Residents of Massachusetts are being asked by Governor Deval Patrick to observe a moment of silence today at the time two bombs exploded at the Boston Marathon a week ago.  The one minute tribute to the victims is set for 2:50 p.m. Eastern Time and will be followed by the ringing of bells in Boston and other cities and towns in Massachusetts.

The surviving brother suspected in the Boston bombings is said to be awake now and communicating with investigators.  Dzhokhar Tsarnaev suffered a gunshot wound to his neck.  Federal agents also want to speak to the American widow of the dead suspect, Tamerlan Tsarnaev,  as they continue to search for a motive for last week’s bombings.  Investigators also want to know whether the Boston bombings were part of a larger terrorist conspiracy.  The Tsarnaev brothers immigrated to the U.S. from Chechnya in 2002.  The FBI questioned Tamerlan in 2011 at Moscow’s request, but concluded he wasn’t a threat and had no links to Islamic terrorist organizations.  Friends of the 26 year old suspect say he was noticeably different after he travelled back to Chechnya last year with a much more hardline Islamic mindset.