Okay, hope this helps the confusion. I'm English and this is the run down from the BBC, big name over here for news and TV altogether.

Shepherd's Bush: Reports of small explosion. Eyewitnesses reportedly see man run from scene. Large area cordoned off.
Oval: Man runs off train after a small bang as train reaches station, eyewitnesses reportedly say. Large area cordoned off.
Warren Street: Witnesses report hearing bang at front of train, passengers running to back of train and evacuating at station. Large area cordoned off.
Hackney Road: Explosion on the top deck of number 26 bus travelling from Waterloo to Hackney. Large area cordoned off.
University College Hospital: Armed police officers deployed for "incident", thought to be search for suspect. Large area cordoned off. Incident briefly "stood down", but police return later to search premises.
Injuries: One.
Arrests: Police sources tell BBC two people detained, both in Whitehall area, officers looking for unknown number of fugitives.
Chemical and other agents: None found after initial checks at all three Tube stations and on bus.
Tube closures: Hammersmith & City, Victoria and Northern lines suspended. Trains also not running on Piccadilly, Bakerloo and Circle lines. Police advise London workers to stagger their journeys home.

What happened in most of the cases was that the triggering device (a smaller explosive) went off, but failed to actually trigger the larger explosive, so it wasn't as bad.

There has been some talk of the possibility that MI5 set up some raids and sold duff explosives to the places you would usually get them, and that this may have caused this. Knowing the British intelligence services, this wouldn't surprise me.

Is MI5 like MI6?

MI5 are essentially military intelligence for Britain and all homeland-related stuff, MI6 are more to do with international and overseas things.

Aah. Is that what the MI stands for? Military Intelligence? Meh. What an oxymoron. >.>

And you'ld never hear the U.S. gov't admitting to feeding them false explosives, sadly. They'd just go in and expect everyone to surrender - or welcome them with open arms.

I live four tube stops away from Shepherd's Bush.

Yes, if they did that in America there would be a large scandal. How dare you force people to sell bad goods? Your infringing on our right to buy stuffs! Where is our right to privacy!

Christ. The police here just shot a man dead on the tube.

I saw that just now. They are on orders to shoot to kill anyone they suspect may be about to detonate a bomb.

The American news is reporting that the man fled when they attempted to stop him. I'm afraid to say that this doesn't surprise me at all - they killed a small child a few weeks ago out in Cali, because the suspect wouldn't put him down.

Is it really true your police don't generally carry guns? o.O

Of course, guns beget guns. They are only used in extreme circumstances, by specially trained armed police (they train them mainly in how NOT to use guns). Britain doesn't have half (in fact I don't think it even has a quarter) of the gun crime America does, and I think the authorities' refusal to use guns to solve every situation is one of the main reasons for this.

If the police are actually chasing down and shooting people in public areas we know there was a very good reason for it, because that really doesn't happen here.

I can't really express how sad that makes me. I just want to bash my head on the keyboard and hope something expressive comes out. Blah. I don't know what the F**k is wrong with this world, we shouldn't be at the point where we need to shoot people for being suspicious.

They have to do what they have to do, though.

Aye, that's what I figured. It's sad what people are forced to resort to, but as you said, there was most likely a very good reason for it - I've always lived my life believing that the sacrifice of one life is worth the salvation of a hundred others.

But I'm greedy like that.

As per MSNBC. I'm curious - not even American police do this. Pinned and THEN shot him to death? ...Wow.

o_O How do you justify pinning someone down and THEN shooting them?

Agreed. I mean, I'm sure they had damn good reason. But, still. I mean, they were wearing a heavy cloak - perhaps they had a bomb on them, and they were moving as though they might trigger it. I guess.

Don't worry, the family will sue the cops and win lots of money because Sueing > saving people's lives.

Not in the U.K. Only in the U.S.

Thank god. Sueing is fine, unless you're a moron. Which, sadly, describes about 90% of the U.S.

Well, interestingly enough, it's far easier to sue for libel in the U.K. than in the U.S.