A BOTCHED sale of German bonds rang alarm bells in Berlin yesterday, with opposition MPs accusing Angela Merkel’s government of failing to spell out the true risks of the euro debt crisis to Germans.

GERMANY kept alive hopes that the euro can survive the sprawling debt crisis when lawmakers voted overwhelmingly in favour of expanding the powers of the eurozone’s bailout fund.

German lawmakers today backed an expansion of the size and powers of the eurozone bailout fund, in a major step toward tackling the bloc’s sovereign debt crisis.