By Siobhan O’Leary

Die Welt reports that one of China’s daily newspapers, Huanjiu Shibao (Global Times), is sending a message to the organizers of the Frankfurt Book Fair telling them there will be consequences if Rebiya Kadeer, the President of the World Uyghur Congress, attends the Fair as planned. The article also reportedly states that China was not only snubbed in the recent “China and the World” symposium, but that its core interests were infringed upon. In response, Editor-in-Chief of Die Zeit, Matthias Naß commented on Die Zeit’s website that conflicts are inevitable and that the very least that can be done is to provide a forum for debate.

Germans and Europeans haven’t been quick to cut books from their household budgets in response to the economic crisis. The Stiftung für Zukunftsfragen (Foundation for Future Studies) just released a study on consumer habits during times of financial crisis and found that Europeans tend to spend less on travel and vacations, while newspapers, CDs and DVDs, and books are still popular. Why is this? According to the Boersenblatt, media provides high entertainment value at a low cost.

The 9th annual Berlin Literature Festival closed on Sunday. Director Ulrich Schreiber announced that 28,000 visitors attended this year, a slight increase over 2008. Next year’s event will take place from September 15th through 26th and will focus on Eastern Europe, BuchMarkt reports.