Foreign ministers of major powers told Iran on September 22 that they hope for an early negotiated solution to the stand-off over its nuclear programme as well as fresh talks on a potential atomic fuel swap plan.

The Kremlin has formally banned the sale of S-300 air defence missile systems to Iran three months after new UN sanctions.

Twelve people have been killed and at least 35 wounded in a bomb attack on a military parade in north-western Iran.

Flooding and landslides from Typhoon Fanapi killed 13 people in southern China and left at least 33 missing, an official said on September 22, as the strongest storm to hit the country this year continued to drop heavy rain on parts of the region.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao urged Japan to release a boat captain "immediately and unconditionally," state media said on Spetember 22, after his arrest in disputed waters set off a diplomatic crisis.

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warned on September 21 that an attack on his country's nuclear facilities could spark a war with "no limits".

The Quartet of Middle East peace mediators urged Israel on September 21 to extend its settlement moratorium and called on Palestinian and Israeli officials to ensure their nascent direct peace talks continue.

A helicopter crash on September 21 killed nine American troops from the NATO-led force in Afghanistan's south on Tuesday, making 2010 the deadliest year of the war for foreign troops.

Chief of the UN Ban Ki-moon pressed debt-ridden donor countries on September 20 not to cut aid to the poor despite their budgetary woes.

The United States has dismissed a suggestion by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to free Iranians in exchange for two detained hikers as Washington kept up pressure on the Islamic republic.