SA ‘no vaccine, no sex’ call targets men – reports

The person in charge of health policy in a province of South Africa has suggested that women should withhold sex from men who have not been vaccinated, local media report.

“I think it is a good idea to say, ’no vaccine, no sex’, especially for unmarried women. It will protect both of you,” the Daily Maverick quoted the Eastern Cape’s Nomakhosazana Meth as saying.

It followed a report showing that fewer men than women were getting the jabs.

About 62% of the vaccinated population in the mainly rural province are women, with men accounting for 38%, according to the report.

More than a million people have been vaccinated so far in the Eastern Cape and the province hopes to reach a target of two million by the end of the year and 4.5 million by April next year.

Ms Meth expressed concern that the number of men going for the jab was “too low” and called for them “to do the right thing”.

She said they were targeting their campaigns to places where they could reach men including at entertainment venues, restaurants and pubs – as well as working with traditional leaders in rural areas.

She added that they were gathering scientific evidence on why men were being hesitant or dismissive of the vaccine.

Nationally, 14% of the population has been fully vaccinated, according to Our World in Data, and the government is aiming to increase that to 67% by the end of the year.

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Saman Abbas: Uncle of teen who refused arranged marriage arrested

 The uncle of an Italian-Pakistani woman who disappeared after refusing an arranged marriage has been arrested on suspicion of murder.

Saman Abbas’s uncle, Danish Hasnain, was detained under a European arrest warrant in France on Wednesday.

The Pakistani man is one of five relatives being investigated on suspicion of murder.

Ms Abbas, 18, was last seen in late April near her family’s home in northern Italy.

Police say her family had wanted her to travel to Pakistan for an arranged marriage, which she refused last year.

She had reportedly been living under the protection of social services but returned to the family home in Novellara, near Parma, in late April.

Prosecutors said she was tricked into returning home.

They believe she was killed, but the authorities are yet to find her body. They have been searching farmland in Novellara since May.

Italian police investigators in Reggio Emilia used social media to track down the arrested uncle, Mr Hasnain, in the French capital Paris.

Prosecutor Isabella Chiesi said Mr Hasnain’s arrest was “fundamental” to the case, namely to establish the whereabouts of Ms Abbas’s body.

Mr Hasnain “appears to be the mastermind”, the prosecutor said without giving further details, according to Italy’s Ansa news agency.

Earlier, police released CCTV footage from 29 April which appeared to show three suspects walking with spades, a crowbar and a blue bag.

Investigators say Ms Abbas’s parents and one of her cousins fled from Italy after she went missing.

A few days after her disappearance, her parents were captured on CCTV at a Milan airport hurrying to catch a flight to Pakistan.

But on Thursday, the Italian government said it had asked Pakistan to extradite them. Justice Minister Marta Cartabia signed and sent the extradition requests.

Another cousin was also arrested in connection with the case earlier this year and is in jail in Italy.

The Italian Union of Islamic Communities (UCOII) has expressed shock at the case and issued a fatwa (religious ruling) rejecting forced marriages.

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Pembrokeshire man, 81, suffocated his wife before suicide

An 81-year-old man suffocated his wife with a plastic bag before taking his own life, an inquest has heard.

David Arnold killed his wife Christina Arnold, 71, in their isolated cottage, at Morvil near New Inn, Pembrokeshire in February.

Their bodies were found by police on the 16 February after a letter was received from Mr Arnold.

He stated his intention to kill his wife and the take his own life.

Coroner’s officer Lisa Jenkins told the court the couple had moved to the isolated farmhouse in Pembrokeshire from England in May 2013.

They had four children and six grandchildren who they did not have a close relationship with but “they loved their family”.

They rented the property, Morvil Cottage, which was in a “rural and remote location” and at the “bottom of a valley” and down a farm track, not visible from the road.

The court heard David Arnold suffered from anxiety and was sensitive to noise and his wife suffered from depression.

‘Stark and tragic’

Police received a call at 21:30 on 16 February from an area manager at the Royal Mail.

Royal Mail had received a handwritten letter from Mr Arnold in which he indicated that he was going to kill his wife and take his own life.

At about 22:50, officers gained entry to the property via the unlocked front door.

Both bodies were found in the house, along with two letters – one detailed personal details about the property and other matters and the other, from Mr Arnold, said that he had killed his wife and intended to take his own life.

Ms Jenkins confirmed to the coroner there was no evidence of third party involvement.

In his report, Home Office pathologist Derek James said there were no signs of a struggle in the case of Christina Arnold.

Coroner Paul Bennett said it was “not entirely clear why Mr Arnold took steps to end his and his wife’s life”.

He said the couple had died in circumstances that were “particularly tragic and distressing”.

Mr Bennett described the case as “stark and tragic”.

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Media Foundation school’s women on online and digital literacy

 Takoradi, Sept. 23, GNA – The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) with support from the Embassy of the Kingdom of Netherlands in Ghana has organized a day’s training workshop for selected journalists and gender based civil society organisations within the Western Region in Takoradi.

The workshop sensitized participants on Women’s Right Online as well as digital Literacy.

The Head of Institutional Development at Media Foundation for West Africa (MWFA), Mrs. Dora Mawutor, said creating content on social media was not just a privilege but one that came with responsibilities and must therefore be guided.

According to her, there were digital rights and responsibility that an individual must be mindful to avoid abuses and sanctions.

Mrs. Mawutor said the proportion of women using internet globally was 48 percent as against 50 percent men, with 21 percent men likely to be found online than women.

She said although the gender gap was improving, there was still ample room for improvement, citing lack of affordability, and inadequate internet space as some main challenges faced by women.

On the issue of internet abuse against women, Mrs Mawutor said it was a serious issue that needed to be dealt with.

Mrs. Mawutor also advised women especially girls to be cautious of the content they posted on social media platform as it was not easy to be erased once posted.

She asked that strong passwords were created on every internet account and avoidance of the use of free or public WIFI.

Mrs Mawutor also encouraged women who have been victims of cyber bullying to speak up about it.

Taking participants through social media and online Privacy, the Programme Associate with MFWA, Mr Frederick Quayson, urged social media users to report security threats to the National cyber security centre on free toll *292* for necessary actions to be taken.

He added that, social media users should consciously gather evidence of internet abuse to back their reports.

Mr. Quayson noted that it was imperative for the internet to be safe to encourage more women to patronize the internet, while ensuring that websites visited were secured before accessing it.

Madam Benedicta Quarshie, a Journalist with the GBC, noted how insightful the information provided would aid in her field of work.

She was however not happy that women lagged behind in the use of the internet.

“This education is very timely for me considering the fact that cyber bullying has become rampant. With the education received, I am better placed to take some preventive measures against online abuse and be more security conscious”.
GNA

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Energy firms’ collapse hits 1.5 million customers

 Nearly 1.5 million customers have been hit by energy firms collapsing under soaring gas prices.

Avro Energy and Green ceased trading on Wednesday and their 830,000 combined customers face being switched to a new, potentially more expensive, provider.

Green’s boss, Peter McGirr, told the BBC he had done nothing wrong and said bigger firms would soon face problems.

However, the government has cooled on the idea of loans to the industry, says BBC business editor Simon Jack.

Mr McGirr predicted: “You will see larger suppliers feeling the pain as well and they will come cap in hand for a bailout.”

He criticised the government for supporting US fertiliser firm CF Industries to restart its fertiliser factory, which produced carbon dioxide used in the food industry as a by-product, while allowing energy firms to fail.

Its closure had raised fears over food supplies and the nuclear industry.

“Why do they need a bailout and we don’t?” he asked.

He apologised to staff and customers, but said: “I don’t think we did anything wrong as a supplier.”

Small business minister Paul Scully told the BBC that the government had not treated CF Industries and Green in the same way because there were “different solutions to different problems”.

He said there was “a mature system” in place to deal with the collapse of energy firms, “protecting customers both in continuity of supply and prices”.

Mr McGirr’s comments came amid signs of a change of direction in government policy on the energy crisis.

The BBC’s Simon Jack says that while the government had been talking of state-backed loans for larger energy firms, that idea is now “very much on the back burner” and its intention is to “tough this one out”.

The BBC has been told that ministers believe the current system for managing the failure of energy companies, which allows companies to recoup losses through an industry-wide levy, is working satisfactorily, even though it will add costs to millions of customers’ bills.

Our business editor says ministers do accept that the existing system of reallocating customers would not work if one of the bigger challenger firms went bust.

In that case, the government has the power to appoint a special administrator, in what would be a quasi-temporary nationalisation.

Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng is having daily calls with the chief executive of Ofgem to monitor which firm might be next, a government spokesperson said.

• Where does the UK get its gas and is it facing a shortage this winter?
• What is the energy price cap and what if my supplier goes bust?
• Gas prices: ‘I’m just watching the meter go up’

It is not yet clear which supplier will take on the 580,000 customers from Avro Energy, the biggest firm to fail so far. Regulator Ofgem has also not yet appointed a new provider for Green customers either.

All affected customers will still receive energy while a new supplier is appointed by Ofgem.

Neil Lawrence, director of retail at Ofgem, said its “number one priority is to protect customers”.

The regulator’s price cap, which covers 15 million households across England, Wales and Scotland, protects customers on some tariffs by limiting how much firms can charge per unit of gas.

But providers have complained that they are unable to pass on rising costs to customers because of the cap on energy bills.

Price comparison site Uswitch has acknowledged there is currently no point in energy customers shopping around.

Justina Milinyte, the site’s energy policy expert, said: “Rising wholesale costs are putting a big strain on suppliers, which has had a knock-on effect on the value of the deals available in the market.

“What we’re able to offer is constantly changing and will vary by customer.

“If you are coming to the end of your fixed deal, our advice is to hold tight, stay put and be rolled over on to your supplier’s standard variable rate. Your supplier may try to offer you a new fixed deal, but this is unlikely to be the best option right now.

“However, people can leave their contact details so we could contact them once the situation improves. They can still head to Uswitch.com to compare deals across the whole of the energy market.”

‘They must have known’

IMAGE SOURCE,PA MEDIA

image caption Sara Pilgrim was originally an Npower customer but has changed supplier twice since then

One Green customer, 52-year-old Sara Pilgrim of North Lincolnshire, switched to the firm just a week ago.

“My contract switched on the 16 September. I went from E.On. I was with Npower, who transferred to E.On,” she told the BBC.

“When my contract was due to renew a couple of weeks ago, E.On had really hiked their prices up.

“I went around and looked at different companies. Green weren’t the lowest, but I decided to go with them.

“How can they have been allowed to take on new contracts that close to them going bust? They must have known something was going on six days ago.

“I’m just angry really that they’ve been allowed to do that. You know if you have to cease trading. That’s my gripe really, that they’ve been allowed to take on new contracts so close to them ceasing trading.”

Since wholesale gas prices have started to spike, a number of firms have collapsed.

People’s Energy, Utility Point, PfP Energy and MoneyPlus Energy ceased trading in September.

These smaller companies, including Avro Energy and Green Supplier Limited, account for more than 5% of the UK energy market – about 1.5 million customers.

IMAGE SOURCE,GETTY IMAGES

What happens if your energy supplier goes bust?

• Customers will still continue to receive gas or electricity even if the energy supplier goes bust. Ofgem will move your account to a new supplier, but it may take a few weeks. Your new supplier should then contact you to explain what is happening with your account
• While you wait to hear from your new supplier: check your current balance and – if possible – download any bills; take a photo of your meter reading
• If you pay by direct debit, there is no need to cancel it straight away, Citizens Advice says. Wait until your new account is set up before you cancel it
• If you are in credit, your money is protected and you’ll be paid back. If you were in debt to the old supplier, you’ll still have to pay the money back to your new supplier instead

Other small companies could fold in the coming days and weeks.

Igloo, for example, has said it is working with restructuring consultants Alvarez & Marsal, although it told the BBC it had not appointed administrators. Bulb, the UK’s sixth largest energy company with 1.7 million customers, is also seeking additional financing.

Dame Clare Moriarty, chief executive of Citizens Advice, told the BBC there had been a big increase in people seeking their help.

“We’re seeing people come to us because they’re seeing family finances being really squeezed,” she added.

Smaller providers launched in recent years have been overwhelmed by a spike in the cost of wholesale gas prices as economies have reopened from lockdowns and high demand from Asia pushed down supplies to Europe.

Gas prices are rising all across Europe, but Britain has also been affected by lower winds than usual – denting renewable energy supplies – as well as a recent fire at a National Grid site in Kent.

In the UK, firms had already been hit by a jump in costs even before the recent spike. From more than 70 suppliers in 2018, there are just over 30 now.

Industry sources fear there may be as few as 10 suppliers left by the end of the year.

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