Berlin - German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Saturday that the memory of the short-lived democratic uprising in Czechoslovakia 40 years ago should be kept alive.

For many in the former Soviet-bloc states of Eastern Europe, 1968 was not so much about student protests but about the memory of events like the Prague Spring, Merkel said in her weekly podcast.

"Not only were economic reforms introduced, there was also a bit more freedom for the population," said the chancellor, who grew up in communist-ruled East Germany.

G

Hanove

Berlin - Stagflation and interest rates fears are expected to have resulted in a raft of key surveys showing a fall in European economic sentiment, lead by a drop in German business confidence with

Berlin  - The prospects grew Friday of the European Central Bank delivering a rate hike next month after new German figures showed soaring energy costs leading to renewed price pressures in Europe'

Berchtesgade