46/2019 • 23 FEBRUARY, 2019 WEEKEND ISSUE
DAILY NEWS IN ENGLISH
Germany closed 2018 with record budget surplus A record budget surplus totaling €58 billion was made by Germanyʼs federal
A record budget surplus totaling €58 billion was made by Germanyʼs federal, regional and communal governments last year. But the economy has been slowing down, and thereʼs widespread concern thatʼs not about to change.
Wolfgang Ischinger: ʼEuropean Union is alive and kickingʼ
Fire at Flamengo academy in Brazil — 10 dead
The European Union integration effort has not failed, despite Brexit and recent disagreements between Germany and France. That message will be demonstrated at the 2019 Munich Security Conference (MSC) , says Wolfgang Ischinger, MSC head and former German ambassador to the UK and the US. "The European Union is alive and kicking," Ischinger told DW ahead of the worldʼs most important conference on international security, which starts on Thursday.
Flamengoʼs recently-expanded youth training facility at Ninho do Urubu went up in flames in the early hours of Friday morning, less than two months after it opened. The facility included lodgings for players whose families did not live near the Rio de Janeiro club, one of Brazilʼs biggest. "The kids from the Flamengo youth team were sleeping there at the time," firefighter Douglas Henault told Brazilian broadcasting giant Globo News.
Germany closed 2018 with its highest budget surplus of €58 billion ($65.8 billion) since reunification in 1989, the federal statistics bureau Destatis announced Friday. Revenues collected by government — at federal, regional state and communal level — amounted to €1,543.6 billion. Offset against expenditures of €1,485.6 that left coffers €58 billion in surplus, an overhang of 1.7 percent in terms of gross domestic product (GDP). It was also the fifth year in succession that Germany had notched up a record surplus,said the Wiesbaden-based Destatis, with total revenue in 2018 amounting to a 4.7 percent gain on 2017. Total expenditure grew but somewhat slower at 3.2 percent. Filling the coffersAt €17.9 billion, the federal government recorded the biggest chunk of the overall surplus, followed by municipalities with €14.9 billion and Germanyʼs 16 regional states – or Länder – with €11.1 billion. Destatis attributed the higher revenue to Germanyʼs buoyant jobs market and resultant enlarged taxpayer base as well as capital gains taxation combined with a "strong" surge of 4.3 percent in social welfare fund contributions made jointly by employees and employers. On the expenditure side of the ledger, Germany had benefited from Europeʼs "very low" interest rates and a shrinkage of 8.5 percent in its statutory debt burden. Revenues from interest and investment returns, predominantly via the Bundesbank, had led to a "strong"
16.1 percent increase, compared to the previous year, said Destatis. Despite the overall picture, numerous German municipalities remain in high debt and have repeatedly warned that social welfare tasks set by central governmentleave them overburdened. Germanyʼseconomy slowed in the latter half of 2018, with a stagnant zero percent rate recorded in the fourth quarter, narrowly avoiding recession. For the full year, however, GDP growth stood at 1.4 percent. Germanyʼs overall gross domestic product in 2018 totaled €3.4 trillion, commercial production included. Revenues from interest and investment returns, predominantly via the Bundesbank, had led to a "strong" 16.1 percent increase, compared to the previous year, said Destatis. Despite the overall picture, numerous German municipalities remain in high debt and have repeatedly warned that social welfare tasks set by central governmentleave them overburdened. Germanyʼseconomy slowed in the latter half of 2018, with a stagnant zero percent rate recorded in the fourth quarter, narrowly avoiding recession. For the full year, however, GDP growth stood at 1.4 percent. Germanyʼs overall gross domestic product in 2018 totaled €3.4 trillion, commercial production included. For the full year, however, GDP growth stood at 1.4 percent. Germanyʼs overall gross domestic product in 2018 totaled €3.4 trillion, commercial production included.
Australia investigates national parliament hacking attempt
Well-being ʼimproved,ʼ but job acquisition ʼminorʼ
Australian authorities are investigating a breach of the countryʼs federal parliamentary computing network after a suspected hacking attempt, the Australian parliament revealed Friday. "Following a security incident on the parliamentary computing network, a number of measures have been implemented to protect the network and its users," parliamentary authorities said in a statement.
The Finnish governmentʼs Social Insurance Institute (Kela) published mixed results Friday in its bid to find simpler alternatives to the Nordic nationʼs social security model that currently includes sanctions on beneficiaries who turn down work. The study involves giving a "basic income," a guaranteed but small monthly income with no strings attached, to 2,000 unemployed people rather than standard state assistance.