Germany news: Study shows welfare spending tops neighbors

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

A travel advice published on the German Foreign Ministry's website on Monday warned that the situation in Venezuela is tense and could further deteriorate at short notice.

"In addition to nationwide roadblocks, increased police checks and travel restrictions, this could also result in additional restrictions on mobile phone networks and internet access," the travel advice read.

The update comes as the US has carried out strikes 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 the Venezuelan so-called "Cartel de los Soles" (Cartel of the Suns) group as a terrorist organization. 

Trump's administration has alleged that the cartel is run by Maduro, something the Venezuelan government has repeatedly denied.

German police raided a backyard in the town of Bad Säckingen in Germany's southwestern state of Baden Württemberg on Sunday, breaking up a group that was slaughtering chicken.

Police arrived to find members of a large family of Asian origin slaughtering the animals in a manner that "violated the provisions of the Animal Welfare Act," a police statement read.

During the police operation, one of those at the scene threatened the police officers with a knife, the statement added.

Seven people were taken into custody, while a number of others fled before they could be identified.

"Eight chickens could not be saved, but 15 chickens were taken into care by a vet from the veterinary office," the police said.

The German actor and Hollywood veteran Udo Kier has died at the age of 81 in the Californian 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 intense gaze and distinctive green eyes, he was often cast as eccentric or unsettling 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 triggered numerous traffic accidents across Germany, leaving four people dead and many others injured, police said Monday.

On a highway in the southeastern state of Bavaria, three men aged 36 and 51 were killed overnight when a truck skidded on a snow-covered stretch in the Schwandorf district, north of the city of Regensburg.

The vehicle hit the central barrier and caused a chain of collisions involving two trucks and a van. Two people were seriously injured and at least one more suffered minor injuries. The highway toward Munich was closed, with recovery work expected to last until Monday afternoon.

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

Heavy snowfall also caused numerous accidents in Lower Bavaria, where police logged nearly 30 crashes between 5 a.m. and 8:30 a.m., mostly resulting in property damage. Schleswig-Holstein, Saxony, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia and Thuringia also reported multiple incidents, largely minor.

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

"When I arrive in Germany, I’ll eat sauerkraut, pork knuckle, sausages at the 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 Brazil's national dish.

Lula accused Merz of not being mentally present during their earlier meeting in Belem. "I told him that our head thinks where our feet stand," Lula said. "He came to Brazil, but his head stayed in Berlin."

Merz had attended a summit in Belem more than two weeks ago at the start of the UN climate conference. After returning to Germany, he described the delegation as being glad to leave "the place where we were," a comment widely seen in Brazil as dismissive of the impoverished city.

A large majority of Berliners oppose a bid for the Summer Olympics, according to a Civey survey commissioned by the Tagesspiegel newspaper.

The poll found that 67% reject a bid for 2036, 2040 or 2044, while 27% support the city Senate's plans to go ahead with it, with the rest undecided.

The results are likely to intensify the debate over the state government's Olympic initiative, especially as the group NOlympia, which is opposed to the games, plans to launch a campaign ahead of any referendum.

A potential vote would likely not take place before 2027, meaning it would come after the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) selects a national candidate city in autumn 2026. For Berlin, that timing poses a clear risk: the city could be chosen first, only for voters to reject the bid afterward.

Alongside 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.

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

The employer-aligned institute said 41% of Germany’s total expenditure goes to social programs, with nearly half of that devoted to old-age pensions. 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 stands at 39%.

Germany also ranks among the highest in health spending at 16%, placing it roughly on par with the Nordic and Benelux countries.

With parliament entering budget week and political tensions rising over pension reform, the IW urged the government to limit further growth in state spending, especially in the social and healthcare sectors.

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

Education remained the weakest area. Germany spent just 9.3% of its budget on education, placing it last in the comparison and far behind Austria and Switzerland. The study also highlighted deficits in staffing levels and public investment.

Guten Tag from DW's newsroom in Bonn, where the mulled wine is already flowing on the city's Christmas market stalls.

Danke schön for joining 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 close European neighbors.

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

Meanwhile, a survey in Berlin shows that most residents of the capital city oppose the city bidding to host the Olympic Games.

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