Frankfurt, Germany  - Business travellers should expect to dig deeper into their pockets for airline tickets and hotels next year, according to a survey by American Express.

The study indicates that overall prices are not expected to increase vastly. However, the cost of flying is likely to rise by up to 7 per cent and that of hotel rooms by up to 6 per cent.

The price hike is likely to affect German business travellers even more with flights out of the country to rise by 9 per cent.

Hamburg  - Every Advent, a special atmosphere grips several German and European cities. Christmas shoppers jostle light-heartedly to strains of Silent Night by choirs. The crisp air is redolent of gingerbread, egg punch and fir needles. And people gather after work at outdoor Christmas markets and warm up with mulled wine.

Budapest  - Audi said Monday it would suspend production at its Hungarian plant for a month from mid-December, citing a seasonal drop in demand for convertible cars.

The German company said it has no immediate plans to lay off staff.

Meanwhile, another German car maker, Daimler AG, sought to reassure Hungary that it has no intention of cancelling its planned 800 million-euro Mercedes-Benz production facility in Hungary.

Daimler spokeswoman Nicole Rubba told the Hungarian state news agency MTI on Monday that despite a management call for "absolute budgetary discipline" the investment will go ahead.

Berlin  - A Cambodian woman dedicated to fighting human trafficking and the sexual exploitation of children and women received a German prize on Monday for her work.

Somaly Mam was honoured with the Roland Berger Human Dignity Award at a ceremony at Berlin's Konzerthaus attended by German President Horst Koehler.

The award, worth 1 million euros (1.27 million dollars), was established this year to promote peaceful cooperation in the world.

Paris  - France and Germany agree that lowering the Value Added Tax (VAT) is not an effective response to the economic crisis, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Monday.

Despite signs that a sharp economic contraction was taking hold, the two leaders also reaffirmed that they expected the European Union to hammer out an agreement this month on climate change.

"When we lower the VAT, what does that bring? Only lower prices. We think other measures, such as emphasizing innovation and research, would be more effective for our economies," Sarkozy told journalists after a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Berlin  - Nowhere in Europe do Christian, Jewish and Islamic- linked online matchmaking sites flourish as much as in Germany, where people are increasingly turning to the internet for romance.

"For most people the Web is as much a part of life as shopping," says Friedhelm Hensen, Jr., who launched his SingleChrist. de website in 2007.

Hensen's service, The Singles Site by Christians for Christians, reaches far more people than a regional newspaper's lonely hearts column ever does, say media experts.

In August this year, more than 2 million people clicked onto the site, looking for a partner. Hensen says he's delighted when he receives a wedding announcement from a couple who have met through SingleChrist. de.