Police 'not sharing information with US'

Police investigating the Manchester Arena bomb attack have stopped sharing information with the US after leaks to the media, the BBC understands.

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 left 22 dead.

Theresa May said she would tell Donald Trump at a Nato meeting that shared intelligence "must remain secure".

The Queen is at the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital visiting some of the injured as well as members of the emergency services.

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Families' distress

In total eight men are now in custody following Monday's attack at an Ariana Grande concert at Manchester Arena, in which 116 people were also injured. It was carried out by Manchester-born Abedi, a 22-year-old from a family of Libyan origin.

The arrests have been "significant" while searches of premises had also yielded items "important to the investigation", Greater Manchester Police said.

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.

In other developments:

• A minute's silence was held at 11:00 BST in remembrance of those who lost their lives or were affected by the attack
• Two men were arrested following a search of an address in the Withington area of Greater Manchester on Thursday morning, taking the number of people held to eight
• Manchester City and Manchester United have jointly pledged £1m to an emergency fund set up to support the victims
• A possible suspicious package was declared safe after army bomb disposal experts were called to a street in Hulme, near Manchester city centre
• The Conservatives and Labour are to resume local general election campaigning on Thursday, and national campaigning on Friday

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

Its chief constable Ian Hopkins said the recent leak had caused "much distress for families that are already suffering terribly with their loss.".

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.

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.

• Live: The latest from the investigation
• The victims of the Manchester attack
• What we know so far
• What Libya tells us about Manchester bomber
• Who was the suspect Salman Abedi?

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.

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Analysis

By Dominic Casciani, BBC home affairs correspondent

The police decision to stop sharing information specifically about the Manchester attack with their security counterparts in the US is a hugely significant move and shows how angry British authorities are.

The information from the crime scene wasn't shared on a whim: the British and Americans have a lot of shared world-leading expertise in improvised explosive devices and scientists would be discussing whether the Manchester device tells them something new that could, ultimately, track down a bomb-maker.

Other sharing will continue. The UK and US share a vast amount of information about terror and espionage threats - its a tight-knit network that also encompasses Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

That system is based on trust and the "control principle": if a piece of intelligence is shared, the receiving nation has no right to further disseminate it without permission.

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The UK's National Police Chiefs' Council described the "unauthorised disclosure" as a breach of trust which had potentially undermined a "major counter-terrorism investigation".

Counter-terrorism detectives have spoken in the past about how a delay of about 36 hours before the public know who is being investigated can allow known associates of the suspect to be arrested without being tipped off.

Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham said the leaks had worried him "greatly", and he had raised them with the US ambassador.

Lord Blair, who was the head of the Metropolitan Police at the time of the bombings in London on 7 July 2005 said intelligence leaks by the US were not new.

"I'm afraid it just reminds me exactly of what happened after 7/7 when the US published a complete picture of the way the bombs in 7/7 had been made up," he said.

"It's a different world in which the US operate in terms of how they publish things and this is a very grievous breach but I'm afraid it's the same as before."

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What's happening with the investigation?

Eight men and one woman have been arrested in the UK since Monday night, including Abedi's older brother Ismail, 23. The woman has since been released.

Abedi's younger brother Hashem, 20, was held by special forces linked to the interior ministry in the Libyan capital Tripoli, as was their father.

Speaking on Wednesday, Greater Manchester Chief Constable Ian Hopkins said: "It's very clear that this is a network that we are investigating.

"And as I've said, it continues at a pace. There's extensive investigations going on and activity taking place across Greater Manchester."

As part of their investigation, police raided a block of flats near Manchester Piccadilly station in the city centre, requiring them to carry out a controlled explosion and briefly close the railway line.

Police carried out another controlled explosion in the early hours of Thursday morning at an address in the Moss Side area of Manchester.

Anyone with information can call the anti-terror hotline on 0800 789321.

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Manchester attack: UK terror threat level raised to critical

The UK terror threat level has been raised to its highest level of "critical", meaning further attacks may be imminent, Theresa May has said.

The move came after investigators were unable to rule out whether Manchester bombing suspect Salman Abedi acted alone, the prime minister said.

Military personnel will now be deployed to protect key sites.

Twenty-two people were killed and 59 injured when a suicide bomber attacked Manchester Arena on Monday evening.

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.

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

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Eight-year-old Saffie Roussos and Georgina Callander are among the dead

John Atkinson, 28, was named as one of the victims

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.

• Manchester attack: Latest updates
• What we know so far
• Theresa May's speech in full
• Who was the suspect Salman Abedi?

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.

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Analysis

By Dominic Casciani, BBC home affairs correspondent

This is a major and very rare move by the UK's security chiefs.

For the past few years, ministers, police chiefs and others have been at pains to try to warn the public that the threat faced by the UK was severe.

But they have steered clear of warning, even when a major plot was being tracked, that an attack could be close. This time, they feel they have no choice other than to say it may be imminent.

In short, nobody at this stage can say for sure whether Abedi acted alone or with the help of others. They can't rule out if there are other people out there.

What does it mean for us, the public?

Some of us will see the Army in key locations that need guarding so that armed police can be freed to focus on policing rather than guarding.

We should expect additional time-consuming security checks at ports and so on.

The aim for security chiefs is to ratchet up the security while keeping the country moving.

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The wounded, who include 12 children aged under 16, are being treated at eight hospitals across Manchester.

Several people are still missing, including Eilidh MacLeod, 14, from Barra in the Outer Hebrides, 15-year-old Olivia Campbell, Chloe Rutherford, 17, and Liam Curry, 19.

Eilidh's friend, Laura MacIntyre, 15 - who was also reported as missing - was later identified as one of the seriously injured in a Manchester hospital.

Thousands of people turned out for the vigil in Manchester and to hold a minute's silence to remember those who died.

Home Secretary Amber Rudd, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and Commons Speaker John Bercow stood on stage alongside Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham and Greater Manchester Police Chief Constable Ian Hopkins.

Vigils have been held elsewhere, including in Birmingham, where the event was interrupted after a man apparently armed with a large knife and a baseball bat was detained nearby.

The arena bombing is the worst terrorist attack in the UK since the 7 July bombings in 2005, in which 52 people were killed by four suicide bombers.

Witnesses at the arena described seeing metal nuts and bolts among the debris of Monday's bomb, and spoke about the fear and confusion that gripped concert-goers.

Media captionTheresa May: "A further attack may be imminent"

Andy Holey, who had gone to pick up his wife and daughter, said: "An explosion went off and it threw me about 30ft from one set of doors to the other set of doors."

Emma Johnson, who was waiting for her children, aged 15 and 17, said: "The whole building shook. There was a blast and then a flash of fire afterwards. There were bodies everywhere."

Teenager Abigail Walker told the BBC: "I had to make sure I had my sister. I grabbed hold of her and pulled hard. Everyone was running and crying.

"It was absolutely terrifying."

Sir Roger Moore, James Bond actor, dies of cancer aged 89

Former James Bond star Sir Roger Moore has died in Switzerland at the age of 89 after a short battle with cancer, his family has announced.

A message shared on the actor's official Twitter account read: "With the heaviest of hearts, we must share the awful news that our father, Sir Roger Moore, passed away today. We are all devastated."

'Thank you Pops for being you'

The statement continued: "It is with a heavy heart that we must announce our loving father, Sir Roger Moore, has passed away today in Switzerland after a short but brave battle with cancer.

"The love with which he was surrounded in his final days was so great it cannot be quantified in words alone."

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They continued: "We know our own love and admiration will be magnified many times over, across the world, by people who knew him for his films, his television shows and his passionate work for Unicef, which he considered to be his greatest achievement.

"The affection our father felt whenever he walked on to a stage or in front of a camera buoyed him hugely and kept him busy working into his 90th year, through to his last appearance in November 2016 on stage at London's Royal Festival Hall.

"The capacity crowd cheered him on and off stage, shaking the very foundations of the building just a short distance from where he was born.

"Thank you Pops for being you, and for being so very special to so many people.

"Our thoughts must now turn to supporting Kristina at this difficult time, and in accordance with our father's wishes there will be a private funeral in Monaco."

The statement was signed by Sir Roger's children, Deborah, Geoffrey and Christian.

Sir Roger on 007

Sir Roger was the longest-serving actor to play the womanising MI6 agent, having portrayed 007 in seven films.

He held the title for a total of 14 years, from 1972 - when he was officially confirmed as 007 - to 1986, when his successor Timothy Dalton was formally announced.

In total he spent 5,118 days as James Bond and starred in seven films, beginning with Live And Let Die in 1973 and ending with A View To A Kill in 1985.

Current 007 actor Daniel Craig is the second longest-serving Bond, having so far spent 4,239 days playing the secret agent.

In brief | Roger Moore as Bond

Moore starred in seven James Bond films and spent 12 consecutive years in the role:

1. Live and Let Die (1973)
2. The Man With The Golden Gun(1974)
3. The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
4. MoonRaker (1979)
5. For Your Eyes Only (1981)
6. Octopussy (1983)
7. A View To A Kill (1985)

Moore was officially unveiled as James Bond at a press conference at the Dorchester Hotel in London on August 1 1972.

"I think that I've got an even-money chance to make it," he told reporters. "After all, I've been around a long time in this business. I did The Saint on television for seven years."

He would end up playing 007 for twice that long.

Last year during a question-and-answer session at London's Southbank Centre, he admitted that, despite winning the coveted role of the martini-swirling spy, one part he wished he had landed was Lawrence of Arabia.

He said: "I remember Bob Baker and I going to see Lawrence of Arabia and coming out both being very depressed and saying 'We might as well give up the business', because they had made the best movie that had ever been made."

The debonair star, who added a distinct light-hearted touch to the 007 role, also admitted that, while he thought Sir Sean Connery had been the greatest Bond, fans were "lucky" to have the current star of the franchise, Daniel Craig.

He said: "I think that Sean was obviously the great Bond.

"He was obviously the right person, he brought the right personality to the performance, otherwise Bond would not have gone on past the first six that he did. He was a tremendous Bond.

In quotes | Roger Moore

On acting: "Acting? It was left eyebrow raised, right eyebrow raised."

On his work ethic: "[My children] say I worked hard, but I never worked hard. I enjoyed it. Going into an office or being a miner. That’s work.”

On being Bond: "I'm the worst Bond, according to the internet. Generally hated! I was too funny, too light. Didn't take it seriously enough."

On alternative careers: "I would have loved to study medicine but I was lucky to have come into the profession that I loved. I may not have been very good at it, but I loved it.”

On who would win in a fight between James Bond and The Saint: "I think Bond would win because Bond is allowed to use things other than fisticuffs and wasn't as straightforward as Templar."

On featuring in an Amy Winehouse lyric: "I probably just rhymed with door. Or she couldn't find anything to rhyme with Connery."

On ageing: "The wonderful thing about age is that your knees don't work as well, you can't run down steps quite as easily and obviously you can't lift heavy weights. But your mind doesn't feel any different. I read the obituary columns and I think: 'Oh goodness, he was only 93!'"

"Today, I think we're very lucky to have Daniel Craig because he is quite extraordinary. I always say that Sean looked like a killer - but Daniel Craig would finish it off.

"When I saw Casino Royale, I thought that Daniel Craig did more action in the first seven minutes than I did in seven movies."

Sir Roger on acting

While arguably best known for his role as 007, Sir Roger will also be remembered for his work in TV's The Saint in the 1960s.

He once joked of his role as Simon Templar in the spy thriller series, which he also produced: "When I was doing The Saint on television I had two expressions; as Bond I've managed to work up to four."

Despite having been criticised somewhat throughout his decades-long career for having a lack of depth, Sir Roger remained self-deprecating.

He once said he could not act "in the Olivier sense", although he described himself as a good technician.

Along with Bond films including Moonraker, A View To A Kill and The Man With The Golden Gun, Sir Roger appeared in movies such as The Cannonball Run, Spice World, The Boat That Rocked and The Man Who Wouldn't Die.

Off screen, he was respected for his charity work, and in 1999 he was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE), and a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) in 2003.

His knighthood was given for his humanitarian work, his main focus for many of his final years.

At the time, he said the citation "meant far more to me than if I had got it for acting ... I was proud because I received it on behalf of Unicef as a whole and for all it has achieved over the years".

'Nobody did it better'

Tributes to Sir Roger have been led by The James Bond International Fan Club, which has said "nobody did Bond better".

A statement from the club read: "Sir Roger will always be remembered as the most enduring actor to play 007 and as a great ambassador for the franchise.

"From his announcement as Sean Connery's replacement in August 1972 to his retirement in December 1985, he thrilled and charmed a whole new generation of Bond fans and redefined the series."

They said that in his seven films, "he made James Bond his own".

"Arguably the greatest purveyor of Cool Britannia before the term had been invented, he kept the British end up as his reign as 007 saw Bond through the 1977 Silver Jubilee and national resurgence in the 1980s.

"He was the Bond not only of his generation but the Daniel Craig generation by keeping Ian Fleming's gentleman spy alive when people thought his best days were over.

"We are all sad at the passing of a great British icon. Nobody did Bond better."

Australian actor Russell Crowe tweeted: "Roger Moore, loved him." British star Joan Collins shared two nostalgic photos of herself with Sir Roger, whose early 70s series The Persuaders! she guest-starred in.

She tweeted: "Devastated to hear about my good friend Sir Roger Moore. He was the kindest, warmest, wittiest gentle man. Love to Kristina and his children."

Former Bond girl Jane Seymour paid tribute as she fondly described the actor as "my Bond".

Seymour starred with Sir Roger in 1973's Live and Let Die, his first as the M16 agent. Along with a picture of the two of them together, the actress wrote on Instagram: "I am devastated to learn of Roger Moore's passing.

"The first leading role I ever had as a Bond girl was such a new and frightening world and Roger held my hand and guided me through every process."

She said he taught her "about work ethic and humility", adding that he was "funny, kind and thoughtful to everyone around him".

"In that Roger taught me what a movie star really was and should be," she added. "Through his lifelong work with Unicef he showed me the true meaning of being a humanitarian and giving back. He was my Bond."

Pierce Brosnan, who also portrayed Bond in four films, described Sir Roger as "magnificent" as he shared a photograph online of the pair together.

In a post on Instagram, he wrote: "Dear Sir Roger Moore, It is indeed with a heavy heart that I hear the news of your passing this morning.

"You were a big part of my life, from The Saint to James Bond... you were a magnificent James Bond and one that lead the way for me, the world will miss you and your unique sense of humour for years to come. My sincerest condolences to your family and children. RIP."

The British Film Institute wrote on Twitter: "We're sad to hear of the loss of one of the giants of British film and TV, Sir Roger Moore."

The official Bafta Twitter account wrote that it was "saddened to learn" of Moore's death.

Pinewood Studios described Moore as a "force of nature", adding that "his humour and spirit will be missed by all of us".

Sir Roger's new book 

Sir Roger submitted a final volume of memoirs just two weeks ago, his publisher revealed following the announcement of his death.

Michael O’Mara said the book would be a “typically amusing and self-deprecating” look at growing old, and “a suitable subject for a man in his 90th year”. It includes sketches by Sir Roger, who was also an artist.

Sir Roger has written two other autobiographies and a history of his years playing 007. O’Mara told The Bookseller he had “never worked with a more professional author or one with a more positive attitude to life”.