What's Going On Around The World Today

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in an unannounced visit to Moscow.

Assad used the visit to thank Putin for the military support Russia, one of Syria’s strongest global allies, is providing to his country, BuzzFeed News’ Francis Whittaker writes. Putin called Assad “a friend” during their meeting and told Assad he’s “ready to contribute to the fight against terrorism and to a political settlement,” the New York Times writes.

It was the Syrian leader’s first trip abroad since a brutal civil war broke out in his country in 2011 and the first time the two leaders met since Russia launched airstrikes in Syria roughly three weeks ago.

And a little extra.

The visit implies Assad is feeling confident and emphasizes Russia’s trust in the Syrian leader. It also shows that, in Russia’s mind, Assad will have to be part of a political solution in Syria, BBC News’ Jonathan Marcus writes. The U.S. and its allies, however, want Assad to resign.

“The meeting was another chance to emphasize Russia’s re-emergence as a crucial player in the Middle East,” the Times writes.

Russia got involved in the conflict in Syria last month, claiming its goal was to fight ISIS militants. Instead, Russians have largely targeted U.S.-backed rebels who are fighting Assad’s government, U.S. officials said.

Assad has widely been blamed for ISIS’ powerful rise. Assad’s government’s harsh response to the Arab Spring protests in 2011 led to a brutal civil war between the government and rebel opposition groups, which is still being fought today. At least 250,000 people have died during the conflict, which has forced more than 10 million people — almost half the country’s population — from their homes.

WE’RE KEEPING AN EYE ON

Canadian Prime Minister-designate Justin Trudeau said he'll withdraw Canadian fighter jets from U.S.-led airstrikes against ISIS in Syria and Iraq.

Shortly after bringing his Liberal Party to victory earlier this week, Trudeau called U.S. President Barack Obama to tell him about the decision to pull out of the bombings. One of Trudeau’s campaign promises was to bring home Canada’s fighter jets that were initially supposed to be in Syria and Iraq until March 2016, BBC News writes.

Canada is also planning to take in 25,000 Syrian refugees by the end of 2015, something that outgoing Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper had opposed. Additionally, Trudeau — the 43-year-old son of former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau — said he’d invest roughly $193 million (or CA $250 million) to process new refugees who are fleeing the war-torn region, The Independent writes.

What’s next?

Trudeau hopes to improve Canada’s relationship with America, especially when it comes to environmental issues. The White House said yesterday that Obama is looking forward to working with Trudeau on climate issues.

Trudeau has said he wants to reduce carbon emissions. He has also said that he’ll work with Obama on a proposal for the Keystone XL pipeline, a connection between the two countries that would send Canadian oil south to the U.S., BBC News writes. Trudeau is in support of the pipeline, but Obama hasn’t yet approved the project, due to concerns over its environmental impact and global warming.

Wisconsin Republican Paul Ryan is still deciding whether or not he’ll run to become U.S. House Speaker.

The former vice presidential candidate (he was Republican candidate Mitt Romney’s running mate in 2012) told his colleagues during a closed-door meeting yesterday that he’d make up his mind by Friday. He’ll only run for the position, he said, if he can serve as a “unifying force for the party,” BuzzFeed News’ Tarini Parti and Katherine Miller write.

Ryan’s bid for speaker could bring some order back to the House of Representatives, which has been in a “state of complete chaos since House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy dropped his bid to replace Speaker John Boehner,” Parti and Miller write. Boehner is expected to resign from his position as speaker and to give up his house seat by the end of the month.

What’s next?

It’s still not clear whether or not Ryan will be able to secure the 218 votes he needs to become the next Speaker of the House. While some members of Congress have said they’d support Ryan, some conservative members are still on the fence.

If you want the latest news and alerts on U.S. politics and other stories, download the BuzzFeed News app for iOS and Android.

DID YOU HEAR ABOUT THIS?

Women in the developing world are half as likely to access the internet as men.

Even in places where rates of mobile phone ownership are almost equal, women are still about a third less likely to use the phones to go online, according to a new report by the World Wide Web Foundation surveying thousands of poor urban men and women across nine developing countries in Africa, Latin America, and Asia.

“This information is especially damning given the internet’s capacity to improve women’s economic situation and empower them via information and social networking,” BuzzFeed News’ Caroline O’Donovan writes.

Education is a major factor here. Women surveyed “were 1.6 times more likely [than men] to say the reason they didn’t use the Internet was ‘lack of skills,’” O’Donovan writes.

Meet the man in India who is selling illegally imported execution drugs to American states.

Chris Harris, a salesman who doesn’t have a pharmaceutical background, “has sold thousands of vials of execution drugs for corrections officials in the U.S., who are desperate to find drugs to carry out the death penalty,” BuzzFeed News’ Chris McDaniel and Tasneem Nashrulla report.

BuzzFeed News has been able to confirm four times that Harris sold execution drugs illegally to four death penalty states. Documents indicate there’s likely a fifth, McDaniel and Nashrulla write. “His sales follow a typical script: The legal issues are fixed this time, don’t worry about it. Other states are buying it, too. You aren’t the only one. You just need to make it a “minimum order” to make it worth the while. Payment in advance.”

Quick things to know:

• Boats carrying over 100 refugees have landed at a British military base in Cyprus. It’s still unknown where the passengers had travelled from. (BuzzFeed News) And these pictures show just how enormous the migration crisis still is. (BuzzFeed News)

• At least 18 people have been killed in the wake of Typhoon Koppu, which has continued to drench the Philippines since making landfall on Sunday. (BuzzFeed News)

• Australia’s prime minister is considering special laws that would bring on marriage equality. (BuzzFeed News)

• A New York City police officer died after being shot in the back of the head while chasing a gunman. (BuzzFeed News)

• The failure of RushCard, the debit card launched by Russell Simmons, has one mom walking to work all week. The card locked out some customers for nine straight days, wreaking havoc in their lives. (BuzzFeed News)

• In a shift from its earlier stance, the American Cancer Society says women should start having mammograms later — at age 45 rather than 40 — and less frequently. (New York Times)

• Former Virginia Sen. and Democrat Jim Webb is dropping out of the 2016 Democratic U.S. presidential race. But he might still run as an independent. (BuzzFeed News)

• Starbucks and Fiat Chrysler will have to pay back between €20 million (almost $23 million) and €30 million in taxes after the companies’ European tax deals were ruled to be illegal. (BBC News)

• Starting today, FIFA is expected to release the names of its soccer officials who are under internal investigation. (Bloomberg)

• An ingredient in sunscreen is killing the ocean’s coral reefs, a new study found. (BuzzFeed News)

• The drone industry has largely taken off without any women on board. But now,that’s starting to change. (BuzzFeed News)

• Sixty-one skydivers have set a world record over California and all we can say about that is “whoa.” (BuzzFeed News)

• Lena Dunham is the host of BuzzFeed’s newest podcast, Women of the Hour. The first episode will air on Nov. 5. (BuzzFeed)

Happy Wednesday

Great Scott! The future has arrived. Today is the day to which Marty McFly and Doc travel in their DeLorean in Back to the Future Part II. The year 2015 looked quite different through the eyes of the movie’s main characters. (For instance, our hoverboards have wheels, still.) The movie made the future look so cool. “That’s the ultimate allure of Future Day: hope. It’s knowing that we’ve arrived and being able to see how far we’ve come – and how far we still have to go,” BuzzFeed News’ Daniel Dalton writes. Wrap your head around this: From now on, Back to the Future will be set in the past.

We are hiring a writer for this newsletter to join #teamnewsapp in BuzzFeed’s London office. You’ve already made it this far, so if you’re interested, apply here.

This letter was edited and brought to you by Claire Moses and Millie Tran. You can always reach us here.