10 things you need to know today: October 21, 2015

(Image credit: AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

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1. Paul Ryan says he would serve as House speaker, on his own terms
2. Assad flies to Moscow to talk with Putin about Syria's war
3. Jim Webb ends his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination
4. U.S. and Russia agree on plan to prevent aircraft clashes over Syria
5. NYPD officer shot and killed in East Harlem
6. Latest round of Korean family reunions starts
7. Trudeau says he is withdrawing Canadian jets from anti-ISIS coalition
8. Biden revises account of position on bin Laden raid
9. Lamar Odom's condition improves
10. Back to the Future Day arrives, and marketers celebrate

published 21 October 2015

1. Paul Ryan says he would serve as House speaker, on his own terms

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said Tuesday that he will "gladly serve" as the next House speaker if divided GOP factions unite behind him. He also said he would not give up time with his family, and demanded an end to the disruption by "bomb throwers and hand wringers." Ryan, the party's 2012 vice presidential candidate, is seen as a possible peacemaker between mainstream Republicans and hardline conservatives who helped drive outgoing Speaker John Boehner into retirement.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad made a surprise trip to Moscow on Tuesday to discuss his country's civil war with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Assad returned to Damascus Wednesday. It was Assad's first foreign trip since political protests against his government erupted in 2011. Putin praised Syrians for fighting Islamist terrorists "practically on their own." Russia started an air campaign to support Syrian forces three weeks ago, but Putin said it will take a political settlement to end the conflict.

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Former Virginia Senator Jim Webb announced Tuesday that he was dropping out of the race for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination. Webb, who barely registered in the latest polls, said he would instead see whether he had enough support to launch a run as an independent candidate. "More people in this country call themselves political independents than Republicans or Democrats," Webb said. "I happen to agree with them."

The U.S. and Russia on Tuesday announced that they had signed an agreement regulating aircraft and drone flights over Syria. The deal set safety protocols to avoid clashes between Russian warplanes, which started supporting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces three weeks ago, and those of the U.S.-led coalition that began bombing the Islamic State just over a year ago. Members of a U.S.-backed rebel group said Tuesday that Russian strikes had killed one of their commanders and four other fighters, along with 15 civilians.

New York City police officer Randolph Holder was fatally shot in the head Tuesday night as he and another officer chased a suspect. The officers were responding to a report of shots being fired in East Harlem, and chased a suspect after a victim told them someone had stolen his bike at gunpoint. Holder, 33, was the fourth New York City officer killed in the line of duty in 11 months. Holder was from Guyana, where his father and grandfather also served as police officers.

Hundreds of people from North and South Korea began three days of reunions Tuesday with family members from across the border for the first time since the Korean War, more than 60 years ago. The first of nearly 400 South Koreans arrived in a North Korean mountain resort, marking the first such gatherings since 2013. The current round came about as the result of negotiations in August to end tensions that escalated to the point of an across-border artillery volley.

Canadian Prime Minister-designate Justin Trudeau said Tuesday that he had told President Obama that his country would be withdrawing its fighter jets from the U.S.-led coalition fighting the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq. Trudeau informed Obama of his decision by phone hours after leading his Liberal party to an unexpected rout of Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservatives. Trudeau had made a campaign promise to bring home the fighter jets, although he said Canada would continue playing a role against ISIS "in a responsible way."

Vice President Joe Biden on Tuesday appeared to change his description of his role in the decision to launch the 2011 raid that killed Osama bin Laden. Originally, Biden said he cautioned against it. On Tuesday, though, Biden said at a George Washington University forum that he told President Obama, "I thought he should go, but follow his own instincts." The apparent shift came as speculation intensifies over whether Biden will join the race to succeed his boss as commander-in-chief.

Former NBA player and reality TV star Lamar Odom is reportedly making progress in his recovery days after he was found unconscious in a Nevada brothel. Odom's condition improved enough for him to be transferred from Las Vegas to Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles. He took a few steps after arriving in L.A. Monday night. Though his recovery has been "miraculous," Odom still could face a possible kidney transplant after reportedly suffering "several strokes and multiple organ failures."

Wednesday is "Back to the Future Day" — Oct. 21, 2015, the day Marty McFly time-traveled to in Back to the Future II — and marketers are getting in on the act. Pepsi is offering a limited release of Pepsi Perfect (really just regular Pepsi in a special can), a soft drink featured in the 1989 film; Verizon and Lyft are sending DeLoreans to pick up New Yorkers requesting rides with the Lyft app; and, Nintendo is releasing Wild Gunman, an arcade game McFly plays when he arrives in 2015.

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Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.