiana legislators, facing a backlash over a similar law, are expected to propose anti-discrimination amendments on Thursday.

California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) announced the first mandatory water restrictions in the state's history on Wednesday. The move came as California, most of which is gripped in an extreme drought, faced a deepening crisis as it entered spring with historically low snowpack levels. Brown ordered the California Water Resource Resources Control Board to impose rules cutting water use by 25 percent. "It's a different world," he said. "We have to act differently."

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Eleven former Atlanta public school teachers were convicted of racketeering on Wednesday for their roles in a cheating scheme. One defendant was cleared. A 2011 investigative report found that the cheating ring, one of the largest in U.S. history, involved almost 200 teachers and principals at 44 schools. Thirty-five public school officials were indicted two years ago. Twenty-one made plea agreements and two have died. Teachers said they were pressured by supervisors to inflate test scores. Some erased answers, replacing them with correct ones.

Negotiators on Wednesday again extended talks on curbing Iran's nuclear program and lifting sanctions, setting up another session of discussions on Thursday. Secretary of State John Kerry postponed his departure from Lausanne, Switzerland, a second time since the March 31 deadline. Iran has balked at a demand that it agree to quantifiable commitments, not just a general statement of intent. "We continue to make progress but have not reached a political understanding," spokeswoman Marie Harf said in announcing that Kerry would stay until at least Thursday morning.

A federal grand jury on Wednesday indicted Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) on corruption charges for allegedly using his office to secure businesses deals for a friend in exchange for gifts. The indictment accuses Menendez of accepting free trips on a private plane, and improperly lobbying on behalf of Dr. Salomon Melgen, a top donor. Menendez, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said he was "outraged" by the allegations.

McDonald's announced Wednesday that it was giving 10 percent raises to employees in the 1,500 company-run restaurants in the U.S. A day earlier, workers had gathered outside some of its outlets demanding higher wages. The pay hikes will affect about 90,000 workers, giving them at least $1 over the local legal minimum wage — an average of $9.90 an hour — by July 1. The decision won't impact the 750,000 employees at more than 12,500 franchise-owned McDonald's, as they set their own wages.

Shares of web hosting company GoDaddy shot up by 31 percent on Wednesday, the stock's first day on the market. The initial public offering price was $20 per share — up from an expected range of $17 to $19 — but the stock closed at $26.15 shares. At the closing price GoDaddy has a market capitalization of $6 billion. Despite its big debut, the 18-year-old company is unprofitable and has large debts.

Duke University officials said Wednesday that they were investigating the discovery of a noose hanging from a tree at the elite southern school. The incident occurred after several racial incidents over the last few weeks, including one in which a black student reportedly was harassed by several white students spouting racial slurs. "One person put up that noose," university President Richard Brodhead told several thousand people gathered on campus, "but this is the multitude of people who got together to say that's not the Duke we want."

Islamist militants stormed a university campus in Kenya near the border with Somalia on Thursday and killed at least 14 people. The attackers released Muslim students and kept Christians hostage. The military operations spokesman for al Shabaab said the Somali militant group staged the pre-dawn raid, and that fighting was ongoing between militants and security forces. Sixty-five people were wounded by gunfire and shrapnel, four critically.

A Russian trawler sank in icy waters off the country's far eastern coast on Thursday with an international crew of 132 — 78 of them Russian — on board. At least 54 crew members were killed. Sixty-three were rescued and 15 remained unaccounted for. The massive trawler Dalny Vostok went under in the Sea of Okhotsk off the Kamchatka Peninsula without sending a distress signal. The ship reportedly sank in 15 minutes. Investigators were not sure what went wrong, but said the ship might have collided with "an object," possibly floating ice.

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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.