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　　King Salman of Saudi Arabia has ordered a fullreview of the country's plans for the annual Hajjpilgrimage after 700 people died in a crush outside the Muslim holy city of Mecca. Here is FrankGardner. Saudi Arabia is in shock. It's reeling from the worst tragedy to hit the annual Hajjpilgrimage in 25 years. All day the death toll has been rising with hundreds killed and injuredwhen pilgrims stampeded through a tented city, trampling on one another in their panic. TheSaudi authorities say some pilgrims disobeyed instructions and took a wrong turning. But withup to 2 million pilgrims from dozens of nationalities, the Hajj can be a disoriented experience.

　　President Barack Obama's spokesman has said that when Mr.Obama and his Russiancounterpart Vladimir Putin meet in New York next Monday, the top item on the agenda shouldbe Ukraine. Josh Earnest says it's the first time the two leaders would meet face to face innearly a year. When the president sits down with president Putin, the top item on his agendawill be Ukraine and president Obama will once again use this occasion to reinforce presidentPutin the importance of Russia keeping the commitments they have made in the context of theMinsk Agreements. But Mr. Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov says the Russian president wantsthe emphasis to be placed on Syria. The conflict there will be the key theme in Mr. Putin'sspeech to the UN General Assembly. Russia has recently stepped up its military presence inSyria. And Mr.Putin has urged the US to rethink its opposition to the Assad regime. He saidtheir common enemy was now the Islamic State group. And the possibility of having the Syrianpresident involved in discussions to end the war in Syria is likely to be considered at a meetingof British, French and German foreign ministers currently under way in Paris. Jeremy Bowenreports. So far, President Bashar al-Assad has survived every prediction of defeat. Thedurability of his regime is one reason why some Western governments are softening theirrhetoric about president Assad. The German chancellor Angle Merkel has said his side shouldbe involved in any talks to end the war. There is also a sense that Syria without the Assadsmight be even more dangerous and unstable. The jihadists of Islamic State could seize moreland. And without question, hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions more refugees wouldleave Syria. Jeremy Bowen.

　　The Cuban president Raul Castro has arrived in New York ahead of the UN General Assemblynext week. It's the first time a Cuban leader has visited the US in 15 years. Cuba's officialagency Prensa Latina say Mr. Castro would listen to the UN speech of Pope Francis on Fridaywho helped broker the recent foreign relations between Cuba and the US. News from the BBC.

　　Pope Francis has become the first head of the Roman Catholic Church to addressa joint sessionof the United States congress. Caroline Wyatt sent this report from Washington. It was thefirst time that America’s lawmakers had invited a pope to speak. As a son of migrants, he calledon the US and the rest of the world to treat immigrants and refugees in a just and humane wayin a country that's home to 11 million illegal immigrants. There was something for everyone,Democratic and Republican alike, as he urged America to treat all life as sacred and was cheeredby the anti-abortion right before he called on congress to put an end to the death penalty, acourse for the left.

　　Swiss prosecutors have confirmed that world football’s governing body FIFA has agreed tounseal email accounts belonging to Jerome Valcke, the organization's secretary general. He wassuspended last week following allegations that he was involved in a scheme to sell world cuptickets at inflated prices. Mr. Valcke's lawyer has dismissed the allegations as fabricated andoutrageous.

　　The Russian president Vladimir Putin has phoned the pop star Elton John and proposed ameeting. The call came a week after a pair of Russian comedians tricked the singer into thinkinghe was talking to the president. The singer had said he wanted to discuss Russia's attitude togay rights. Bridget Kendallhas more details. So the idea of face to face meeting betweenPresident Putin and Sir Elton John is back on again. After last week's hoax call, this time it wasthe real deal. A Kremlin spokesman said a formal approach to Sir Elton was first made by theRussian ambassador in London to convince the singer this was not another trick. Thenapparently Mr. Putin spoke to him directly saying that since Elton John was such a popularperformer, he would be ready to meet him face to face if they could make their schedules workto discuss anything he wanted. That was Bridget Kendall. And that's the BBC news.