Black Friday puts the worst excesses of American materialism on display for the whole world to see, but most Americans don’t seem to care how pathetic we appear to be to the rest of the planet.  The only thing that most Americans know is that it is “the holiday season”, and so now it is time to spend, spend, spend even if it means going into crippling amounts of credit card debt.

Overall, it is being projected that Americans will spend an all-time record high of 650 billion dollars this holiday season.  That is an amount of money roughly equivalent to the yearly GDP of the nation of Saudi Arabia. We have become a nation that is entirely consumed by greed.

Look, you can run out and buy stuff at Wal-Mart any time. But how many times a year do you get to spend concentrated time with those that you love in a quiet, peaceful environment? The long Thanksgiving weekend should be a time to live, to laugh and to love. Unfortunately, many Americans have become completely blinded by greed and they have forgotten what really matters…

A downloadable pamphlet is now available on the island nation’s civil defence website. Called “Protecting Ourselves against Armed Attacks and Terrorism,” it outlines emergency measures in the event North Korean missiles are fired at the country. It bears similarities to the creepy Protect and Survive documents issued in Britain and Northern Ireland during the early 1980s following the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan.

Already anti-missile batteries have begun appearing in parks in Tokyo, which is expected to be a primary target. Japan’s Defence Ministry’s Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Agency is also mulling whether powerful lasers could defending against missile attacks. But North Korea has said it would “saturate” its enemies with missiles so that at least a few would get through any defences.

The countries, all belonging to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), have expressed their deep concern over the current situation in Europe and support the relaunch of a conventional arms treaty with Russia, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier told Die Welt newspaper in an interview published on Friday.  “Europe’s security is in danger. As difficult as ties to Russia may currently be, we need more dialogue, not less,” Steinmeier said.

The ongoing conflict in the Eastern Ukraine and the fact that Crimea joined Russia in 2014, a move most often dubbed as “annexation” by western officials, have put the question of war in Europe back on the table, Steinmeier continued. Fragile trust between Russia and European countries has suffered a significant setback and a “new armament spiral” is hanging over the continent, the foreign minister warned.

The statement contains strong anti-Russian rhetoric, blaming Moscow for violating arms deals as far back as 1990. “The Conventional Forces in Europe treaty, which led to the destruction of tens of thousands of heavy weapon systems in Europe in the years following 1990, is no longer being implemented by the Russian Federation,” the statement said. Russia put its participation in the treaty on hold in 2007 and then fully walked out of it last year.

Hon Hai is the world's largest electronics manufacturing services company. By making goods for big names like Apple, the company has grown significantly over the years. Though based in Taiwan, Hon Hai in many ways, epitomizes China as the world's factory. The company accounted for around 6% of China's entire trading value around 2011. Earlier this year, it acquired Japanese electronics manufacturer Sharp.

Previous rumors about a production transfer to the US were based on similar lines, but never actually materialized because producing in the US would have been too costly. Trump's proposed duties on Chinese goods, however, make the idea seem a lot more realistic.

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There are so many things wrong with this entire subject that it’s difficult to even know where to begin. The most important thing to remember here is that Barron Trump is a 10-year-old boy who did not ask to be in the spotlight, and that any medical or psychological diagnoses he has or doesn’t have are solely his family’s business. No one else’s.

Beyond that, how can one possibly diagnose autism from the examples in the video? They are all from public appearances in situations that would be stressful for any child. He’s a boy having to wear a suit for hours (any male RedState writer will tell you how tortuous that is) and he’s not gladhanding and smiling for the cameras like a politician would. Ooh, and on election night he was standing on stage falling asleep at 3am. And your point is?

Further, what gives any of these people the right to speculate about someone else’s child? There has always been a tendency in society to virtually parent other people’s kids, but social media has taken it to a whole new disturbing level. Can you imagine for just one second if anyone – ANYONE – had suggested that one of the Obama children were autistic? Would that person be employed anywhere in the United States right now? It’s only Democrats’ kids who are off limits it appears.

Barron Trump is fair game. Just like Ted Cruz’ daughters. Mitt Romney’s grandson. Sarah Palin’s son. Palin’s daughter. George Bush’s daughters. Well, you get the point. It’s only funny and acceptable when liberals attack the children of those they disagree with ideologically.

Angela Merkel has reportedly called for a “reset” at the very highest echelons of the Brussels machine after growing tired of the bumbling bureaucrat’s increasingly damaging and erratic behaviour. 

The controversial eurocrat’s position has never been more tenuous after the announcement by Mr Schulz, the EU parliament president, that he will be quitting Brussels to pursue a career in German politics. Mr Juncker has been able to rely on his socialist counterpart as a rock solid ally during his own troubled tenure at the top of the EU, with the pair frequently working hand-in-glove on key issues. 

But now that bedrock of support has gone and he will be dreading the potential arrival of a less sympathetic partner joining Brussels’ triumvirate of power alongside him and EU Council chief Donald Tusk, who often appears to view Mr Juncker as a liability. And in a savage assessment a senior EU source today called for MEPs and senior Brussels figures to exploit the opportunity created by Mr Schulz’s departure to sweep a fresh broom through the corridors of power. 

They told euractiv: “Kicking out Juncker would be the first thing to do if someone wanted to make the EU a better place.” The source said that Angela Merkel, who is known to want Mr Juncker’s head over his inept performance, believes that a significant “reset” is now needed at the top of the EU. They added: “The EU needs a new start and Schulz’s departure is very good news.” 

Earlier this week reports emerged that despairing EU Commission president Mr Juncker, who is cutting an increasingly isolated figure, had privately told allies he would resign if Mr Schulz left his post. Alongside Germany a number of eastern European countries, including Hungary and Poland, are known to be deeply unhappy with Mr Juncker’s performance and believe he is actively fuelling euroscepticism.

In particular the erratic chief eurocrat played a pivotal role in the vote for Britain to leave the EU, with his unpopularity as the face of EU federalism driving voters to back Brexit. Mr Schulz is expected to take up a position as Germany’s foreign secretary after quitting Brussels, with sources indicating he may run against Angela Merkel to become the country’s leader in a general election next year.  

Schulz, a Social Democrat, has led the European Union’s legislature since 2012 and is a prominent advocate of maintaining the EU. As a senior member of the SPD who’s well-known in Germany, he’ll be in a strong position as the party prepares to select its candidate for the top of the ticket in January.

Merkel’s announcement on Sunday that she’ll seek a fourth term in 2017 is spurring the Social Democrats, her junior coalition partner, to consider options. Party leader Sigmar Gabriel, who sits at Merkel’s cabinet table as vice chancellor and economy minister, hasn’t said whether he’ll run for chancellor and Schulz, 60, is a possible alternative.

“More than ever, the world needs a united European Union,” Schulz told reporters in Brussels on Thursday. “From now on, I will fight for this project from the national level. Only by doing this will it be possible to regain the lost trust.” Any SPD candidate will have a steep climb against Merkel, whose Christian Democratic-led bloc leads the Social Democrats by as many as 13 percentage points in national polls. Germany is expected to hold its next national election in September [2017].

Last week, though, the mood among the chancellor's staff in Berlin began to brighten. Donald Trump's election in the United States, many of her aides felt, made it more likely that Merkel would campaign for re-election. And on Sunday, she finally put an end to the speculation and announced her candidacy.

In the press conference following her announcement, Merkel made certain to deny media pronouncements - made by, among others, the New York Times - that the German chancellor was now the de-facto ruler of the free world. Such a notion was "grotesque" and "absurd," she said.

But is it? Trump's victory, after all, has changed the world. Up until November 8, it seemed unimaginable that the West could in fact be in danger of destroying itself; that the very citizens who enjoy the freedoms guaranteed by Western liberalism could endanger the West by their own loss of faith in democracy. It proves that philosopher Jürgen Habermas was right to speak of "the shattering of political stability in our Western countries as a whole." The fundamental values of democracy - enlightenment, the rule of law, respect and decency - are no longer self-evident. And that holds true in Germany as well.

Trump's election victory has now presented Germans with the question: How well does our own democracy work? Could someone like Trump be possible here too?

Conspiracy theorists have long suggested "controlled explosions" were carried out in the building – but the official version of events says flaming debris from the burning Twin Towers flew into the 47-floor skyscraper. Tower 7, which housed the Secret Service, the CIA, the Department of Defence and the Office of Emergency Management, collapsed after seven hours of burning.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology insists it was the first and only steel skyscraper in the world to collapse as a result of fire. But new bombshell claims suggest “office fires” could not have caused its destruction. The report, by a group of top engineers from the University of Alaska, insists the flames could not have brought the tower down.

Dr J Leroy Hulsey revealed the team's boss findings at the Justice In Focus Symposium in New York. He said: “It is our preliminary conclusions based upon our work to date that fire did not produce the failure at this particular building.” The findings will add fuel to conspiracy theories which suggest the twin towers and WTC 7 were blown up.

Some have even blamed the US Government which they say wanted to provide the grounds for military strikes in the Middle East. Historically, skyscrapers have resisted collapse after fires. A skyscraper in Philadelphia burned for 18 hours in 1991 and a high-rise in Madrid in 2005 each remained standing following fires.

"In order to reach people, to inspire people, we need to deal with this phenomenon and - where necessary - regulate it," Merkel told lawmakers on Wednesday. The role social networks Facebook and Twitter play in spreading false and malicious information has shot up Merkel's agenda after the shock election of US Republican candidate Donald Trump as president.

Social bots are software programs that mimic human behaviour on social media sites, such as by publishing messages or liking posts. They can be used to spread erroneous information and muddy the debate. Some critics say the proliferation of fake news helped sway the US election in Trump's favor.

With the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) having chipped away at support for Merkel's conservatives by attacking her open-door refugee policy, alarm is growing over the influence of bots and fake news on potential voters.

Officials believe around half of the 200 wildfires swept across central and northern parts of the country while other outbreaks around the nation have been brought under control. Around 300 firefighters are working around the clock to bring the situation under control and 800 police officers have been deployed in Haifa to stop looters taking advantage of the tragedy.

Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said: "Every fire that was caused by arson, or incitement to arson, is terrorism by all accounts – and we will treat it as such. Whoever tries to burn parts of Israel will be punished for it severely." Internal security minister Gilad Erdan dubbed the fires as “arson terrorism” and confirmed eight people had been arrested after "flammable materials and liquids" were found in certain areas.

He added: “There is no difference between arson and incitement to commit terrorism." Police chief Roni Alsheich said it was "safe to assume… it is politically-motivated".