Paris • People don’t celebrate Thanksgiving in France, or Russia, or South Africa - but they do shop on Black Friday.
The U.S. sales phenomenon has spread to retailers across the world in recent years with such force that it's prompting a backlash from some activists, politicians and even consumers.
Near Paris, climate demonstrators blocked a shopping mall and gathered in from of Amazon's headquarters to protest over-production they say is killing the planet. Workers at Amazon in Germany went on strike for better pay. Some French lawmakers want to ban Black Friday altogether.
Consumer rights groups in Britain and some other countries say retailers use Black Friday as a slogan to lure in shoppers, but it's not always clear how real or big the discounts are.