By Emma Cummins

Editorial Page Editor

1. President Obama announced on Thursday that he will be traveling to Cuba to extend the olive branch in diplomatic relations. A year since Obama announced that he was restoring communication with the communist country, the trip will be a historic happening; the last president to visit Cuba was Calvin Coolidge in 1928. Although many believe this is a good step in diplomatic relations with Cuba, only time will tell if this renewal in diplomatic relations will be beneficial to the country.

1. On Thursday, Pope Francis said that Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump was not a veritable Christian, “A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian. This is not in the Gospel.” Trump wasted no time in responding, “For a religious leader to question a person’s faith is disgraceful.” This unusual turn of events may not seem that unusual; if any presidential candidate would call out the pope, it would be Trump. We will see how this strange back-and-forth turns out.

1. This week, Apple took a bold stance on privacy. Although court ordered to unlock the iPhone of one of the San Bernardino terrorists, Apple refused to unlock the phone. Believing that violating the privacy of the owner’s iPhone will have long term effects that will threaten the privacy of all Apple users, Apple CEO Tim Cook was adamant about not complying. Fears of creating a backdoor to the iPhone and compromising all iPhone users were far too possible for the company.

1. On Thursday, a decorated former Marine was physically attacked and beaten by a group of teens and young men in Washington D.C. A veteran from the Iraq War, 30-year-old Christopher Marquez believed that the assault was a hate crime. On “Fox and Friends” Marquez said, “It was a hate crime. They targeted me because of my skin color. So, we’re seeing a lot of these events of people being attacked because they’re white.” Marquez was left unconscious and his wallet, VA medical card, and three credit cards were taken. Whether or not this was, in fact, a hate crime, it is interesting to see the opposite side of the spectrum in terms of what hate crimes can be.

1. On Wednesday, the University of Texas at Austin acquiesced to students who wished to carry guns into their classrooms. Since a ban on outlawing guns was passed a few months ago in Texas legislature, this seemed to be an inevitable next step. While the president of the university may not be enthusiastic, future students – especially at Coppell High School – should know about this new development.