Lauren Frayer

With tensions rising over North Korea's nuclear program, you might expect a kind of panic in South Korea. But there's an altogether different scene happening in Seoul ahead of the election.

The heir to Samsung is in jail on bribery charges. Ex-president Park Geun-hye was impeached late last year, removed from office in March and her corruption trial got underway this week.

GOP pressured to pass bill to repeal and replace Obamacare. Trump to talk to Putin by phone. South Korea's first female president is on trial for corruption, a week before an election to replace her.

With their impeached president on trial for corruption, South Korean voters will decide how pro-U.S. her replacement should be — as President Trump and North Korea trade threats of war.

Portugal's economy has rebounded dramatically since its European Union bailout in 2011. Wages are up and unemployment down. What's surprising is that this happened only as austerity was canceled.

Since 2001, possession or use of any drug has been treated as a health issue in Portugal. The country's drug-induced death rate has plummeted to five times lower than the European Union average.

Half of all cars in Europe run on diesel, compared to 3 percent in the U.S. But Madrid has vowed to ban diesel vehicles by 2025, to cut air pollution. Paris and Athens have made similar pledges.

Amid the rise of far-right political parties in Europe, Spain has no similar movement. That may be due to its history under a dictatorship and Spaniards' own experience as impoverished migrants.

Many complain their magnificent city is being ruined by tourism. Some 30 million visitors arrive every year, bringing much-needed revenue — but crowding out longtime residents and businesses.

Ada Colau is a former Occupy activist, once arrested for blocking home evictions during Spain's economic crisis. Now she's Barcelona's mayor, a job in which, she says, "you're closest to the people."

Geert Wilders wants his country to return to its white, Christian roots, shut down mosques and exit the EU. He's favored to win March elections, though unlikely to become prime minister.

As the country reels from its financial crisis, a new restaurant, run by a Catholic priest, lets paying daytime customers foot the dinner bill for homeless people to dine with dignity — and style.

The Dutch village of Volendam is prosperous, picturesque — and a stronghold of Geert Wilders' far-right Freedom Party. Though it has few immigrants, Wilders' anti-immigrant message resonates.

With an anti-immigrant party looking strong in the polls, new parties that support immigrants and minorities are cropping up in an attempt to serve as a counterweight.

As the clock strikes midnight, people in Spain gobble 12 grapes in quick succession, with wishes for the new year. Then, they go out to party all night long with cava, a Spanish sparkling white wine.

As ISIS loses ground in Syria and Iraq, police in Europe are concerned the group may step up attacks in the holiday season. Meanwhile, Muslims in Europe report increased harassment and discrimination.

When Germany halted exports in WWII, Spanish brewers asked farmers in a town in northern Spain to plant hops. Now, the town produces 99 percent of the country's hops used by the craft beer industry.

Children in Spain, facing up to three hours of homework a night, have put down their pens and pencils in protest. "We all want our children to succeed," says one father who supports the strike.

Antonino Fernandez, who made his fortune from Corona beer, died in Mexico in August at 98. But he never forgot where he came from — a tiny village in northern Spain that he helped support for decades.

Clara Peeters, a 17th century Flemish painter, hid tiny self-portraits in her still life paintings. She wasn't a household name, then or now, and just 40 or so of her paintings have survived.