The day in New York saw the PM take part in a couple of open Q&A sessions, first with guests of the Wall Street Journal and later with students of New York University.

The first Q&A covered the economy and the upcoming G20 meeting and the second covered more international issues along the theme of multilateralism.

The PM was joined at NYU by former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who revealed that she wears different pins (brooches, I suppose) to communicate different messages.

Today she wore a pin in the shape of grapes as a sign of not wanting to see the world return to the protectionism of the 1930s and another era as depicted in Steinbeck’s “The Grapes of Wrath”. She also revealed that the habit grew from a remark made by Saddam Hussein likening her to a snake brooch she was wearing once in his presence.

Someone on the street mouthed “Who is it?” at me and pointed towards the head of the convoy before sprinting up the street to try and peer through the blacked out windows. This stood out, because most New Yorkers gaze at the sky or weave between the SUVs if they come to a standstill. As mentioned in our Twitter feed, they’ve seen it all before.

After a brief meeting at the New York Federal Reserve down by the Statue of Liberty the PM headed to the UN for a meeting and press conference with Ban Ki-moon. “Now that’s a handshake” shouted one photographer, after a particularly long greeting by the two leaders.

You can read more about the press conference and also the Q&A events by following the links below.

You can also get more insight to what’s going on by following Twitter or going to our dedicated photo set on Flickr.

A long flight to Brazil morphing immediately into another full day’s work lies ahead, though we should be there by the time you read this message.

Read more: UK and UN committed to poor nations Read more: PM tells New Yorkers his hopes for G20

http://www.number10.gov.uk/Page18753