Expect a flurry of politicking and diplomatic hither-thither all over the place today.

President Obama is to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday on the sidelines at the UN General Assembly in New York. It will be the first time the leaders have met since last summer.

President Putin will make his first address to the General Assembly in a decade, as the future of Syria and fighting ISIS are set to feature heavily in leaders’ interactions.

Meanwhile, British Prime Minister David Cameron insists he hasn’t backed down on his previous position calling for the removal of the Syrian leader.

Cameron will also meet Iranian President Hassan Rouhani tomorrow.

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WORLD

The Labour Party conference begins in Brighton on Monday with new leader Jeremy Corbyn not now facing a divisive debate over Britain’s nuclear deterrent after all. Meanwhile, shadow chancellor John McDonnell will address conference today and looks set to suggest a “Robin Hood tax” on stock market transactions. Whatever he might say, though, the reaction is likely predictable.

(Daily Telegraph)

• Rolling conference coverage from The Guardian is here.

Pope Francis is on his way home after wrapping up his trip to the US with an open-air mass in Philadelphia.

One high-profile political gathering seems to be having some problems, though…

Politico writes:

The glitzy Clinton Global Initiative gathering in New York, which has the lofty title “The Future of Impact,” was supposed to have been a celebration of the accomplishments of the $2-billion Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation’s past work as it pivots towards a future with Chelsea Clinton at the helm.

Instead, it’s become emblematic of the foundation’s struggles to regain its luster, while scaling back some of its ambitions and restructuring amid heightened scrutiny of its internal workings, the diminished role of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the prospect that former president Bill Clinton also could be forced to step back.

And it turned out the former President had offered to step in to help break the current political impasse in Northern Ireland, an offer that was met by a respectful “thanks, but no thanks,” by local Unionists.

Hillary Clinton, meanwhile, addressed the ongoing email controversy that is dogging her Presidential campaign. It was far from convincing.

…asked if she could reassure nervous Democrats that no new email revelations would arise, she said: “I can’t predict to you what the Republicans will come up with, what sort of charges and claims they might make.”

Clinton compared criticism about her use of private email instead of a government account while she was secretary of state to the flood of controversies and Republican-led investigations that marked the presidency of her husband Bill Clinton in the 1990s.

“I have been involved from the receiving side in a lot of these accusations,” Clinton said. “In fact as you might remember during the 90s there were a bunch of them. All of them turned out to be not true.”

In elections in Catalonia, parties advocating separation from Spain looked set to win a majority in what appeared to be a record high turnout.

There was a lunar eclipse and a rare, so-called “BloodMoon” in the early hours of Monday morning, resulting in some pretty amazing photos from all over the world.

Meanwhile, Nasa is set to make a “major announcement” about a scientific finding concerning Mars on Monday.

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BUSINESS

Shell said it would not proceed with its controversial Arctic drilling program after disappointing results from a test well. The company said it would “cease further exploration activity in offshore Alaska for the foreseeable future.”

So exactly what did Volkswagen know and when did it know it?

From one brand in need of a makeover, to some that apparently are doing just fine, thanks.

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SPORTS

As the New York Mets clinched baseball’s National League East, the team many people thought would beat them to it – indeed, many people’s favorites to win it all this year – the Washington Nationals, appear to be imploding.

English rugby is digesting their remarkable defeat to Wales at Twickenham which leaves Stuart Lancaster’s team likely needing to beat Australia next weekend to qualify for the next stage.