Dan Kitwood / Getty Images

A man holds up a banner reading 'Austerity - That's Enough' as a march to protest the government's austerity measures prepares to set off from the Embankment in London on Friday.

Updated at 8:25 a.m ET: LONDON - Thousands of anti-austerity protesters marched in London on Saturday to protest against public spending cuts enacted by a government fighting off accusations that it is run by an upper-class elite that ignores the plight of recession-hit voters. 

The march comes at a time when Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservative-led coalition is reeling from the resignation on Friday of a senior minister accused of calling police "plebs," a class-laden insult for working people. 

Conservatives faced a barrage of negative headlines on Saturday over the departure of Andrew Mitchell, the "Chief Whip" or party enforcer, four weeks after he swore at police guarding the gates to Cameron's Downing Street office. 

Class wars: 'Gate-gate' scandal swamps UK PM David Cameron

A second row involving George Osborne, the finance minister -- who sat in a first class train carriage with a standard class ticket before paying for an upgrade -- played into the hands of critics who say the Conservatives are privileged and out-of-touch. 

"Who Do They Think They Are?" asked the Daily Mail newspaper in a front page headline, while the Financial Times said the bad news over Mitchell and Osborne capped a "dismal week for the Tories", the center-right party that is trailing in the polls. 

Nurses, cleaners, librarians and ambulance drivers are among tens of thousands marching past the Houses of Parliament to a rally in Hyde Park in one of the biggest anti-austerity protests this year. Marches will also take place in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and Glasgow, Scotland. 

General strike?
Under grey autumnal skies, police closed roads around parliament in Westminster before the start of the march at 1100 GMT (6 a.m. ET). 

Trade union leaders are seeking to pile more pressure on Cameron at the event where they will tell protesters that the government's economic plan has failed, prolonging Britain's second recession since the financial crisis. 

Greek strike turns violent: 'Enough is enough'

The head of the head of the RMT transport workers union was set to say that Saturday's march was a step towards a nationwide strike, Sky News reported.

"The marches are a building block towards the objective of coordinated action and a general strike.  That is why RMT says, march today, strike tomorrow," Bob Crow was planning to say, Sky News reported without citing a source.

Reuters reported that Brendan Barber, head of the Trades Union Congress, an umbrella group which represents 54 unions, planned to say the following:

"Austerity isn't working. It is hammering the poorest and the most vulnerable ... Ministers told us that if we only accept the pain, recovery would come. Instead we have been mired in a double-dip recession." 

Coalition under pressure
The coalition government has responded to calls from unions and the opposition Labour Party to do more to boost growth by relaxing planning laws and boosting lending to businesses. 

A downsized parade as Spain's celebrates national day amidst austerity cuts

But its latest attempt to ease the pressure on squeezed households backfired this week when Cameron said the government would legislate to force energy companies to give customers their lowest tariff. The surprise announcement appeared to take his own ministers by surprise and sowed confusion over what he meant and whether it would actually happen. 

However, Sajid Javid, a Conservative Treasury minister, said the government was right to focus on cutting borrowing and that data last week indicating a fall in unemployment and inflation showed that its economic policies were on track. 

"There is a still a lot to do," he told Sky News. "I don't pretend for a second that we are out of the woods, but this government is facing up to the problem, it is not sticking its head in the sand like (Labour opposition leader) Ed Miliband." 

Asked about the perception that the Conservatives are out of touch, he said: "I think that what matters is what is actually happening out there in the real world." 

Spain, Portugal hit with anti-austerity protests

Opponents of the unions say the government should stick to its plan to eliminate a budget deficit that stood at 8 percent of gross domestic product last year, the biggest of any major European country. 

"The government must not listen to militant union leaders," said Mark Littlewood, director general of the Institute of Economic Affairs, which describes itself as an independent free-market thinktank. "The cuts we have seen are tiny and further concessions to these protesters would be wholly unaffordable." 

Reuters contributed to this report.

More world stories from NBC News:

• Documents add to evidence of security fears before attack on US consulate in Benghazi
• Syrian opposition skeptical of 'feeble' ceasefire plan
• Pakistani girls endeavor for education
• Newlywed Afghan beheaded for her refusal to become prostitute
• Armageddon scenario: US, Israel ready for huge joint drill in Iran's shadow
• Beirut car bomb blast kills top intelligence official

Follow World News from NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook

Jeff J Mitchell / Getty Images

Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, watches judo with British Prime Minister David Cameron on Thursday at the ExCel Centre during the London 2012 Olympic Games.

LONDON - Black-belted Russian President Vladimir Putin and British Prime Minister David Cameron locked horns Thursday over Syria and Moscow's crackdown on political opponents in a day of judo diplomacy at the Olympics.

But before the two attended an Olympic judo match, Cameron admitted to reporters at his official residence at 10 Downing Street that Britain and Russia still differed over how to handle the civil conflict gripping Syria.

"There have been some differences in the positions that we have taken over the Syrian conflict," Cameron told reporters.

Western countries want Putin to take a tougher line on Syria, Russia's firmest foothold in the Middle East, and stop blocking Western-backed resolutions aimed at stepping up pressure on President Bashar Assad.

"We both want to see an end to that conflict and a stable Syria and we will discuss with our foreign ministers how to take this agenda forward," he said.

Putin told reporters through a translator that Russia and Britain shared common ground on some areas over Syria.

"We take notice of the fact there are some things that we see eye to eye on and we agreed to continue working to find a viable solution," Putin said.

Russia's 59-year-old president has also faced pressure over an intensifying Kremlin campaign to silence dissent after members of a women's punk band went on trial and a prominent opposition blogger was charged with embezzlement.

Obama authorizes secret US support for Syrian rebels

As Putin entered the prime minister's office in central London, one protester screamed: "Free Pussy Riot", which echoed across Downing Street, in reference to the band who sang out an anti-Putin punk prayer in Moscow's main cathedral.

Slideshow: The lives of Syrian rebels

NBC News

People resisting the army of President Bashar Assad in northern Syria cope with loss and prepare for fighting.

Launch slideshow

A one-time judo champion in his native city of St. Petersburg, Putin was likely to be at his combative best during his first visit to Britain in years.

For the Kremlin leader, who revels in his tough-guy image, the sight of judokas body-slamming each other on the Olympic mat offered a powerful backdrop to his talks with Cameron.

Full coverage of London 2012: Hosting the Games

Body language
Their body language and dynamics will be watched closely for any clues on the progress of the talks.

London Mayor Boris Johnson said he hoped Putin would strip off to take part in the judo.

"Oh, I hope he will take part. What is he, a dab (hand), I think that's what we want to see, stripped to the waist. We want the politicians Olympics, that's what we want," Johnson told reporters.

London's funny zip-lining mayor taken seriously

Russia has faced growing Western criticism of its position on Syria, with the United States and Britain demanding Moscow drop its support for Assad.

Western powers believe that ousting Assad is the only way to end the bloodshed in Syria. Russia, on the other hand, provides arms to Damascus and has blocked three Western resolutions calling for an increase in pressure on Assad.

Jan. 24 PhotoBlog: Black belt Putin gives a judo lesson to young students

Apart from Syria, talks will probably touch on Russia's tense political situation where critics say authorities seek to silence Putin's opponents through unfair accusations and trials.

In a letter in The Times newspaper of London (site operates behind a pay wall), a dozen leading rock musicians including Jarvis Cocker urged Putin to give a fair trial to women's rock band Pussy Riot, whose members face up to seven years in jail for protesting inside the Moscow cathedral.

Punk rockers go on trial over anti-Putin church protest

Officially, both sides have said talks would focus on trade.

"The sides will discuss what can be done to boost trade. Apart from this, in the course of the talks, the Syrian situation will be discussed in great detail as well as other regional problems," a Kremlin spokesman said.

"We see it as another possibility ... to explain our arguments, the Russian Federation's clear, consistent and transparent position," the spokesman said.

Thursday's judo bouts include the men's 100 kilogram (220 lbs.) and women's 78 kilogram (172 lbs.) competitions. Russia's Tagir Khaibulaev and Vera Moskalyuk as well as Britain's James Austin and Gemma Gibbons are expected to compete in Thursday match ups.

Russia charges anti-Putin protester Alexei Navalny in latest crackdown on dissent

'Alpha-dog'
Putin, whose testosterone-fueled appearances have earned him the nickname "alpha-dog" in U.S. diplomatic cables, is in London - home to many influential Russians and political exiles - on a private visit at Cameron's invitation.

But diplomatic efforts are complicated by Russia's difficult relations with Britain itself, ranging from espionage to human rights to the 2006 death from radiation poisoning in London of Kremlin critic Alexander Litvinenko.

More Europe coverage on NBCNews.com

"He (Putin) is not welcome in London, neither by Russians who live here or Londoners themselves," Litvinenko's widow, Marina, who lives in Britain, told Reuters.

"It will not be a comfortable visit for Putin. A lot of uneasy questions will be raised," she said.

Aimed at home audience?
Observers said Putin's show of strength in London could be in part aimed at the audience at home, where Putin has hardened his anti-Western rhetoric in response to a wave of anti-government protests this year.

Complete international news coverage on NBCNews.com

"From his choice seat at the Olympic Games Mr Putin will be closely watching the international reaction to his latest crackdown," Garry Kasparov, a liberal opposition leader and former world chess champion, wrote in The Times newspaper.

Russian dissidents in London held a small protest outside Russia's embassy ahead of the visit, shouting "Shame on Putin" and "Russia will be free."

Media mogul Rupert Murdoch, on his official Twitter account, said: "Interesting today to see if any decent protests against Putin his phony trials of dissenters. Russia even less free speech than here."

More world stories from NBC News:

• Obama authorizes secret US support for Syrian rebels
• London's funny, zip-lining mayor taken very seriously
• US: Leaders' deaths put al-Qaida on 'path of decline'
• Good, bad or ugly? Street artists weigh in on Olympics
• Chinese defend swimmer's gold, know Western bias
• Karzai:a 'prisoner in his palace'?
• Video: Syrian rebels obtain anti-aircraft missiles
• Video: 'Blitz Spirit' lives on in London's East End
• Greenland again sees widespread ice melt

LONDON -- British Prime Minister David Cameron, under fire for courting an exclusive media clique led by Rupert Murdoch, appeared before a judicial inquiry on Thursday to try to neuter claims his ministers tailored policy to further Murdoch's interests.

Cameron's once-cozy ties with Murdoch's inner circle mean he is under pressure to pull off a virtuoso performance at the inquiry, which has sharpened the perception that Britain has been run for years by an elite that fawned on the News Corp chairman.

The coalition government has divided along party lines over Cameron's backing for a minister accused of doing Murdoch's bidding when responsible for impartial oversight, as he struggles with an economy in recession and growing unease about his leadership within his own party.

Cameron, 45, who set up the Leveson inquiry into media ethics himself last year after a newspaper phone-hacking scandal erupted, is due to be questioned for at least five hours, streamed live on television.

Read more on this story from Britain's ITV News

Early in the session, Cameron characterized the relationship between Britain's media and politicians as "bad."

"I think a lot of politicians think the press always get it wrong... a lot of the press think politicians are in it for themselves," ITV News quoted Cameron as saying. 

Cameron used to sign his frequent text messages to News Corp executive Rebekah Brooks with an affectionate "LOL" -- which he admitted he thought meant "lots of love" -- and employed another Murdoch editor, Andy Coulson, as his trusted spokesman.

Former top aide to UK PM David Cameron charged in perjury case

Cameron ordered the inquiry after the News of the World, the Sunday tabloid newspaper both Brooks and Coulson had once edited, was found to have hacked into the voicemail of, among others, a murdered schoolgirl to get stories.

'Lapses of judgment'
The Conservative prime minister has said politicians from both his party and the opposition Labour Party were too close to the Murdoch media empire and has vowed to resolve the problem, no matter how messy the process.

But if Cameron had hoped the inquiry might take some heat out of the phone-hacking scandal, it has done the opposite; week after week of revelations have been served up casting British politicians as courtiers to king Murdoch.

Former UK PM accuses Murdoch of misleading inquiry into phone-hack scandal

"He did not foresee that it would morph into a form of war crimes tribunal," Max Hastings, one of Britain's most influential journalists, wrote in the Financial Times. "Revelations about his lapses of judgment weaken his authority to lead Britain."

The prime minister has been embarrassed by his association with the so-called "Chipping Norton" set, a high-powered social scene centered around the picturesque market town in Oxfordshire. Cameron, Brooks and Murdoch's daughter Elisabeth were among the high-flying friends with luxurious country homes in the area.

Reports: UK PM leaves 8-year-old daughter in the pub

Brooks and her husband Charlie, an erstwhile horse-riding partner of Cameron, are now charged with perverting the course of justice by allegedly hiding evidence from police investigating phone-hacking.

The spectacle of a prime minister questioned under oath by one of London's top barristers on live television is a daunting prospect for Cameron's supporters, who are already reeling from criticism that he is a lightweight politician out of touch with the voters.

The prime minister's aides said he was doing "a lot of preparation" and is being briefed by lawyers ahead of his appearance at the inquiry, where he can afford few mistakes, given his party's slump in the polls in recent months.

Murdoch not 'a fit person' to run major firm, UK lawmakers say

Cameron is under fire for shielding Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt, a Conservative minister, who is accused by Labour of being far too helpful to News Corp while in charge of ruling on the company's bid for full ownership of BSkyB.

Hunt was meant to be an impartial overseer of the $12.5 billion bid for the pay-TV operator, but testimony by Murdoch's executive son James at the Leveson inquiry appeared to show that Hunt's office was in regular contact with News Corp and may have given it confidential information.

Cameron's Liberal Democrat coalition partners abstained on Wednesday from a parliamentary vote on a motion calling for the prime minister to order an inquiry into Hunt's actions, underscoring the divide in the coalition.

Hunt's special adviser resigned over the affair.

'War criminal': Tony Blair heckled during inquiry into Murdoch scandal

In a sign of the concern inside Number 10 Downing Street, aides circulated a letter from the prime minister saying that he would outline measures to increase transparency on special advisers' work and shed more light on decisions such as the one entrusted to Hunt over BSkyB.

The prime minister is also likely to be questioned about Cameron's decision to appoint Coulson as his communications adviser, even though he had resigned as editor of the News of the World after a reporter there was jailed for phone-hacking.

Coulson was charged with perjury last month for remarks he made in court over the hacking scandal.

Reuters and ITV News contributed to this report. ITV News is NBC's British partner.

More world news from msnbc.com and NBC News:

• Report: US expands secret 'shadow war' in Africa
• UK PM grilled over links to Rupert Murdoch's empire
• NBC's Richard Engel answers your questions on Syria
• Transgender pageant winner murdered in South Africa
• 'Maple Spring' student protests: Crackdown roils Quebec
• 'Forest boy' mystery: Stumped cops release photo
• Shot in the dark: Blinded sailor aims for Paralympics
• Survey: World's opinion of US, Obama slips

Follow us on Twitter: @msnbc_world

LONDON -- British Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife left their eight-year-old daughter in a countryside pub by mistake after lunch on Sunday, according to reports.

Cameron rushed back minutes later to pick her up, the tabloid Sun newspaper reported. 

Nancy had gone to the bathroom when rides were being organized to return home, the newspaper said. 

The prime minister's office said Cameron and his wife Samantha were "distraught" when they realized Nancy wasn't with them, according to the BBC.

Former top aide to British PM charged in perjury case

The Camerons had been having Sunday lunch with two other families near the prime minister's country home, according to reports. The prime minister went home in one car thinking that Nancy was with his wife and two other children in a second car, the Sun reported. 

Britain's PM eats humble pie over snack tax

The child, who was looked after by staff at the 16th-century pub after her parents had left, was separated from her family for 15 minutes, the Sun reported. 

The Sun quoted a pub "insider" as saying: "You'd have thought someone would have done a headcount or something."

From May 2010: How tragedy transformed UK's Cameron

The incident, which was widely reported in the British media, could prove especially embarrassing for the Conservative leader as it came just a day before the government relaunched a so-called troubled families program. The government says 120,000 troubled families are at the root of high amounts of crime and social disorder throughout the country.

More world news from msnbc.com and NBC News:

• Spain to seek bailout; up to $125 billion on table
• Second solo Pacific rower rescued after 50-ft waves batter boat
• UN: Smell of death at scene of massacre in Syrian village
• Women brave attack to protest Egypt harassment
• In court, Italian showgirl reveals code name for Berlusconi
• Soccer, cable TV at Gitmo? US lockup in Cuba quietly being upgraded

Follow us on Twitter: @msnbc_world

Facundo Arrizabalaga / EPA, file

Andy Coulson, a former editor of Rupert Murdoch's now-defunct News of the World newspaper, later served as a spin doctor for British Prime Minister David Cameron.

Updated at 5:55 p.m. ET: LONDON -- A former spokesman for Britain’s prime minister was charged Wednesday with perjury during a high-profile court case in Scotland involving a politician -- a move that brings the Rupert Murdoch phone-hacking scandal closer to the heart of government.

Andy Coulson, who worked as David Cameron's director of communications, was held in London by detectives investigating claims he committed perjury during the trial of a politician accused of taking part in adulterous, drug-fueled sex orgies at swingers' clubs.

Coulson, 44, was transferred north from London to Glasgow, Scotland, for questioning on Wednesday, according to Britain’s Sky News.

Strathclyde Police issued a statement that said: "Officers from Strathclyde Police's Operation Rubicon team detained a 44-year-old man in London this morning under section 14 of the Criminal Procedure Scotland Act 1995 on suspicion of committing perjury before the High Court in Glasgow."

'War criminal': Tony Blair heckled while testifying about Murdoch links

Coulson resigned from his job as the Cameron’s chief spin doctor in January 2011 amid growing public anger over the phone-hacking scandal.

Prior to working for Cameron, he was editor of the News of the World, the now-defunct Murdoch Sunday tabloid. He resigned from that job in 2007 - also over phone hacking.

Now he is implicated in another long-running saga – that of Tommy Sheridan, a lawmaker and icon of left-wing Scottish politics.

Britain's PM eats humble pie over snack tax

Coulson gave evidence in a 2010 Glasgow High Court trial at which Sheridan was jailed for three years for lying under oath during his earlier defamation action against the News of the World in 2006, STV News reported.

Jeff J Mitchell / Getty Images, file

Tommy Sheridan and his wife Gail make a statement outside the High Court in Glasgow, Scotland, on Dec. 23 2010.

Sheridan had won £200,000 in damages over an article that said he had committed adultery, visited a swingers' club and taken part in drug-fueled orgies.

Giving evidence at the 2010 trial, Coulson denied being involved in, or aware of, any illegal activities, including phone hacking, the BBC reported.

Earlier this month, Coulson appeared in front of an ongoing inquiry into press standards where he revealed he still held shares in Murdoch’s News Corp. while working as working as Cameron’s director of communications.

More world news from msnbc.com and NBC News:

• Greek tragedy: Economic crisis sparks brain drain
• US expels Syria diplomat after UN finds Houla victims were 'executed'
• UN agency appoints Mugabe as a 'leader for tourism'
• Teenager allegedly held as slave in Bosnia for years
• Britain's PM eats humble pie over snack tax
• At least 16 killed in 5.8-magnitude earthquake in Italy
• Brother of doctor who worked with CIA in bin Laden hunt seeks US protection

Follow us on Twitter: @msnbc_world

Matt Cardy / Getty Images, file

In days gone, pasties were the food of miners and farmers -- a robust parcel that (so legend has it) could be dropped steaming hot down a mine shaft or thrown over a high hedge to the agricultural laborers on the other side.

LONDON -- We're a placid bunch, us Brits.

You can call us names and poke us in the eye and we'll pretty much stand there and take it.

So pity the poor misguided chaps who run this country and who decided to try their luck by introducing a tax on ... pasties.

Man the barricades!

For those who are not among the cognoscenti, a pasty is a traditional and tasty food that resembles a meat and potato pie. It has almost iconic status in its place of origin, the distant and beautiful county of Cornwall.

In days gone by, it was the food of miners and farmers -- a robust parcel of pastry (so legend has it) that could be dropped steaming hot down a mine shaft to the menfolk below or thrown over a high hedge to the agricultural laborers on the other side.

According to folklore, in one end there was savory meat, spuds and turnip and -- on the other side of a pastry wall -- fruit jam.  Entree and dessert all in one steaming package.  Genius.

Wpa Pool / Getty Images, file

David Cameron eats a pastry during an election campaign stop on May 1, 2010 in Woodstock, southern England.

No wonder a simpler version was adopted all across the country.  It has become a staple of many a working lunch, snatched from the oven of a high street food store and wolfed down on the nearest bench or at a desk.

Library opened by Mark Twain falls victim to austerity cuts

So into this culinary sanctum stumbled the British government.  Always anxious to raise more cash in these dark days of austerity, the Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne decided back in March to slap a 20 percent tax on hot snacks like pasties, pies and sausage rolls.

The plan was to raise an extra $150 million.

But Osborne -- a millionaire whose diet does not apparently include pasties -- had no idea that he was about to walk into a political furore that we have seldom seen since the 1990 Poll Tax riots. 

"Half-baked," screamed the tabloids.  "Save our pasties," the nation echoed as people licked their lips and bared their teeth.

A newspaper hired an actress dressed as Marie Antoinette to pursue the hapless Chancellor -- a reminder of her infamous quote that led to revolution across the Channel: "Let them (the poor) eat cake."

Justin Tallis / AFP – Getty Images

Bakers and their supporters hold pastries as they gather outside the prime minister's official residence in London in April to protest and deliver a petition against the so-called pasty tax.

The accident-prone Conservative-led government had walked into a minefield of meat and potato proportions. Politicians rushed to have their photos taken stuffing pasties down their throats.

NBC News' UK partner ITV News on pasty debate

Even Prime Minister David Cameron was wrong-footed when asked in Parliament when HE had last eaten a pasty.  He claimed to have done so at a shop that closed down some years ago. Ouch!

So yesterday Cameron and Osborne decided on a change of diet: humble pie.

The Sun's front page story on the British government's 'pastygate' climbdown on Tuesday.

In a humiliating climb-down, the government was forced to abandon its snack tax.

Well, almost.  In a wonderfully British muddle, pasties will avoid tax if they are hot but cooling down out of the oven.  If the shop keeps them hot -- that will be another 20 percent please.

Telegraph video: David Cameron remembers his last pasty

No matter.  Today's papers speak for the nation in declaring victory, with the mass market Sun saying it best: "Pasty la vista, taxman."

Peace has broken out in Britain's leafy suburbs and town centers. One joyous Cornish Member of Parliament said there'd be "dancing in the streets."

But the message to our politicians is clear.

There is, after all, a line you cannot cross.  Our trains may not run when it rains or snows; you may not get through airport passport controls for hours; but mess with our favourite foods and we WILL bite back.

More world news from msnbc.com and NBC News:

• Can voters force candidates to compromise in Egypt run-off?
• 'War criminal': UK ex-PM Blair heckled while testifying
• Horror and death in former Syrian rebel stronghold
• Couple kept boy, 11, in coal cellar as punishment for raiding refrigerator
• Video: British woman may face death in Indonesia

Follow us on Twitter: @msnbc_world

An Italian and a British hostage kidnapped in May in Nigeria were killed on Thursday by their captors during a joint raid by British and Nigerian forces trying to free them, Italy's government said.

British Prime Minister David Cameron called Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti to inform him of the "tragic conclusion" of the operation, a statement said.

The joint forces intervened to free Italian Franco Lamolinara and Briton Christopher McManus, fearing that their lives were under threat, the statement said.

Cameron said it appeared McManus and Lamolinara had been "murdered by their captors before they could be rescued," the BBC reported.

A witness told Reuters that security forces had tried to force their way into a compound in Sokoto, northwest Nigeria.

"The security agencies tried to break into the house but there was resistance. The people inside the house were shooting at them and they returned fire. They exchanged fire for some time," said Mahmoud Abubakar, who lives on the same street.

"I saw a military truck come out of the compound with two bodies on it. I didn't see their color, because they were covered with leaves," he added.

The captors were a faction of militant Islamist sect Boko Haram, a senior official at Nigeria's State Security Service said.

"The hostage-takers shot the hostages before they even entered the compound. All the terrorists have been killed as well," he said. "We arrested some suspects a few days before who led us to them."

British special forces were involved in the rescue, UK media reports said.

McManus’ family said they were devastated by the news.

“We knew Chris was in an extremely dangerous situation,” the family said in a statement published on The Telegraph. “However we knew that everything that could be done was being done. Our thoughts are also of course with the loved ones of Chris’ colleague, Franco Lamolinara, who are also coming to terms with this truly sad news.”

McManus and Lamolinara were working as engineers for a large construction company called Stabilini Visinoni Limited when they were kidnapped on May 12, 2011 in in Birnin Kebbi city, The Telegraph reported.

Mcmanus Family / AFP - Getty Images

Chris McManus in an undated family photo.

Kidnappings have become increasingly common in Nigeria in recent years.

Two Britons were held by the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta in September 2008, the newspaper reported. A Scottish oil worker was abducted and his guard killed in April 2009, according to the Telegraph.

Cameron, in a statement published on the Telegraph, said the rescue attempt went forward after authorities “received credible information about their location.”

“A window of opportunity arose to secure their release, " Cameron said. "We also had reason to believe that their lives were under imminent and growing danger."

It was not immediately clear how the two men were killed.

In August a video of the hostages surfaced in the Nigerian capital Abuja with the two men on their knees and blindfolded, with three men wearing turbans and holding guns and ammunition behind them.

This article includes reporting by Reuters and msnbc.com staff.

More from msnbc.com and NBC News:

• World to Iran: Open military site to inspectors
• 'I join the revolution': 1st senior Assad official defects
• 'Collar bomb' case: Investment banker pleads guilty
• One year after Fukushima, Japanese town is frozen in time

Follow us on Twitter: @msnbc_world