UK officials were outraged when photos appearing to show debris from the attack appeared in the New York Times.

It came after the name of bomber Salman Abedi was leaked to US media just hours after the attack, which killed 22 – including children – and injured 64.

Theresa May is to raise concerns with Donald Trump at a Nato meeting later.

Greater Manchester Police hopes to resume normal intelligence relationships – a two-way flow of information – soon but is currently “furious”, the BBC understands.

The force – which is leading the investigation on the ground – gives its information to National Counter-Terrorism, which then shares it across government and – because of the Five Eyes intelligence sharing agreement – with the US, Australia, Canada and New Zealand.

In total eight men are now in custody following the attack, carried out by Manchester-born Abedi, a 22-year-old from a family of Libyan origin.

It has also emerged two people who had known Abedi at college made separate calls to a hotline to warn the police about his extremist views.

Pictures of debris

Home Secretary Amber Rudd had said she was “irritated” by the disclosure of Abedi’s identity against the UK’s wishes and had warned Washington “it should not happen again”.

However, the pictures of debris – which appear to show bloodstained fragments from the bomb and the backpack used to conceal it – were subsequently leaked to the New York Times, prompting an angry response from within Whitehall and from UK police chiefs.

BBC security correspondent Gordon Corera says UK officials believe that US law enforcement rather than the White House is the likely culprit for the leaks.

A Whitehall source described the second US leak as “on another level”, and said it had caused “disbelief and astonishment” across the British government.

–

Source: BBC

The post Manchester attack: Police ‘not sharing information with US’ appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Military personnel will now be deployed to protect key sites under the new threat level.

Meanwhile the mother of Olivia Campbell has named her daughter as the fourth victim of Monday night’s Manchester bombing which killed 22 and injured 59.

Writing on Facebook, she paid tribute to her “precious” daughter, aged 15.

Olivia’s mother, Charlotte Campbell, had issued an emotional plea for information on her daughter’s whereabouts after the Ariana Grande concert.

The change in terror threat comes after investigators were unable to rule out whether suspect Salman Abedi acted alone, the prime minister said.

‘Sensible response’

The prime minister said soldiers would be placed in key public locations to support armed police in protecting the public.

Military personnel may also be seen at other events over the coming weeks, such as concerts, Mrs May said, working under the command of police officers.

BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner says the number of UK troops deployed will be in the hundreds not around the 5,000 figure being reported.

The prime minister said she did not want the public to feel “unduly alarmed” but said it was a “proportionate and sensible response”.

The highest threat level, which is decided by the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre – a group of experts from the police, government departments and agencies – has only been reached twice before.

Met Police Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley, who is the national counter-terrorism policing lead, said the investigation was “fast-moving and making good progress”.

“However, a critical line of inquiry is whether the dead terrorist was acting alone or part of a group,” he said.

“We still have critical lines of inquiry they’re chasing down which has led to a level of uncertainty.”

The first time the threat level was raised to critical was in 2006 during a major operation to stop a plot to blow up transatlantic airliners with liquid bombs.

The following year, security chiefs raised it once more as they hunted for the men who had tried to bomb a London nightclub, before going on to attack Glasgow Airport.

Former Salford University student Salman Abedi – understood to be a 22-year-old born in Manchester to parents of Libyan descent – is thought to have blown himself up in the arena’s foyer shortly after 22:30 BST on Monday.

Fans were beginning to leave a concert by US singer Ariana Grande.

Three of his victims have been named – Saffie Rose Roussos, eight, Georgina Callander – thought to be 18 – and John Atkinson, 28.

So-called Islamic State has said – via IS channels on the messaging app Telegram – it was behind the Manchester attack, but this has not been verified.

–

Source: BBC

The post Manchester attack: UK terror threat level raised to critical appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The Greater Manchester Sustainable Engineering University Technical College (UTC) opened as part of a wave of new schools offering specialist vocational qualifications and traditional GCSEs for school-age candidates and adults.

The Government said the UTC will close due to a failed to recruit enough pupils, and resulting financial difficulties.

The college, ranked among the 10 per cent worst performing schools in England, will close at the end of the current academic year.

It is the seventh of the new university technical colleges to announce its closure.

Greater Manchester UTC opened in Oldham in September 2014 along with 12 other new technical colleges nationwide specialising in subjects such as engineering, digital technologies and biomedical science.

The project was championed by former education secretary Michael Gove and hailed as a “fresh approach” to vocational learning that would encourage more students into much needed subjects such as engineering and biomedical sciences.

But as of January last year, the college, which is sponsored by the University of Bolton and has a capacity for 600 pupils, had just 127 students.

–

Source: Independent UK

The post Brand new £9m Manchester school to close after all of its pupils fail GCSEs appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.