Brand Spankin’ News: 5 Things You Need to Know This Week

As busy college students it is all too easy to shut out the world outside of our college campuses, but now you can finally keep up with breaking stories from around the world. Here you can get a sharp and easy-to-digest weekly roundup on what is going on in the news – and even better, you can read it in 5 minutes or less.

1. 2nd Republican Presidential Debate 

CNN will be hosting the second GOP presidential debate on Wednesday, September 16 at 8 p.m. The set of candidates, which is usually 10, has increased to 11 to include Carly Fiorina, who out during the first debate a few weeks ago and has made recent headlines in her reaction to Donald Trump’s comments about her looks. The debate will feature frontrunner Donald Trump, former neurosurgeon Ben Carson, Ted Cruz, Marc Rubio and others. 

2. New York Fashion Week Draws to a Close

The last show of NYFW will be Calvin Klein on Thursday, September 17th. This year’s series of runways, featuring spring collections, has seen everything from A-List celebrities to drones. Kayne West even pulled a, well, Kayne West by holding an impromptu runway show that clashed with the times of two other designers’ presentations that had been properly scheduled. The weeklong event also brings in some serious revenue for NYC; according to congresswoman Carolyn Maroney NYFW generates almost $900 million for the city. 

3. Twitter Under Fire for Eavesdropping on Direct Messages

On Monday, a class action lawsuit alleged the company of intercepting and altering private messages without the users knowledge or consent. Wilford Raney and others filed the suit in federal court in San Francisco. They claim that Twitter is violating the Electronic Communications Privacy Act. A Twitter spokesperson, however, believes these claims are meritless and the company intends to fight them.

4. Obama: College Students Should No Longer Be “Coddled”

Recently, there has been a national debate over sensitivity on college campuses, as many universities are against having speakers who are “too liberal or conservative.”At an event to discuss college affordability in Des Moines, Iowa President Obama addressed this issue stating, “I don’t agree that you, when you become students at colleges, have to be coddled and protected from different points of views.”

5. NYC: Hundreds Rally to Demand Acceptance of Refugees

Union Square was home for hundreds of people on Saturday who were demanding that the United States accept significantly more refugees from Syria and other war-torn nations. The rally took place after President Obama announced that U.S. would take in 10,000 more refugees. Members of the rally, however, think that number is way too low and that the nation should accept upwards of 65,000 migrants. 

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