Security News the latest breaking news

Baghdad struck by deadly bomb blasts

November 21, 2013 / By Armoured Cars / In security

At least 29 people have been killed and dozens wounded in a series of bomb attacks in mostly Shia areas of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, officials say.

The deadliest attack was in the central Sadriya district, where a car bomb was detonated at an crowded market.

Bombs exploded at around the same time on busy streets in the Shaab, Tobchi, Karrada, Azamiya and Amil areas.

Sectarian violence has surged across the country in recent months, reaching its highest level since 2008.

The UN says 979 people – including 158 police and 127 military personnel – were killed in violent attacks in October. More than 6,500 civilians have died since January.

Republican congressman Trey Radel admits cocaine charge

November 21, 2013 / By Armoured Cars / In security

A Republican congressman has been sentenced to one year’s probation after pleading guilty to cocaine possession.

First-term Florida Representative Trey Radel, 37, learned his fate at a Washington DC court.

The father of one said he was “disappointed” with himself. He had faced a maximum sentence of 180 days in jail and a $1,000 (£620) fine.

Radel admitted purchasing 3.5g (0.12oz) of the drug from an undercover agent on 29 October.

Federal officials told Radel he would face criminal charges the same evening.

The charges were made public on Tuesday.

US urged to consider Plan B to force Bahrain reforms

November 18, 2013 / By Armoured Cars / In security

A human rights group has urged the US to consider using the threat of removing the strategically vital Fifth Fleet from Bahrain as leverage to push for reform in the Gulf island kingdom that has been wracked by more than two years of anti-government unrest.

The Washington-based Human Rights First argues in a report released on Friday that the US government should “develop a new strategy and publically inform the Bahraini government that the future of the Fifth Fleet requires political and social stability”.

The Fifth Fleet, as well as US Naval Forces Central Command, are headquartered at a sprawling facility called Naval Support Activity-Bahrain. It is home to a carrier strike group, an amphibious ready group, and about 5,000 US personnel.

Liberation and Societe Generale hit by Gun Attacks

November 18, 2013 / By Armoured Cars / In security

A manhunt has been launched in Paris after a gunman attacked offices of the newspaper Liberation and fired outside the HQ of the bank Societe Generale.

A photographer, 27, was critically hurt at Liberation. The gunman later forced a motorist to drive him to the Champs Elysees before allowing him to go.

Police are looking for the same man who broke into the Paris offices of the 24-hour news channel BFMTV on Friday.

Police have now been stationed outside all the main media offices in Paris.

At a news conference, investigators held up two images, one of the suspect in a street and another taken from BFMTV surveillance cameras on Friday.

Kim Philby The spy who went into the cold

November 18, 2013 / By Armoured Cars / In security

Fifty years ago one of Britain’s most infamous spies, Kim Philby, defected to the Soviet Union. The unresolved questions surrounding his defection reveal blind spots in the British ruling class that made it vulnerable to KGB penetration.

On a stormy night in January 1963, Kim Philby skipped a dinner party in Beirut and boarded a freighter bound for the Soviet Union.

He had been working for the communists since he was 22, but instead of a hero’s welcome, he was shut away in a flat near Moscow city centre and allowed nowhere near the organisation he had served for so long. Even the Russians were suspicious that he had got away scot-free.

At the time, his defection made little news in Britain.

On the face of it, a middle-aged journalist with a tendency to drink too much had simply gone missing.