Study shows welfare spending tops neighbors – DW – 11/24/2025

Amid rising tensions between the Latin American country and the Donald Trump administration, Berlin has strongly advised German citizens against any travel to Venezuela.

A travel advisory published Monday on the German Foreign Ministry’s website warned that the situation in Venezuela is tense and could worsen at short notice.

“In addition to nationwide disruptions, increased police checks and travel restrictions, this may also result in additional restrictions on mobile phone networks and internet access,” the travel advisory said. Reading.

The update comes as the US has launched attacks on suspected drug smuggling boats in international waters near Venezuela and openly called for the ouster of its leftist leader Nicolas Maduro.

Earlier on Monday, Washington designated Venezuela’s so-called “Cartel de los Sols” (Cartel of the Sons) group as a terrorist organization.

The Trump administration has alleged that the cartel is run by Maduro, which the Venezuelan government has repeatedly denied.

German police on Sunday raided a backyard in the town of Bad Sackingen in Germany’s southwestern state of Baden Wurttemberg, attacking a group slaughtering chickens.

A police statement said police arrived to find members of a large family of Asian origin slaughtering the animals in a manner that was “in violation of the provisions of the Animal Welfare Act”.

The statement said that during the police operation, one of the people present at the scene threatened the police officers with a knife. Added.

Seven people were detained, while several others fled before they could be identified.

“Eight chickens could not be saved, but 15 chickens were cared for by a veterinarian from the veterinary office,” police said.

German actor and Hollywood veteran Udo Kier has died at the age of 81 in the California resort city of Palm Springs.

Kier appeared in more than 250 film and television productions, including the 1994 comedy “Ace Ventura: Pet Detective” and the 1998 blockbuster “Armageddon.”

Known for his keen eyesight and distinctive green eyes, he was often cast as eccentric or unstable characters – among them a Nazi lunar leader in the 2012 cult film “Iron Sky”.

Read more about the life and career of Udo Kier.

Snow and icy roads have caused a number of traffic accidents across Germany, killing four people and injuring several others, police said on Monday.

Three people aged between 36 and 51 died overnight when a truck skidded on snow-covered terrain in the Schwandorf district, north of the city of Regensburg, on a highway in the south-eastern state of Bavaria.

The vehicle hit the central barrier and a series of collisions occurred between two trucks and a van. Two people were seriously injured and at least one other suffered minor injuries. The highway towards Munich has been closed and improvement work is expected to last until Monday afternoon.

In the southwestern state of Baden-Wurttemberg, a 68-year-old driver died after sliding on an icy section of highway near Geisingen, hitting another vehicle and a guardrail. The other driver was airlifted to hospital with serious injuries.

Heavy snowfall also caused several accidents in Lower Bavaria, where police recorded about 30 accidents between 5 am and 8:30 am, most of which resulted in property damage. Several incidents, mostly minor, were also recorded in Schleswig-Holstein, Saxony, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia and Thuringia.

After a diplomatic spat and a heated showdown with Chancellor Friedrich Merz over comments about the Amazon city of Belém, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva says he plans to try classic German cuisine on his next visit.

“When I arrive in Germany, I will eat sauerkraut, pork knuckle, sausages at street stalls. Because I don’t travel to another country to eat feijoada,” Lula said at a press conference during the G20 summit in Johannesburg. Feijoada, a bean stew, is considered the national dish of Brazil.

Lula accused Merz of not being mentally present during their last meeting in Belém. “I told them our brain thinks where our feet are,” Lula said. “He came to Brazil, but his head remained in Berlin.”

Merz attended a summit in Belém at the start of the United Nations climate conference more than two weeks ago. After returning to Germany, he felt happy to leave the delegation “where we were”, a comment widely seen in Brazil as neglecting the impoverished city.

A large majority of Berliners oppose a bid for the Summer Olympics, according to a survey conducted by Tagsspiegel Newspaper.

The survey found that 67% rejected the bid for 2036, 2040 or 2044, while 27% supported the city senate’s plan to move forward, with the rest undecided.

The results are likely to intensify debate over the state government’s Olympic initiative, especially as Games opposition group Nolympia plans to launch a campaign ahead of any referendum.

The potential vote will probably not take place before 2027, meaning it will come after the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) has selected a national candidate city in the autumn of 2026. For Berlin, that timing creates an obvious risk: The city could be chosen first, only for voters to later reject the bid.

As well as Berlin, North Rhine-Westphalia, Munich and Hamburg are also preparing bids to host future Olympic and Paralympic Summer Games. The DOSB is expected to decide on the German candidate next autumn.

According to a study by the Cologne-based German Economic Institute (IW), Germany spends a larger share of its public budget on social security than any of its European neighbours.

The employer-aligned institute said 41% of Germany’s total spending goes to social programs, with about half devoted to old-age pensions. The Nordic countries, as well as Austria and Switzerland, spend about 40%, while the Benelux states – Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg – allocate about 38%. The EU average is 39%.

Germany also leads in health spending at 16%, which puts it roughly at par with the Nordic and Benelux countries.

As Budget week begins in Parliament and political tensions rise over pension reform, IW urges the government to limit further increases in state spending, especially in the social and health care sectors.

The analysis covered public spending from 2001 to 2023 and compared Germany with neighboring countries considered economically and culturally similar. Administrative costs were found to be comparatively high, increasing from 7.2% to 11% of total expenditure over two decades.

Education remained the weakest sector. Germany spent only 9.3% of its budget on education, leaving it far behind Austria and Switzerland. The study also highlighted declining staffing levels and public investment.

good day From DW’s newsroom in Bonn, where mulled wine is already being sold on stalls at the city’s Christmas market.

danke shaun Join us to find out what Germany is talking about.

Among other things, a study has been released showing that Germany devotes a larger share of its public budget to social security than its closest European neighbors.

The German Economic Institute, which conducted the research, warned that such costs threaten fiscal stability as lawmakers enter a tense budget week focused on pension reform.

Meanwhile, a poll in Berlin shows that a majority of the capital city’s residents oppose the city’s bid to host the Olympic Games.

Follow us here for the latest headlines of the day.