BETHLEHEM, West Bank — President Donald Trump on Tuesday condemned a deadly attack at a pop concert in Manchester, England as the act of “evil losers” and called on nations to band together to fight terrorism.

“The terrorists and extremists, and those who give them aid and comfort, must be driven out from our society forever,” said Trump, speaking after a meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. “This wicked ideology must be obliterated, and I mean completely obliterated and innocent life must be protected.”

Trump spoke from Bethlehem in the West Bank, the morning after a blast that killed more than 20 people at an Ariana Grande concert. British officials have said they are treating the blast as an act of terrorism. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

Trump stressed his support for the United Kingdom and mourned the loss of “beautiful young people.” Relying on one of his preferred insults, Trump said he would call the perpetrators “losers, because that’s what they are.”

The president has used the stops in Saudi Arabia, Israel and the West Bank to call for the end of such violence. In a speech in Riyadh on Sunday, he urged Muslim leaders to eradicate what he called “Islamic extremism” and cast the effort as a “battle between good and evil.”

On Tuesday, he added: “All civilized nations must join together to protect human life and the sacred right of our citizens to live in safety and in peace.”

Trump also expressed optimism that he can help facilitate peace between Israel and Palestinians. He said he was “truly hopeful that America can help Israel and the Palestinians forge peace and bringing new hope the region and its people.”

Trump heads next to Europe, where planned meetings with world leaders on the economy and trade could be overtaken with discussion of terrorism and security.

Police: 22 dead, 59 injured at Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, UK after explosion

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A man photographs a sign in Manchester, Britain. Photo by Stefan Wermuth/Reuters

WASHINGTON — The United States’ top intelligence official says the U.S. government has not yet verified that the Islamic State group is responsible for the attack in Manchester, England, but called the deadly incident a reminder of how serious the terror threat remains.

“This threat is real, it’s not going away, and it needs significant attention,” Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats said during testimony Tuesday before the Senate Armed Services Committee. Coats said the attack was carried out by a suicide bomber.

Authorities are expected to provides updates after 1 p.m. ET today on the Manchester explosion that killed 22 people and injured dozens more at the end of an Ariana Grande concert Monday.

Coats appeared before the panel following a suicide attack at an Ariana Grande show in England that left 22 people dead and dozens more wounded. The Islamic State claimed it was behind the attack. The Islamic State group said one of its members planted bombs in crowds at the concert. The group warned in a statement posted on social media that more attacks are to come.

Coats, a former Republican senator from Indiana, told the panel that the extremist group frequently claims responsibility for violent attacks. He said he had just returned from a trip to London where he met with his counterparts in the British intelligence community. Coats said their gravest concern that the potential for attacks carried out by “inspired or homegrown” extremists, which are much more difficult to detect and prevent.

His testimony comes amid ongoing investigations into allegations that Russia tried to interfere in last year’s election. Coats refused to comment on a news report that President Donald Trump asked him to publicly deny any collusion between his campaign and Russia.

Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the committee’s chairman, asked Coats about The Washington Post report Monday that said Trump asked Coats and Michael Rogers, the director of the National Security Agency, to push back against an FBI investigation that’s been examining potential coordination between Moscow and the presidential campaign.

Coats did not deny the report but said he didn’t want to characterize or comment any private conversations with the president. Coats also said he had no documents about such a call. He was asked by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., if he had such material that could be provided to Robert Mueller, the special counsel named by the Justice Department to oversee the investigation.

Associated Press writer Eric Tucker contributed to this report.

READ MORE: 22 dead, 59 injured at Ariana Grande concert in Manchester after explosion, police say

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People take part in a vigil for the victims of an attack on concert goers at Manchester Arena, in central Manchester, Britain. Photo by Peter Nicholls/Reuters

A 22-year-old British man detonated a homemade bomb at Manchester Arena on Monday after an Ariana Grande concert, an act of terror that killed 22 people and injured dozens of others.

The explosion, which is currently being treated as a terrorist plot, is the deadliest attack in London since July 2005 suicide bombings in London claimed more than 50 lives.

WATCH: Police update on Manchester explosion that killed 22 people

On Tuesday night, Prime Minister Theresa May raised the country’s terrorism threat level to “critical,” suggesting “it is a possibility we cannot ignore that there is a wider group of individuals linked to this attack.”

Here’s what journalists and police have uncovered about the attack since Monday.

WHAT HAPPENED?

• Police confirmed that 22 people were killed in the explosion at the end of an Ariana Grande concert at the Manchester Arena.
• The bombing occurred around 10:33 p.m. local time, prompting panic among the concertgoers, many young, who were exiting the venue.

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• Twelve of the 59 injured in the attack were children under the age of 16, a UK ambulance official told the Associated Press.

WHO IS RESPONSIBLE?

• In a brief update Tuesday, Chief Constable Ian Hopkins of the Greater Manchester Police confirmed the identity of the suspect as 22-year-old Salman Ramadan Abedi. The constable did not provide many other details, but did caution that a coroner hadn’t officially identified the bomber. Abedi reportedly died in the explosion.
• It’s not clear whether the suspect acted alone or as part of a larger network, the constable added.
• A law enforcement official, speaking anonymously to The New York Times, said Abedi was the son of Libyan immigrants, born in 1994 in Britain. The official also told the Times that Abedi’s ID was found at the scene.
• Authorities said they arrested a 23-year-old in South Manchester as part of its ongoing investigation, but it’s not clear if the individual is connected to the explosion.
• The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack, but U.S. Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats said Tuesday that the U.S. government has yet to confirm this detail.

HOW DID LEADERS REACT?

A man photographs a sign in Manchester, Britain. Photo by Stefan Wermuth/Reuters

• President Donald Trump, speaking after a meeting with Palestine’s Mahmoud Abbas, condemned the attack Tuesday, saying that “this wicked ideology must be obliterated, and I mean completely obliterated and innocent life must be protected.”
• On Twitter, the president said “we stand in absolute solidarity with the people of the United Kingdom.”

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• In a televised speech Tuesday, May addressed the Manchester attack, saying that, “All acts of terrorism are cowardly attacks on innocent people, but this attack stands out for its appalling, sickening cowardice, deliberately targeting innocent, defenseless children and young people who should have been enjoying one of the most memorable nights of their lives.”
• The Queen issued a statement that called the attack an “act of barbarity.” She offered her “deepest sympathy” to those affected and thanked the emergency crews for their response.

WHAT’S NEXT?

• British Prime Minister Theresa May said the UK was raising its terror threat level from severe to critical, believing that another attack was imminent, AP reported.
• This meant an increased law enforcement presence at “big events,” such as football matches and concerts, she said.

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• In a statement Monday, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said there was no evidence to indicate a specific threat to the U.S. “However, the public may experience increased security in and around public places and events as officials take additional precautions,” it said.

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A white van reportedly veered off a roadway and struck pedestrians on the famed London Bridge in England late Saturday, injuring several people, according to the Associated Press.

The van was traveling at approximately 50 mph when the incident took place, according to BBC reporter Holly Jones who was at the scene and witnessed the crash. No deaths were immediately reported as emergency workers rushed to attend to the injured.

“He swerved right round me and then hit about five or six people,” Jones said. “He hit about two people in front of me and then three behind.”

The BBC reported that police arrested a man who “was handcuffed and had his shirt off” after the van traveled from central London toward the south end of the River Thames.

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One witness, Will Heaven, told Sky News he saw people who had been struck and at least one of them was placed inside an ambulance.

“We saw injured people on the road, injured people on the pavement,” he said.

London police also responded at Borough Market near London Bridge, and police asked pedestrians to avoid the area.

President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Theresa May have been briefed on the incident.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

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Police officers and ambulance crews stand outside Borough Market after an attack left seven people dead and dozens injured in London, Britain, on June 4, 2017. Photo by Peter Nicholls/Reuters

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump argued in favor of his controversial travel ban as London authorities responded to reports of a string of attacks Saturday night.

One tweet read: “We need to be smart, vigilant and tough. We need the courts to give us back our rights. We need the Travel Ban as an extra level of safety!”

At least seven died Saturday night after a van veered off the road and barreled into pedestrians on busy London Bridge. Three men fled the van with large knives and attacked people at bars and restaurants in nearby Borough Market, police and witnesses said. The attack unfolded quickly, and police said officers had shot and killed the three attackers within eight minutes.

Trump began tweeting about the incidents an hour or so after initial news reports. First, he retweeted a Drudge Report item about the attacks, then provided his own message about the travel ban.

A few minutes later Trump tweeted a message of support for Londoners: “Whatever the United States can do to help out in London and the U. K., we will be there – WE ARE WITH YOU. GOD BLESS!”

Earlier this week, the Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to immediately reinstate its ban on travelers from six mostly Muslim countries and refugees from anywhere in the world. The administration argues that the U.S. will be safer if the policy is put in place.

READ NEXT: What’s next for Trump’s revised travel ban?

Lower courts have blocked the Trump policy, citing various reasons including statements Trump made during the 2016 campaign. The legal fight pits the president’s authority over immigration against what lower courts have said is a policy that purported to be about national security but was intended to target Muslims.

Trump later called Prime Minister Theresa May to offer condolences. The White House said the president “praised the heroic response of police and other first responders and offered the full support of the United States government in investigating and bringing those responsible for these heinous acts to justice.”

The State Department issued a statement condemning them as “cowardly.”

“The United States stands ready to provide any assistance authorities in the United Kingdom may request,” State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said.

“Our hearts are with the families and loved ones of the victims. We wish a full and quick recovery to those injured in the attacks. All Americans stand in solidarity with the people of the United Kingdom,” she said.

This report was written by the Associated Press.

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This past weekend presented another harrowing series of days for the United Kingdom.

On Saturday night in London, three men drove a white van into a group of pedestrians on London Bridge. The van then continued on to nearby nightspot Borough Market, where the men exited and began stabbing civilians in pubs and restaurants. Less than 10 minutes after being alerted, police put an end to the violence by shooting roughly 50 bullets at the attackers, killing all three and hitting one civilian, who is said to be in stable condition.

As of Monday morning, reports indicate that at least seven people were killed on Saturday and 48 hospitalized — 21 are said to be in critical condition. On Sunday, more than 24 hours after the attack occurred, the Islamic State terror group claimed responsibility for the attack.

Saturday's events came less than two weeks after a terrorist bombing killed 22 people in the city of Manchester, and is the third major terrorist attack to hit England in the last three months.

In its wake, the message sent by many Londoners, including those who survived the attack, was one of solidarity. But while the people of England seem to be united in the wake of the attack, politicians across the world did not put up such a unified front.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan issued a swift condemnation of the attackers, saying he was “appalled and furious” at the “cowardly” attack. He also urged residents to remain calm, even as police presence in the city is heightened over the last several days, telling Londoners there was "no reason to be alarmed" by the increase in security. 

On Twitter, President Donald Trump called out Mayor Khan for telling the public that there was "no reason to be alarmed" after the attack, seemingly taking the mayor's message out of context. 

In her response to the attack, British Prime Minister Theresa May, who is facing a general election this Thursday, outlined four changes that need to take place in order to properly counter terrorism in the United Kingdom. But former U.K. Independence Party Leader Nigel Farage told Fox News on Sunday that he was not reassured by her words, and that "unless people see some really concrete action is going to be taken, then I think the calls for interning thousands of suspects will grow louder and louder.”

For more on the British government’s ongoing response to Saturday’s attack, The Takeaway turns to Usama Hasan, head of Islamic Studies with Quilliam International.

Almost a year ago, Charlie Gard was born in a London hospital with a rare mitochondrial DNA depletion syndrome that left him profoundly brain damaged. The hospital, mindful of the infant’s pain, wanted to end life support. The distraught parents fought the decision, and went to court to keep their baby alive — a drama that captured the sympathy of the nation. But the saga did not stay on that side of the Atlantic. Offered false hope by an American doctor promoting his own treatment, the family became tools of right-wing American critics of Britain’s single-payer National Health Service, who portrayed Charlie as a martyr to the tyranny of statism. Bob speaks with conservative British journalist Melanie Phillips about what the American right-wing media has gotten wrong about Charlie Gard's story, and why the conservative media in Britain and the United States approach healthcare so differently. 

Nick Lowe made it big as a pioneer of what the English called “pub rock,” and Americans usually call power-pop. Lowe had his biggest successes in the New Wave era but continues to release records and perform -- in the opinion of one fan, staff writer Nick Paumgarten, Lowe is as great as he ever was. He digitally reissued six of his albums earlier this summer on Yep Roc Records, with physical releases planned. Now the musician is engaged in figuring out how to age gracefully in rock and roll. “Some of my colleagues and associates have to behave like they did when they were young, and I wanted to avoid that rubbish at all costs,” he told Paumgarten on a recent visit. “The thing was for me to accept the fact that I was getting older, and to actually embrace it and use it as an advantage instead of trying to hide it.” But, after the rocker recently lost close friends to illness, accepting old age might be getting a little harder. 

Tessa Hadley reads her story from the October 16, 2017, issue of the magazine. Hadley has published six novels and four short-story collections, including “Sunstroke and Other Stories” and “Married Love.” In 2016, she won the Windham-Campbell Prize for Fiction.

Fiona Mozley discusses her novel Elmet, a finalist for the Man Booker Prize. It tells the story of a family living an isolated, self-sufficient life in Elmet, a corner of Yorkshire. But after a catastrophic event occurs, it becomes clear the family’s solitary idyll will not last and their way of life is threatened.

Event: Mozley will be giving a reading and will be in conversation with author Hallgrimur Helgason at McNally Jackson Bookstore on January 18 at 7 p.m. moderated by Arianna Rebolini, the Books Editor at Buzzfeed News.

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The BBC spent 22 years negotiating with Buckingham Palace for an interview with Queen Elizabeth II. And they finally got it.

As part of the documentary "Coronation Day," which is airing on the BBC and the Smithsonian Channel here in the former colonies, BBC’s royal commenter Alastair Bruce sat down with the 91-year-old monarch to talk about the crown jewels, including the more manageable "Imperial State Crown," that weighs almost three pounds.

"You can't look down to read the speech, you have to take the speech up. Because if you did your neck would break, it would just fall off," the Queen tells Bruce. 

Here to explain this interview is such a big deal is Kristen Meinzer, director of nonfiction programming at Panoply and co-host of “When Meghan Met Harry: A Royal Weddingcast.”

You can find "The Coronation" on the Smithsonian Channel this weekend. 

This segment is hosted by Todd Zwillich. 

Last week, former Russian spy Sergei V. Skripal and his daughter Yulia were found unconscious on a park bench in the small southern city of Salisbury in England. They appeared to be victims of a targeted poisoning.

Skripal was once locked up in Russia for secretly working for England's MI6, but was released to the UK as part of a prisoner exchange.

Now, all eyes are on Moscow. The attack appears to be part of a broader pattern of Russian dissidents being targeted in assassination attempts, both at home and abroad. But this incident in the UK is eerily reminiscent of a similar attack, when Alexander Litvinenko was murdered after ingesting polonium in 2006.

How will the UK respond to this incident? Emily Tamkin, a Russia expert, and a staff writer for  Foreign Policy  magazine, joins the show to discuss the potential implications.

Click on the 'Listen' button above to hear this segment. Don't have time to listen right now? Subscribe to our podcast via iTunes, TuneIn, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts to take this segment with you on the go.

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