General news

• May's lead cut two weeks before election, poll shows

  25-05-2017 23:52
  
  Britain's opposition Labour Party has cut the lead of Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservatives to five points less than a fortnight before a national election, according to the first poll published since a suicide bombing killed 22 people.In a sign that the election could be more closely contested than has previously been thought, YouGov said on Thursday May's party was on 43 percent, down 1 percentage point compared to a week ago, while Labour was up 3 points on 38 percent.The previous YouGov
  
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• Trump condemns leaks after UK police briefly halt information sharing

  25-05-2017 23:36
  
  By Elizabeth Piper and Estelle ShirbonBRUSSELS/LONDON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said on Thursday that "deeply troubling" leaks to U.S. media about the Manchester suicide bombing would be investigated, after irate British police briefly stopped sharing information with U.S. agencies.Prime Minister Theresa May raised British concerns with Trump at a NATO summit in Brussels, telling him intelligence shared between their two countries had to remain secure, in a rare public show of dissatisf
  
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• UK police end suspension of intelligence sharing with US

  25-05-2017 23:25
  
  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.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 “
  
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• Trump: 'Barbaric' terrorists are 'losers'

  25-05-2017 23:20
  
  US President Donald Trumphas called terrorists 'losers' and described the Manchester Arena attack as 'barbaric and vicious'.
  
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• Opposition leader says May's police cuts increased terrorism risk

  25-05-2017 23:17
  By Michael HoldenLONDON (Reuters) - The leader of Britain's opposition Labour Party will criticise Prime Minister Theresa May's police cuts and Britain's foreign policy on Friday, saying they increased the threat of terrorism, ending a political truce after the Manchester suicide attack.With a national election less than two weeks away, Labour's Jeremy Corbyn will use a speech to say Britain could not "be protected on the cheap" and that British involvement in foreign wars fuelled terrorism at h
  
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• Jeremy Corbyn blames foreign policy for terrorism in UK

  25-05-2017 23:07
  Jeremy Corbyn is making a controversial return to election campaigning after the Manchester bomb attack with a speech blaming UK foreign policy for terrorism at home.The Labour leader claims the so-called "war on terror" is not working and is promising a government led by him would change foreign policy so it fights rather than fuels terrorism.
  
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• Conservatives hold eight point lead in election poll taken before attack

  25-05-2017 23:04
  
  British Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservative Party held a 12 percentage point lead over the opposition Labour Party in a Kantar poll taken before a suicide bombing in Manchester which killed 22 people.Campaigning for Britain's election on June 8 has been on hold since the attack and no polls have been published since the bombing on Monday night.The poll was conducted between the May 18 and 22, the day of the attack.
  
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• Theresa May calls on tech firms to lead fight against online extremism

  25-05-2017 23:00
  
  Theresa May will tell G7 leaders that more has to be done to tackle the threat posed by extremist content online.Theresa May will urge G7 leaders to tell technology firms that they should do more to suppress extremist content online, arguing that 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 like Facebook, Google and Twitter to block users
  
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• Social media, extremism and fears we are losing the online war | Nick Hopkins

  25-05-2017 23:00
  
  Facebook moderators said it was ‘mission impossible’ to keep the site free of extreme material.Theresa May’s initiative to put more pressure on tech companies over online extremism is born of a frustration that can only have been heightened by this week’s attack in Manchester.For all the harsh words and threatened fines that have been thrown at social media companies over recent months, in the UK and across Europe, there is a feeling that they are not doing nearly enough,
  
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• PM to urge action over online extremist content after Manchester attack

  25-05-2017 23:00
  
  Theresa May is to call on world leaders to step up pressure on internet companies to rid the web of extremist material in the wake of the Manchester terrorist attack.The Prime Minister will tell the G7 group of leading industrial nations that the threat from Islamic State is evolving from the battlefield to the internet, as she accuses tech companies of not doing enough to remove harmful online material.
  
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• Jeremy Corbyn links foreign policy to growing terror threat

  25-05-2017 23:00
  
  Jeremy Corbyn will return to campaigning for the general election on Friday morning after the pause following the Manchester bombing.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”.
  
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• Police lift cordon after bomb squad called to Wigan

  25-05-2017 22:47
  LONDON (Reuters) - British police investigating the Manchester suicide bombing said they had lifted a cordon and allowed residents to return home on Thursday after bomb disposal experts were called to an address in the nearby town of Wigan. The bomb disposal units had earlier been called to the scene after police said potentially suspicious items were found. (Reporting by Michael Holden; editing by Kate Holton)
  
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• A teenage Manchester Arena survivor recalls the night of the attack from her hospital bed

  25-05-2017 22:33
  
  Millie Robson suffered leg injuries following the bombing at the music venue on Monday.
  
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• Manchester leaks will not damage U.S.-U.K. intelligence relations - U.S. officials

  25-05-2017 22:29
  By John WalcottWASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. intelligence officials said on Thursday they do not expect British Prime Minister Theresa May's concerns about U.S. officials' leaks on the Manchester suicide bombing to affect the closest intelligence partnership in the world.British police stopped sharing information with U.S. agencies about the Manchester attack after key details of the investigation, including the name of the bomber, first came out in U.S. media.
  
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• Baby dies in County Tipperary after being found in a hot car

  25-05-2017 22:29
  A baby girl has died in Ireland after being found in a car on the hottest day of the year.The seven-month-old had been airlifted to hospital from the village of Dundrum in County Tipperary.Irish police said emergency services had responded to a 999 call after the child was found "unresponsive".
  
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• Salman Abedi had connections to gangs and terrorists in Manchester

  25-05-2017 22:17
  
  The Manchester Arena bomber, Salman Abedi, had close connections with criminal gangs as well as known and suspected terrorists in the city, it has emerged.Abedi, 22, associated with a gang that has for years waged war with a rival grouping in south Manchester, the Guardian has learned after speaking to members of the local community.Meanwhile, details of how Abedi travelled back to the UK from Libya, where his parents live, before the bombing have been revealed.
  
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• No military to be deployed to Saturday's FA Cup final, say police

  25-05-2017 22:00
  
  There are no plans to deploy military personnel around Wembley Stadium for the FA Cup final on Saturday, Sky News has learned.A Scotland Yard source has confirmed that fans can expect to see extra police resources, including armed officers, stationed in and around the stadium for the match between Arsenal and Chelsea.Exact details of the policing deployment are still being finalised, but Army personnel will not be involved.
  
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• Manchester bombing accomplices may still be at large, police say

  25-05-2017 21:24
  
  Armed police on patrol in Manchester on Thursday.Police fear accomplices of the Manchester Arena bomber could still be on the loose after raids in the south of the city uncovered materials similar to those used to kill 22 people on Monday.Detectives believe the device used by the suicide bomber Salman Abedi was constructed in Manchester with help from others and that there may be more people at large who are part of a terrorist network.
  
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• Met Commissioner: 'You'll see more armed officers'

  25-05-2017 21:20
  
  The Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick says that bringing in the military to support the police will mean more armed officers on the streets.
  
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• Scotland’s opposition to a Tory Brexit | Letters

  25-05-2017 20:55
  
  “This will be a pivotal contest for Scotland’s place in British politics” was the heading of Saturday’s editorial (20 May).This “success” is ascribed to the “charismatic leadership of Ruth Davidson” – a phrase beloved of the media.Like her leader, Theresa May, Ms Davidson has decided that her route to stardom will only be achieved by her wrapping herself in the union flag.
  
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• Dementia tax still hangs over us after Theresa May’s U-turn | Letters

  25-05-2017 20:55
  
  Theresa May speaks at an election campaign event on 22 May in Wrexham, Wales, at which her U-turn on social care became apparent, though she insisted nothing had changed and that she was just clarifying the proposals in the Conservative party manifesto.Polly Toynbee castigates Theresa May for her U-turn on social care funding (After May’s U-turn she can’t accuse anyone of weakness, 23 May).Polly believes Theresa was right to make rich people pay more for social care.
  
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• NHS trauma centres on alert for possible new attack

  25-05-2017 20:54
  
  All 27 major trauma centres in England have been told to prepare staff for a potential terrorist attack ahead of the Bank Holiday weekend.The advice from NHS England includes asking surgeons to review treatment of blast and ballistic injuries, and ensure that all staff are familiar with major incident plans.NHS England has asked the centres, which range from Newcastle to Plymouth, to make sure staff review their role in emergency planning.
  
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• Manchester suicide bomber Salman Abedi was neither radical nor cowardly | Letter from John Keane

  25-05-2017 20:52
  
  It is probably too late by now, but reading the agonised outpourings over the Manchester atrocity on your letters page (24 May) made me think how inappropriate is the language we have fallen into using to frame these events.This word has a long and noble history in progressive thinking, but has now been hijacked to describe allegiance to an ideology of brutal totalitarianism.
  
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• Science policy pales into insignificance | Letters

  25-05-2017 20:51
  
  Science and technology are a clear casualty of this futurephobic election campaign (Editorial, 22 May).The Conservative manifesto uses the word science just seven times and has the feeble target of 10 years to reach the OECD average investment in R&D (2.4% of GDP).• Unlike Eric Skyte (Letters, 18 May), I did not receive a letter from Mrs May. I have, however, received a compelling missive from our local Mole Valley Lib Dems, who took 39.7% of the vote this month against the Conservative
  
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• Church of Scotland in step towards conducting same-sex marriages

  25-05-2017 20:47
  
  The Church of Scotland has taken a significant step towards allowing ministers to conduct same-sex marriages as it apologised for historical discrimination against lesbian and gay people.The Kirk’s general assembly, meeting in Edinburgh, instructed officials to consider changes to church law that would allow ministers to preside over same-sex-marriage ceremonies.The Scottish Episcopal church is due to vote in a fortnight on whether to change its laws to allow same-sex church weddings, a mo
  
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• Hackers sought to discredit Russian opposition leader: researchers

  25-05-2017 20:25
  
  By Jim Finkle and Jack StubbsTORONTO/MOSCOW (Reuters) - Hackers sought to discredit leading Russian opposition figureAlexei Navalny in a disinformation campaign that implied he was working with a U.S. government group, Canadian cyber researchers said on Thursday.Targets included a former Russian prime minister and other officials from Russia, military officers, energy executives and an American working for a broadcaster funded by the U.S. government whose emails were used to discredit Navalny, C
  
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• Journalists condemn Trump for stirring up 'disturbing' anti-media feeling

  25-05-2017 20:15
  
  Greg Gianforte ‘body-slammed’ Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs to the ground after he was asked a routine policy question.The alleged assault of a Guardian reporter by a political candidate in Montana comes at a time of deteriorating relations between US news outlets and Republican politicians that has seen one reporter pinned against the wall at a federal agency, another journalist arrested and jailed for eight hours for asking a question, and the US president himself labelling the medi
  
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• Police close off London's Westminster Bridge over unattended vehicle

  25-05-2017 19:51
  Officers initially blocked vehicles and pedestrians from the crossing, then let pedestrians through again soon after."Officers are in attendance," a police spokesman said.Britain is currently on its highest alert level of critical meaning an attack by militants might be imminent following the suicide bomb attack in Manchester on Monday.
  
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• NHS England prepares hospitals for attack

  25-05-2017 19:30
  
  NHS England has told 27 major trauma centres to prepare staff for a potential terrorist attack ahead of the Bank Holiday weekend
  
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• Queen visits young victims of 'very wicked' Manchester attack

  25-05-2017 19:05
  
  The Queen speaks to Millie Robson, 15.The pair discussed Ariana Grande, whom the Queen described as ‘a very good singer’.The Queen has spoken to young victims of the Manchester arena suicide bombing on a visit to a hospital in the city, telling them the attack was “very wicked”.
  
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• Charlie Gard doctors can stop providing life support, court rules

  25-05-2017 19:03
  
  Charlie Gard, who has a rare genetic condition, can only breathe through a ventilator.A couple who want to stop doctors taking their baby son off life support so they can take him to the US for treatment could take their case to the supreme court.Appeal court judges ruled on Thursday that doctors could stop providing treatment nine-month-old Charlie Gard, who is being kept on a ventilator at Great Ormond Street hospital in London.
  
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• Ukip notches up own goals in attempt to play blame game | John Crace

  25-05-2017 18:45
  
  The heckles from Ukip supporters began even before the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg had finished asking her question.Almost every member of the media got booed for asking if Ukip was trying to make political capital out of the Manchester terrorist attack at its manifesto launch in central London.Not unreasonably, given that the party leader, Paul Nuttall, and Suzanne Evans, the author of the manifesto, had spent the first 20 minutes of their presentation talking about the Manchester bombing and
  
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• May raised intelligence concerns with Trump after leaks row - UK source

  25-05-2017 18:31
  British Prime Minister Theresa May raised concerns with U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday over leaks to U.S. media about the Manchester suicide bombing, a British government source said.May raised the issue of the intelligence leaks with Trump while they were waiting for a group photograph to be taken at a NATO summit in Brussels.Television pictures showed May and Trump talking while sitting side-by-side at the event.
  
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• Police: Significant arrests in Manchester investigation

  25-05-2017 18:30
  
  Police say important items have been recovered in raids connected to the Manchester bombing.
  
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• Armed police to patrol trains for first time amid terror threat

  25-05-2017 18:23
  Armed police are patrolling trains for the first time ever after the UK's terror threat level was increased.The move is the latest response by Britain's emergency services since the UK's terror threat level was raised from "severe" to its highest level of "critical", meaning an attack is expected imminently.
  
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• Don't Look Back in Anger becomes symbol of Manchester's spirit

  25-05-2017 18:14
  
  The moment a crowd of Mancunians spontaneously broke into a rendition of the Oasis song Don’t Look Back in Anger has been shared around the world, cementing the song as a symbol of Manchester’s resilience in the face of tragedy.The impromptu performance came at the end of a nationwide minute’s silence to honour the 22 people killed in Monday’s bombing at Manchester Arena.Following the silence, which was disturbed only by the whirring of a police helicopter above, a shout
  
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• Turkey says no record of Manchester bomber travelling to Syria

  25-05-2017 18:06
  By Orhan CoskunANKARA (Reuters) - The suicide bomber who killed 22 people in Manchester passed through Istanbul on his way to Europe but there were no records of him entering Syria during his travels, two Turkish security officials said on Thursday.The officials told Reuters that Turkey received no prior warning from European countries about the bomber, Salman Abedi, so he was allowed to travel on to Europe.
  
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• Trump condemns leaks after UK police stop sharing attack information

  25-05-2017 18:06
  
  By Elizabeth Piper and Estelle ShirbonBRUSSELS/LONDON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said on Thursday that "deeply troubling" leaks to U.S. media about the Manchester suicide bombing would be investigated, after irate British police stopped sharing information with U.S. agencies.British Prime Minister Theresa May said earlier she would tell Trump that intelligence shared between their two countries had to remain secure, in a rare public show of dissatisfaction with Britain's closest security
  
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• Are journalists prying too far into grief? | Jane Martinson

  25-05-2017 18:02
  
  Emma’s mother heard that her daughter had been caught up in a terrorist attack from the Sun newspaper while Emma (not her real name) was still in shock, a long way away, with a disconnected phone and her Facebook account hacked.Four years on, watching children being asked what they had seen the morning after the terrorist attack in Manchester reminded Emma, who now works as a mental health professional, how the media had made her own experience worse.
  
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• Developers sidelined in Moscow's $50 billion building bonanza

  25-05-2017 17:59
  By Svetlana Reiter and Katya GolubkovaMOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian developers who had hoped to be able to co-invest in Moscow's planned $50 billion (38.61 billion pounds) programme to resettle almost a million residents will only be involved as contractors, the city's deputy mayor told Reuters.Residential property developers, which include firms such as PIK , LSRand Etalon , have been hit hard by Russia's economic downturn, with some struggling to sell apartments they have built and burdened with
  
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• Woman survived Manchester bomb thanks to her phone, husband says

  25-05-2017 17:57
  
  People hold ‘I love MCR’ banners during a vigil in Manchester on Tuesday.The husband of a woman who was struck by the blast that claimed 22 victims in Manchester on Monday 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 towards her head.
  
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• Is UK sick man of Europe? Not yet, even as economy slows sharply

  25-05-2017 17:49
  
  By David MillikenLONDON (Reuters) - Britain's economy slowed more sharply than first thought in early 2017 as consumers felt the hit from the rise in inflation that followed the Brexit vote and exporters struggled to benefit from the weak pound.Thursday's downbeat official data - which contrasts with signs of acceleration in many other economies - comes two weeks before Britons vote in a national election.Although employment remains at a record high, the economy has lost a lot of its momentum of
  
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• Armed police patrol British trains for first time due to Manchester attack

  25-05-2017 17:46
  Armed police will patrol trains across Britain from Thursday for the first time, British Transport Police said, after the terror threat level was raised to critical following a suicide bombing in Manchester on Monday.Armed officers have been regularly patrolling the London Underground since December last year, but this will be the first time they have will have patrolled on board train services elsewhere in the country, the police said."By having firearms officers on board trains we're ensuring
  
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• Theresa May plans anti-extremism drive if Tories win election

  25-05-2017 17:44
  
  May set out a strategy to tackle non-violent as well as violent extremism in 2015.Theresa May is expected to launch a major offensive to “drive extremism out” of the public sector and civil society in the wake of the Manchester terrorist attack if the Conservatives win the general election on 8 June.A new commission charged with identifying and exposing examples of extremism is to be set up, and support will be given to the public sector and civil society in identifying extremists an
  
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• Charlie Gard's parents lose appeal over life support

  25-05-2017 17:32
  Charlie Gard's parents have lost their appeal against a ruling allowing doctors to withdraw their baby son's life support.
  
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• I threw bomber out of mosque, says chairman

  25-05-2017 16:55
  
  Abdullah Muhsin Norris, chairman ofSalaam Community centre in Moss Side, tells Sky News he threw Salman Abedi out of the mosque.
  
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• Ukip's latest reason for wanting to ban the burka might surprise you

  25-05-2017 16:52
  
  A line in the party’s manifesto is provoking a lot of conversation.
  
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• Trump says intelligence leaks 'deeply troubling'

  25-05-2017 16:48
  
  U.S. President Trump vowed on Thursday to bring anyone caught leaking U.S. intelligence to justice after British police stopped sharing information about the Manchester suicide bombing with the United States.In a statement released after Trump arrived at the NATO military alliance, the president said he would seek an official review to stop leaks that he said posed a serious security threat."The alleged leaks coming out of government agencies are deeply troubling," Trump said in the statement.
  
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• Former DJ Jonathan King charged with 18 sex offences

  25-05-2017 16:46
  Former DJ Jonathan King has been charged with 18 sexual offences allegedly carried out against boys between 1970 and 1986.The 72-year-old has been released on bail by Surrey Police, to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on 26 June.The charges are part of Operation Ravine, which Surrey Police launched in 2015 following a review by Merseyside Police into an earlier investigation, Operation Arundel, which dated back to 2000.
  
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• 'Very important' items found in Manchester attack investigation

  25-05-2017 16:43
  
  "Very important" items have been found in property searches after the Manchester attack and "significant" arrests have been made, say police.Two more people were arrested overnight in Greater Manchester, following other raids and arrests on Wednesday in Manchester, Wigan and Nuneaton in Warwickshire.A Whitehall source told Sky News that bomber Salman Abedi was one of many former "subjects of interest" (SOI) for MI5, and apparently not being actively investigated.
  
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