The Wire

The 70th United Nations Congress is underway in New York with US and Russian Presidents meeting to discuss what to do about regime change in Syria. Vladimir Putin has been backing the Assad regime, sending in tanks, drones and helicopters to help shore up the fight against Islamic State forces. He says it would be a mistake for the West to lock Assad out of any negotiations over Syria’s future, but Obama says Assad can’t simplify pacify the broader Syrian population who’ve been brutalised by chemical weapons and indiscriminate bombing.