Daniel Biddle suffered extensive injuries after the bomb in his Tube carriage was detonated
A survivor of the 7 July blast at Edgware Road Tube station has told an inquest how he was standing next to the bomb when it detonated.
Mohammad Sidique Khan killed himself and six other people when he detonated his device.
Daniel Biddle, 31, who was next to the bomber, lost both legs, his left eye, his spleen and pints of blood.
He told the inquest into the 2005 attacks he was “terrified… and thought I was going to die”.
He also said a 20p piece remained lodged in his thigh bone, and that other shrapnel, including his door keys, was removed by surgeons.
Attending the Royal Courts of Justice for the inquest, Mr Biddle, a construction manager, said he had been blown out of the westbound Circle Line train as he travelled to work.
He described how Khan, who got on the train at King’s Cross, sat between 6ft and 10ft away from him before detonating his bomb by pulling a white cord.
Mr Biddle said: “The train entered the Tube tunnel, I looked around.
“As I looked around, he looked up and I saw a quick movement. Then there was a big white flash.
“The kind of noise you get when you tune a radio in. It felt like the carriage I was in expanded at a fast rate and then contracted quickly.
“And with that it blew me off my feet and through the carriage doors into the tunnel.”
He also said that Khan “looked up and along the carriage and just looked down” before he set the device off.
“He didn’t say anything or shout anything I remember hearing. He got his head down, moved his arm and the next thing I am outside the train.”
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Nick Griffin has been receiving treatment for kidney stones
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The battle between the equalities watchdog and the British National Party over the party’s membership policy returns to court on Monday.
The BNP voted on new rules after facing the threat of a court injunction over its “whites only” membership.
But the Equality and Human Rights said the new rules were still “indirectly discriminatory”.
BNP leader Nick Griffin has applied for the cases to be thrown out but is not at court as he is in hospital.
It is understood he is being treated for kidney stones.
BNP supporters and rival activists from Unite Against Fascism have been outside the Royal Courts of Justice ahead of the hearing.
The BBC’s Mike Sergeant said if the BNP lost the case, the equalities commission was likely to press for the party’s assets to be seized.
Earlier this year BNP members backed changes to the party’s constitution to allow “non-indigenous Britons” to join, after the Commission took legal action.
But the court has previously heard that prospective members still had to sign up to principles including a duty to oppose the promotion of any form of “integration or assimilation” that impacted on the “indigenous British”, and a requirement to support the “maintenance and existence of the unity and integrity of the indigenous British”.
The commission argues that the principles could be interpreted to oppose mixed marriages and could force people to deny their own identity. The BNP says the case is a politically motivated and a waste of public money.
In a statement, the BNP said: “Regardless of whether our chairman is fit to attend, our activists will be outside the court to protest against this taxpayer-funded assault on our freedom of association.
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The Chilean miner who famously jogged underground while awaiting rescue has completed the New York City Marathon
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As a debutant, Haider scored a half century against England this summer
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Pakistani wicketkeeper Zulqarnain Haider has gone missing in Dubai, team manager Intikhab Alam has said.
The 24-year-old’s disappearance comes ahead of Monday’s deciding one-day international against South Africa.
Haider reportedly received a threatening message after helping Pakistan to victory in Friday’s fourth one-day international.
He was fined $136 (£220) on Sunday after breaking curfew hours imposed by the team management.
“I can’t make much comment on this, but can only confirm that Haider went missing and did not come the ground with other players,” Mr Alam told journalists in Dubai on Monday.
Haider reportedly sent a text to a Pakistani journalist and posted a message on his own Facebook page which both said he was “leaving Pakistan cricket because get bad msg fr 1 man fr lose the match in last game”.
He scored a match-winning 19 not out to help Pakistan win the fourth one-day International played in Dubai on Friday which levelled the five-match series 2-2.
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An explosion in the southern Iraqi city of Basra has left at least five people dead and 37 more injured, hospital sources say.
The explosion, reportedly caused by a car bomb, struck a busy street in the city’s south-western Qibla district.
Earlier in the day, two bombings in Iraq’s holy Shia cities of Karbala and Najaf killed at least 14 people.
Basra, in the largely Shia Muslim south of Iraq, has been comparatively free of insurgent violence this year.
However, a twin car bomb attack in August left more than 40 people dead.
Monday’s three attacks came as Iraq’s top political leaders met publicly for the first time with the aim of ending a protracted crisis over forming a new government.
Iraq has been without a government for eight months after inconclusive general elections in March.
Monday’s attack in Basra struck a busy street filled with restaurants, cafes and shops, sources said.
Security forces have cordoned off the area and the injured have been taken to hospital.
Police say the target for the earlier blast in Karbala was a bus carrying Iranian pilgrims
Earlier, Shia pilgrims were targeted in the blast in Karbala, south of Baghdad, which killed seven people.
Hours later, the explosion in nearby Najaf killed at least seven more. Iranian pilgrims were among those killed and injured.
The holy places draw hundreds of thousands of pilgrims from all over Iraq and from neighbouring Iran every year.
Pilgrims on the routes to the holy places have also often been attacked by bombers, who are believed to be Sunni militants.
Last week about a dozen co-ordinated bombs targeted Shia districts across Baghdad, killing more than 60 people and wounding hundreds.
Those attacks came two days after at least 52 people were killed as police stormed a church in Baghdad where hostages were being held.
Analysts have said that the spike in violence could be a last-ditch attempt by al-Qaeda to exploit the political vacuum in the country.
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Burma’s media reported the election was a successful, smoothly-run process
Votes are being counted after Burma’s first election for two decades, a poll condemned by Western governments as neither free nor fair.
Sunday’s poll was boycotted by the main pro-democracy opposition party, the NLD. Parties close to the military junta are expected to do well.
There were reports of irregularities, voter intimidation and a low turn-out.
Meanwhile, violent clashes between ethnic rebels and government troops have erupted near the Thai border.
Members of the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army staged an armed demonstration of their opposition to the vote, which many fear the junta will use to strengthen their control over the ethnic minorities.
In response, Burmese government troops gathered and clashes broke out early on Monday. Several people are said to have been injured and there are unconfirmed reports of deaths.
The poll is the first in the military-ruled nation since 1990, when the Aung San Suu Kyi-led National League for Democracy secured an overwhelming victory but was never allowed to take power.
The ruling generals say the election marks the transition from military rule to a civilian democracy, but the poll has been widely condemned as a sham.
Despite this, some analysts say the election – although deeply flawed – could mark the start of a process of democratisation, by giving opposition lawmakers a voice, however limited, in the institutional decision-making process.
Low turnout
Burma’s state-run media has described the election as a successful, smoothly-run process.
BURMA ELECTION: NUMBERSFirst election in 20 yearsTotal of 37 parties contesting the polls29 million voters eligible to cast ballots1.5 million ethnic voters disenfranchised because areas deemed too dangerous for voting to take placeAbout 3,000 candidates of whom two-thirds are running for junta-linked partiesNo election observers, no foreign journalists
David v Goliath in Rangoon How democratic are the polls?Voters were electing candidates to a two-chamber parliament and 14 regional assemblies.
More than two-thirds of the 3,000 candidates were running for two parties closely linked to the military junta.
Turn-out for the election was reportedly low.
A BBC correspondent in Burma’s largest city, Rangoon, described the atmosphere on Sunday as subdued, with no queues at polling stations.
Some voters told the BBC they could not vote in private, while opposition groups alleged many state employees had been pressured to vote in advance for the main pro-military party.
The NLD, and party leader Ms Suu Kyi – who remains under house arrest – boycotted the polls because of election laws they said were unfair.
The constitution reserves more than a quarter of seats in the new parliament for the army.
Clashes between Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) soldiers and government troopsThe DKBA split from the Karen National Union – whose armed wing is fighting the government – in 1994The DKBA was allied with the junta, but one faction rejects government demands to become part of a centrally-controlled border forceThe faction is known as Brigade 5 and comprises 1,000 fightersIn pictures: Burma ethnic clashes Bleak outlook for ethnic groups
Dozens of senior officers have recently “retired” to stand for the government-approved Union Solidarity and Development Party – by far the strongest party.
The combined force of these two groups will likely mean that they have an effective veto over legislation.
Hundreds of thousands of ethnic voters – who make up 40% of the population – were unable to take part in the polls because in areas deemed too volatile, polling was not held.
Western nations have criticised the conduct of the election; US President Barack Obama said it had not met “internationally accepted standards”, while the UK said the results were “a foregone conclusion”.
In a joint statement on Monday, the US and Australia called for the immediate release of political prisoners including Aung San Suu Kyi.
It is not clear when election results will be released.
Tensions surrounding the poll spilled into violence on Monday in the town of Myawaddy, on the Thai border, in a clash between a Karen rebel faction and government troops.
BURMA ELECTION: PARTIESUnion Solidarity and Development Party: Junta-linked party contesting every seat – about 1,160National Unity Party: Junta-linked party contesting 999 seatsNational Democratic Force: Pro-democracy party contesting 163 seatsShan Nationalities Democratic Party: Largest of the ethnic parties, contesting 157 seats
Burma election: The partiesEthnic groups in Burma have been demanding – without success – greater regional autonomy from the majority Burman-led central government since independence from Britain in 1948.
Many have suffered persecution at the hands of the government.
A splinter group of the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army, known as Brigade 5, briefly occupied a police station and polling booth on Sunday.
In response, Burmese government troops gathered and clashes broke out early on Monday.
There were also reports of stray shells landing on the Thai side of the border, injuring at least eight people.
More than 1,000 Burmese people are reported to have fled the fighting, crossing into Thailand.
Clashes have now spread further south to the Three Pagodas Pass, and the Thai army says it is sending reinforcements to the area.
Observers had feared violence after the election between the Burmese military and several ethnic armies – few expected it to break out so soon.
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