The Airline Knew: Lufthansa Airlines revealed that it knew about co-pilot Andreas Lubitz’s previous bout with deep depression six years ago when he took a hiatus from flight school. Lufthansa owned the Germanwings jet that Lubitz is believed to have intentionally crashed into the French Alps. Lufthansa said it gave records of the flight school incident to crash investigators. Unknown is whether the airline was aware whether Lubitz continued to have a problem.

Freedom: Amid national howls about Indiana’s new “religious freedom” law, The Arkansas legislature passed a similar bill yesterday that is expected to be signed by the governor. That would make Arkansas the 21^st state with such a law that some say is a license to discriminate against gay and lesbian people on the basis of religious belief.

In an effort to head off the kind of controversy sparked in Indiana, Arkansas inserted a clause saying “the General Assembly finds that it is a compelling governmental interest to comply with federal civil rights laws.”

The Indiana legislature is working on clarifying its law.

Permawar: There’s some debate about whether Iraqi forces have taken back the city of Tikrit from Islamic State extremists as claimed by Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi. Other reports say that ISIS fighters are still in the city and combat continues.

World: Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has lost his bid for re-election to former military leader Muhammadu Buhar. If power changes hands peacefully it will be the first time for Nigeria that an elected civilian leader hands over to an elected successor.

>Negotiations to stop Iran from making a nuclear weapon have gone into overtime. Representatives from China, Russia, and France went home, but Secy. of State John Kerry stayed on to keep talking. A big issue is how much nuclear fuel Iran can make in the future and how to be sure it is only for non-weapon uses. While international negotiators are focused on numbers, the Iranians are defending their national sovereignty and worrying about the political impact at home.

Nation: Andrew Getty, 47, the grandson of the late J. Paul Getty and an heir to the family oil fortune, was found dead in his Hollywood Hills home. Investigators said Getty had blunt force trauma to his head, but there was no immediate indication his death was the result of a crime. The website TMZ reports that a “rectal” injury caused significant bleeding.

Getty was found by a woman friend who called the police. He had recently filed a restraining order to keep a woman away from him, but police have not said whether that is the woman who found him.

Being There: With Egypt hovering on the brink of regional war, President Obama yesterday lifted the US arms freeze placed on Egypt during the 2013 military overthrow of the country’s elected government. The president released his hold on the delivery of F-16 fighters, Harpoon missiles and M1A1 heavy tanks.

>Also yesterday, President Obama commuted the sentences of 22 drug criminals, some of whom might have spent life in prison under old sentencing laws. The White House counsel said that under current law many would have done their time by now. Obama sent a letter to each of the released inmates saying, “Now it is up to you to make the most of this opportunity.”

The Obit Page: Gary Dahl, the out-of-work advertising writer who became a millionaire with the idea to put a small rock in a cardboard box and call it a “Pet Rock” has died at age 78. The Pet Rock hit the market in time for the 1975 Christmas season and sold about 1.5 million rocks at $3.95 before the fad quickly ended. But the term “pet rock” became bedrock in the language.

Funny Business: Going from unknown to national controversy, The Daily Show’s next host Trevor Noah is suddenly defending his long history of risqué jokes about fat chicks, black people, Israel and Ebola. In other words, some people are shocked that Comedy Central appointed a comedian to succeed Jon Stewart.

-30-