Armoured & Luxury
Chauffeur Driven Cars

David Cameron has described Nigeria and Afghanistan as «fantastically corrupt» in a conversation with the Queen.

The PM was talking about the forthcoming anti-corruption summit when he made the comments. «We’ve got some leaders of some fantastically corrupt countries coming to Britain… Nigeria and Afghanistan, possibly the two most corrupt countries in the world,» Mr Cameron said.

Number 10 said the PM was aware he was being filmed as he was speaking. «The cameras were very close to him. There were multiple cameras in the room,» a Downing Street spokesman said.

After Mr Cameron’s comments, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby intervened to say: «But this particular president is not corrupt… he’s trying very hard,» before Speaker John Bercow said: «They are coming at their own expense, one assumes?»

The conversation took place at Buckingham Palace at an event to mark the Queen’s 90th birthday.

Correspondent James Landale described the PM’s comments as a «truthful gaffe», because the two countries involved were widely perceived as having a corruption problem. Afghanistan was ranked at 167, ahead of only Somalia and North Korea, in Transparency International’s 2015 corruption perception index. Nigeria was at 136.

Read More

Police who staged a mock attack featuring a bomber shouting «Allahu Akbar» have been forced to apologise for racial stereotyping.

The exercise – criticised for using a fake «Muslim terrorist» – was to test the response of emergency services. Eight hundred volunteers took part in the overnight drill to make it as realistic as possible. Greater Manchester Police said the event at the Trafford Centre was not linked to any specific terror threat.

Manchester peace activist Dr Erinma Bell criticised the use of a «Muslim terrorist». She said «a terrorist can be anyone» and «we need to move away from stereotypes».

In a statement released by GMP, assistant chief constable Garry Shewan said: «It is a necessity for agencies including the police to train and prepare using exercises such as this, so that we would be in the best possible position to respond in the event that the unthinkable happened and an attack took place. «The scenario for this exercise is based on an attack by an extremist Daesh-style organisation and the scenario writers have centred the circumstances around previous similar attacks of this nature, mirroring details of past events to make the situation as real life as possible for all of those involved. «However, on reflection we acknowledge that it was unacceptable to use this religious phrase immediately before the mock suicide bombing, which so vocally linked this exercise with Islam. We recognise and apologise for the offence that this has caused.»

Read More

A key leader of so-called Islamic State (IS) in Iraq’s Anbar province has been killed in a US-led coalition air strike, the Pentagon says.

Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said Abu Waheeb and three others died when their vehicle was hit on 6 May near Rutba. «It is dangerous to be an Isil leader in Iraq and Syria nowadays,» Mr Cook added, using an acronym based on the former name of IS.

Abu Waheeb has falsely been declared dead on several previous occasions. The Pentagon described Abu Waheeb, who is also known as Shakir Waheeb, as the IS «military emir for Anbar».

The jihadist group seized control of much of the predominantly Sunni Arab western province, Iraq’s largest, in 2014.

Born in 1986 and a former computer science student, Abu Waheeb was often described on monitoring sites as a rising star among IS. A former member of al-Qaeda in Iraq, a precursor of IS, he was arrested by US forces in Iraq in 2006 and sentenced to death but escaped from prison in 2012.

The following year, he gained notoriety for killing a group of Syrian lorry drivers travelling through Iraq. «We view him as a significant leader in Isil leadership overall, not just in Anbar province,» Mr Cook said. «Removing him from the battlefield will be a significant step forward.»

Abu Waheeb is the latest in a series of senior IS leaders reported to have been killed in US air strikes and special forces operations. Other targets include Abdul Rahman Mustafa al-Qaduli, an Iraqi known as Hajji Imam who was the group’s purported second-in-command, and Tarkhan Batirashvili, a Georgian known as Omar al-Shishani who was the «minister of war». Despite the coalition campaign, IS still controls large swathes of Iraq and neighbouring Syria, where it proclaimed the formation of a «caliphate» in 2014.

Russian armed forces have paraded in central Moscow to mark the 71st anniversary of the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two.

Some of Russia’s latest military hardware was on show, including the RS-24 Yars long-range nuclear missile.

Fighters, heavy bombers and helicopters flew over Red Square, including types combat-tested in Syria, where Russian aircraft are helping government forces. The march past included Russia’s new National Guard.

The National Guard will be armed with new AK-74M machine guns and will be tasked with fighting terrorism and organised crime. Those operations are currently the domain of interior ministry Omon and Sobr special forces.

The parade involved 10,000 military staff, 135 armoured vehicles and 71 aircraft.

Victory Day (9 May) is an occasion for the Kremlin to stir up patriotic feelings, as Russians remember the sacrifices made in World War Two. Russia is ploughing billions of dollars into modernising its military, amid tension with Nato over the conflict in Ukraine. So the annual parade also shows off Russian military might for an international audience.

Read More

Three Spanish journalists, kidnapped while working in Syria last year, have been released and have arrived in Madrid to a rapturous reception from friends and family.

Antonio Pampliega, Jose Manuel Lopez and Angel Sastre disappeared from the northern city of Aleppo 10 months ago. The three were flown on a Spanish defence ministry jet from Turkey. They appear to have been captives of al-Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate, the al-Nusra Front.

Al-Nusra was in charge of the part of Aleppo from which they were kidnapped nearly a year ago. However the circumstances of their release have not been disclosed.

A statement from the prime minister’s office said that «allied and friendly» countries had helped to secure the journalists’ release, highlighting the role of Turkey and Qatar which had provided assistance «especially in the final phase». PM Mariano Rajoy posted a photograph of them arriving beneath the caption «Welcome!» on his Twitter account.

The three men, apparently in good health, smiled and waved as they disembarked from the plane. They were well treated by their captors, the Efe news agency quoted them as saying at the airport.

They were welcomed by overjoyed friends and family members and shook hands with Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria at Torrejon de Ardoz air force base on the outskirts of Madrid.

Read More