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Germany Is World's Third Largest Defense Exporter

Once one of the world's most aggressive powers, Germany today likes to project a pacifist image

a report released yesterday by the Bonn International Center for Conversion (BICC), a German think tank, reveals a different side of Germany's relationship to war.

News that Germany and France have, with a mini-bound, escaped recession must be the most ominous development of the week.

For those within this system, Germany had been an extremely comfortable place until the downturn. But the apparent failure of its export-driven social model changed all that. As a result, Germans had begun to campaign for a responsive political system.

In all sorts of ways,  Germans had begun to realise that the economy - and thence German society - had reached the end of the post-war path. The worry is that today’s GDP figures will drive them back to the old, familiar way of thinking.

over 30 types of China's online games worth 71.78 million USD were exported to overseas markets. Revenue from overseas markets has become a new profit growth point for China's online game enterprises

If China's cultural industry seeks to "go global," Chinese enterprises must improve their "skills" to establish their own brands

the introduction of traditional theatrical repertoire and performances, toy manufacturing and other sectors to overseas markets have also had a rich "Chinese flavor."

a decline in student visa applications from India compared with last year.

The department was unable to provide the figures last night because they are still being compiled.

Education is Australia's third-largest export, after coal and iron ore. Universities have come to depend on international student fees to cover the shortfall created by chronic underfunding from government.

A TRIP to India next week to promote Melbourne as a safe city has turned into a monumental challenge for John Brumby after another racist attack that has attracted fresh headlines and anti-Australian fury across India.

Two Indian men and another two of Indian origin say they were racially taunted and told to ''go back to your country'' before being kicked and punched by attackers who were part of a large birthday celebration at Legends Entertainment Centre. The Indian Government increased pressure on Australia last night over the ''recurring attacks'' on its citizens. It called on authorities to ''take all necessary steps towards the safety and security of Indians''. Indian consular officials in Melbourne were also ordered to investigate.

One of the victims, Sukhdip Singh, 26, had been in Australia just one month. A relative said he had suffered head and facial injuries and wanted to return to India immediately. His uncle, Mukhtiar Singh, 45, also a victim, said Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard's recent assurance to India's Foreign Minister that Australia was safe for Indian students rang hollow. ''I used to say the same thing … now I would say Melbourne is worse than a Third-World country, violence-wise,'' Mr Singh told The Age. Recalling Saturday's incident, he said his nephew was taunted with verbal abuse and racial slurs in the bar before they were later set upon in the car park by about 20 people. ''I have lived here for 22 years,'' Mr Singh said. ''I've got my own business here, my own house, my kids have grown up here. Why should I go back? We all come from somewhere.''

Twenty million migrant workers from China's countryside had lost their jobs in factories in the last year, because of the global downturn.

The new recruits were needed, he said, because things were starting to pick up. But their key export business had been hit badly.