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Gangs smash shops, attack police in Stuttgart

Groups of people have smashed shop windows, looted, and attacked police vehicles in central Stuttgart during hours of night-time disturbances.

German police say more than a dozen police officers were hurt during the violence, in south-west Germany.

Video clips on Twitter show people vandalising shops in the city centre and hurling big stones and other objects at police vehicles.

Stuttgart police say the violence began after police checked a drugs incident.

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The situation escalated after a 17-year-old was questioned for an alleged drug offence, the city’s police vice-president Thomas Berger told reporters.

A group of between 100 and 200 people responded by throwing stones and bottles at the police on the central Schlossplatz, a large square.

This then grew, he said, to between 400 and 500 people attacking police. Many of the rioters were said to be hooded and masked.

Police president Frank Lutz suggested the situation had become more tense over the past three to four weeks.

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What he described as people from the “party and event scene” in Stuttgart had been getting drunk in public and adopted an aggressive and insulting tone towards police on social media.

Local politicians and ordinary citizens expressed shock, saying the scale of the rampage was unprecedented for Stuttgart in recent years.

A mobile phone shop and a jewellery store were among the businesses attacked and looted. Some fast food outlets were also vandalised, public broadcaster SWR reports.

In total, 40 shops were damaged, and nine looted.

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Some rioters threw chunks of paving stone and other missiles at passing police cars. At one point, the police said, the situation was “out of control”.

More than 200 extra police were rushed into the city centre, where shops had been attacked apparently at random.

The situation was calmer after dawn and firefighters and civil protection volunteers (THW) began repairing the many damaged shop fronts.

Twenty-four people were arrested – 12 Germans and 12 described as non-German. Police have appealed for witness evidence including mobile phone footage.

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Nineteen police officers were injured and 12 police vehicles damaged.

City mayor Fritz Kuhn said: “I was very shocked this morning when I learned about what happened overnight. Stuttgart has never witnessed a night like this, with such attacks on the police.”

He said such behaviour was unacceptable, regardless of the cause, be it alcohol or incitement via social media. -BBC

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 GFP founder Akua Donkor passes on

• Akua Donkor

Akua Donkor

 The founder and leader of the Ghana Freedom Party (GFP), Madam Akua Donkor, has passed away.

She died at the Greater Accra Regional Hospital on Monday, October 28 at 72.

Reports gathered by The Spectator indicat­ed that she was diagnosed with respiratory issues at the Nsawam Government Hospital and was referred to the Greater Accra Re­gional Hospital where she died.

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Known for her spirited presence in Ghana­ian politics, Akua Donkor was a staunch advo­cate for the rights of farmers and women.

Her bold and outspoken demeanour en­abled her to capture public attention and significantly impact the grassroots communi­ties she aimed to represent.

Throughout her political journey, she distinguished herself by running for the presidency multiple ti mes, demonstrating remarkable resilience despite financial chal­lenges.

Akua Donkor was listed as the third can­didate on the ballot for the upcoming 2024 presidential election.

Her political career began with her elec­tion as the Assemblywoman for Herman in the Ashanti region, and she made her first bid for the presidency in 2012 as an independent candidate.

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She was, however, disqualified by the Electoral Commis­sion in 2012 and 2016 for the reason that she did not meet the eligibility require­ments.

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 Stop using breast enhancing creams …they expose females to breast cancer

Mrs Enyonam Abiti making a presentation

Mrs Enyonam Abiti making a presentation

 Women have been cautioned to stop using of breast enhancing creams which is said to contain estrogen, predis­posing them to the breast cancer disease.

Using such creams over time in­creases estrogen levels in patrons of such products thereby exposing them to the disease.

Estrogen is a type of sex hor­mone responsible for development and regulation of female repro­ductive system and secondary sex chart.

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Mrs Enyonam Abiti, a medical of­ficer at Madina Pentecost Hospital, said this at a day’s seminar and breast cancer awareness creation day at Sunyani in the Bono Region.

The programme, organised by the Bono Regional office of CO­COBOD, forms part of activities to mark this year’s World Breast Cancer Day celebrations held every year in October.

Some staff of COCOBOD and women in cocoa farming used the opportunity to have their breast screened.

Mrs Abiti during a presentation revealed that one in every eight women was diagnosed of breast cancer while 1 from 1,000 men contract the disease.

She noted that early detection and regular screening was the sur­est way to salvage the situation.

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She mentioned that habits such as excessive smoking and alco­hol intake predisposes women to breast cancer.

Moreover, she added that peo­ple advanced in age, past history, past ovarian cancer case as well as young girls that menstruate early, among others stands the risk of contracting the disease.

The Bono Regional Administrator of COCOBOD, Michael Paddy Kwesi Asumanu, stated that the decision to organise the breast screening was to ensure that women in cocoa farming were healthy at all times to go about their farming activities in order to increase productivity.

“We don’t want a situation where our women in cocoa farming are infected with breast cancer disease to jeopardise the cocoa sector,” he said.

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According him, the Regional Office of COCOBOD in partnership with the Bono Regional Teaching hospital would organised screening for about 4,000 women on Octo­ber 31, 2024 at Goaso in the Ahafo Region.

The move, he said, was part of their corporate social responsibil­ity towards women as the world mark breast cancer awareness creation this month.

Some of the women who spoke to The Spectator commended CO­COBOD for the gesture and called on other institutions of state to emulate the example.

The organisers later held a float on the principal streets of Sunyani to create awareness on the breast cancer disease.

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 From Daniel Dzirasah, Sunyani

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