For the first time in centuries China has overtaken the US as the world's biggest trading nation, with total trade standing at $4.16 trillion in 2013.

The iconic but controversial former Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, has died after his medical condition significantly deteriorated, his son confirmed to the media.

Almost 500 people, including 85 civilians, were killed during in-fighting between rebel groups and an Al-Qaeda branch in Syria in the past week, an activist group reported.

A team of nuclear scientists in Japan plan to deliberately melt a nuclear fuel rod to model the meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear plant in 2011. The experiment aims to find out exactly what happened to the plant's three reactors.

It's not just in Europe that the EU faces many challenges. On a global scale it will have to find ways to successfully work together with its international partners such as the US, Russia and China. The results will affect anything from the economy to fighting terrorism. Read on to find out what the Parliament's experts on foreign relations believe the challenges and opportunities to be in 2014.

On 6 January, Lithuania became a member of the consultative group of the UN Human Rights Council for 2014. In this group, Lithuania will be represented by Ambassador Rytis Paulauskas, Permanent Representative of Lithuania to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva.

NY governor Andrew Cuomo declared a state of emergency ahead of a major winter storm triggered by the "polar vortex," now sweeping into the eastern US. The state could see as much as 36 inches of snow and wind chills as low as 40 degrees below zero.

The American Midwest and Northeast have braced for a "polar vortex," a megastorm that is expected to bring record low temperatures on Monday. So far extreme weather conditions have claimed at least 16 lives, paralyzed travel and caused power shortage.

A total of 8,868 people, including 7,818 civilians, have been killed in violent attacks across Iraq in 2013, the United Nations reports – the highest annual death toll in the war-torn country in five years.

The Palestinian ambassador in Prague has died after being fatally injured in an explosion that shook his official residence on Wednesday, Czech police said. Jamal al-Jamal died several hours after being taken to the hospital, authorities said.