Samuel K

- British Gas, owned by Centrica, said on Friday it has not asked for government money to help weather ongoing energy price spikes, and suggested a suspension of value-added tax on energy bills and other measures to help consumers. Soaring wholesale prices for gas and power over the last year, and especially since the autumn, have caused the collapse of over 20 energy suppliers in the UK, with Centrica's retail business British Gas taking on customers from several of the failed companies. A cap on household prices set by regulator Ofgem could increase by 700 pounds a year from April and possibly by another 200 pounds in October as wholesale prices have kept rising. "There are reports that some energy companies want a 20 billion pound ($27.09 billion) handout to keep household bills down. Not British Gas," the company said in a statement. "We haven't asked for a bailout, we don't want a bailout and we oppose any bailouts." "Our advice to government is to try to help those customers who...

By Miguel Pereira and Borja Suarez LA PALMA, Spain -Residents of Spain's La Palma were struggling on Thursday to come to terms with the devastation wrought by the Cumbre Vieja volcano, which has been ejecting a destructive cocktail of ash, smoke and lava for more than 10 days. Carmen Rodriguez, who lost her home in the village of Todoque, was caught off guard by the advancing column of molten rock. "We never thought that the volcano was going to reach our house, never," she said, recalling how she rushed to salvage belongings during a last-minute evacuation before the lava engulfed her home. "There were so many people and difficulties, there was a queue. Thankfully we were able to take the washing machine, the fridge and a cooker that I recently bought." "I only ask that they give us a place to live, that they give us a habitable house, nothing more," she said. Some 6,000 people have been evacuated and are yet to return to their houses, a local government spokesperson said on Thursday...

By Idrees Ali and Jonathan Landay WASHINGTON -There were at least two explosions near Kabul's airport amid a huge and chaotic evacuation effort from Afghanistan on Thursday, the Pentagon said, with civilians and U.S. service members among the casualties of what was described as a "complex attack." U.S. officials said they were concerned that further attacks could occur at the airport following the twin blasts, which a Taliban official said killed at least 13 people https://www..com/world/asia-pacific/western-nations-race-complete-afghan-evacuation-deadline-looms-2021-08-25, including children, and wounded many Taliban guards. A U.S. official, citing initial information, told as many as five U.S. military personnel may have been hurt, including at least one seriously. U.S. officials have said there are about 5,200 American troops providing security at the Kabul airport. The attacks came after the United States and allies urged Afghans to leave the area because of a threat by Islamic St...

WARSAW - The EU is ready to bring new sanctions against Belarus if the situation in the country - which the bloc accuses of pushing asylum seekers across its borders - continues to deteriorate, a European Commission spokesperson told Polish state news agency PAP. Poland and Lithuania, which are members of the European Union, have reported a sharp increase in the number of migrants from countries such as Afghanistan and Iraq trying to enter their countries from Belarus this year. The EU has accused Minsk of using the migrants as a tool to put pressure on the bloc over sanctions it imposed on Belarus after a disputed presidential election, a charge that Minsk has denied. Lithuania wants the EU to approve tougher rules on migration. "Where necessary, the EU will continue to support the Member States affected by the actions of the Lukashenko regime," Peter Stano a Commission spokesperson said, according to the PAP report.   (Reporting by Alicja Ptak; Editing by Alex Richardson)...

KABUL -Taliban fighters overran three provincial capitals including the strategic northeastern city of Kunduz on Sunday, local officials said, as the insurgents intensified pressure on the north and threatened further cities. The insurgents have taken dozens of districts and border crossings in recent months and put pressure on several provincial capitals, including Herat in the west and Kandahar in the south, as foreign troops withdraw. The offensive has gathered momentum in recent days after the United States announced it would end its military mission in the country by the end of August. Taliban fighters seized key government buildings in Kunduz, leaving government forces hanging onto control of the airport and their base, a provincial assembly lawmaker said on Sunday, raising fears it could be the latest to fall to the Taliban. The city of 270,000, is regarded as a strategic prize as it lies at the gateway to mineral-rich northern provinces and Central Asia. "Heavy clashes started...

MOSCOW -Lyubov Sobol, a prominent ally of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, has left Russia days after being sentenced to parole-like restrictions amid a crackdown on the opposition, Russia's RT and REN TV channels cited sources as saying on Sunday. Sobol could not be reached for comment. Her allies declined to speak on her behalf. The outlets said she had flown to Turkey on Saturday evening. The chief editor of the Ekho Moskvy radio station also said she had left the country. The 33-year-old is one of the most well-known faces of Navalny's entourage. She stayed behind in Moscow this year as other close political allies fled fearing prosecution ahead of September's parliamentary elections. Sobol was sentenced to 1-1/2 years of parole-like restrictions on Tuesday for flouting COVID-19 curbs on protests, a charge she called politically-motivated nonsense. The restrictions included not being allowed to leave home at night. After the ruling, she said on Ekho Moskvy radio station that...

TOKYO -Tokyo Games organisers said they are investigating after a group of athletes were found drinking alcohol in the Olympic village this week, violating measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The athletes were caught drinking in a park in the athletes' village on Friday night, Tokyo 2020 CEO Toshiro Muto told a news conference, adding police were later present at the incident. "We are looking into the matter. We will take appropriate steps based on our findings," he said. Police were also at the scene, he said, adding it was not clear what action they took, if any. Muto did not give details of the number of athletes involved or their nationalities. Organisers previously said athletes are permitted to drink alcohol only in their rooms and only if they are alone, as a precaution against COVID-19. Drinking and partying are normally features of life in the Olympic village, as athletes let off steam after years of gruelling training once their competitions end. But with Tokyo 2020...

By Marco Aquino LIMA - Peru's Pedro Castillo will assume the presidency on Wednesday with little time to catch his breath as he battles the world's deadliest COVID-19 outbreak, tensions in his socialist party and weak congressional support in a starkly divided nation. Castillo, the son of peasant farmers, will be sworn into office at around midday local time (1500 GMT) in Congress and will then address the nation, which was split almost in half by a polarized June 6 ballot won by a margin of just 44,000 votes. The abrupt rise of Castillo, a former teacher, has shaken Peru's traditional political elite and stung copper producers fearful of his plans to hike taxes on mining to fund health and education reforms, and revamp the Andean nation's constitution. All eyes will be on his first message as president and the make-up of his cabinet of ministers, still under wraps amid horse trading between the more radical wing of his Marxist Free Peru party and more moderate advisers and allies. "C...

By Karolos Grohmann TOKYO -Israeli Olympic team members killed by Palestinian gunmen at the 1972 Munich Olympics were remembered during the Tokyo Olympics opening ceremony on Friday with a moment of silence, the first time in 49 years this has happened. The families of the 11 victims had long asked the International Olympic Committee to hold a minute's silence at a Games opening ceremony, but had until Friday been turned down. "We, the Olympic community, also remember all the Olympians and members of our community who have so sadly left us, in particular we remember those who lost their lives during the Olympic Games," said an announcer during the opening ceremony. "One group still holds a strong place in all our memories and stand for all those we have lost at the games - the members of the Israeli delegation at the Olympic Games Munich 1972," the announcer added as the stadium darkened and a soft blue light illuminated parts of the arena. On Sept. 5, 1972, members of the Israeli Oly...

LONDON (Bywire News) - The BBC have been slammed for their 'disgustingly biased' coverage of the ongoing situation in Israel and Palestine. In his latest video, politics vlogger Samuel K has passionately called out the UK's public broadcaster, and the rest of the Western media, for their "one-sided" coverage of the ongoing occupation. You can watch Samuel K's video above - and a transcript is below: BBC Interviewer Emily Maitlis: "Was Hamas right to respond with rocket fire?" Palestinian activist Husam Zomlot: "Hamas did not decide to evict people from their homes, inside the occupied city of Jerusalem. East Jerusalem is occupied, not according to my law only, but according to your law - according to the UK position, according to the United Nations. An occupation has to be temporary, and it has to respect the rules that govern occupation. Israel has made a mockery of these rules." Samuel K: "I'm absolutely sick to death of the dishonest and totally one-sided media framing of the Israe...

"Just how cosy is the relationship between the media and the Conservative Party? In this video, I'm going to show you that it's very cosy indeed.Most people, especially those who see themselves as left leaning, get the sense that something is deeply wrong with our media. Since the rise of Brexit and Boris Johnson, feelings of distrust have only gotten worse - with just 28% of people in the UK saying they trust the news. And, quite frankly, that's a huge problem. 

So, the question then becomes, what's causing this problem?

Well, ideally in a healthy democracy, you'd want to have a mainstream press that calls out corruption where it sees it; holds the powerful to account over illegal wars; and exposes lobbying exactly when it happens. But, probably most importantly, you'd want a mainstream press that isn't concentrated in the hands of a few billionaire media business moguls.

Unfortunately, in the UK today, our press is the furthest away from this idea. Just three companies own and co...

Candace Owens: "This person [George Floyd] was high out of his mind. He asked to be put on the ground."Samuel K: "Okay Candace, so did George Floyd also ask Derek Chauvin to kneel on his neck for nine fucking minutes? I mean what kind of argument is she using here? The white supremacist grifter Candace Owens is unfortunately back in the news again after she made very clear how unhappy she was the former police officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty of murdering George Floyd. Now I just want to warn you that the video of her that I'm going to be reacting to is very disturbing and infuriating. She uses everything within her being to deny the brutality and guilt of Derek Chauvin in order to keep a narrative that police officers are never in the wrong, and it's always the fault of the black victim. So, yeah, buckle up."Owens: "It's the wrong verdict, in my opinion, and I think that it's indicative of the fact that we now live in mob rule. This is mob rule." Samuel K: Candace, like other c...

"Here’s an important question that most people don't seem to ask: if we as a country can get furious over the greed of football club owners that turn their back on fans to make themselves more money, why can't we use that same anger towards the greed of other companies?Britain has been ripped off by greedy businesses and businessmen for decades - in healthcare, housing and even taxes. But why should it not be acceptable in football, but acceptable in those other areas?Take for example healthcare. During the pandemic the government decided to work with the likes of Serco for a tracing app. They spent over £37 billion pounds of our taxpayer money on contracts for this. I just want you to think about how much money that actually is.To put it into context: the cost of all NHS workers salaries in 2017 was £47 billion pounds. What's more, our government allowed a small number of greedy companies - who just happen to have close relationships with senior Tories - to charge extortionate fees f...