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Manchester bomber didn't act alone; more arrests likely, say police

The Libyan-origin suicide bomber, who carried out the terror attack in Manchester city killing 22 people, did not act alone, police said, indicating that more arrests are likely.

The Greater Manchester police said that their investigation into the terror attack carried out by Salman Abedi, 22, at the end of a concert by American pop star Ariana Grande in May, is likely to lead to further arrests.


Detective Chief Superintendent Russ Jackson, head of counter-terrorism in north-west England, said that Abedi had carried the explosive device through the streets of Manchester for "several hours" before blowing up at his intended target.

"We are still working to understand the manner by which he became radicalised," Jackson told reporters at Greater Manchester Police headquarters this week.

Abedi's family is from Libya but fled during the dictatorship of Muammar Gaddafi.

Abedi travelled to Libya numerous times and police are investigating how he learnt to make a bomb.

Detectives are working with Libyan authorities to question Abedi's brother, 20-year-old Hashem, who is being held in Tripoli. He was arrested along with their father Ramadan.

"Salman Abedi travelled to Libya a number of times in his life. What we are looking at is the number of ways he learned the skills to build the device," Jackson said.

Officers are still searching for a blue suitcase in a landfill site, which has been described as a "key line in the inquiry".

The police investigation into the attack is expected to continue for "many, many months to come" as police have 16,000 hours of CCTV footage and 755 statements to analyse.

More than 250 people were hurt with injuries ranging from paralysis and loss of limbs to internal and facial injuries in the blast.

The bomb had a "devastating" impact and gouged out a section of the concrete floor of Manchester Arena in the heart of the city.

Greater Manchester Police also disclosed more emotional details of the aftermath of the attack on May 22, describing how forensics officers had used roses and nameplates to pinpoint where the bodies of families' loved ones fell in a dignified way.

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Lakshmi Mittal

Mittal's exit comes as Rachel Reeves prepares a fresh tax raising budget aimed at balancing the government's finances

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Lakshmi Mittal quits Britain for Switzerland and Dubai over inheritance tax concerns

Highlights

  • Lakshmi Mittal, worth over £15 bn, has moved his tax residence from UK to Switzerland with plans to spend most time in Dubai.
  • Inheritance tax concerns, not income tax, drove the decision of the "King of Steel" to leave after 30 years in Britain.
  • The departure marks another high-profile exit as chancellor Rachel Reeves prepares major tax rises in the coming Budget.
Lakshmi Mittal, one of Britain's wealthiest men, has ended his three-decade association with the UK, relocating his tax residence to Switzerland and planning to base himself in Dubai. The 74-year-old steel magnate, worth approximately £15.5 bn according to the Asian Rich List 2025, is the latest prominent entrepreneur to leave Britain amid Labour's tax reforms targeting the super-rich.

The Indian-born billionaire built his fortune through ArcelorMittal, the world's second-largest steelmaker, in which he and his family hold nearly 40 per cent ownership. Since arriving in London in 1995, Mittal became a prominent figure in British business, acquiring expensive properties including a £57 m mansion on Kensington Palace Gardens known as the "Taj Mittal."

An adviser familiar with Mittal's family plans told The Sunday Times that, inheritance tax was the decisive factor in the decision. "It wasn't the tax on income or capital gains that was the issue, the issue was inheritance tax."

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