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Seven victims were killed by a suicide bomber at Aldgate in 2005 Firefighters lacked the training and first aid equipment to treat the most seriously injured, the 7/7 London bombing inquests have heard.
They were told that some of the wounded in the attack at Aldgate in 2005 were untreatable by the fire service.
Firefighter Sean Jones said their first aid kit at the time was "useless" for dealing with such horrific injuries.
The inquests are into the deaths of 52 people who were killed by suicide bombers on three Tube trains and a bus.
Mr Jones told the hearings that he spent up to two hours in a bomb-damaged Tube train carriage at Aldgate trying to help the wounded and dying.
He said: "At that stage all we carried on our fire engine was a very basic first aid kit, a number of bandages, elastic tape.
"The nature of the injuries that we saw on the train, there was no mild first aid - it's either seriously injured or they get up and walk off.
"So there was no triage that needed to be done, there was nothing like that. It was just purely a case of the casualties that we saw were way beyond our remit and skill levels to be able to treat.
"So our first aid kit would have been useless anyway."
He added: "We needed paramedics and Hems [Helicopter Emergency Medical Service] there."
Hugo Keith QC, counsel to the inquests, asked him: "In truth there was nothing that you or perhaps the police officers could have done for them because none of you had the specialist medical equipment?"
Mr Jones, who was based at Southwark fire station in south London at the time, replied: "There was nothing that could have been done."
The firefighter said the lack of radio communications in the Tube tunnel made no difference to him.
He said: "We just did what we needed to do. At no point did we look for instruction or require instruction. We just got on with the work that needed to be done."
Shehzad Tanweer, one of the four bombers who carried out the London attacks, blew himself up on an eastbound Circle Line train at Aldgate station, killing seven other people.
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Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/uk-11665358
Danny Baker said he would be back at work "once the quacks have soundly thrashed this thing" BBC radio presenter Danny Baker has been diagnosed with cancer.
The BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC London 94.9 broadcaster said he would be starting chemotherapy this week, with further radiotherapy from January.
The 53-year-old apologised for withholding details of his illness when he was recently absent from his shows.
"Once the quacks have soundly thrashed this thing I shall return like a rare gas and as if out of a trap," he said in a statement to listeners.
"After a pretty mouldy diagnosis about a month back I finally begin chemotherapy on Monday with further radiotherapy from January," he said.
Baker presents a football-based programme on BBC Radio 5 Live on Saturday mornings and a weekday afternoon show on BBC London 94.9.
During a long career he has presented programmes including LWT's The Six O'Clock Show and his own chat show on BBC One.
He was also a music journalist for New Musical Express.
Adrian Van Klaveren, controller of BBC Radio 5 Live, said Baker would be "presenting some weeks but not others".
"I know this will come as quite a shock," he said, "but as you can see from his message, he's in good spirits".
"I am sure you will all join me in wishing him all the best for the months ahead."
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Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/uk-england-london-11668994
Manual scavenging is supposed to have been banned Hundreds of Indian workers employed to manually clean non-flush toilets have protested in Delhi against their working conditions.
They say that the authorities have failed to act despite declaring such work illegal, and should issue an apology for decades of discrimination.
Government figures suggest that about 300,000 low-caste Dalits are still employed in such work.
They are estimated on average to earn less than $4 (£2.50) a month.
The demonstrators began their protests a month ago by criss-crossing the country to highlight their demands.
Manual "scavenging" - removing human excreta from dry or non-flush toilets - is a centuries-old practice in India.
It is mainly carried out by the Dalits, formerly known as the untouchables, who are at the lowest rung of the Hindu caste system.
They go from house to house every morning to collect night soil, a euphemism for human faeces.
Although manual scavenging is prohibited by law, some government departments still have such workers. These include the railways ministry, which employs people to clean railway tracks as most trains have open-discharge toilets.
Government figures show there are more than 300,000 manual scavengers in India, but unofficial estimates put the number at more than one million.
The organisers of the protest say they want the government to completely eradicate the practice and rehabilitate those engaged in it.
They say that there will be a countrywide protest from November if the government fails to meet their demands.
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Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/world-south-asia-11667355
Police in Aberdeenshire are investigating the suspicious death of a man from the Peterhead area.
He died on Sunday evening shortly after being admitted to hospital in the town.
Grampian Police have cordoned off Claymore Crescent in Boddam and are centring their enquiries on a property there.
DCI Malcolm Stewart appealed to the public who might have seen something suspicious in the Claymore Crescent area shortly after 1700 GMT on Sunday.
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Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-11663640
Energy saving devices making people more lazy Our lives are full energy-saving devices, from ready meals to remote controls, all designed to make our lives easier.
But in this week's Scrubbing Up London-based sports-medicine experts Dr Richard Weiler from the Homerton Hospital and Dr Emmanuel Stamatakis from University College London argue they also make us lazier and create risks to our health.
A sedentary lifestyle is undeniably an environmental disease in its own right - with countless unpleasant signs and symptoms, which all lead to an early grave.
Humans are designed to move, not stay still. Millions of years hunting, farming and intense manual labour have shaped our bodies to their current form.
But suddenly (literally suddenly in evolutionary terms) we have found ourselves in an era when moving has become redundant.
Science and technology have undoubtedly made our lives easier.
Time, energy and money-saving advances have mechanised our way of life and reduced the amount of time we spend moving.
Opportunities to sit are virtually everywhere: at work, school, during transportation and at home. Quick fixes for health, appearance and emotional state are abundant and usually somebody else's responsibility.
Since most people blame lack of time as their main excuse for not being active, it is ironic that on average we waste over three hours watching television per day.
We have not been educated that it doesn't cost anything to be more active in everyday life. For example use the car less, walk more, walk up the escalators and use the stairs instead of the lift.
The values of active ancient civilisations - such as the Greeks, for whom physical and mental health were top priorities - are long forgotten.
Dr Richard Weiler and Dr Emmanuel Stamatakis“Sedentary living is the most prevalent disease, biggest silent killer and greatest health threat facing developed countries”
In essence, our environment has made it easy for us to live inherently lazy, slothful and sedentary lives.
With advances in measuring physical activity levels, we have discovered, to our horror, that 95% of the UK population are not even doing the minimum recommended amounts of physical activity to confer even basic health benefits (30 minutes' moderate to vigorous physical activity on at least five days a week - or the equivalent).
Whether slim or fat, a person leading a sedentary lifestyle has similar chances of dying young to a smoker.
Statistically, every week spent inactive is roughly equivalent to smoking a packet of cigarettes.
Conversely, becoming physically active at any age can reverse the health risks of sedentary living, where the least active stand to gain the most by moving more.
However, unlike smoking, sedentary lifestyles lead to more than 40 medically recognised chronic diseases, such as coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity, mental illness, dementia, some cancers. It also leads to reduced quality of life and, perhaps most importantly, unhappiness.
Inactivity in children leads to obesity and reduced academic performance across all socio-economic classes.
And inactivity among working adults leads to increased time off work and decreased productivity.
In the elderly, quality of life and independence are severely reduced, whilst health care costs are dramatically increased. Few areas of life escape unpleasant consequences. This burden on individual and society is enormous.
"Nanny-state!" is cried from the rooftops when attempts are made to inform people about their unhealthy behaviours, yet we allow greedy corporate advertising to influence our way of life and increase our consumption.
Market forces, mainly driven by the pharmaceutical industry, have turned each of the signs and symptoms of sedentary living into seemingly acceptable recognised "medical" diseases.
It makes no sense to throw billions of pounds at firefighting the symptoms whilst ignoring the main underlying cause.
In general, we have embraced our sedentary environment and, as such, perhaps ought not consider ourselves victims of these (mostly) self-inflicted chronic diseases. But, how much longer can we afford to remain stubbornly resistant to change and solutions?
Sedentary living is the most prevalent disease, biggest silent killer and greatest health threat facing developed countries.
Awareness, understanding and recognition of this major problem will help us all contemplate behaviour and environmental change with unusually welcome green outcomes. The solution is obvious: move!
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Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/health-11442101
The Scottish government invested £2.15m in its Gaelic Schools Fund last year Up to 860 people would have to become bilingual in Gaelic each year if the decline of the language was to be halted, according to a study.
A Royal Society journal published the research which found the language was in danger of becoming extinct.
However the authors said it could be saved by copying initiatives which had succeeded in revitalising Welsh.
Census data used in the study showed there were 250,000 Gaelic speakers 100 years ago compared to about 65,000 now.
The study said the decline was caused by people switching to English to open up social and economic opportunities.
However it said this process had been less severe in Wales - especially over the last 40 years - due to a range of initiatives to boost the language there.
The study said similar action was needed in Scotland to make it more advantageous to be a Gaelic speaker.
The authors said their mathematical formulae showed that between 440 and 860 Gaelic learners needed to become fully billingual each year to stem the language's decline, depending on how successful Gaelic-speaking parents were at passing on the language to their children.
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Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/uk-scotland-11662320
