DEM VOLKE DIENEN

In early August, the Springer (BILD etc.) press and various AfD-affiliated blogs, etc., once again ran big chauvinistic headlines about a "criminal migrant" being protected by the German state. This was in fact about a crime against the people - a 23-year-old Afghan from Regensburg who came to Germany in 2015 had sexually harassed and raped several young women and girls (the youngest was 16) between 2019 and 2022.

The German economy is in the midst of an ongoing economic crisis. After the GDP fell by 0.1 percent in the first quarter of this year, it stagnated at 0 percent in the second quarter. The International Monetary Fund forecasts a decline in German economic output of 0.3 percent for the whole of 2023, while the Leibniz Institute for Economic Research even predicts a decline of 0.4 percent.

On the second of August, the Federal Ministry of Interior and Homeland, under the control of Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, published a discussion draft on the issue of asylum law. The content of this draft provides for an expansion of powers for police and authorities in deportations and represents a clear attack on the rights of refugees.

Ecuador:
In the run-up to the legislative and presidential elections in Ecuador, the first round of which took place on August 20, a deadly confrontation has occurred within the Ecuadorian big bourgeoisie between bureaucratic faction and the comprador faction. On August 9, Fernando Villavicencio, a presidential candidate in the upcoming elections who according to Ecuadorian comrades represents the comprador bourgeoisie, was assassinated in an assassination attempt. Before the assassination, the candidate had reported receiving threats from the "Los Choneros" cartel, but an opposing group called "Los Lobos" claimed responsibility for the attack. According to a statement by the "Front for the Defense of Popular Struggles in Ecuador," the assassination of Villavicencio is an expression of the serious crisis in which the country finds itself. They further state that the elections, which were brought forward by the incumbent President Lasso, are an expression of the need for Yankee imperialism to reposition itself in the region in times of developing inter-imperialist contradiction with Chinese social imperialism and Russian imperialism.

We publishes here pictures of a painting in Freiburg in solidarity with the struggle of the masses and revolutionaries in france.

For years, the German men's national football team has been on a downward slide. One debacle has followed the next since the preliminary round exit at the 2018 World Cup, yet the DFB (German Football Association) team is still the fifth most valuable national team in the world in terms of market value at 772.5 million euros, ahead of, for example, the current world champions Argentina. Most of the players are not world-class, but most of them still have international class. It stands to reason that the failures of the DFB eleven can be traced back to poor morale within the team coached by Hansi Flick. Bad moods have been made public several times in recent years, often in connection with political actions.

In Herne, a smaller city in the Ruhr region, there have been protests by refugees in front of the local foreigners authority. On Monday, August 14, more than 100 refugees gathered with placards, microphones and speeches to draw attention to their situation and to hold the foreigners authority in Herne accountable. The reason for their protest is the non-processing of their requests by the foreigners authority. Often the refugees, mainly from Syria, have to wait up to one year for their requests to be dealt with for the first time. Many of the protesters want to be granted citizenship or need urgent papers from the foreigners authority in order to be able to continue their education and professions, others complain about not being able to travel because they are simply not issued the necessary papers.

On August 02 house raids were carried out on five people in Freiburg. Background of it are again started investigations concerning the left Internet platform "Linksunten Indymedia". The five people are accused of allegedly keeping alive the banned "association" around Linksunten, which was invented by the public prosecutor. The investigations are related to repression that recently took place against a journalist of a progresive democratic radio station in Freiburg.