10 things you need to know today: May 1, 2015

(Image credit: (AP Photo/David Goldman))

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1. Baltimore police finish initial investigation into Freddie Gray's death
2. A day after two miraculous rescues, Nepal's earthquake death toll rises
3. Sen. Bernie Sanders officially launches his presidential campaign
4. Tesla jumps into the home battery market
5. Applications for jobless benefits have fallen to a five-year low
6. Saudi Arabia fights off Houthi border attack
7. Obama reportedly chooses Chicago as site for his presidential library
8. Grooveshark shuts down in copyright infringement settlement
9. Messenger spacecraft ends mission with crash into Mercury
10. Florida State's Jameis Winston picked first in NFL draft

published 1 May 2015

1. Baltimore police finish initial investigation into Freddie Gray's death

Baltimore police on Thursday gave prosecutors the results of their initial investigation into the death of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old black man who died after sustaining a lethal neck injury in custody. Six officers have been suspended with pay pending the outcome of the case, which has triggered riots and peaceful protests. The report included the revelation that the police van in which Gray was injured made a previously unknown stop on the way to the police station that was caught on a privately owned surveillance camera, suggesting none of the officers mentioned it.

Search teams resumed rescue and recovery efforts in Nepal on Friday, a day after crews freed two survivors who spent five days trapped in rubble left by a 7.9-magnitude earthquake. The official tally of the dead passed 6,200 on Friday. Nepal's prime minister has said the toll could reach 10,000, and the army general leading the rescue effort said it could go higher. "Our estimates are not looking good. We are thinking that 10,000 to 15,000 may be killed," Gen. Gaurav Rana said.

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Sen. Bernie Sanders on Thursday officially launched a campaign for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination. The Vermont independent, a self-described socialist who caucuses with the Democrats, will challenge frontrunner Hillary Clinton from the left. In a press conference outside the Capitol, he called for "an economy that works for all of our people, rather than a small number of billionaires." He contrasted himself with Clinton by noting that, unlike her, he voted against the Iraq war.

Elon Musk on Thursday unveiled Tesla Energy, an offshoot of his electric-car company that aims to revolutionize the market for batteries that store solar and other sources of energy at homes and offices. The first unit Tesla Energy will bring to market is the "Powerwall," a 6-inch-thick 10kWh lithium-ion battery that can hang on the wall of a house and provide enough power for about 10 hours. It's based on the same battery used in the Tesla Model S sedan. "You can be free of the grid," Musk said.

The Labor Department announced Thursday that first-time applications for unemployment benefits fell last week to 262,000, the lowest since April 2000. The number of people receiving jobless benefits also fell — by 74,000 to 2.25 million, the lowest number since December 2000. The changes come as job openings are at a 14-year high. Analysts said the tightening job market could soon put pressure on employers to compete for workers by raising wages, a missing element in the economic recovery.

Saudi Arabia said it repelled an attack on its border by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels from Yemen late Thursday. Dozens of Houthi fighters and three Saudi soldiers were killed in the fighting, which started at a border post in Najran province. It was the largest cross-border attack since Saudi airstrikes against the rebels began five weeks ago. A border guard was also killed by a shell fired by the Shiite Muslim Houthis. The rebels are loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, who was ousted during the 2012 Arab Spring protests.

President Obama's foundation has picked Chicago as the home for his presidential library, according to two people briefed on the decision. The city, where Obama first won elected office, always was considered the favorite, but New York City's Columbia University, where Obama went to college, and Hawaii, where he grew up, were also in the running. Representatives at the University of Chicago declined to comment late Thursday on reports that the school would get the library. The University of Illinois at Chicago also put in a bid.

Music-streaming site Grooveshark shut down on Thursday to settle a copyright infringement suit filed by major record labels. As a trial started this week, Escape Media, Grooveshark's parent company, risked having to pay more than $736 million in damages to Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, and Warner Music Group. Instead, it agreed to close the streaming service and surrender ownership of its website and mobile apps, according to the Recording Industry Association of America.

NASA's unmanned Messenger spacecraft crashed into Mercury on Thursday at 8,750 miles per hour in a violent but planned end to an historic mission. Messenger was the first spacecraft ever to orbit Mercury, the solar system's innermost planet. The only other probe to study it up close, NASA's Mariner 10, did three flybys in 1974 and 1975. Messenger's close look was extended from one year to four, allowing it to map Mercury in unprecedented detail and revolutionize scientists' understanding of the planet.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers selected Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston in the first pick of the NFL draft on Thursday night. Winston won the Heisman Trophy in 2013, but he has been plagued with off-the-field troubles. A former fellow student accused Winston of sexually assaulting her, although he said the sex was consensual and was never charged. The struggling Bucs are counting on Winston to help turn them around. Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota was the No. 2 pick, going to the Tennessee Titans.

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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.