5 things you need to know Thursday

1. Families of plane crash dead travel to southern France

The families and friends of passengers on the crashed Germanwings plane were due to arrive in southern France on Thursday. The co-pilot of the flight that crashed in the French Alps locked the pilot out of the cockpit and deliberately worked to destroy the plane, a French prosecutor said Thursday. German carrier Lufthansa, which owns the low-cost airline, offered special flights from Barcelona and Dusseldorf to Marseille, so those close to the victims can be near the scene of the search and recovery efforts in the French Alps.

2. NCAA tournament's Sweet 16 tips off

The madness of March came early, with two upsets of No. 3 seeds last week — Georgia State shocking Baylor and Alabama at Birmingham stunning Iowa State — and kept on coming with No. 1 Villanova falling to North Carolina State and No. 2 Virginia getting ousted by Michigan State in the Round of 32. There are 16 teams still with a chance to cut down the nets on April 6. Games begin at 7:15 p.m. ET, when No. 3 Notre Dame takes on No. 7-seed Wichita State in a Midwest Region semifinal. Here's our rundown of the lineup, from worst to first.

3. Jesse Jackson Jr. to be freed from prison Thursday

Former congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. is likely to be released from a federal prison camp on Thursday and serve the final months of his sentence in a Washington, D.C., halfway house. Jackson, a Democrat who represented the Illinois' 2nd Congressional District from 1995 to 2012, pleaded guilty in February 2013 to using campaign money to buy more than $750,000 worth of luxury items, collectibles and clothes. He was sentenced to 30 months in prison and began serving his sentence in October 2013. The news of Jackson's release was first reported by the Associated Press; it was confirmed to USA TODAY by his colleague, former congressman Patrick Kennedy, a Rhode Island Democrat.

4. Senate takes up budget debate
House Republicans approved Wednesday a $3.8 trillion budget for the upcoming fiscal year. The Senate is on track to take up its competing budget resolution on Thursday with a series of votes. Passage is expected by the end of the week. Then, the hard work will begin to meet the April 15 statutory deadline for a joint budget resolution. If passed by both chambers, it will be the first Republican budget approved in nearly 10 years.

5. Rihanna preps her cryptic release

That Rihanna reign certainly won't let up. The Barbadian pop star has a surprise release lined up for Thursday after teasing fans with a cryptic (and heavily eyebrowed) Instagram photo Wednesday afternoon. According to her site, which crashed moments after she tweeted her photo, the release will be her next single B**** Better Have My Money, which was typed in Braille in the photo.

And, the essentials:

Weather: Showers and thunderstorms are forecast in the Ohio and Tennessee valleys as well as the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic.

Stocks: U.S. stock futures were lower before the opening bell Thursday.

TV Tonight: Can't decide what to watch tonight? TV Critic Robert Bianco looks at Bones, The Blacklist and Archer.

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