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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Claire Phipps, Haroon Siddique, Matthew Weaver and Kevin Rawlinson

UK agrees to resume sharing intelligence with US after assurances – as it happened

Police activity at a cordon in the Hulme area of Manchester where an army bomb disposal team was sent after staff at a college raised an alert.
Police activity at a cordon in the Hulme area of Manchester where an army bomb disposal team was sent after staff at a college raised an alert. Photograph: Martin Rickett/PA

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What we know so far

The investigation

  • Police arrested a man in Manchester’s Moss Side in the early hours of Friday in connection with the attack on Manchester Arena.
  • Eight men are now in custody. One of them is believed to be Ismail Abedi, 23, the brother of the bomber, Salman Abedi.
  • A man and a woman arrested earlier in the investigation have been released without charge.
  • Police raids in the south of the city on Thursday uncovered suspicious materials similar to those used in the bombing that killed 22 people. Bomb disposal experts were brought in to search a house in Wigan on Thursday evening.
  • Officers have warned that accomplices may still be at large and bomb-making equipment could be as yet undiscovered.
  • UK officials have begun sharing intelligence with US counterparts again, after reassurances were made following a series of leaks to American media.
  • The threat level remains at “critical”, with troops continuing to guard key locations and armed police for the first time patrolling trains outside the capital.

The perpetrator

  • Abedi is believed to have returned to the UK from Libya only days before Monday’s attack. He travelled via Istanbul last Thursday, and Düsseldorf.
  • Turkish officials said they had no record of Abedi entering Syria.
  • Republican congressman Mike McCaul, chair of the homeland security committee, said Abedi had used triacetone triperoxide (TATP), the explosive used in the 7/7 attacks on London, as well as the Paris and Brussels attacks.

The victims

  • All 22 people killed in the attack have now been named. You can read about them here.
  • Of the 116 people taken to eight hospitals in the wake of the attack, 75 are still being treated, of whom 23 remain in critical care, some with “life-changing injuries”. This includes five children at the Royal Manchester children’s hospital, visited by the Queen on Thursday.
  • NHS England has sent an alert to England’s 27 major trauma centres to prepare for a possible further incident over the bank holiday weekend.

Election campaign resumes

  • The home secretary, Amber Rudd, has denied that government cuts to police numbers contributed to the attack.
  • Rudd will chair this morning’s meeting of the government’s emergency Cobra committee, as Theresa May attends the G7 summit in Sicily.
  • Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn will today make a speech drawing a link between Britain’s foreign policy and terror attack. But he will add:

That assessment in no way reduces the guilt of those who attack our children. Those terrorists will forever be reviled and held to account for their actions. But an informed understanding of the causes of terrorism is an essential part of an effective response that will protect the security of our people that fights rather than fuels terrorism.

The UK government’s emergency Cobra committee will meet on Friday morning in Whitehall. The home secretary, Amber Rudd, will chair the meeting, as Theresa May is attending the G7 summit in Sicily.

Theresa May will urge G7 leaders today to tell technology firms that they should do more to suppress extremist content online, arguing that the fight against Islamic State is shifting from the “battlefield to the internet”.

The prime minister will tell fellow leaders at the summit in Sicily that every country should encourage companies such as Facebook, Google and Twitter to block users who post extremist content and report individuals to authorities if there is evidence of imminent harm.

Addressing a small group of powerful counterparts, including Donald Trump and new French president Emmanuel Macron, May will argue that more has to be done to tackle the threat posed by extremist content online in the aftermath of the Manchester Arena attack.

The prime minister believes that cooperation between major industrial countries could help force the social media companies to:

  • develop tools that could automatically identify and remove harmful material based on what it contains and who posted it
  • tell the authorities when harmful material is identified so that action can be taken, and
  • revise conditions and industry guidelines to make them absolutely clear about what constitutes harmful material.

Ten people have now been arrested in connection with Monday’s attack.

One woman and one man have since been freed without charge.

Eight men remain in custody. One of them is believed to be Ismail Abedi, 23, the brother of the bomber, Salman Abedi.

Man arrested in Moss Side

Greater Manchester police say they have made a further arrest in the early hours of Friday. The man was detained in Moss Side in connection with the bombing of Manchester Arena.

The police statement reads:

This morning (Friday 26 May 2017) we have arrested a man in the Moss Side area.

The arrest is connected to Monday’s attack on the Manchester Arena, but this is a fast-moving investigation and we are keeping an open mind at this stage.

As it stands, 10 people in total have been arrested in connection with the investigation, of which a man and a woman have since been released without charge.

Eight men remain in custody for questioning.

Updated

On Friday, as world leaders including Donald Trump and Theresa May attend the G7 summit in Sicily, Rex Tillerson will visit London – his first official trip as US secretary of state – to meet foreign secretary Boris Johnson.

According to the US state department, Tillerson will:

extend condolences for the May 22 terrorist attack in Manchester on behalf of the American people to the British people and Her Majesty’s government [and] reaffirm America’s commitment to the special relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom and our solidarity in defeating terrorism in every part of the world.

Later, Tillerson and Johnson will sign the book of condolence for victims of the Manchester attack.

Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull says the country will continue to share its intelligence with the United States in the wake of its rift with the UK over a series of leaks over the Manchester bombing.

The prime minister said Donald Trump was obviously disappointed by the leak, which caused the UK to temporarily suspend intelligence-sharing on the bombing and prompted prime minister Theresa May to confront Trump.

“Clearly this was a regrettable breach of security and you can see how disappointed president Trump was about it so regrettably these things do happen, but it was as regretted by President Trump as it was by prime minister May,” Turnbull said.

Asked if he trusted the United States, he said: “Yes, we do.”

In the wake of the Manchester bombing, Turnbull said there was currently a review of intelligence services, which would include the issue of a dedicated minister for homeland security.

He said Australian security agencies had been very successful at thwarting terrorist plots but it was not possible to guarantee they could thwart every one.

Earlier on Thursday, the mother and stepfather of 15-year-old Olivia Campbell, one of those killed in the Manchester attack, organised a rally of hundreds of vehicles from her home in Bury to the memorial in Manchester’s St Ann’s Square:

British police have resumed sharing information with their counterparts in the US after a brief suspension over a series of leaks by American officials to journalists providing details of the Manchester bomb investigation.

The suspension, announced early on Thursday morning, lasted less than 24 hours. It was primarily intended to send a message to US law enforcement agencies registering anger at the casual way in which sensitive information was disclosed to American journalists.

Mark Rowley, the UK’s most senior counter-terrorism officer, confirmed that they had “received fresh assurances” from the US and were now working closely with them again.

Also on BBC Question Time was Andy Burnham, mayor of Greater Manchester, who argued that policing numbers should become a key issue in the general election campaign, which resumes in earnest on Friday.

Burnham said:

I think we do have to have a debate now about whether or not the frontline police force can be cut. I don’t believe it can.

I would say this now needs to become an issue in the election campaign, once we have dealt with the immediate events of this week.

All 22 people known to have been killed in the blast have now been named. They are:

  • Courtney Boyle, 19
  • Philip Tron, 32
  • Elaine McIver, 43
  • Liam Curry, 19
  • Wendy Fawell, 50
  • Eilidh MacLeod, 14,
  • Michelle Kiss, 45
  • Olivia Campbell, 15
  • Martyn Hett, 29
  • Kelly Brewster, 32
  • Saffie Rose Roussos, eight
  • Georgina Callander, 18
  • John Atkinson, 28
  • Alison Howe, 45
  • Lisa Lees, 47
  • Angelika Klis, 40
  • Marcin Klis, 42
  • Nell Jones, 14
  • Jane Tweddle-Taylor, 51
  • Sorrell Leczkowski, 14
  • Chloe Rutherford, 17
  • Megan Hurley, 15

Rudd: Police cuts 'not a factor' in attack

The home secretary, Amber Rudd, has denied that cuts in police forces contributed to Monday’s terror atrocity in Manchester, Press Association reports:

Rudd was confronted on BBC1’s Question Time on Thursday night by a member of the studio audience who said Theresa May had been warned by the PoliceFederation that cuts in frontline officers would undermine their ability to gather low-level intelligence about possible threats. Rudd insisted that the majority of such intelligence came from community leaders operating within the Prevent counter-terrorism programme, rather than from police officers on the street.

The audience member said: “We are 20,000 police officers down and we get atrocities like this. Does the government not expect this?” Rudd responded: “I don’t accept that. I have asked the head of counter-terrorism whether this is about resources. It is not.

“There may a conversation to have about policing, we may have that at some stage. But now is not that conversation. We must not imply that this terrorist activity may not have taken place if there had been more policing.”

The home secretary added: “Good counter-terrorism is when you have close relationships between the policing and intelligence services. That is what we have. That is why the UK has a strong counter-terrorism network. It’s also about making sure we get in early on radicalisation. But it’s not about those pure numbers on the street.”

Friday’s Guardian front page leads on Theresa May’s comments on online extremism – and on the 22 people killed in the Manchester bombing:

Updated

The former Labour home secretary Charles Clarke has criticised Jeremy Corbyn’s remarks. He told BBC2’s Newsnight that linking terror attacks to UK involvement in wars overseas was “simply wrong”:

The core attacks from 9/11 and beforehand have come from forces which are about trying to destroy the whole of our society: this is before the Iraq war, before the wars in Syria.

And they’re about eliminating the ability of young people to go an event like they did in the Manchester arena, eliminating programmes like this to create a society under the caliphate, which really removes all our democracies. It’s quite different from previous terrorist organisations.

The motive force is about the destruction of all the core elements of our society and that’s not something which is about a foreign policy conflict, something in Syria, something in Iraq, whatever it might be. It’s about a totally opposed vision of what society should be.

Clarke was home secretary during the 7/7 bombings in London that killed 52 people. He has been a frequent critic of the current Labour leader.

Jeremy Corbyn will return to campaigning for the general election on Friday morning after the pause following the Manchester bombing. He plans a speech criticising police cuts, drawing a link between British foreign policy and terror attacks.

With less than a fortnight to go before polling day, the Labour leader will tell an audience in London that a government led by his party would provide more resources for law enforcement and the NHS to ensure people were “not protected and cared for on the cheap”.

The long-time peace campaigner and former chair of the Stop the War coalition will also argue that it is the responsibility of government to ensure that “our foreign policy reduces rather than increases the threat to this country”.

Corbyn will say:

Many experts, including professionals in our intelligence and security services, have pointed to the connections between wars our government has supported or fought in other countries and terrorism here at home.

That assessment in no way reduces the guilt of those who attack our children. Those terrorists will forever be reviled and held to account for their actions. But an informed understanding of the causes of terrorism is an essential part of an effective response that will protect the security of our people that fights rather than fuels terrorism.

Greater Manchester police have now put out a statement about the operation in Wigan:

“As part of a search at an address in Wigan earlier today, a precautionary cordon was put in place whilst bomb disposal experts carried out an assessment after potentially suspicious items were found.

The cordon has now been lifted and residents are being returned to their homes, with no controlled explosion having taken place. The search of the address remains ongoing.

We would like to thank the local community for their patience and cooperation whilst enquiries were carried out. Your support was essential in helping us carry out these enquiries swiftly.

Just to reiterate, the cordon was purely a precautionary measure as public safety is paramount to us as we continue our investigation into the attack at the Manchester Arena.”

Updated

Steven Morris, who is in Wigan, reports that police are now telling people they can return to their homes.

A cordon was put in place and people were evacuated as a precaution while bomb disposal experts did their work. The bomb disposal unit van drove off shortly after 9.05pm.

Officers are still guarding one house, however.

Updated

UK resumes sharing intelligence with US

Confirmation from the National Police Chiefs Council that intelligence sharing has resumed. Its national counter-terrorism policing lead, assistant commissioner Mark Rowley, said

We greatly value the crucial relationship with our trusted partners around the world so we can collaborate and share sensitive information to defeat terrorism and protect the public at home and abroad. While we do not usually comment on information sharing arrangements with international law enforcement organisations, we want to emphasise that, having received fresh assurances, we are now working closely with our key partners around the world including all those in the ‘Five Eyes’ intelligence alliance.

Earlier today, the prime minister, Theresa May, confronted the US president, Donald Trump, over repeated leaks to US media of information related to the Manchester bombing.

The Five Eyes alliance is made up of Britain, the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

Updated

According to the Reuters news agency, the UK’s most senior counter-terrorism officer says intelligence sharing with the US has resumed after fresh assurances were received.

British authorities had complained about leaks to US media.

Updated

Police in Wigan are telling residents that they may not be able to return to their homes tonight and alternative accommodation is being found for them.

“A policeman knocked on the door and told us we had to go at once. It’s frightening that it’s so close to home,” said nursery worker, Kay. Her workplace was in lockdown for more than two hours yesterday after a man was arrested nearby.

Some residents are being looked after this evening in a local church hall. Others have already found beds with friends and relatives. Another man has got his children, aged two and five, in the back of his car after his family was evacuated. “I’m not sure what we’re going to do. We can always sleep in the car,” he said.

Undated handout photo issued by Greater Manchester Police of Laura MacIntyre, who is battling for her life after the Manchester attack, as her family have said she is “strong-willed and a fighter”.
Undated handout photo issued by Greater Manchester Police of Laura MacIntyre, who is battling for her life after the Manchester attack, as her family have said she is “strong-willed and a fighter”. Photograph: Greater Manchester Police/PA

Updated

Greater Manchester police confirm bomb disposal squads are involved in Wigan and that people are being evacuated. A statement just released by the force reads:

We made an arrest in Wigan yesterday in connection with the investigation into the incident at Manchester Arena.

Following this arrest, a house in Wigan was raided this morning and is currently being searched.

Potentially suspicious items were found at the address and a large cordon has been put in place as bomb disposal experts make an assessment.

We have a number of officers on the ground and are evacuating people as a matter of precaution as public safety is paramount to our investigation. We are working with the local authority to accommodate those who have been evacuated.

My colleague, Steven Morris, is there:

Updated

A street has been sealed off as police continue to search a property in Wigan, amid reports that a bomb disposal unit was called to the scene.

Witnesses posted photos on Twitter showing a bomb disposal van and at least one street sealed off with a police cordon while a helicopter circled above. Greater Manchester police told the Press Association that officers had been at an address in the area since Wednesday evening, following the arrest of a man carrying a suspicious package.

A helicopter circled above the cordoned-off area, near the Wigan Royal Infirmary, while emergency vehicles filled the road, one witness said.

Tom Piper, who lives nearby, said:

The police apparently turned up at 1.30am in the morning with guns and stormed the place. But I never heard it.

Then they’ve been there all day, mainly just one or two police sat outside. Then about four or five-ish it looked like forensic people were there and then all of a sudden, about half-six, we all got told to evacuate.

Another witness told the agency that they had seen a bomb disposal squad unloading what appeared to be a specialist remote device to assist their search.

Updated

Police have released a tribute 50-year-old Wendy Fawell from her son. He says:

Me and my family are truly devastated by the news. Mum was a wonderful woman. So kind and generous and touched the lives of so many.

She will be greatly missed. Also, I would like to add, how much it means to us, what everybody at home and in Manchester have done to support us at this time. Thank you.

After Donald Trump ordered a review into how sensitive material relating to the Manchester attack emerged in the US, his attorney general Jeff Sessions has issued a statement saying that he has discussed the “rampant leaks” with Amber Rudd:

“I share the president’s deep concern and talked to Home Secretary Rudd yesterday about this matter. These leaks cannot be tolerated and we will make every effort to put an end to it. We have already initiated appropriate steps to address these rampant leaks that undermine our national security.”

Westminster Bridge has now been fully reopened after the vehicle was searched.

Westminster Bridge in London has been closed by police, who put police tape across the road and blocked it to traffic and pedestrians. A police officer said that the closure was due to an unattended car on the bridge, and that it was hoped that it would be reopened soon. Twitter users posted pictures of the closure:

Updated

Our political editor Anushka Asthana is travelling with Theresa May as she visits Brussels for a Nato summit and then goes to Sicily for a meeting of the G7. She reports that the prime minister raised the issue of the intelligence leaks with the US president while they were waiting for the family photograph to be taken. A senior government source said May had argued that intelligence shared with the US was hugely important and valuable and must be kept secure.

She also pledged more British troops for Afghanistan following a request from the Nato secretary general. The unspecified number of extra troops will be in a non-combat role.

Updated

Summary

Here is a summary of the latest developments:

Updated

A bomb disposal unit has been sent to a property in Withington, Manchester, where counter-terrorism officers arrested a man on Wednesday night. Police are continuing to search a number of properties. Greater Manchester’s chief constable, Ian Hopkins, says the searches, which have already uncovered “items that we believe are very important to the investigation”, could continue for days.

Updated

Rex Tillerson
Rex Tillerson Photograph: Thierry Charlier/AFP/Getty Images

Despite – or perhaps because of – tensions over leaks relating to the Manchester investigation, the US secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, will make his first official visit to the UK tomorrow.

The UK Foreign Office said he would “meet with foreign secretary Boris Johnson in an expression of UK-US solidarity following the terrorist attack in Manchester earlier this week. During the visit to London, secretary Tillerson and the foreign secretary will write messages of condolence for the victims of the attack and hold talks on a range of foreign policy issues”.

Updated

Trauma centres told to prepare for possible further attack

NHS England has sent an alert to England’s 27 major trauma centres to prepare for a possible further terrorist attack over the bank holiday weekend, after the UK threat level was raised to critical, the Health Service Journal (HSJ) reports.

It quotes Chris Moran, the national clinical director for trauma, as saying:

You will be aware that we have a bank holiday weekend approaching. There are a number of things that all trauma units and major trauma centres can do to prepare for a further incident and I should be grateful if you could disseminate these within your network so that frontline clinicians are aware.

An NHS England spokesman is quoted:

Since the [Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre] has announced the threat level has changed from severe to critical, this triggers longstanding, tried and tested NHS protocols reflected in this letter, which reminds NHS organisations of the precautionary measures they need to take ensure care is in place should it be needed.

Updated

The Charity Commission has urged people wishing to support the victims of the Manchester attack to donate to a genuine charitable appeal.

The Charity Commission, Greater Manchester police, the British Red Cross and the city’s lord mayor are pointing people towards the We Love Manchester appeal, launched by the Lord Mayor of Manchester’s Charitable Appeal Trust and other registered charities.

The Manchester Evening News, which launched the We Stand Together appeal, has joined forces with the We Love Manchester emergency fund, the commission said.

It said it was taking the “unusual step of recommending people to give to a specific charitable appeal” in light of concerns about fraud.

David Holdsworth, registrar of charities for England and Wales and chief operating officer at the Charity Commission, said:

Sadly, during such periods of especially generous giving, there are a small minority of those who seek to exploit that goodwill for fraudulent, selfish purposes. That is why we are encouraging people who wish to donate to give to the We Love Manchester fund, launched by the Lord Mayor of Manchester’s Charitable Appeal Trust, to ensure that these funds reach those affected by the appalling attack in Manchester.

Updated

The husband of a woman who was struck by the blast that claimed 22 victims in Manchester on Monday has said her mobile phone may have saved her life.

Lisa Bridgett, 45, was speaking into her iPhone after the Ariana Grande concert when the explosion sent a steel nut in the direction of her head.

Bridgett, who manages a boatyard in Pwllheli, north Wales, had her finger chopped off by the nut, and her husband Steve, 45, said she was “very lucky to be alive”.

Her husband said he believed the smashed phone had slowed down the nut and changed its trajectory. Bridgett, who was at the concert with her daughter and her daughter’s friend, had surgery on Tuesday and was due to have another operation after suffering multiple injuries.

Her husband said:

The fact that she was on the phone at the time probably saved her life. The nut has hit her phone which has more than likely not only diverted it, but also slowed it down considerably.

Bridgett was left with a fractured ankle and a large wound on her thigh. Her husband said:

This may seem a bit graphic but at the end of the day it’s a reality. She will make a full recovery although I don’t think the finger will grow back.

He thanked the emergency services for all their help in the aftermath of the attack and the days that followed.

All of us want to thank the police for their incredible work after the incident and all the staff at both the MRI [Manchester Royal Infirmary] and Wythenshawe for all the work they have done and are doing.

But one hero was singled out for special praise – the Manchester Arena steward who had helped his wife to exit the scene.

In particular, [I want to thank] Peter the steward at the Manchester Arena for helping Lisa outside and getting her to safety.

Updated

Turkish security officials say they have no record of the Manchester bomber, Salman Abedi, entering Syria, Reuters reports.

It quotes an official as saying:

There is flight traffic before his arrival to Europe. He travels first to Europe, then to a third country and then to Istanbul and back to Europe.

He said the “third country” was not Syria.

He has not spent any time in Turkey [and] he has not had an entry or exit from Syria during his travels. There is no such information in his records.

Of course, that does not preclude Abedi having gone to Syria illegally, as many do, although there is no evidence of that. The French interior minister previously said that Abedi “probably” travelled to Syria before rowing back from the assertion.

German authorities confirmed today that he flew to Düsseldorf four days before the arena attack.

Updated

Wayne Rooney has announced a donation of £100,000 “to provide support and practical help for victims and their families” through his charity, the Wayne Rooney Foundation.

The charity is also setting up a donations line for other people to pledge money.

The Manchester United and England star said:

As a father, I am horrified that a night out for so many young people could end so tragically. My heart goes out all those affected. Please give whatever you can.

Separately, Manchester United and Manchester City announced earlier that they had combined to donate £1m to the We Love Manchester emergency fund.

Manchester City’s chairman, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, said:

The hope of both our clubs is that our donation will go some small way to alleviate the daunting challenges faced by those directly affected and that our acting together will serve as a symbol to the world of the unbreakable strength of the spirit of Manchester.

Echoing his sentiments, Ed Woodward, executive vice-chairman of Manchester United, said:

The barbarism of Monday evening’s attack has shocked everyone. Our clubs are right at the heart of our local communities in Manchester and it is right that we present a unified response to this tragedy.

Updated

Trump says:

Terrorism must be stopped in its tracks or the horror you saw in Manchester and so many places will be repeated forever … We must be tough, we must be strong and we must be vigilant.

He said Nato must focus on “terrorism and immigration”, clearly linking the two issues. Salman Abedi was born in Manchester to Libyan parents.

Trumps says 23 of the 28 Nato members are not paying what they should be.

That is not fair to the taxpayers of the United States.

The US president says that some countries still owe money from previous years.

Nato members must confront the “barbaric evil” in the world together, says Trump.

He concludes:

We will never waver in our determination to defeat terrorism.

King Philippe/Filip of Belgium, Trump and the Croatian president, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic in Brussels
(From left) King Philippe/Filip of Belgium, Trump and the Croatian president, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic in Brussels Photograph: Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty Images

Before he started speaking, Trump called for a one-minute silence for the victims of the Manchester attack.

Updated

Trump is speaking in Brussels now. He calls the attack in Manchester “barbaric and vicious”. He once again calls the perpetrators “losers”.

He calls for them to be driven out of our communities.

Updated

Trump is speaking in Brussels now. He has asked for everyone to observe a minute’s silence.

Updated

Trump says leaks 'deeply troubling'

The US president, Donald Trump, has said the leaks of sensitive information from the Manchester investigation are “deeply troubling” and pose a “grave threat” to US national security. He said:

There is no relationship we cherish more than the special relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom.

He said he has asked the US Department of Justice and other agencies to launch a complete investigation, vowing: “My administration will get to the bottom of this.”

Updated

Theresa May has said she will be telling Nato allies that the Manchester attack underlines the need for the alliance to do more in the fight against terrorism.

Arriving in Brussels for a summit with other Nato leaders, she said:

That attack, I think, shows why it is important for the international community including Nato to do more in our fight against terrorism and that is what I am going to be pushing for today.

I am also going to be pushing the UK’s agenda on burden-sharing and we are proud, as the UK, that we meet the target of spending 2% of our GDP on defence and 20% of our defence budget on equipment.

And other nations must be prepared to take responsibility and that includes more investment in defence.

May also had more to say on the leaks by US intelligence agencies:

On the issue of the intelligence-sharing with the USA, we have a special relationship with the USA, it is our deepest defence and security partnership that we have.

Of course, that partnership is built on trust. And part of that trust is knowing that intelligence can be shared confidently and I will be making clear to President Trump today that intelligence that is shared between law enforcement agencies must be shared securely.

Updated

Prof Bob Pearson, director of Central Manchester University hospitals, has said 18 adults and 14 children remain in the two hospitals run by his trust. Five children and five adults remain in critical care.

He said the medics were dealing with “complex blast injuries” and some patients would need reconstructive surgery.

Updated

NYT defends decision to publish crime scene photographs

The New York Times has defended its decision to publish crime scene photographs of the Manchester bombing.

Images, suspected to have been sent to the paper by US police officials, caused outrage when they surfaced on Wednesday and led to a spat between the country and British authorities. The New York Times said in a statement:

The images and information presented were neither graphic nor disrespectful of victims, and consistent with the common line of reporting on weapons used in horrific crimes.

“We have strict guidelines on how and in what ways we cover sensitive stories. Our coverage of Monday’s horrific attack has been both comprehensive and responsible.

Among the material released were images of the bomb’s detonator, the attacker’s tattered backpack and remnants of the blast’s shrapnel.

The leak of the photographs came after the home secretary, Amber Rudd, publicly rebuked US authorities for unauthorised leaks.

Following the publication of the New York Times’s story, Greater Manchester police temporarily severed information-sharing ties with their American counterparts.

A furious response from counter-terror chiefs was also issued after the story was released, saying such releases “undermine our investigations”.

Manchester’s chief constable, Ian Hopkins, said the photographs had “caused much distress for families that are already suffering terribly with their loss”.

Updated

The Cheshire chief constable, Simon Byrne, has paid tribute to Elaine McIver, a 43-year-old detective constable with the force, who was killed in the blast while off duty. He said:

It is with a heavy heart that I have to speak about the loss of a serving officer of ours in the Manchester Arena terrorist incident and all our thoughts are with her family at this time.

Detective Constable Elaine McIver, 43, joined the constabulary as a special 20 years ago and became a regular officer in September 1998.

Elaine worked in Ellesmere Port, Warrington and in the economic crime unit at headquarters in Winsford before moving to the regional organised crime unit Titan in 2013.

Friends who knew her well have described her as big hearted, bubbly and a positive person. We are supporting her family at this very difficult time, and will be providing support for friends and colleagues from the constabulary as we come to terms with the loss of an officer in such tragic and heart-rending circumstances. We will not let evil win.

Updated

Armed police on trains

Armed police officers are patrolling on board trains nationwide for the first time, British Transport Police have announced.

The move is aimed to “disrupt and deter criminal activity” on the rail network after the UK terror threat level rose to critical in the wake of the attack.

Armed officers have been patrolling on the London Underground network since December, but this is the first time they will travel on trains outside the capital.

The force urged passengers not to be alarmed by their presence.

The BTP chief constable, Paul Crowther, said: “Since the devastating events in Manchester on Monday evening, our force has radically increased the presence of our officers nationwide. By having firearms officers on board trains we’re ensuring that trains remain as safe as possible for passengers.”

He added: “It is important to note that we do not have any specific intelligence in relation to train services but are taking this action to ensure we can protect and reassure the public.”

Updated

Last victim named

The last of the 22 victims has been named as 15-year-old Megan Hurley, from Halewood in Liverpool.

Megan is one of seven girls killed in the attack. Her brother was seriously injured.

Megan, a pupil at Halewood academy, was remembered in a church service this week. Helen McDermott, who lives in the area, has set up a JustGiving page for her family, which has raised more than £6,000.

She said: “People locally thought it would be a good idea to try and help her family. There has been a lot of sympathy and support throughout the community for them. We are overwhelmed by how much has been donated.”

She said the family had been contacted to let them know the fundraising was going on. Megan’s parents, who run a shop in Halewood, are understood to be at their son’s bedside as he recovers from the blast.

All 22 people known to have been killed in the blast have now been named. They are:

  • Megan Hurley, 15
  • Courtney Boyle, 19
  • Philip Tron, 32
  • Elaine McIver, 43
  • Liam Curry, 19
  • Wendy Fawell, 50
  • Eilidh MacLeod, 14,
  • Michelle Kiss, 45
  • Olivia Campbell, 15
  • Martyn Hett, 29
  • Kelly Brewster, 32
  • Saffie Rose Roussos, eight
  • Georgina Callander, 18
  • John Atkinson, 28
  • Alison Howe, 45
  • Lisa Lees, 47
  • Angelika Klis, 40
  • Marcin Klis, 42
  • Nell Jones, 14
  • Jane Tweddle-Taylor, 51
  • Sorrell Leczkowski, 14
  • Chloe Rutherford, 17

Updated

In the wake of the Manchester attack, Aaron Zelin, a research fellow at the Washington Institute, an influential rightwing foreign affairs thinktank in the US, calls on the west to refocus its battle against Islamic State on Libya.

He writes:

Leading up to the Manchester operation, IS [Isis] in Libya began showing signs that it had larger aspirations for attacks inside Europe. According to German officials, Tunisian terrorist Anis Amri, who conducted the December truck attack against a Berlin Christmas market, had been in contact with IS operatives in Libya via the messaging application Telegram prior to the incident, suggesting it was partially remote-controlled, though not fully directed from there. This discovery spurred a mid-January US airstrike against two camps belonging to an IS planning cell south of Sirte, which American officials believed had been set up recently to direct attacks in Europe. Yet the Manchester attack suggests that the group’s external operations capacity in Libya might not be fully degraded.

Therefore, while most of the focus has been on eliminating key IS external operations personnel in Syria over the past two years, a similar approach should now be taken against the smaller but potentially dangerous cadre in Libya. Beyond protecting Europe, US and EU officials should also ensure that their allies in east and West Africa are prepared to handle returnees from Libya. Moreover, if the Manchester attack is definitively tied to IS cells in Libya, it would show that the group can still be a lethal actor even without holding territory there – an important point to consider when planning for life after the fall of the group’s “capitals” in Iraq and Syria.

Updated

Fundraising pages set up for the families of those killed in the Manchester attack have raised more than £2.3m in an outpouring of compassion for victims, JustGiving has said.

Downing Street has put out video of the comments by Theresa May in which she pledges to take up the issue of shared intelligence with Donald Trump. Intelligence must remain secure, she said.

Updated

Here is a video of the Queen’s visit to Royal Manchester children’s hospital, where 12 children under 16 were taken after the attack. She described the bombing as “very wicked”.

Updated

Investigation leaks 'reprehensible' - acting ambassador

Lew Lukens, the chargé d’affaires at the US embassy in London and also the acting ambassador, has unequivocally condemned the leaks regarding the investigation into Monday’s attack that have come from the US.

He told BBC Radio 4’s The World at One:

These leaks were reprehensible, they are distressing, we unequivocally condemn them, we agree 100% with the chief constable and the United Kingdom [in their condemnation of them].

Lukens said US authorities are investigating the source of the leaks and are determined to stop them. He called it a “tragedy” that the issue was diverting people’s attention.

When asked whether it would affect the relationship between US and British intelligence agencies, Lukens replied: “I hope not.”

Updated

A source from Didsbury mosque has said it has passed on threats against it to the police. The source said one person had called for the mosque to be burned down. Outside a “peace line” of a few local people has formed. They are there to show solidarity with the mosque and keep reporters at bay, although few journalists are there today.

Summary

Here’s a summary of how things currently stand in the wake of the attack.

Updated

Nicola Sturgeon has told MSPs that Western Isles council, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, has sent expert counselling staff to Barra to help the Hebridean island’s children and the 1,000-strong community deal with the death of Eilidh MacLeod, 14, and the severe injuries suffered by her friend Laura MacIntyre, 15, in the Manchester bombing.

Castlebay community school has 150 pupils aged from five to 18, all from Barra, the second most southerly inhabited island of the Outer Hebrides.

The council’s director of education, Bernard Chisholm, an educational psychologist, had been on Barra for a scheduled visit after the bombing took place and his stay there has been extended. The council has also sent a second educational psychologist and a clinical psychologist to help.

Kezia Dugdale, the Scottish Labour leader, told first minister’s questions at Holyrood such deaths were keenly felt in a small island community, and asked what extra resources were being offered to the council. “Barra is one of the most beautiful and peaceful of places, and that peace has been shattered by the actions of Salman Abedi,” Dugdale said.

Sturgeon said government officials had asked the council if further help was needed. They and the council should ensure help was there in coming months. “They need to keep things as normal as possible for the school that the girls attended, but to make sure that there’s support in place for the young people who need it,” she told the chamber.

Updated

As Donald Trump arrived in Brussels for the Nato summit he did not respond to a shouted question about whether Britain can trust the US with intelligence following a series of US leaks about the attack, AP reports.

Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump meet French president Emmanuel Macron before the Nato summit in Brussels.
Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump meet French president Emmanuel Macron before the Nato summit in Brussels.
 Photograph: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

Updated

Jon Rouse, chief officer of the Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership.
Jon Rouse, chief officer of the Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership. Photograph: Joe Giddens/PA

Some of those caught up in the blast have “life-changing injuries” and will need medical and family help “for a long time”, a senior NHS leader in Manchester has said.

Jon Rouse, chief officer of the Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership, which brings together the region’s NHS bodies and local councils, said: “There are still a number of individuals receiving treatment and care, as would be expected following an attack like this. Some of this care is critical care, meaning patients require intensive and constant support and monitoring. We are also providing support to families during this difficult time.

“The NHS and care organisations together with partners across the voluntary sector will be providing care and support for individuals in the weeks, months and years to come. Some individuals will now have life-changing injuries which will require the support of the NHS and partners for a long time.”

He paid tribute to all the emergency services in Greater Manchester for the “dedication and commitment” they have shown in the face of Monday’s attack.

Help is available for those who may be struggling psychologically as a result of the bombing, Rouse added. “Manchester has a wonderful community spirit which we have drawn on in these past dark days. We realise that there will be members of our community deeply affected by what has happened. The partnership has therefore issued guidance on how to access mental health support on its website and I’d encourage people to read and share this.”

Updated

Hopkins said he didn’t want to add to a statement from the National Counter Terrorism Police Network about the sharing of information with the US. It said:

“We greatly value the important relationships we have with our trusted intelligence, law enforcement and security partners around the world. These relationships enable us to collaborate and share privileged and sensitive information that allows us to defeat terrorism and protect the public at home and abroad.

“When that trust is breached it undermines these relationships, and undermines our investigations and the confidence of victims, witnesses and their families. This damage is even greater when it involves unauthorised disclosure of potential evidence in the middle of a major counter terrorism investigation.”

Theresa May confirmed that she would “make clear to President Trump that intelligence that is shared between our law enforcement agencies must remain secure”, when she meets him at the Nato summit later today.

Vikram Dodd provides more context to police concerns about the leaks.

In the minutes after the Manchester attack, information was being shared almost instantly by British investigators with their US counterparts. Very soon, in the first hours after the attack, it was being leaked.

Within two hours of the attack, which happened around 10.30pm UK time, the US network NBC was reporting that a suicide bomber was suspected, with the information coming from a leak.

By Tuesday morning London time, US-based CBS was reporting the bomber’s name, and again all the leaks were suspected of coming from information passed by Britain to US counterparts.

A special communication channel exists between the UK and US for the rapid transmission of secret material to help both countries’ law enforcement and intelligence efforts, the Guardian understands.

The US has a history of passing classified material sent in confidence by the UK to American media. One senior source told of a past major investigation where pictures transmitted via the secret network, and marked as secret, was being leaked to US media barely an hour later.

In 2005, pictures of devices recovered as part of the investigation into the terrorist attack on London’s transport network, sent to the US, were leaked to an American TV network.
The attitudes to openness are different in both jurisdictions, with the US being more open.

Updated

Here’s the full statement from Hopkins:

This continues to be a fast-moving investigation and there has been a significant amount of activity taking place throughout the night and this morning. I want to provide you with an update about the progress of the investigation to date.

You will all be aware that officers are currently responding to an incident in Hulme. A suspicious package has now been deemed safe and the cordon has now been removed. Can I stress at this stage that this incident is not necessarily linked to the wider investigation but I hope people will understand that we will always take any reports seriously.

As regards the full ongoing investigation, we currently have eight people who have been arrested in connection with Monday’s attack. They are all men. A woman who was arrested yesterday has since been released. The arrests have taken place in Manchester, Wigan and Nuneaton. We are now carrying out associated searches at a number of addresses.

These have been an intense three days for the officers and staff of Greater Manchester police, along with the national counter-terrorist policing network and UK intelligence services.

I want to reassure people that the arrests that we have made are significant, and initial searches of premises have revealed items that we believe are very important to the investigation.

These searches will take several days to complete, as you would expect, therefore there will be some disruption. However, it is important that we continue with these searches.

Alongside the investigation we have a team of specially trained officers who have been supporting the families of those who tragically lost their lives.

Last night the family liaison officers shared with them the fact that intelligence had been leaked and published in the New York Times. It is absolutely understandable that this has caused much distress for families that are already suffering terribly with their loss. A statement was issued by the national counter-terrorism police network last night. I do not wish to add anything further to this and I will not be commenting on information sharing arrangements with our international partners.

It will take some days before formal identification can take place but we are assisting the families who want to provide a tribute to their loved ones. To be clear this is not formal identification and is part of our efforts to support the families. I know how important it is to them that the media are supporting the tributes to their loved ones.

We have been overwhelmed by the support from members of the public and I would ask for their patience while the investigation continues.

As this morning’s incident in Hulme shows, it remains important for people to continue to be vigilant.

Updated

'Significant' arrests and 'very important' items found

Hopkins did not take questions.

These are key points:

  • Arrests made by police hunting the network behind the Manchester Arena bombing are “significant”.
  • Some of the items seized in raids are “very important” to the investigation.
  • The leak of photographs of bomb has caused understandable distress.
  • The Hulme alert is not necessarily related to the bomb attack.

Updated

Hopkins says the leak of images of bomb parts had caused distress to the families of the victims.

It is important that people remain vigilant.

Updated

Greater Manchester police’s chief constable, Ian Hopkins, is making a statement. He said the investigation remains fast-moving. He said the operation in Hulme was “not necessarily” related to the attack.

Hopkins confirms eight people remain in custody. A woman has been released.

The arrests are significant, Hopkins says. The raids have revealed items important to the investigation, he says.

Updated

The arrest in Hulme was not related to the attack, police have confirmed. “It was not a terrorism arrest,” a spokesman said.

Manchester’s two rival Premier League football clubs have joined together to pledge £1m towards the fundraising effort for victims of the suicide bomb attack.

Manchester United and Manchester City will donate the sum to the We Love Manchester Emergency Fund.

Set up by the Manchester Evening News, the site has raised more than £1.2m since it was created on Tuesday.

The money raised will be administered by British Red Cross and go to the victims’ families.

The lord mayor of Manchester, Eddy Newman, said:

“We are incredibly grateful to everyone who has generously supported the We Love Manchester Emergency Fund.

“The money raised through your donations will make a real difference to those who have been affected by this horrific attack.

“The magnificent support received so far shows just how strongly the world stands united with the city of Manchester at this difficult time.”

Updated

116 injured

The NHS has just released updated casualty figures which show that double the number of people first reported were injured and have been treated, many of whom are still in hospital.

In all 116 people have been treated in hospital as a result of the bombing. Of those, 75 have been admitted to eight different hospitals across Greater Manchester and of those 23 are in critical care.

The Manchester Royal Infirmary has the largest number of admitted patients – 19 – five of whom are being treated in critical care. The Royal Manchester children’s hospital, on the same site as the MRI on the city’s south side, has 14 inpatients from the attack, five of whom are in critical care. Salford Royal has 12, six of whom are in critical care and Wythenshawe hospital is caring for nine of the injured, five of whom are in critical care.

In a brief update NHS England stressed that it is “important to note [that] 23 people in critical care is not the same as 23 critically ill patients”.

The other hospitals which are treating casualties are: Royal Oldham hospital (six, none in critical care); North Manchester general hospital (six, one in critical care); Royal Bolton hospital (six, one in critical care); and Stepping Hill hospital in Stockport (three, none in critical care).

Royal Albert Edward Infirmary, Tameside general hospital and Fairfield general hospital have discharged all their patients, NHS England added.

Updated

Two more victims named

The family of 19-year-old Courtney Boyle and her stepfather Philip Tron have confirmed they were killed in Monday’s terrorist attack, with her boyfriend calling her an “adventurer, a precious & joyous soul”.

Courtney’s mum, Deborah, said her “stunning, beautiful daughter” was her rock. “You made me so proud with all you had achieved.” About her partner, she said: “My gorgeous crazy Philip you made my world a happy place and now you are both my angels flying high in the sky.”

In a statement Courtney’s dad said he would miss his “baby girl” for the rest of his life. “I will never forget you and I will love you forever. Grandad Bob misses you loads also. Daddy.”

The young woman’s sister said Courtney was her “wonder of a sister who is now a shining yellow star in the sky”. Of her stepdad, she said:

“Phil, my stepdad, my costa buddy, you were always there no matter what to keep me safe and make me happy.”

Courtney’s boyfriend said she was “an adventurer, a precious & joyous soul”.

He said: “She made people feel loved and feel safe. She was a soulmate, a friend, a daughter and a sister. No one had what that lass had, she was like no other. And she was on a path to fulfilment, and was happy when she passed. Nobody has ever made me as happy as her and I’m the person I am today because of her.”

Philip’s mum thanked the emergency services, police, nurses, support staff family and friends for their support during the “harrowing time”.

“Our most amazing son, partner, brother, father, uncle, nephew and cousin, Philip Tron, sadly passed away on the 22nd May 2017. Philip was such a fun-loving, energetic soul, he would light up the darkest room and lift your spirits with his infectious laugh, witty sense of humour and his beautiful smile.

“Words cannot express the huge void his passing has left in all our lives.”

The identities of 21 of the 22 victims have now been named.

  • Courtney Boyle, 19
  • Philip Tron, 32
  • Elaine McIlver
  • Liam Curry, 19
  • Wendy Fawel, 50
  • Eilidh MacLeod, 14,
  • Michelle Kiss, 45
  • Olivia Campbell, 15
  • Martyn Hett, 29
  • Kelly Brewster, 32
  • Saffie Rose Roussos, eight
  • Georgina Callander, 18
  • John Atkinson, 28
  • Alison Howe, 45
  • Lisa Lees, 47
  • Angelika Klis, 40
  • Marcin Klis, 42
  • Nell Jones, 14
  • Jane Tweddle-Taylor, 51
  • Sorrell Leczkowski, 14
  • Chloe Rutherford, 17

Updated

That was quite a special moment at the end of the minute’s silence in St Ann’s Square in Manchester, writes Josh Halliday.

It fell perfectly silent for a minute, apart from the whirring of the police helicopter above, then there was a shout of: “Rock on, Manchester,” followed by applause.

Then, out of the silence, a woman clutching a bouquet of flowers began singing the opening verse to Oasis’s Don’t Look Back in Anger.

The crowd of hundreds quickly joined in – it was utterly spine-tingling, and I don’t use that word lightly.

I spoke to her afterwards. She is Lydia Bernsmeier-Rullow, the daughter of the legendary Manchester radio presenter and DJ Mike Shaft.

Lydia, 32, said she had “really struggled” since the attack but that Manchester “will recover”.

Asked why she chose that song, she said: “I love Manchester, and Oasis is part of my childhood. Don’t Look Back in Anger – that’s what this is about: we can’t be looking backwards to what happened, we have to look forwards to the future.

“We all joined together and we’re all going to get on with it because that’s what Manchester does.”

She added: “It really touched my heart and gave me shivers to hear everyone joining in with me.”

Updated

The Queen has arrived at a hospital where medics treated children caught up in the Manchester Arena suicide bomb.

She met some of those wounded in the attack at Royal Manchester children’s hospital.

Twelve children under the age of 16 were taken to the hospital by ambulance following the terror attack.

The Queen visits the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital
The Queen visits the Royal Manchester children’s hospital. Photograph: Peter Byrne/PA

Updated

Police seize man in Hulme

Police were seen taking away a man with his hands on his head following a raid in a block of flats in Hulme, witnesses said.

Police initially placed a wide cordon around the flats on Linby Street as bomb disposal experts were brought in.

The cordon was reduced as police moved in, and a witness saw a man being led away.

The man, who asked not to be named, said: “The police came out, surrounding a man. He had his hands on his head.”

Updated

Bomb scare over in Hulme

Bomb scare over in Hulme. A suspicious package has now been deemed safe.

May: threat level will remain at critical

Theresa May has said threat level “will remain at critical and the public should remain vigilant”.

In a new statement May confirmed that she would “make clear to President Trump that intelligence that is shared between our law enforcement agencies must remain secure”, when she meets him at the Nato summit later today.

May, who is due to travel to the summit later on Thursday, said she would work with “international colleagues on defeating terrorism” at the gathering.

She said around 1,000 members of the armed forces were still assisting the police, “providing important reassurance ahead of a bank holiday weekend of busy events”.

On Friday the prime minister will attend a G7 summit in Italy, where she said she would “lead a discussion on counter-terrorism and on how we will work together to prevent the plotting of terrorist attacks online and to stop the spread of hateful extremist ideology on social media”.

She also expressed her gratitude for the “expressions of support and condolences that the UK has received from international colleagues in recent days”.

She added: “G7 and Nato will enable us to work more closely together as we work to defeat the evil of terrorism.”

Updated

The crowd in central Manchester joined a woman singing the Oasis hit Don’t Look Back in Anger after the minute’s silence.

This was the scene earlier on Linby Street.

Police have sealed off a wide area south-west of Manchester city centre as bomb disposal experts are deployed to the college on Linby street.

The ongoing alert in Hulme marred the minute’s silence.

Updated

Bomb disposal teams are believed to have been sent to the Castlefield Campus on Linby Street.

Its website says it is part of the Manchester Federation of EBSD Schools.

We cater for young people with social, emotional and mental health difficulties. Castlefield campus is for pupils in years 10 and 11 from both Meade Hill and Southern Cross, located in the north and south of the city respectively. Castlefield campus is an exciting place to learn, where each person is valued and everyone is encouraged to succeed to the best of their ability.

Updated

Minute's silence

The UK is about to observe a minute’s silence for the victims of the Manchester attack.

The silence will be marked at all government buildings and other organisations may follow suit.

Flags on government buildings will remain at half-mast until the evening of 25 May.

Updated

Bomb disposal experts arrive

Army bomb disposal experts have been deployed to the college in Trafford as police clear a wide area.

“Please be aware the EOD have now arrived on site,” Manchester police said in a statement.

Updated

Army deployed to college in Trafford

Armed police have blocked off access to Chorlton Road in south-west Manchester after being called to college in Trafford. We don’t yet know if this is connected with the investigation into the bomb attack.

The army is being deployed a day after Manchester chief police, Ian Hopkins, said troops were not being deployed in the city.

Updated

A woman who lives near the address raided this morning in Moss Side said she reported a suspicious car parked outside the house on the night of the attack.

The green Seat Ibiza remains outside the searched property, and was first noticed by Lorna Reilly on the morning after the attack.

Reilly, a 26-year-old mother of one, said: “I was concerned about the car because we know all the cars on the street. I phoned 101 on Tuesday as I had not seen it before. It was out of place where it’s parked. It was left in the night.”

Reilly said the “whole house shook” when the police carried out a controlled explosion to gain entry to the property.

“I ran to the front window, the armed police were stood near the car, there was also a police dog barking. The armed officers shouted ‘get back from the windows. I was terrified’.

Reilly said she thought a Middle Eastern couple in the 30s or 40s lived in the property, but she has not seen them or anyone else for three or four days. No arrests were made.

Updated

Greater Manchester police decided to stop sharing evidence from its investigation into the Manchester bombing with the United States after a series of leaks left investigators furious.

The ban is limited to the Manchester investigation only, with police chiefs believing the leaks are unprecedented in their scope, frequency and potential damage. They are believed to come from US officials.

The final straw was the leak to the New York Times of pictures of the device and forensic details. That triggered high-level talks in Britain.

Greater Manchester police are understood to be angry at the leak of their investigation as were senior officers running Britain’s counter-terrorism network.

Police decided to impose the ban. It is not clear if government was asked for their view or approved. Downing Street said it was not invovled.

The ban on sharing information with the US on such a major inquiry is unprecedented. More so because the atrocity has potential implications and learning for US efforts to prevent any similar attacks directed at American targets.

The ban is described as temporary, with British police examining if they can put safeguards in place to stop any further leaks.

Police said the leaks risked undermining trust between the Uk and US’s law enforcement and intelligence communities, who work very closely together.

But British police are angry that, as their officers are in pursuit of a suspected terror network, with raids deemed so risky it is being carried out by elite armed officers, sensitive information is being regularly leaked by the US.

Updated

Abedi flew to Düsseldorf last week

The Manchester suicide bomber flew to the German city of Düsseldorf, four days before the arena attack, German authorities have confirmed.

It is known that the 22-year-old travelled to Germany at least twice, including a visit to the financial city of Frankfurt.

News of his presence in Germany has raised suspicions that he may have had contact with Islamist networks there, and received logistics training from them.

Düsseldorf is in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, where Anis Amri, the Berlin Christmas market attacker, spent time.

Security authorities in the state have come under fire for their patchy surveillance of Amri, who was allowed to travel around Germany freely, despite authorities’ misgivings about him.

North Rhine-Westphalia is home to hundreds of people considered a security threat due to their close links to Islamist groups.

Fifty-five mosques in the state are under close observation for their suspected links to the Islamist scene.

According to the German magazine Focus, Abedi was not apprehended by German authorities when he flew in to the country, because he was not on any observation list of suspected Islamists.

Counter-terrorism experts have now opened an investigation into whether Abedi may have had contact to radical German Islamists in the area.

However, it is not known whether he spent any length of time in Düsseldorf, or whether he simply changed planes there en route from Libya to Manchester.

According to Focus, citing information from German intelligence, Abedi also flew to Frankfurt from Britain in 2015. This was before he undertook paramilitary training in Syria, according to information received by Germany’s BKA from their counterparts at Scotland Yard, Focus reports.

Updated

At a vigil for the victims of Monday’s attack in Bury on Wednesday evening, Olivia Campbell’s mother, Charlotte, made an emotional appeal for communities to stay together.

She thanked everyone who had provided love and support since Monday evening.

She said:

“I can’t thank you enough for what you’ve done for us. For being here, for giving us your support, for sharing her everywhere. This is such a hard time for us.

“I had to come. I didn’t know what to do, I don’t know where to be. I don’t know what to do. I just knew, something told me I had to come here. I can see Olivia’s friends there.

“As a family we are united, we’re standing strong. I ask her friends, strangers, relatives, to do the same.

“Please stay together, don’t let this beat any of us, please. Don’t let my daughter be a victim.”

Updated

Police officer named as victim

Elaine McIver
Elaine McIver Photograph: Greater Manchester Police/PA

Two more victims of the attack have been named including Elaine McIver, the off-duty Cheshire police officer who was attending the concert with her husband who was critically wounded in the attack.

“She was everyone’s friend” a statement from Manchester police said.

It added: “Elaine was a much loved daughter, sister, auntie, friend and colleague, the best we could ever have wished for.”

Wendy Fawell, a mother from Otley in West Yorkshire, has also been named as
a victim.
The 50-year-old was at the concert with her daughter. Staff at the primary school where she worked have expressed their “deep sadness”

On Thursday, St Oswald’s C of E Primary School, in Guiseley, said onTwitter: “It is with deepest sadness that I confirm that our former colleague Wendy Fawell was killed in the Manchester bombing. RIP, Wendy.”


Greg Mulholland, the Liberal Democrat candidate standing in Leeds North West, wrote on Facebook: “Heartbreaking that Wendy Fawell has been confirmed as a victim of the Manchester attack, deepest condolences, thoughts and prayers with her family and friends.”

The identities of 19 of the 22 victims have now been named.

  • Elaine McIlver
  • Wendy Fawel, 50
  • Eilidh MacLeod, 14,
  • Michelle Kiss, 45
  • Olivia Campbell, 15
  • Martyn Hett, 29
  • Kelly Brewster, 32
  • Saffie Rose Roussos, eight
  • Georgina Callander, 18
  • John Atkinson, 28
  • Alison Howe, 45
  • Lisa Lees, 47
  • Angelika Klis, 40
  • Marcin Klis, 42
  • Nell Jones, 14
  • Jane Tweddle-Taylor, 51
  • Sorrell Leczkowski, 14
  • Chloe Rutherford, 17
  • Liam Curry, 19

Updated

The Guardian can confirm that Britain has stopped sharing evidence from the investigation into the Manchester bombing with the United States after a series of leaks left investigators and government furious.

The ban is limited to the Manchester investigation only, with Britain believing the leaks are unprecedented in their scope, frequency and potential damage.

Updated

More on the 4am raid in the Withington area of south Manchester.

Caroline O’Shea, a witness to the arrest, said:

“We heard a huge bang at about 4am. We thought it was another explosion. We looked out of the window. There were armed officers with their faces covered and police dogs.”

“It looked as if half of GMP was there. They led women and children out of the back. It was pretty terrifying. It shows how close all of this is to us.”

Two men were arrested in Manchester on Thursday morning, taking the total to eight men in custody, among them the bomber’s 23-year-old brother Ismail Abedi.

Updated

Lawyers in Manchester are offering to work for free for bereaved families and those left injured after Monday’s bomb attack.

Manchester Law Society is coordinating a pro bono advice rota to help those affected, with many law firms across the city volunteering their services.

They will give pro bono advice and free representation to bereaved families to assist with Criminal Injury Compensation Authority claims and inquests, as well as those seriously injured.

Updated

More on that decision to stop sharing information with US:

Police hunting the terror network behind the Manchester Arena bombing have stopped passing information to the US on the investigation as a major transatlantic row erupted over leaks of key evidence in the US, according to a report.

Downing Street was not behind any decision by Greater Manchester police to stop sharing information with US intelligence, a Number 10 source said, stressing that it was important police operations were allowed to take independent decisions.

“This is an operational matter for police,” a Number 10 spokesman said. The police and the Home Office refused to comment on the BBC report. The Guardian understands there is not a blanket ban on intelligence sharing between the US and the UK.

Relations between the US and UK security services, normally extremely close, have been put under strain by the scale of the leaks from US officials to the American media.

Theresa May is expected to confront Donald Trump over the stream of leaks of crucial intelligence when she meets the US president at a Nato summit in Brussels on Thursday.

A spokeswoman for Manchester police refused to discuss the reported decision.

Updated

Singer Mariah Carey paid a heartfelt tribute to Martyn Hett, a 29-year-old PR manager from Stockport, who was killed in Monday’s attack.

Hett, whom friends described as an “upbeat and positive soul”, was a huge fan of the singer. His Twitter bio read: Proud owner of a Deidre Barlow tattoo. Won Come Dine With Me once. My life peaked when I met Mariah Carey.”

Carey posted a photograph of him from her Instagram account, which has 5.7m followers.

Updated

Angus MacNeil, who was until the snap election the MP for the Western Isles, has disclosed that Laura MacIntyre, 15, who was very seriously burnt and wounded in the bombing that also killed her close friend Eilidh MacLeod, 14, is slowly making progress in hospital.

MacNeil, a family friend of the MacIntyres’ said he spoke to Laura’s father, Micheal , yesterday. She had treatment for her burns and other injuries yesterday. “It’s early days but each little step which has been taken seems to be optimistic, from a very low base,” he said.

With Eilidh’s death in the attack now confirmed by her parents, he said islanders on Barra “feel sick to the pit of their stomach, very, very sad, and feel just so much sorrow for their parents. Every home has felt this. Everybody is aching sorely and has a sense of loss this morning.”

Updated

Downing St not involved in any police decision to stop sharing information with US

Downing Street was not behind any decision by Greater Manchester police to stop sharing information with US intelligence, a Number 10 source said.

The source stressed that it was important police operations were allowed to take independent decisions.

The BBC reported that GMP decided not to continue sharing intelligence about the operation following the Manchester Arena attack, following a number of leaks to US media, including pictures of the explosive device and the name of the bomber, Salman Abedi , before it was released by police.

“This is an operational matter for police,” a Number 10 spokesman said.

Updated

Police forced their way into a house in the Withington area of Manchester, using a controlled explosion, and arrested one man.

A neighbour said: “There was a huge explosion at about 4am. It woke the whole neighbourhood up.”

The property is a large mid-terrace containing around seven flats.

A post office worker said: “A load of families live there. They tend to be from the Middle East. There’s a quick turn-around of tenants – they tend to be in and out.” Police stood guard at the front door this morning.

Two men were arrested in Manchester on Thursday morning, taking the total to eight men in custody, among them the bomber’s 23-year-old brother Ismail Abedi.

Updated

Former Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair. London.
Former Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair Photograph: David Levene for the Guardian

Ian Blair, the former Metropolitan police commissioner during the 2005 London bombings on 7/7, said his investigation was also troubled by leaks from US intelligence.

Lord Blair said he was sure the leaks had “nothing to do with Trump” given that similar leaks had happened during his own time investigating a terror attack.
“I’m afraid this reminds me exactly of what happened after 7/7 when the US published a complete picture of the way the bombs had been made up. We had the same protests.

“It’s a different world in how the US operates in the sense of how they publish things. And this is a very grievous breach but I’m afraid it’s the same as before.”

Blair said he thought the government was right to raise the threat level to critical but said the security services should not bear too much of the criticism for not keeping watch on Abedi, given the sheer numbers on the agencies’ watchlist.

“I remember the dilemmas when I was commissioner, running through the different priority targets and understanding that you can only cover so many of them,” he said.

“The bombings outside the Tiger Tiger nightclub, on the day Gordon Brown became prime minister, these were paediatricians from Edinburgh. They had never been on any watchlist. It is a difficult situation.”

Updated

Triacetone triperoxide (TATP) was the explosive used in 7/7 attacks on the London transport network in 2005. According to Republican congressman Mike McCaul, chairman of the House homeland security committee, TATP was used in Manchester attack (see earlier).

He pointed out that it was also in the Islamic State extremists attacks on Paris in November 2015 and Brussels in March 2016.

Abedi in Germany last week

The Berlin newspaper Der Tagesspiegel says Abedi flew from Dusseldorf to Manchester on 18 May.

He originally travelled to Germany from Libya via Prague, it claims citing German security sources.

German security services are investigating whether Abedi had any links to extremists in Germany, the paper said. But it said it is unclear how long he stayed in Germany. It said Abedi may only have been in Dusseldorf on transit.

If true, this latest leak about Abedi’s movement is likely to further anger the UK authorities. Both France, and particularly the US, have leaked information about Abedi that the UK fears will compromise the investigation.

Salman Abedi, was in the German city of Dusseldorf four days before the attack, according to Sky News citing German intelligence.

It did not elaborate.

The BBC’s claim that the UK has stopped sharing information about the Manchester attack with the US comes after mounting anger at detailed leaks about the investigation appearing in the US media.

British officials were infuriated on Wednesday when the New York Times published forensic photographs of sophisticated bomb parts that UK authorities fear could complicate the expanding investigation.

Greater Manchester’s mayor, Andy Burnham, said he had raised the issue with the acting US ambassador, Lewis Lukens. “These leaks are completely unacceptable and must stop immediately,” he said.

Updated

'CCTV of bomber'

Sky News has obtained CCTV images purporting to show the bomber, Salman Abedi, at Manchester’s Arndale shopping centre on Friday after he bought the rucksack used in the attack.

The headteacher of the small Hebridean school where the Manchester bombing casualties Eilidh MacLeod and Laura Macintyre attended said yesterday their community and the school were “in shock, feeling numb and struggling to come to terms with it”.

Eilidh, 14 was confirmed dead by her parents early on Thursday morning. They said: “Our family is devastated and words cannot express how we feel at losing our darling Eilidh.

“Eilidh was vivacious and full of fun. She loved all music whether it was listening to Ariana or playing the bagpipes with her pipe band. As a family we would like to express our thanks and gratitude for the support and kind messages we have received at this difficult time.”

Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister, tweeted:

Eilidh had originally been unaccounted for until police confirmed on Wednesday that all the victims and casualties had been identified. Her close friend Laura, 15, remains critically ill in a Manchester hospital with severe burns.

Annag Maclean, the headteacher of Castlebay community school which has 150 pupils from aged five to 18, from Barra, an island of just over 1,000 people, said:

“The recent incident in Manchester was a planned and violent act targeted at young people enjoying a social event.

“Our school and island community are in shock, feeling numb and struggling to come to terms with it. Our thoughts and prayers are with Eilidh and Laura, their family and friends as they struggle to cope.

“As headteacher, I am confident that our school and our community will continue to support Eilidh and Laura’s families. I have worked with my colleagues in the authority and other agencies to ensure that all necessary support is available to staff and pupils.”

Updated

BBC: UK stops passing Manchester information to US

Police have stopped passing on information about the Manchester bombing to the US, according to the BBC. If true it is further evidence of the fury in the government at the leak of details about the attack to the US media.

Updated

Many of the papers focus on what the security services knew about Salman Abedi before he carried out the attack.

The Daily Mail describes the Abedis as “The Jihadi Family” and unusually turns on the government by saying there are damning questions for the security forces about what they knew.

It is understood that Abedi was ‘known’ to the security services through his associations to those linked to terrorism in Manchester’s Libyan community.

These are said to have included 24 year-old Abdalraouf Abdallah, who was jailed for nine years after being convicted of preparing acts of terrorism and funding terrorism. Abdallah, who is partially paralysed after being shot during the Libyan Revolution, is said to have helped men travel to Syria to fight. Inquiries led officials at the time to believe Abedi was not of significance to that operation.

Salman is also being probed over alleged ties to an “Isis recruiter” in Manchester. Abedi was friends with Raphael Hostey, also known as Abu Qaqa al-Britani, who served as an Isis recruiter until he was killed in 2016 in Syria by a drone strike.

They were said to be family friends and it is feared Hostey may have helped radicalise Abedi.

There are also fears Abedi may have been inspired by Manchester-born 50-year-old former Guantánamo Bay detainee, Ronald Fiddler, also known as Jamal al-Harith. The Briton blew himself up at a military base in Iraq in February.

Under the headline “MI5 was warned”, the Times claims a relative of the bomber warned the British authorities that he was dangerous amid concerns that chances to stop him were missed.

Salman Abedi’s support for terrorism was reported this year to the security services, and friends had called Britain’s anti-terrorist hotline five years ago with concerns about his views, it was claimed. He was reported for violent statements, including a claim that being a suicide bomber was “OK”.

Updated

Police officers used a controlled explosion to access a house in Moss Side overnight in connection to the investigation into the Manchester Arena bombing. No arrests were made.

The red-brick terraced house is currently guarded by two police officers and a police van, although it’s understood there are no longer any officers inside.

The front door to the property is cracked and shattered where the police detonated the explosive.

Amina Abdalla, a neighbour, said she heard a “loud noise” at around 2am that woke her.

“I looked outside and I saw the police van and men like military with guns, big guns, I went to the window and they told me to go back in,” she said.

She said no one knew the occupants in the house and she rarely saw anyone come or go.

“I never see them. I know this whole street, everyone knows each other, all the neighbours, but no one really knows them,” she said.

Another neighbour, who asked not to be named, said she was woken by the bang. She said: “I don’t know them. Different people come and go. I believe it’s a private landlord.”

She added that the occupants were “middle eastern or North African”.

Manchester explosives used in Paris and Brussels

A senior US congressman says the explosives used in the Manchester Arena were the same as those used in the Islamic State extremists attacks on Paris in November 2015 and Brussels in March 2016.

Texas Republican Mike McCaul, chairman of the House homeland security committee, told AP that all three attacks used the explosive TATP.

The Manchester bomb was “a classic explosive device used by terrorists”, he adding that it suggested a “level of sophistication” that might indicate its maker had foreign training.

McCaul was speaking before he was due to get an intelligence briefing on the Manchester attack.

He said the evidence so far suggests “we’re not dealing with a lone wolf situation”. Echoing the comments of British officials, he said: “There’s a network a cell of Isis-inspired terrorists.”

Updated

What we know so far

The investigation

  • Police continue to focus on the background of attacker Salman Abedi, amid fears the person who constructed the sophisticated bomb is still at large.
  • Overnight, a controlled explosion was carried out during a raid in Moss Side.
  • Two men were arrested in Manchester on Thursday morning, taking the total to eight men in custody, among them Abedi’s 23-year-old brother Ismail Abedi.
  • A woman arrested on Wednesday in Blackley in connection with the attack has been released without charge.
  • The bomber’s father, Ramadan Abedi, and a younger brother, Hashem Abedi, who live in Libya, have reportedly been arrested by Rada, a Tripoli militia. Libyan officials claimed Hashem knew about the planned attack.
  • Greater Manchester police have declined to comment on claims by an unnamed Muslim community worker that they had twice contacted police with concerns about Salman Abedi, several years ago.
  • There is anger among British officials about US intelligence leaks, exacerbated when the New York Times published forensic photographs of bomb parts from the crime scene.
  • Prime minister Theresa May travels to the Nato summit in Brussels today, where she is expected to challenge US president Donald Trump over the series of leaks, which were criticised by the UK’s national counter-terrorism police:

When that trust is breached it undermines these relationships, and undermines our investigations and the confidence of victims, witnesses and their families. This damage is even greater when it involves unauthorised disclosure of potential evidence in the middle of a major counter-terrorism investigation.

Leaked pictures indicate the bomb was carried in a blue rucksack made by the Karrimor outdoor company.
Leaked pictures indicate the bomb was carried in a blue rucksack made by the Karrimor outdoor company.

The victims

  • More victims of the attack have been named: 17 have now been publicly identified. Cheshire police have also confirmed that a police officer was killed, but she has not yet been named.
  • There will be a nationwide minute’s silence for the 22 killed and dozens wounded at 11am today.
  • On Thursday morning, the parents of Eilidh MacLeod, 14, from Barra in the Hebrides, said she had died:

Words cannot express how we feel at losing our darling Eilidh.

  • Late on Wednesday night, the families of 17-year-old Chloe Rutherford and 19-year-old Liam Curry confirmed they were among the 22 killed:

They lived to go to new places together and explore different cities. They wanted to be together for ever and now they are.

  • Also named was 14-year-old Sorrell Leczkowski. Her grandfather Michael Healey said he was “absolutely heartbroken”:

Sorrell was only 14, but she was our rock, she kept us all grounded. She was such a clever, talented, creative girl, there was nothing she couldn’t do.
  • At a vigil in Bury on Wednesday night, Charlotte Campbell, the mother of 15-year-old Olivia Campbell, said she had come to thank the many who had helped in the search for her daughter after the attack, before her death was confirmed:

I had to come. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know where to be... I just knew - something told me I had to come here … Please stay together. Don’t let this beat any of us, please. Don’t let my Olivia be a victim.

Updated

The focus of the police investigation is whether Salman Abedi was part of a wider terror network, Ian Cobain and Ewen MacAskill report:

Police and the security service are focusing upon the Libyan connections of the Manchester suicide bomber. Salman Abedi travelled to see his mother, father, younger brother and sister in Libya last week but Whitehall sources said they suspected there were also what they termed “nefarious purposes” behind his visit to Tripoli.

His father, Ramadan, and younger brother, Hashem, 20, were reported to have been arrested by a militia in Tripoli on suspicion of having links with Islamic State.

British police were also investigating Abedi’s connections in Manchester, including among the city’s Libyan community.

Greater Manchester police’s chief constable, Ian Hopkins, said the public should be aware that “this is a network that we are investigating”, while the home secretary, Amber Rudd, said that the relatively sophisticated nature of the attack suggested he may have had support. Pictures of the remnants of the bomb that emerged on Wednesday suggested that whoever constructed it was an expert.

“It seems likely, possible, that he wasn’t doing this on his own,” Rudd said.

Among the greatest concerns of the police and the security service are that the bombmaker remains at large.

Updated

Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, has criticised the intelligence leaks that have seen key details of the investigation reported in the US media.

Burnham told BBC2’s Newnight on Wednesday evening that the leaks were “not acceptable” and could compromise the investigation:

It troubles me. On Monday evening when the reports were first coming through to me, I agreed with the chief constable and others we would take a cautious approach to putting public information out because we wouldn’t want to get anything wrong or compromise the police investigation.

And yet the first reports were coming seemingly out of the United States. So that is concerning, because obviously you want international cooperation when it comes to sharing of information because events like this can have that broader dimension. But it worries me greatly and in fact I made known my concerns about it to the US ambassador.

It’s not acceptable to me … there is a live investigation taking place; we cannot have information being put in the public domain that’s not in the direct control of the British police and security services …

Many terrorist atrocities have an international dimension where security services from around the world need to cooperate quickly. But they’ve got to do that, surely, on a basis of trust and confidentiality. And to have information put in the public domain before it was put there by people here is just wrong.

Eilidh MacLeod, 14, confirmed dead

The parents of Eilidh MacLeod, who had been missing since Monday evening, have confirmed that she died in the attack. She was 14.

In a statement, they said:

Words cannot express how we feel at losing our darling Eilidh.

Eilidh and her friend Laura MacIntyre, 15, who are both from the Hebridean island of Barra, attended the concert together. Both were initially reported as missing but Laura was later found to be in hospital, with severe burns.

Eilidh MacLeod
Eilidh MacLeod. Photograph: Greater Manchester Police/PA

Updated

The grandfather of 14-year-old Sorrell Leczkowski, who was killed in the blast, has paid tribute to her.

Michael Healey said he was “absolutely heartbroken”:

Sorrell was only 14, but she was our rock, she kept us all grounded. She was such a clever, talented, creative girl, there was nothing she couldn’t do.

Sorrell’s mother and grandmother were injured in the blast, police have said.

Her grandmother Pauline is in intensive care, and her mother Samantha is recovering from surgery “as she tries to make sense of the devastating loss of her daughter”, a family statement said.

Sorrell Leczkowski
Sorrell Leczkowski

The We Love Manchester Emergency Fund, launched by Manchester city council, the British Red Cross and the Manchester Evening News, has raised over £2m in its first 24 hours.

Donations can be made at www.redcross.org.uk/manchester

The Red Cross began the appeal with a £50,000 donation from its disaster fund, boosted by £1m collected by Manchester’s newspaper in its We Stand Together appeal.

Manchester City midfielder Yaya Toure has pledged £100,000, as has the Wayne Rooney Foundation. The Arsenal Foundation has contributed £50,000.

Overnight it was confirmed that 17-year-old Chloe Rutherford and 19-year-old Liam Curry from South Shields, who had been missing since Monday evening, both died in the attack.

Their families have paid tribute to them:

On the night our daughter Chloe died and our son Liam died, their wings were ready but our hearts were not.

They were perfect in every way for each other and were meant to be. They were beautiful inside and out to ourselves and our families, and they were inseparable …

They lived to go to new places together and explore different cities. They wanted to be together for ever and now they are.

Chloe Rutherford and Liam Curry
Chloe Rutherford and Liam Curry. Photograph: GMP

Updated

Two more men arrested

Greater Manchester police say two men have been arrested this morning, bringing the total in custody to eight.

A woman detained yesterday has been released without charge.

The police statement reads:

This morning (Thursday 25 May 2017) we have been carrying out searches at an address in the Withington area and a man has been arrested.

These searches are connected to Monday’s attack on the Manchester Arena, but this is a fast-moving investigation and we are keeping an open mind at this stage.

Another man has also been arrested in the Manchester area this morning in connection with the investigation, bringing the total number of men in custody to eight.

A woman who was arrested in Blackley on Wednesday evening has since been released without charge.

Updated

16 of 22 victims named

We now know the names of 16 of the people killed by the bomb attack at Manchester Arena. They are:

  • Michelle Kiss, 45
  • Olivia Campbell, 15
  • Martyn Hett, 29
  • Kelly Brewster, 32
  • Saffie Rose Roussos, eight
  • Georgina Callander, 18
  • John Atkinson, 28
  • Alison Howe, 45
  • Lisa Lees, 47
  • Angelika Klis, 40
  • Marcin Klis, 42
  • Nell Jones, 14
  • Jane Tweddle-Taylor, 51
  • Sorrell Leczkowski, 14
  • Chloe Rutherford, 17
  • Liam Curry, 19

What we know so far

The investigation

  • Police continue to focus on the background of attacker Salman Abedi, amid fears the person who constructed the sophisticated bomb is still at large.
  • Overnight, a controlled explosion was carried out during a raid in Moss Side.
  • A woman arrested on Wednesday in Blackley in connection with the attack has been released without charge. Six men are still being questioned, among them Abedi’s 23-year-old brother Ismail Abedi.
  • Their father, Ramadan Abedi, and a younger brother, Hashem Abedi, who live in Libya, have reportedly been arrested by Rada, a Tripoli militia. Libyan officials claimed Hashem knew about the planned attack.
  • Greater Manchester police have declined to comment on claims by an unnamed Muslim community worker that they had twice contacted police with concerns about Salman Abedi, several years ago.
  • There is anger among British officials about US intelligence leaks, exacerbated when the New York Times published forensic photographs of bomb parts from the crime scene.
  • Prime minister Theresa May travels to the Nato summit in Brussels today, where she is expected to challenge US president Donald Trump over the series of leaks, which were criticised by the UK’s national counter-terrorism police:

When that trust is breached it undermines these relationships, and undermines our investigations and the confidence of victims, witnesses and their families. This damage is even greater when it involves unauthorised disclosure of potential evidence in the middle of a major counter-terrorism investigation.

An image of what is believed to be the detonator, released by the New York Times.
An image of what is believed to be the detonator, released by the New York Times. Photograph: Unknown

The victims

  • More victims of the attack have been named. There will be a nationwide minute’s silence for the 22 killed and dozens wounded at 11am today.
  • Late on Wednesday night, the families of 17-year-old Chloe Rutherford and 19-year-old Liam Curry confirmed they were among the 22 killed:

They lived to go to new places together and explore different cities. They wanted to be together for ever and now they are.

  • Also named was 14-year-old Sorrell Leczkowski. Her grandfather Michael Healey said he was “absolutely heartbroken”:

Sorrell was only 14, but she was our rock, she kept us all grounded. She was such a clever, talented, creative girl, there was nothing she couldn’t do.
  • At a vigil in Bury on Wednesday night, Charlotte Campbell, the mother of 15-year-old Olivia Campbell, said she had come to thank the many who had helped in the search for her daughter after the attack, before her death was confirmed:

I had to come. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know where to be... I just knew - something told me I had to come here … Please stay together. Don’t let this beat any of us, please. Don’t let my Olivia be a victim.

Updated

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