Manchester attack: Latest on police investigation

Summary

Intelligence sharing between the UK and the US resumes after row
Police search a property in Wigan following an assessment by a bomb disposal team
Police say they have made "significant" arrests - eight people are still in custody
Raids on properties have yielded "very important" items, police say
The Queen has visited victims at Royal Manchester Children's Hospital
A national minute's silence has been held to remember victims
Suspected suicide bomber is UK-born Salman Abedi, 22, of Libyan origin

Live Reporting

Megan Fisher and Paul Gribben

Why the threat level was raisedpublished at 02:55 British Summer Time 24 May 2017
BBC Defence Editor Mark Urban explains in this Newsnight interview why the terror threat has been raised from "severe" to "critical". "It suggests a belief among intelligence experts that a further attack could be imminent," he says.
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Morrissey: The people have no such protectionspublished at 02:21 British Summer Time 24 May 2017
Morrissey, the Manchester-born singer and former frontman of legendary band The Smiths, is well known as someone who doesn't pull his punches.
Now, in a blistering post on Facebook, he has accused public figures ranging from The Queen to the mayor of Greater Manchester, Prime Minister Theresa May to the mayor of London, of failing to respond properly to the bombing, which was claimed by so-called Islamic State.
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Singer back in the USpublished at 01:55 British Summer Time 24 May 2017
Ariana Grande has arrived back in Florida, where she was met by her boyfriend, Mac Miller, TMZ reports, external.
After the attack on her concert venue in Manchester, she had tweeted to say she was "broken".
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The college drop-out who returned from Libyapublished at 01:34 British Summer Time 24 May 2017
Daniel Sandford
Home Affairs Correspondent
Salman Abedi was born in Manchester on New Year's Eve 1994. His parents were Libyans who had fled, after becoming opponents of Colonel Gaddafi's repressive regime.
Having spent a few years in London, the family moved to Manchester where his father used to do the call to prayer at a mosque in Didsbury.
Abedi went to school in Manchester and to Salford University before dropping out. And friends remember him as a good footballer, a keen supporter of Manchester United and a user of cannabis.
He has a sister and two brothers. His mother and father are now believed to be back living in Libya, and for a while he left Britain too, but he returned in the last few days - apparently to carry out the worst bombing in Britain since the 7 July 2005 attacks on the London Underground.
Read more about what we know of the attacker
The thrill of a little girl's first pop concertpublished at 01:14 British Summer Time 24 May 2017
"Big pop gigs do something incredibly important" for kids, Alexis Petridis writes in a funny, reflective, poignant piece, external in the Guardian, where he recalls the time he took his eldest daughter, then aged seven, to a Jessie J concert as a birthday treat.
"Mostly it was the way it gave her a first glimpse of a world that was previously outside her experience, a more adult, or at least more mature world than the one she knew, a world that would one day be her own, and how excited she was to see it, how – as she put it – grown-up it made her feel...
"Giving people their first taste of freedom and independence: that strikes me as something at the top of the chart of Incredible Things Music Can Do. It is also something that the kind of people who manipulate others into blowing themselves up in public places hate."
Image source, AFP
Image caption,
British singer Jessie J was at the Cannes Film Festival on Tuesday
Greater Manchester mayor pays tribute to NHS staffpublished at 00:54 British Summer Time 24 May 2017
Andy Burnham has been thanking hospital staff in Greater Manchester for their work on the city's "darkest night".
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Warning against 'knee jerk' responsepublished at 00:46 British Summer Time 24 May 2017
Baroness Chakrabarti, the shadow attorney general, has cautioned against a "knee-jerk" response to the attack, though she says she has not heard anything yet to suggest this is the case.
"I think it's certainly the kind of day for calm, a certain pause for thought and unity," the Labour peer told the BBC's Newsnight programme.
"And then of course for resources. And we've heard, we hear, about the threats being raised and the resources that are to be deployed. I've not heard anything as yet that suggests a knee jerk to bring in sweeping powers."
Police 'making good progress'published at 00:24 British Summer Time 24 May 2017
UK's chief counter-terrorism officer gives an update on the policing operation
Media caption,
Manchester attack: 'Army will step forward to support police'
Albert Square vigil goes into the nightpublished at 23:58 British Summer Time 23 May 2017
As darkness fell, people were still visiting Manchester's Albert Square to pay their respects to the victims with candles and flowers. Getty photographer Jeff J Mitchell caught the sombre mood.
Image source, Getty Images
Image source, Getty Images
Image source, Getty Images
London mayor on raising terror threat levelpublished at 23:48 British Summer Time 23 May 2017
Statement from Sadiq Khan
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Troops 'to be under police control'published at 23:32 British Summer Time 23 May 2017
"Military personnel will remain under the command and control of the police service," Assistant Commissioner Rowley added in a separate statement.
"At this time we are asking the public to remain calm but alert," he said.
"If you see anything that causes you concern, then let us know immediately, if you have suspicions about someone's behaviour call us. Look out for anything that seems out of place, unusual or doesn't seem to fit in with day-to-day life.
"It may be nothing, but if you see or hear anything that could be terrorist related, trust your instinct no matter how small then ACT and call 999."
'A very unusual and rare step'published at 23:22 British Summer Time 23 May 2017
Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley, National Counter Terrorism Policing lead, has been talking about the decision to raise the threat level to "critical".
The decision was taken due to the "uncertainty currently flowing from the investigation", he explained.
Commenting on Operation Temperer, announced earlier by Prime Minister Theresa May, he said, "All those extra police officers we are putting on the streets already will be given military support."
"We could even use military support at key locations," he added.
"'Critical' is a very unusual and rare step," he emphasised.
Image source, Metropolitan Police
Security tight for Champions League finalspublished at 23:09 British Summer Time 23 May 2017
Manchester and other attacks in mainland Europe and the UK have been taken into consideration in planning for the Uefa Champions League in Cardiff next month, Assistant Chief Constable Richard Lewis of South Wales Police has said.
"Extensive searches and installation of security measures for the Champions League finals have been taking place in Cardiff during the past week and will continue in the run-up to the event," he added.
"Access to areas around the stadiums on event days will be extremely limited, and ticket-holders can expect to be subject to rigorous security checks. Measures will also be taken to restrict vehicular access to a number of areas within Cardiff."
Image source, Reuters
Tomorrow's papers: The Daily Telegraphpublished at 22:57 British Summer Time 23 May 2017
Image source, The Telegraph
The Telegraph leads on British troops being deployed to support the police after the UK terror threat level was raised to critical.
Troop deployment 'in the hundreds'published at 22:51 British Summer Time 23 May 2017
Frank Gardner
BBC Security Correspondent
The first echelon of troops deployed in support of the police will be in the hundreds, writes the BBC's security correspondent.
Exact details are still being worked out between the police and Ministry of Defence.
Tomorrow's papers: The Timespublished at 22:48 British Summer Time 23 May 2017
Image source, The Times
The Times says that Salman Abedi, thought to be Monday's suicide bomber, flew to Manchester from Libya in order to carry out the attack.
Tomorrow's papers: Daily Mirrorpublished at 22:46 British Summer Time 23 May 2017
Image source, Daily MIrror
Wednesday's Daily Mirror describes the bombing as "an attack of grotesque barbarity".
Tomorrow's papers: Daily Expresspublished at 22:43 British Summer Time 23 May 2017
Image source, Daily Express
The Daily Express poses the question: "How could jihadi barbarian murder our beautiful and innocent children?"
Tomorrow's papers: The Guardianpublished at 22:40 British Summer Time 23 May 2017
Image source, The Guardian
The Guardian leads on the victims of Monday's suicide bomb attack, the youngest of whom was eight years old
Abedi was a student at the University of Salfordpublished at 22:32 British Summer Time 23 May 2017
The university has issued a statement from Sam Grogan, Pro-Vice Chancellor, Student Experience:
Quote Message
All at the University of Salford are shocked and saddened by the events of last night. Our thoughts are with all those involved, their families and their friends. We have provided, and continue to provide, support to all students and staff who have been affected. We can confirm that Salman Abedi was a student of the University. In an unrelated incident there was an evacuation of three buildings as a precautionary measure for a short period of time earlier this evening. We have returned to business as usual."