Nineteen people have been killed and more than 50 injured in a suspected terror attack at Manchester Arena. The blast happened on Monday evening following a pop concert by the US singer Ariana Grande. As concertgoers — many of them young fans of the singer — were beginning to leave, an explosion rocked the area. Unconfirmed reports from two unnamed US officials suggested the attack was carried out by a suicide bomber. A male at the scene in Manchester has been identified as the probable suspect.
Over in Turkey, the Foreign Ministry on Monday announced it had summoned the U.S. Ambassador to Ankara to protest “aggressive and unprofessional actions” taken by U.S. security personnel on the security team of the Turkish Foreign Minister. Tensions erupted between anti-Erdogan protestors and Turkish security personnel outside the Turkish embassy’s residency on May 16 as Erdogan visited Washington to meet U.S. President Donald Trump. In a statement, the Ministry stated it formally requested that the U.S. authorities conduct a full investigation of this diplomatic incident.
Lastly, around 20,000 people from across Iraq visited the capital of the Kurdistan Region on Monday night, as Erbil hosted Iraq’s first internationally sanctioned football match since 2013. Iraq’s Defending Cup champions Air Force Club, or al-Jawiya played against a l-Zawraa in the second-round match of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The match held at Hariri stadium in Erbil ended in a draw.
