What's Going On Around The World Today

HERE ARE THE TOP STORIES

European Union leaders are meeting in Brussels today to approve a new quota plan for the relocation of 120,000 refugees.

The controversial plan will disperse 120,000 refugees across the European Union’s 28 member nations over the next two years, BuzzFeed News’ Hayes Brown writes. The refugees who are being relocated are mostly coming from Italy, Greece and Hungary, BBC News writes. Countries will have to accept the number of refugees allotted to them.

Some member nations, such as Romania, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary, oppose the plan.

The controversial deal was agreed upon by EU ministers ahead of today’s emergency summit about the migration crisis. According to officials, roughly half a million refugees and migrants have arrived in Europe in the first eight months of the year.

And a little extra.

Britain isn’t part of this agreement. The UK has promised to resettle 4,000 refugees, and a total of 20,000 over five years, The Guardian writes. Ireland and Denmark are also not subject to the quotas because of protocols agreed upon in the EU’s 2008 Lisbon Treaty.

Pope Francis is in Washington D.C. for a six-day U.S. visit and will have a one-on-one meeting with President Barack Obama.

The pope received a red-carpet welcome from President Obama upon arriving last night at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland, BuzzFeed News’ David Mack writes. (In case you were wondering:The pope is traveling with a chartered Alitalia plane). The two leaders are set to meet in the Oval Office today, the Associated Press writes. This afternoon, he’ll hold a mass for 30,000 people at the Basilica of the National Shrine, the largest Catholic Church in the Americas.

And a little extra.

The papal visit is no vacation. While Francis is known to stray from his tight schedule for unscripted encounters, here are some key items on his itinerary:

• On Thursday, Pope Francis plans to deliver the first ever papal address to Congress in Washington D.C. He’s expected to discuss issues such as gay rights, immigration, abortion and climate change.

• On Friday, Francis is scheduled to address the United Nations General Assembly in New York City, followed by a visit to the Ground Zero memorial.

• That same day, he’ll lead a mass at New York City’s Madison Square Garden.

• The pope will end his visit by spending the weekend in Philadelphia, where he’ll lead two masses and enjoy a farewell ceremony.

BuzzFeed News’ J. Lester Feder has a story about the nun who has battled the Vatican for years over LGBT ministry. She’ll be a part of the welcome ceremony for Pope Francis at the White House. And as far as the pope’s security is concerned, America’s Secret Service is in charge.

WE’RE KEEPING AN EYE ON

After rigging what could be 11 million diesel vehicles to evade emission testing, Volkswagen is facing class action lawsuits.

Volkswagen’s reputation is in shambles as the German carmaker possibly faces $18 billion in fines, “but the most terrifying phase of the nightmare is just beginning”: The class-action lawyers are coming,” BuzzFeed News’ Matthew Zeitlin writes. Volkswagen was ordered to recall nearly 500,000 cars in the U.S. after admitting it installed software to cheat emission tests.

Two car owners in Illinois and New Jersey have filed two separate federal class action lawsuits. They said they were duped into buying what they thought were environmentally friendly cars, but the vehicles were actually releasing harmful levels of pollutants, BuzzFeed News’ Leticia Miranda writes. Although the scandal started in the U.S., its international impact has gained way as countries such as South Korea, France, and Germany, have started investigating as well.

What’s next?

The carmaker could be responsible for almost one million tons of air pollution worldwide every year. To give you an idea of the impact: that’s about the same as the total sum of emissions for all the power stations, vehicles, industry and agriculture throughout the United Kingdom, an analysis by The Guardian suggests.

The chemicals in question are Nitric Oxide and nitrogen dioxide, which together are commonly referred to as NOx. Nitrogen dioxide causes health problems, such as inflammation of the airways, while both gases cause environmental problems.

DID YOU HEAR ABOUT THIS?

Lawrence Peter “Yogi” Berra, New York Yankees legend and MLB Hall of Famer, has died at the age of 90.

The iconic baseball player, who was considered one of the greatest catchers of all time, played for the Yankees for 19 years, including 75 World Series games,, BuzzFeed News’ Jason Wells and Lindsey Adler write. In 1972, he was elected to the MLB Hall of Fame. And even if you’re not a baseball fan, you may find yourself repeating some famous “Yogi-isms,” such as “it ain’t over ‘til it’s over” or “when you come to a fork in the road, take it.”

A year ago, 43 students disappeared in Mexico after they were attacked by police in the middle of the night, and their relatives are still looking for answers.

The massacre has formed concentric circles of grief that expand well beyond the closest relatives of the missing students, BuzzFeed News’ Karla Zabludovsky writes from Mexico. “There are at least 700 direct relatives of these victims that have also suffered the consequences of this loss, the impact of the pain, of fear,” Carlos Beristain, an international human rights expert investigating told BuzzFeed News.

There are more than 25,000 disappeared people on Mexico’s national registry, many of whom live in the poorest, most isolated parts of the country, Zabludovsky writes.

A company’s claim to the copyright on “Happy Birthday to You” is not valid, a U.S. judge has ruled.

This means you might hear the song more often on television and in movies. The U.S. federal judge who made Tuesday’s ruling said the song is in the public domain rather than copyrighted by music company Warner/Chappell Music.

“The company reportedly has been collecting millions of dollars in annual licensing fees from the song,” BuzzFeed News’ Jim Dalrymple II writes.

The song, as we know it today, dates back to the late 1800s when the melody was set to different lyrics. While it’s not entirely clear where today’s lyrics come from, they were first published in full in a 1911 book. Warner/Chappell bought the copyright in 1988 and his since taken ownership of the song.

Quick things to know:

• President Obama yesterday declared the Valley fire in Northern California a major disaster, allowing federal funds to be sent to recovery efforts. (BuzzFeed News)

• China’s manufacturing index unexpectedly hit a six-year low. (Bloomberg) And Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged in a speech Tuesday night to work with the U.S. in fighting cybercrimes. (New York Times)

• Democratic nominee hopeful Hillary Clinton said she opposes the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, which would ship oil from Canada to the Gulf Coast. She called it “a distraction” that “interferes” with other climate efforts. (BuzzFeed News) And the FBI recovered emails from Clinton’s personal server, but it’s unclear how many. (BuzzFeed News)

• This is the man who raised the price of a lifesaving drug from $13.50 to $750. (BuzzFeed News) The drug in question, Daraprim, is used to treat a potentially life-threatening parasite infection in babies and was approved by U.S. regulators in 1953. (BuzzFeed News)

• Te-Nehisi Coates — the acclaimed author of poetic memoir Between the World and Me — is the new writer for the first mainstream black superhero: Marvel’s “Black Panther”. (BuzzFeed News)

• Here are realities of U.S. Vice President Joe Biden running for president. (BuzzFeed News)

• Brian Williams, the former news anchor of NBC Nightly News, returned to the airwaves seven months after a false Iraq war story. He began a new role on the cable channel MSNBC on Tuesday. (BuzzFeed News)

• Here’s a visual guide to the various military equipment Russia reportedly has in Syria. (BuzzFeed News)

• Should you buy a new iPhone 6s? (BuzzFeed News) If you do, this is what might happen when you use the crap out of it. (BuzzFeed Life)

• Young Europeans might die at an earlier age than their grandparents, according to the World Health Organization. (The Guardian)

• The Scots are so obsessed with snow that they have 421 words for it. (Mashable)

Happy Wednesday

Nine days after eating copious amounts of challah for the Jewish new year, Yom Kippur has arrived. And atoning for one’s sins is a hungry business. It starts off easy. “You’re totally fine. Like, seriously, totally fine. You’re not even hungry. Actually, you’re full. You definitely woke up this morning and had breakfast and not just gulps of air,” BuzzFeed Life’s Mackenzie Barth writes. But hunger will inevitably strike. Presented here are the five stages of fasting (spoiler: it ends in hysteria). And it’s explained by Amy Schumer, the Moses of the comedy world.

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