Wiping back tears as he remembered children killed in a mass shooting, President Barack Obama on January 5 ordered stricter gun rules that he can impose without Congress and urged American voters to reject pro-gun candidates.

About 90 women have reported being robbed, threatened or sexually molested at New Year celebrations outside Cologne's cathedral by young, mostly drunk, men, police said on January 5, in events they have described as 'a new dimension in crime'.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on January 5 Saudi Arabia could not hide its "crime" of executing a Shi'ite cleric by cutting ties with Tehran, but Iranian authorities disowned an attack on the Saudi embassy in Iran.

Virginia's port authority will become the first US port operator to sign a cooperation agreement with its Cuban counterpart, in an effort to increase trade and establish direct service with Cuba, Virginia's governor said on January 4.

A powerful earthquake struck northeast India and Bangladesh on January 4, killing at least 11 people and injuring nearly 200, with efforts to reach remote areas where people may be trapped hampered by severed power lines and telecommunication links.

The White House unveiled gun control measures on January 4 that require more gun sellers to get licenses and more gun buyers to undergo background checks, moves President Barack Obama said were well within his authority to implement without congressional approval.

Saudi Arabia widened its rift with Iran on January 4, saying it would end air traffic and trade links with the Islamic republic and demanding that Tehran must "act like a normal country" before it would restore severed diplomatic relations.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for a truck bomb attack on a compound for civilian contractors near Kabul airport on January 4, hours after a suicide bomber blew himself up in the latest in a series of attacks in the Afghan capital over the past week.

At least one person was killed and a dozen injured when an earthquake measuring 6.8 struck near Imphal in eastern India on January 4, sending people running from their homes and knocking out power to the city near the Myanmar border.

Saudi Arabia cut ties with Iran on January 3, responding to the storming of its embassy in Tehran in an escalating row between the rival Middle East powers over Riyadh's execution of a Shi'ite Muslim cleric.