10 things you need to know today: July 15, 2015

1. 2016 GOP candidates blast Iran deal

The Republican candidates for president condemned the nuclear deal Iran struck with the U.S. and five other world powers Tuesday. Following the announcement that Iran agreed to dismantle its nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of sanctions, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush released a statement saying the deal "isn't diplomacy — it is appeasement." Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker predicted that it would "be remembered as one of America's worst diplomatic failures," and Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.) worried that it "undermines our national security." On Tuesday, Republican leaders in Congress vowed to derail the deal, setting up an intense legislative battle over the accord.

Time

2. NASA's New Horizons probe makes contact with Earth

At 7:49 a.m. EST on Tuesday morning, NASA's New Horizons probe flew by Pluto, putting an end to a journey that took nine years and traversed over three billion miles. The mission brought a manmade object the closest it's ever come to the icy dwarf planet. Just before 9 p.m. ET, mission operations manager Alice Bowman received confirmation from New Horizons that it survived the flyby, almost 13 hours after it traveled past Pluto. The spacecraft is expected to relay the images and data it took by Wednesday afternoon.

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NBC News

3. IMF calls for debt relief as part of Greek bailout

The International Monetary Fund said Tuesday if European leaders don't agree to significant debt relief for Greece, the fund would reverse its support for the country's bailout. The IMF would play a critical role in a bailout, since it provides funding and supervises the country's compliance with the terms. Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has argued that if Greece's debt remains high, it will continue to stifle the economy, but some creditors are reluctant to provide additional relief.

The New York Times

4. Khameini backs nuclear deal as Iranians celebrate

Thousands of Iranians reportedly celebrated the country's nuclear deal in the streets of Tehran on Tuesday night, gathering in at least three major squares to dance and blow horns. The accord between Iran and six world powers limits the country's nuclear capabilities in exchange for lifting sanctions, which have hit its economy hard. The deal also reportedly received the crucial support of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Khameini, who thanked negotiators on Tuesday for their "honest and diligent efforts."

Bloomberg News Haaertz

5. Obama calls for criminal justice reform, denounces 'mass incarceration'

President Barack Obama called for widespread reform to the U.S. prison system in a speech at the NAACP's annual convention in Philadelphia on Tuesday. "Mass incarceration makes our country worse off, and we need to do something about it," he said. He ordered Attorney General Loretta Lynch to review the use of solitary confinement in federal prisons. The speech came one day after Obama commuted the sentences of 46 drug offenders. Obama is set to visit a federal prison Thursday in Oklahoma.

The Wall Street Journal

6. Germany sentences ex-Auschwitz guard to 4 years as accessory to 300,000 murders

A court in Lueneburg, Germany, sentenced former SS officer Oskar Groening to four years in prison Wednesday as an accessory to the murder of at least 300,000 Jews at the Auschwitz death camp. The "accountant of Auschwitz" acknowledged he had guarded the luggage of condemned Jews when they arrived at Auschwitz in May and June 1944 and collected money taken from them, actions that aided in mass murder, judges agreed with prosecutors. The trial will likely be one of Germany's last prosecutions of former Nazis.

NBC News The Associated Press

7. Mexico releases footage of drug lord 'El Chapo' vanishing from jail cell

Mexican authorities showed closed-circuit video Tuesday of notorious drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman walking to a partition in his prison cell Saturday night and disappearing. The partition, one of the cell's two blind spots, was designed to give him privacy while he showered. It hid the 20-inch-square entrance to the sophisticated tunnel Guzman used to escape from the maximum security prison. Mexico has fired the prison warden and the head of all Mexican correctional facilities, and is questioning more than 30 guards.

Reuters

8. Colorado movie theater shooting trial goes to jury

Closing arguments ended Tuesday in the trial of James Holmes, charged in a July 2012 Aurora, Colorado, movie theater shooting that killed 12 and injured 70 others. The jury is expected to start deliberating the 165 charges Wednesday. Holmes pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. If convicted of at least one count of murder, the case will move to death penalty sentencing.

Denver Business Journal Denver Post

9. Twitter stocks surge after fake takeover news spreads

A fake Bloomberg News report Tuesday claimed Twitter received a takeover offer for $31 billion. The rumor led to a 7 percent rise in the social network's stocks from the Monday closing price. The report, which appeared real at first glance but was riddled with errors, was confirmed fake by a Bloomberg spokesman. Twitter, which is searching for a new CEO, has said the company will remain independent.

The New York Times

10. American League wins MLB All-Star Game 6-3

Los Angeles Angels center fielder Mike Trout hit a leadoff homer and carried the American League to a 6-3 win over the National League in Cincinnati on Tuesday. The American League has won 15 of the last 19 All-Star Games. Trout was named MVP for the second time. With the win, the American League will open the 2015 World Series at home. Former Reds player and banned-for-life career hits leader Pete Rose took the field before the game and got a standing ovation.

ESPN