Reports from the country reveal Kim Jong-un has built a replica of the South Korean presidential palace to train his troops for an invasion as tensions escalate. And with America pledged to defend the South in case of attack, the West faces a war that will cost $1 billion to fight and cause $1 trillion worth of damage.

Special forces would invade first in a series of predawn airdrops and shore landings, sabotaging power stations, communication networks and bridges in order to "paralyse the population". Then "the largest artillery force in the world" would pound the South Korean capital Seoul with shells at a rate of 500,000 per hour — leaving its people only 45 seconds to take cover.

An arsenal of 600 chemically-armed missiles would cripple airports, making escape impossible; while 100 more trained on Japan would slow the arrival of US reinforcements. "As wars go," writes Mr Cha, "this would be the most unforgiving battle conditions that could be imagined." It would take South Korea and its American allies several days to neutralise the enemy artillery, his book reveals, leaving hundreds of thousands dead.

The total bill to taxpayers: $1.3 billion in benefits to "unaccompanied children," more than double what the federal government spent in 2010, according to an analysis of the administration's programs for illegal minors from the Center for Immigration Studies. The average Social Security retirement benefit is $14,772.

What's more, the administration is also spending heavily on a program with the United Nations to help the illegal minors avoid the dangerous trip by declaring them refugees and handing them a plane ticket to the US where, once here, they get special legal status.

It said that most of the undocumented minors do not qualify for refugee status or are even in any danger in their native countries. Instead, they are seeking to unify with their family members, commonly parents in the United States illegally.

Like many financially distressed governments around the globe — think Greece, for example — Puerto Rico has been faced with demands from creditors and their consultants that the island undertake drastic spending cuts to create surpluses large enough to meet debt obligations. The Padilla government has resisted these proposals. Garcia Padilla insists the US territory needs relief from debt payments.

A default would ratchet up pressure on the US Congress to find a legislative solution for Puerto Rico, which enters a key stretch in its fiscal saga, owing another $1.9 billion of debt on July 1, including about $777 million in general obligation debt backed by its constitution.

Today, however, the long-term commitment of the United States is increasingly questioned, and Europe’s security environment has seen fundamental changes in the recent past. In light of the US turn toward the Asia-Pacific and the acceleration of instability in Europe’s Eastern and Southern neighborhoods, Germany has taken the lead in reviving enhanced European security cooperation and integration. Cooperative efforts are necessary in times of economic turmoil and the West’s relative decline on the global stage.

The creation of a European army is a long way off, but it is a strategic necessity to implement important steps to pave the way toward it now. Greater European security capabilities would enable the EU to carry out tasks that the United States is unlikely to take on in the future. In contrast to the early 2000s, Washington is now actively encouraging this process. In addition, greater military capabilities would make the EU more attractive as a US partner.

Germany’s role in enhanced European cooperation is to foster leadership as part of a responsible multilateral framework that allows smaller EU member states to boost their security efforts. Germany has the responsibility to generate basic capabilities that both the EU and NATO can deploy. The process toward a European army that would focus primarily on the EU’s Eastern and Southern neighborhoods is not just another altruistic call for more Europe. It is a strategic necessity.

In a report in its latest edition, the weekly publication said that Merkel’s camp was “furious” at a leak of confidential consultations between Jerusalem and Berlin in the German capital in February, which subsequently appeared in the free Israel Hayom daily, owned by staunch Netanyahu supporter Sheldon Adelson.

Furthermore, the magazine said, the leaked details of Merkel’s remarks were “twisted” to give the impression that she supported Netanyahu’s position that a two-state solution with the Palestinians was currently unfeasible, whereas the chancellor had actually said that Israeli settlement construction “makes it unlikely that a viable Palestinian state can be established in accordance with plans aimed at a two-state solution.”

The Süddeutsche Zeitung reported Thursday on German government plans to deploy troops to Lithuania. An entire NATO battalion could be stationed in the country under German command, according to the report. Similar initiatives by the NATO military alliance are planned in other Eastern European NATO member-states.

A government spokesman told the newspaper that several allies were currently considering “stronger engagement as part of the reassurance of Eastern alliance partners and collective defence.” This review was taking account of “the relevant changes in the European security situation, particularly the security needs of Poland and the Baltic states.”

Demonstrators burned tires on a motorway and threw fireworks and flares at officers, according to a police spokesman. A police helicopter was sent to the scene, while water cannon and pepper spray were used on the crowds. The conference at the Stuttgart Exhibition Centre, which was attended by nearly 2,000 AfD members, was delayed by an hour.

Footage on social media showed the protesters shouting slogans such as: "Keep refugees, drive Nazis away!" and "We'll get you all." AfD, which wants to ban the burqa and outlaw minarets in Germany, is expected to announce that it is explicitly anti-Islamic during the meeting. The party was due to set out its manifesto ahead of country's general election next year. Proposals under consideration include withdrawing from the euro and the reintroduction of army conscription.

The anti-immigrant party won three key states in regional elections last month, claiming almost a quarter of the vote in the relatively poor eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt. AfD is now represented in eight state legislatures.

In early January, North Korea successfully carried out a hydrogen bomb test, putting a satellite into orbit a month later, in violation UN Security Council resolutions. In March, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution that imposes additional sanctions on North Korea, aiming to affect multiple sectors of the country’s economy.

That same month North Korea conducted multiple short and medium-range rocket launches. "We will not allow for war and chaos to break out on the Korean Peninsula. This situation is not in the interests of any country," Xi Jinping stressed on Thursday.

The test of the developmental DF-ZF hypersonic glide vehicle was monitored after launch Friday atop a ballistic missile fired from the Wuzhai missile launch center in central China, said officials familiar with reports of the test. US intelligence officials have assessed that China plans to use the glider to deliver nuclear weapons through increasingly sophisticated missile defenses.

The DF-ZF also could be used as part of a conventional strategic strike weapon capable of hitting targets around the world within an hour. Mark Schneider, a former Pentagon strategic forces specialist, said the new Chinese hypersonic glider is a serious threat. “The Chinese probably see this as one of their ‘assassin’s mace’ weapons which are designed to defeat the US.”