The US House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly on May 14 to pass legislation giving Congress the right to review, and possibly reject, an international nuclear agreement with Iran.

President Barack Obama will seek to convince Gulf allies including Saudi Arabia on May 14 that the United States is committed to their security despite deep concern among Arab leaders about US efforts to broker a nuclear deal with Iran.

Senators reached a deal on May 13 to move forward this week with legislation key to a pan-Pacific trade pact, a day after a Democratic rebellion dealt a blow to the White House's trade agenda.

The commuter rail route where an Amtrak train left the track on May 12 was not governed by an advanced safety technology meant to prevent high-speed derailments, investigators said on May 13.

Gunmen stormed a guest house popular with foreigners in the Afghan capital on May 13 evening, killing at least five people including an American and two Indian citizens, officials said.

Gunmen on motorcycles opened fire on a bus in Pakistan's southern city of Karachi on May 13, killing at least 43 people, police said, in the latest attack directed against religious minorities this year.

Hundreds of Nepali troops were searching for a missing US Marines helicopter with eight people on board on May 13, a day after the second powerful earthquake in less than three weeks killed scores and sent panicked residents into the street.

Energy ministers from the Group of Seven industrial nations said on May 12 there was unprecedented consensus among them on the urgency of limiting climate change, markedly improving prospects for a UN climate deal in Paris later this year.

Saudi-led air strikes hit the rebel-held Yemeni capital Sanaa hours before a five-day humanitarian truce took effect on May 12, and Washington cautioned against "provocative actions" after Iran dispatched a cargo ship to Yemen.

At least four people were killed in a central Nepal town on May 12 after a 7.3 earthquake shook the Himalayan nation, just weeks after a devastating temblor killed more than 8,000 people and damaged hundreds of thousands of buildings.