Good Morning Australia - After being inundated with refugees, the West changes directions on Syria - Volkswagen might have known exactly what its lying cars were doing - Trouble returns to Bangui - Spain's most-productive region votes for an exit - And more in your CareerSpot News Briefs:

France has conducted its first air strikes against Islamic State targets in Syria.  The significance is that Paris until now has declined to do anything to help the regime of President Bashar Al-Assad, which it considered the bigger regional problem.  It reflects the growing consensus in the west that Islamic State must be dealt with first, and that like it or not, Assad might be part of a post-war Syrian government.  More than 320,000 people have been killed in the war; seven million are internally displaced and four million are refugees.

A day before he was to meet with US President Barack Obama, Russian President Vladimir Putin said US support for Syrian rebels "runs counter to the principles of modern international law and the United Nations Charter".  Aside from being illegal, Putin told US TV networks that American training of the rebels is ineffective, as some are leaving to join Islamic State with weapons supplied by Washington.  The Kremlin has stepped up support for its ally Bashar Al-Assad's regime in recent weeks.  Putin will address the UN General Assembly on Monday before meeting with Mr. Obama.  But don't expect too much of it - the two sides won't agree on what will be discussed or even who initiated the contact.

Two German newspaper reports accuse Volkswagen of knowing that its so-called "clean diesel" cars were programmed to cheat at emissions tests.  Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung reported that an engineer warned the company about cheating over its emission tests as early as 2011.  And Bild am Sonntag said that parts supplier Bosch had warned Volkswagen as early as 2007 that its software - which produced better fuel economy at the expense of creating more harmful emissions - should have only been used in company tests and not for normal driving.

Pro-independence parties are claiming victory in local elections in Catalonia, Spain.  "Catalans have voted yes to independence," Catalan President Artur Mas told supporters after preliminary results indicated that the pro-secessionists will have an absolute majority in the regional assembly.  Madrid promises to use the courts to block any and all secession bids.  Many Catalans want out of Spain because the wealthy region pays more in taxes than it gets back from the central government.

Pope Francis says "God weeps" for child abuse victims.  The Pontiff met with victims of clergy sex abuse at Philadelphia's St. Charles Borromeo Seminary.  He told them, "I remain overwhelmed with shame that men entrusted with the tender care of children violated these little ones and caused grievous harm.  I am profoundly sorry."  He also visited with prisoners, telling them that they are not outcasts.  Later, Francis held a giant open air mass in the eastern US city, his last mass of his six day US tour.

Armed groups are roaming the streets of Bangui, a day after deadly sectarian clashes in the capital of the Central African Republic.  At least four people were shot dead.  Muslims complain that President Catherine Samba-Panza is doing little to curb the Christian militias that were formed after a coup by Muslim Seleka rebels in the majority-Christian country two years ago.  The Seleka gave up power, but the militias have been coming back for revenge pretty steadily, most often against civilians.