Rovaniemi, Finland — Shuffling across icy ground on a cold December afternoon, lots of tourist groups poured into Santa Claus Village, a winter-themed amusement park perched on the edge of the Arctic Circle. They frolic in the snow, take a reindeer sleigh ride, sip a cocktail in an ice bar or …

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA — From plastic surgery clinics to tour firms and hotel chains, South Korea’s hospitality sector is wary of the potential impact of a protracted political crisis, as some overseas travelers cancel trips following last week’s brief bout of martial law. South Korea’s travel and tourism industry, which generated …

Yaounde, Cameroon — Officials in Sub-Saharan Africa countries have agreed it is important to reduce over-dependence on imported fish and seafood from North Africa and the European Union and instead they should strive to cultivate fish-farming, which will create jobs for unemployed youth. The officials, meeting in Cameroon, said their goal …

TikTok asked a federal appeals court on Monday to bar the Biden administration from enforcing a law that could lead to a ban on the popular platform until the Supreme Court reviews its challenge to the statue.  The legal filing was made after a panel of three judges on the …

NEW DELHI — India is not pursuing the creation of a shared BRICS currency, an idea that has met with a strong verbal pushback from incoming U.S. President Donald Trump, but the South Asian giant is making efforts to promote trade in its local currency, according to analysts in New Delhi. …

India is not supporting the creation of a shared currency among the nine-nation BRICS grouping but it is trying to promote trade in its local currency, according to analysts in New Delhi. Incoming U.S. President Donald Trump recently warned BRICS nations against efforts to replace the dollar with an alternative …

WASHINGTON — America’s job market rebounded in November, adding 227,000 workers in a solid recovery from the previous month, when the effects of strikes and hurricanes sharply diminished employers’ payrolls. Last month’s hiring growth was up considerably from a meager gain of 36,000 jobs in October. The government also revised up …

Through social media posts, President-elect Donald Trump has threatened to imposed tariffs on Canada, China and Mexico – three of the top trading partners for the United States. VOA’s Kane Farabaugh has more about the potential economic impact if Trump follows through. …

BANGKOK — China is fine-tuning policies to rev up its economy as it braces for uncertain relations with the United States under President-elect Donald Trump, giving manufacturers a 20% made-in-China price advantage in sales to the Chinese government. The moves come ahead of a top-level annual economic planning conference scheduled for …

LOBITO, ANGOLA — In the blistering midday heat at Angola’s largest port, U.S. President Joe Biden beamed Wednesday as he shook hands, one by one, with nine smiling hard-hatted workers. He had journeyed all the way from Washington to meet them at the terminus of an ambitious 1,300-kilometer, U.S.-financed rail line …

HANOI, Vietnam — Vietnam has suspended the operations of Chinese online retailer Temu after it failed to meet a government deadline to register the company by the end of November.  It is unclear if Temu, a unit of Chinese e-commerce giant Pinduoduo, will be allowed to resume its business once it …

ABUJA, NIGERIA — Political analysts in Nigeria say the country needs to be careful after signing a series of agreements with France during President Bola Tinubu’s three-day visit to the European country last week. Tinubu’s three-day visit to France was the first official state visit to Paris by a Nigerian leader …

Washington — U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Monday said he would “block” a planned takeover of US Steel by Japanese company Nippon Steel, a deal worth $14.9 billion including debts. “I am totally against the once great and powerful U.S. Steel being bought by a foreign company, in this case Nippon …

KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysia has urged Chinese companies to refrain from using it as a base to “rebadge” products to avoid U.S. tariffs, its deputy trade minister said on Monday, amid increasing export restrictions and concerns of a U.S.-China trade war.  Washington is expected to further curb exports to Chinese semiconductor …

WASHINGTON — When U.S. President Joe Biden visits Angola in early December, he will put into focus his legacy infrastructure project aimed at securing crucial supply chains on the African continent. Called the Lobito Corridor, the project is the centerpiece of his administration’s strategy to counter China’s clout in global development. …

Fuel is rapidly becoming one of Bolivia’s scarcest commodities. Long lines of vehicles snake for several kilometers outside gas stations all over Bolivia, once South America’s second-largest producer of natural gas. Some of the queues don’t budge for days. While frustration builds, drivers like Victor García now eat, sleep and …

NEW YORK — The holiday shopping season is about to reach full speed with Black Friday, which kicks off the post-Thanksgiving retail rush this week. The annual sales event no longer creates the midnight mall crowds or doorbuster mayhem of recent decades, in large part due to the ease of online …

Middle East analysts are welcoming a series of agreements concluded during the recent summit in Brazil of the 20 biggest economies, saying they open new avenues for Gulf Cooperation Council states to strengthen economic relations with emerging markets across Latin America. Among other developments, Crown Prince Khaled bin Mohamed bin …

Cryptocurrency investors have big hopes for the approaching presidency of Donald Trump, who campaigned this year as a champion of digital currencies. VOA Correspondent Scott Stearns has our story. …

MEXICO CITY — Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Wednesday that Mexico would retaliate if U.S. President-elect Donald Trump followed through with his proposed 25% across-the-board tariff, a move her government warned could kill 400,000 U.S. jobs and drive up prices for U.S. consumers. “If there are U.S. tariffs, Mexico would …

Protests by French and other European farmers are threatening a long-expected trade deal between the European Union and South American trading bloc Mercosur, comprising Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. The EU hopes to clinch it next month — but individual EU countries would still need to ratify the agreement. U.S. …

Washington — Consumer price increases accelerated last month, the latest sign that inflation’s steady decline over the past two years has stalled. According to the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge, consumer prices rose 2.3% in October from a year earlier, the Commerce Department said Wednesday. That is up from just 2.1% …

New Delhi — Nearly two years after one of India’s biggest conglomerates was hit by allegations of wrongdoing by a U.S. investment firm, it is again in the eye of a storm as it faces charges of fraud, which analysts say are far more serious. The latest allegations by the United …

New York — U.S. stocks rose Monday, with those benefiting the most from lower interest rates and a stronger economy leading the way.  The S&P 500 climbed 0.3% to pull closer to its all-time high set two weeks ago. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 440 points, or 1%, to its …

Countries around the world are bracing for economic upheaval as incoming U.S. President Donald Trump threatens massive tariffs, especially on China. The uncertainty has left governments and businesses struggling with how to respond, as VOA’s Bill Gallo reports from Seoul, South Korea. (Contributors: Paul Ndiho and Supakit Pattaratearanon) …