10 things you need to know today: August 6, 2015

1. Debris confirmed to be part of missing Malaysia Airlines flight

Experts have "conclusively confirmed" that a wing fragment found on Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean came from the Malaysia Airlines passenger jet that disappeared 16 months ago with 239 people on board, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said Wednesday. "We now have physical evidence that... Flight MH370 tragically ended in the Southern Indian Ocean," Razak said. Malaysia announced Thursday that more debris, including a window, had been found on the same French island.

TIME The Washington Post

2. Appeals panel says Texas ID law violates Voting Rights Act

A federal appeals court panel ruled Wednesday that a Texas voter ID law violated the Voting Rights Act of 1965 by discriminating against blacks and Latinos. Civil rights activists applauded the decision, which Texas is expected to appeal. A 2013 Supreme Court ruling blocked a key element of the landmark federal law that required states with records of discrimination — including Texas — to get federal approval before changing election rules.

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The New York Times

3. Japan marks 70th Hiroshima bombing anniversary with calls for nuclear-free world

Japanese leaders marked the 70th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima on Thursday with renewed calls for an end to nuclear weapons. The city's mayor, Kazumi Matsui, urged President Obama and other world leaders to "please come to the A-bombed cities, hear the hibakusha (surviving victims) with your own ears, and encounter the reality of the atomic bombings." Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Japan, as the only country hit with an atomic blast, "has an obligation to realize a world without nuclear weapons."

CTV News The Wall Street Journal

4. Hatchet-wielding suspect killed in Nashville movie theater

Police killed a man with a history of mental health problems who entered a Nashville-area movie theater on Wednesday wielding a hatchet and an Airsoft BB gun. The suspect was identified as Vincente David Montano, 29. He was shot dead as he exited the backdoor of the theater, which was showing the movie Mad Max: Fury Road. He had allegedly exchanged fire with an officer inside, and injured three people with pepper spray. "This could have been a lot worse," Brian Haas of the Nashville Fire Department said.

Reuters

5. Obama says rejecting nuclear deal would make war the only option in Iran

President Obama on Wednesday ramped up pressure on Congress to approve the Iran nuclear deal, saying that rejecting the proposal would make war the way to prevent Iran from getting nuclear weapons. Obama said Republicans opposing the deal and Iranian hardliners chanting "death to America" were "making a common cause" to preserve the status quo. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell called the link "outrageous" and insulting. Senate leaders agreed to start debate in September, after their end-of-summer recess.

The New York Times The Washington Post

6. GOP candidates prepare for tonight's debate — with Trump calling for civility

Republicans will begin the task of narrowing down their field of 17 presidential candidates with two debates on Thursday. Real-estate tycoon and reality TV star Donald Trump will be a central figure in the main event, a prime-time forum at 9 p.m. featuring 10 candidates with the best poll numbers, as selected by Fox News. Trump, who received twice as much support as his nearest rival (Jeb Bush) in a recent poll, called Wednesday for a "civil" debate. The seven lower-polling candidates have been invited to participate in an earlier debate at 5 p.m.

The Associated Press Politico

7. Hundreds of migrants feared dead after boat flips near Libya's coast

A boat carrying as many as 600 migrants capsized in the Mediterranean Sea on Wednesday off the coast of Libya. The Italian coast guard said Thursday that 373 people had been rescued and 25 bodies had been recovered. Two hundred people were feared to have drowned. More than 2,000 migrants reportedly have died trying to make the crossing from northern Africa to Europe this year.

BBC News The Wall Street Journal

8. Microsoft increases parental leave a day after Netflix

Microsoft announced Wednesday that it would increase paid parental leave for new parents by eight weeks. The news came a day after video-streaming service Netflix said it would give new moms and dads on its staff unlimited parental leave during the first year after the birth or adoption of a child. Microsoft's old policy gave new mothers eight weeks of paid disability leave, on top of 12 weeks of parental leave — four paid, eight unpaid — for all new mothers and fathers.

The New York Times

9. Pope urges acceptance of divorced Catholics

Pope Francis on Wednesday called for welcoming divorced Catholics with "open doors," signaling possible support for easing the ban on Communion for couples who remarry without a church annulment. The topic will be among the issues debated at the Vatican in October during a cardinals' meeting on the family. "He wants the church to get over a psychology that if you're divorced and remarried that you're a lesser Catholic," said Phillip Thompson, executive director of the Aquinas Center of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta.

The Associated Press

10. Judge orders Bill Cosby to give deposition in abuse lawsuit

A judge has ordered Bill Cosby to give a sworn deposition in a lawsuit filed by a woman accusing him of sexually abusing her at the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles during the 1970s, when she was 15. The order, revealed in court papers made public Wednesday, marks the first time the 78-year-old comedian has been told to testify under oath since he gave a deposition in a Pennsylvania case settled out of court nine years ago. Cosby will be required to answer questions from the lawyer of the L.A. accuser, Judy Huth, on Oct. 9.

Reuters