Berlin - German Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung will next week announce plans for the future strength of German troops in Afghanistan, his spokesman said on Saturday.

Jung wants to increase German deployment in the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) from the current upper limit of 3,500.

Media reports have said the figure could rise to 4,500. A defence ministry spokesman said Jung would make clear the exact number at the end of next week.

Jung said in a radio interview Saturday that any increase in troop strength would be used for training and civil reconstruction projects.

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'