Learn with your ears

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The Czech Republic which currently holds the rotating EU presidency on Thursday slammed Germany and Austria for keeping labour restrictions on citizens from Eastern Europe in place until 2011. .

The Czech presidency said in a statement that all available information clearly confirms that citizens of the Czech Republic and other new member states in no way pose any threat to the German and Austrian labour markets.

Prague said Eastern European workers not put downward pressure on wages or threaten the social cohesion of either Germany or Austria.

The German and Austrian governments recently informed the European Commission that they wish to continue to limit the access of citizens from the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia until the latest possible date in 2011.

Germany and Austria are the only two EU members to impose such employment restrictions following decisions by Belgium and Denmark to open up their labour markets starting May 1, 2009.

Free movement of workers contributes to economic growth and competitiveness of the European Union, the EU presidency said.

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Most of April has been blessed with copious sunshine, but as the month draws to a close it will bring just a few of its proverbial showers. .
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On Thursday afternoon, large parts of the country can expect cloud cover and rain, but northeastern Germany will remain pleasant, weather service Meteomedia said. But even these storms wont bring much moisture.

The heaviest storms will thunder through the Wesergebirge region in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, the Alps in the south and the state of Saxony.

Fridays May Day festivities will kick off as a few lingering clouds disperse to bring suntanning weather in the north and the east with temperatures as warm as 26 degrees Celsius 80 degrees Fahrenheit. Temperatures will be warm, at between 14 and 25 degrees Celsius 57 and 77 degrees Fahrenheit before nightfall. A few rain showers may ruin picnics in the southwest, though. The German capital Berlin will have the countrys highest temperatures, reaching as up to 25 degrees Celsius 77 degrees Fahrenheit.

Saturday will also be warm, sunny and dry.

Click here for uss weather forecast. Only the Alps in the south may get a few raindrops.

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Twenty-one civilians have been suspended following raids at several British military facilities in Germany this week. They are suspected of accepting bribes to give lucrative maintenance contracts to local companies.

She said the raids were conducted by German police at military locations and private residences.
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They are civilians working for the British armed forces and they have been suspended from their duties pending the investigation, British military spokeswoman Helga Heine told us on Thursday.

The civilian employees are thought to have taken money in return for making sure eight firms secured contracts to renovate army buildings and supply them.

The police confiscated lots of hardware and files, Heine said.

The authorities also suspect payments were made to non-existent shell companies for fake contracts in scams costing the British government millions of euros.

Prosecutors in Wuppertal said that around 200 police officers and 50 officials searched British army premises at Mnchengladbach, Elmpt, Paderborn and Herford on Tuesday.

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Deadly attacks on the German military by the Taliban in Afghanistan this week have led intelligence experts to suspect the Islamist group may have access to German government information.
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Supposedly the Taliban had specific details of what was supposed to be a secret visit by Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier to the country this week.

In so-far unknown ways, the Taliban has their fingers in German posts, the official told news agency DDP.

According to a western intelligence officer in Kabul, there are clear signs that the Taliban has access to secret information from the German government. No one was injured in the attack, but a Taliban speaker at the time said that the group had known about her visit.

Three weeks ago, a secret visit to the country by Chancellor Angela Merkel and Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung was overshadowed by a rocket attack on German forces in the northern city of Kunduz. Two of the soldiers were flown back to Germany for medical treatment.

One 21-year-old soldier died and four were injured in a fire fight near Kunduz on Wednesday that came just hours after a suicide bomber injured four others in the same area.

The attacks on the Bundeswehr troops were meant to be a sign for the Foreign Minister, a Taliban member said after the attack.

On Thursday morning Steinmeier met with one of the Bundeswehr soldiers injured in the two insurgent attacks.

For the first time there is an aspect of military planning behind it, he said, adding that they had changed their previous tactic of shooting and running.

The attacks show a new level of confidence from the Taliban, Bundeswehr General Inspector Wolfgang Schneiderhan said on Thursday.

Germany has around 3,500 troops in Afghanistan operating under the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force ISAF.

Steinmeiers visit takes place just a few weeks after a conference at The Hague where the international community discussed the state of the country. . The soldiers are based in the relatively peaceful north of Afghanistan.

. Thirty-one German troops have died in Afghanistan since 2002

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Hamburg coach Martin Jol is relishing facing Bundesliga rivals Werder Bremen in Thursdays UEFA Cup semi-final despite the heartbreak of losing to them on penalties in the German Cup last week.
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Goalkeeper Tim Wiese was Bremens hero in Hamburg when he broke home fans hearts with three consecutive saves in the penalty shoot-out to hand his side a 3-1 victory on spot kicks in the German Cup semi-final.

And with Hamburg fourth in the Bundesliga, while Bremen languish in 10th, Jol is not bothered by last weeks cup defeat at the hands of Bremen or the
2-0 upset at Dortmund in the league last Saturday. We beat them in the Bundesliga and drew in the German Cup the game
finished 1-1 after extra-time.

We have played well in two games against Werder so far this season, said former Tottenham boss Jol.

It is the end of April and we are still close to the top of the Bundesliga table.

The fact that Hamburg lost on penalties does not concern Jol who is convinced his side can come through both the impending two-legged UEFA Cup matches. Bremen are in tenth place.

Bremen are in the German Cup final on May 30 at Berlins Olympic Stadium where they will face Bayer Leverkusen, but their cup form has been one of the few things their fans have had to cheer about this season. Should things be the other way round, we would have a problem. .

And until Hamburg lost the second leg of their quarter-final 2-1 at Manchester City to go through 4-3 on aggregate, Jols side had a fine record of five wins in six games, scoring 12 and conceding only three goals. He will be out for another ten days, but it is hoped he will be fit for the second leg at Hamburgs HSH Nordbank Arena a week later.

Hamburg are without top scorer Mladen Petric for the trip to Bremen, he had eight stitches removed from the gashed shin he received in last weeks defeat to Bremen, but the Weserstadion tie comes to early for the Croatian.

Germany defender Marcell Jansen was also ruled out on Wednesday with a rib injury he picked up in last weeks Bremen game and will not travel with the team.

Germany defender Marcell Jansen was also ruled out on Wednesday with a rib injury he picked up in last weeks Bremen game and will not travel with the team.

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US investor Christopher Flowers, who heads a consortium owning almost a quarter of Hypo Real Estate HRE, has refused an offer by the German government to buy the shares to nationalise the troubled mortgage lender.
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In mid-April the German Financial Markets Stabilisation Fund SoFFin said it would offer 1.39 1.26.82 per share, around 10 percent more than the minimum the government could offer 1.

But Flowers said Thursday that the offer was not enough.

Shareholders have until May 4 to accept the deal, which would allow the government intended to take full control of the bank at the cost of 290 million.

J. Flowers is convinced that the HRE shares are worth more than 1.C. As long-term oriented investors, it is our wish to support the company into the future.39, he said in New York. .

The German Finance Ministry acknowledged Flowers refusal on Thursday, but said it would not alter their plans to take over the company.

The government passed an emergency bank nationalisation law giving it the power to seize investors share by force if necessary.

The government passed an emergency bank nationalisation law giving it the power to seize investors share by force if necessary.

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Whether a sign of love, spring or both Germans will put up as many as 46,000 maypoles this season.
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According to estimates by the German Woodworking Association, people will put some 35,000 colourfully-decorated birch trees and branches before the windows of those they love around Germany. Another 11,000 additional decorated trees will be erected in public plazas across the country to ring in the month of May.

Particularly in the most southern and northern parts of Germany, men would surprise their sweethearts the morning of May 1 with a birch tree as a token of their affection.

The German maypole, or Maibaum, tradition dates back to the 13th century, when birches were widely recognised as symbols of spring and fertility.