What's Going On In The News Today?

HERE ARE THE TOP STORIES

Tonight is the second U.S. Republican presidential debate.

There will be 11 candidates on stage at the Reagan Presidential Library in California for the CNN-sponsored debate. The lineup will be the same as last month’s debate — including Donald Trump, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker — with the addition of former Hewlett-Packard chief executive Carly Fiorina, the only woman in the Republican field.

“My goal is more about: Let’s draw the contrasts between the candidates, and have them fight it out over these policies,” CNN’s Jake Tapper, who will be moderating, told the New York Times. “Have them lay it all out so voters can see it.”

And a little extra.

Here’s what the 11 leading candidates need to do during debate night: For Trump, “whether he can transform himself from summer curiosity to enduring political phenomenon will be, in part, determined by how he holds up over what will become monthly debates,” the Times writes. Another person to watch tonight is retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, who, in one of the latest polls, was running nearly even with Trump.

The main debate will be at 8 p.m. ET on CNN with the earlier one starting at 6 p.m. ET –– both will be streamed online at CNN.com.

If you want the latest news and alerts on the 2016 U.S. presidential race, download the BuzzFeed News app for iOS. (We also have a ~super secret~ Android version, so if you want to be a beta tester, send us a note.)

The U.S. Federal Reserve is meeting to decide whether to raise interest rates for the first time in nearly a decade.

Tomorrow, the Fed will decide if it will raise interest rates, which would affect things like what you earn on your savings.

Because the Fed works behind closed doors, it can seem mysterious, but here are some basics: “If the central bank were to act, it could have an impact on your financial life, forcing you to eventually pay more for car loans, credit cards … Or if you're a retiree with savings, a rate hike could boost your income,” NPR writes in this explainer on what the Fed’s decision means.

But the key word is eventually: “the real impact of a rate increase like this would probably be quite small — at least in the short term,” Shane Ferro writes in the Huffington Post. Another key word is small: “We're talking about a quarter of a percent increase in rates. Such a small change is unlikely to have much of an effect on most Americans,” Ferro writes.

A bit of background.

“Since the recession began in 2007, the Fed has been holding down rates to help the economy get moving,” NPR writes. Now they're considering raising rates for the first time in nearly nine years because the economy looks like it can handle it.

If you really want to nerd out, here’s CNBC on how raising interest rates works.

WE’RE KEEPING AN EYE ON

Oklahoma is set to execute Richard Glossip today despite his claims of innocence.

Glossip, 52, is scheduled to be executed today at 3 p.m. local time for the 1997 murder of Barry Van Treese, the owner of a motel where he worked as a manager. His lawyers have argued his conviction wasn’t based on any forensic or physical evidence and relied on the testimony of a handyman who carried out the murder. Glossip’s maintained his innocence during his nearly 17 years on death row.

Despite 20 executions across the U.S. this year, Glossip’s case is getting so much attention primarily due to the support of high-profile advocates, such as actress Susan Sarandon and Richard Branson.

“Glossip’s name — headlined in the recent Supreme Court decision about lethal injection drugs — has now become synonymous for some with the debate over the constitutionality of the death penalty itself,” BuzzFeed News’ Tasneem Nashrulla writes.

On whether he is innocent, co-director of the Innocence Project, Barry Scheck, wrote in the Huffington Post, “We also don’t know for sure whether Richard Glossip is innocent or guilty. That is precisely the problem. If we keep executing defendants in cases like this, where the evidence of guilt is tenuous and untrustworthy, we will keep killing innocent people.”

What’s next?

Glossip’s fate is in the hands of the courts. Yesterday, Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin denied Glossip a 60-day stay — or a suspension through a court order — of execution requested by his attorneys who said they had new evidence to prove his innocence. Now, “the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals has the authority to stay the execution, while Fallin at most could only grant a 60-day stay,” Nashrulla writes.

The state of Oklahoma has the highest execution rate based on its 2010 population. Texas and Delaware are second and third.

DID YOU HEAR ABOUT THIS?

Pee scams, kickbacks, and overdoses plague South Florida drug rehabs.

Nicole Cronin was one of the hundreds of people who overdose in Palm Beach County every year. She came to South Florida for help, but instead found a rehab system with weak scientific backing that’s riddled with fraud, BuzzFeed News’ Cat Ferguson reports.

Nicole, who was 20 years old, died in Delray Beach, the “recovery capital of America,” which is “home to thousands seeking sobriety — as well as scam artists who prey on addicts and their insurance plans,” Ferguson writes.

When addicts want to get clean –– the most common path for those who can afford it –– is a short chemical detox followed by a 28-day inpatient rehab. But in South Florida, rehab is “often followed by a much longer stint living in a halfway house” which often encourage people staying to get “additional support from outpatient programs that offer one-on-one counseling, group therapy, and 12-step programs.” But there’s little scientific evidence that any of these recovery approaches work.

20 minutes with Tim Cook.

The Apple CEO talked to BuzzFeed News’ John Paczkowski about new iPhone features, privacy concerns, the iPad Pro as a desktop replacement, and why you can’t delete that pesky Stocks app –– all while in a car driving across Manhattan to make a surprise visit to the company’s flagship Fifth Avenue Apple Store.

Fast forward 20 minutes. Here are the highlights:

• “Hey, Siri” is just one of the major new features Cook announced last week in the new iPhones. “You can decide you don’t want Hey Siri,” Cook said. “But the real answer to that is that the information is held on the device and so it is not going back to Apple. Apple doesn’t have access to it.”

• And 3D Touch, is a “game changer,” in Cook’s mind. “I find that my efficiency is way up with 3D touch, because I can go through so many emails so quickly. It really does cut out a number of navigational steps to get where you’re going.”

• Giving up your Mac for the iPad Pro? “I think that some people will never buy a computer,” Cook said. “Because I think now we’re at the point where the iPad does what some people want to do with their PCs.”

• Pesky apps on the iOS that you can’t delete (like the Stocks app). Cook says, they recognize this and are figuring out a solution.

Bonus: The Wall Street Journal has a review of iOS 9 and how it’s an upgrade that will save you time and battery.

Quick things to know:

• Devastating flash floods have killed 16 people in southern Utah. The toll marked the single deadliest flash flood event in the state’s history. (BuzzFeed News)

• Croatia, which is a European Union member, is allowing refugees to pass through freely, a day after Hungary closed its border with Serbia. (BuzzFeed News)

• A 14-year-old Texas student was arrested after making a homemade clock and bringing it to school to impress his teachers. (BuzzFeed News)

• New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said that within 10 years, all of the city’s public schools will be required to offer computer science to all students. Chicago and San Francisco have recently made similar pledges. (New York Times)

• A new study shows that the number of women in power in TV has stalled in the 2014-2015 year. (BuzzFeed News)

• Princeton football player Mason Darrow said he is gay. Darrow is believed to be the only out gay player in major college football right now. (Associated Press)

• Which city will host the 2024 summer Olympic Games? These are the five contenders: Los Angeles, Hamburg, Rome, Budapest, and Paris. A decision will be made in 2017. (BBC Sport)

• Google’s newly spun-out life sciences division under Alphabet is taking on mental health and just hired one of the nation’s leading neuroscientists and psychiatrists. (BuzzFeed News)

• Close to 34% of children and adolescents from ages two to 19 eat fast food on any given day. (Time)

• There are more millionaires in the Asia-Pacific region than in North America for the first time, according to a new study. (The Guardian)

• News you can use: 19 internet hacks every student (and non-student) should know. (BuzzFeed News)

• Today in tech: Soon, you’ll be able to “dislike” things on Facebook. (BuzzFeed News) Twitter has been sued for eavesdropping on its users’ private messages. (BuzzFeed News) And Snapchat is now allowing users to replay deleted snaps for 99¢ — but more importantly, new selfie filters. (BuzzFeed News)

Happy Wednesday

BuzzFeed News spoke to the photographer who captured the moment of a Danish policeman playing a game with a young refugee girl on the German-Danish border — and whose photos were shared all across social media. “It was a touching moment to witness,” Claus Fisker, who works for Scanpix, told BuzzFeed News. “They both caught my eye because in all of this sad history, it reminded me that we mustn’t say no to the people and children fleeing from war.”

This letter was edited and brought to you by Brianne O’Brien and Millie Tran. You can always reach us here.