Boston Marks a Somber Anniversary

Today marks one year since two bombs at the finish line of the Boston Marathon killed three people, injured hundreds, and horrified the nation, and the city is preparing for a week of commemorations—including this year's marathon, which will go ahead on Monday under tight security.

• Joe Biden will lead a ceremony at Boston's Hynes Center today, while President Obama will mark the anniversary with a moment of silence at the White House, reports the AP. He will be with aides in the Oval Office at 2:49pm, the time the bombs went off.

• A service of "remembrance, reflection, and renewal" this morning at the chapel of Massachusetts General Hospital, which dealt with some of the worst of the carnage, will be the first of many ceremonies to honor victims and first responders, the New York Times reports. Bells across the city will ring at 2:49pm.
• Survivors and relatives of victims are traveling to Boston from around the country and world this week, the Boston Globe finds. The parents of Lingzi Lu, who was killed in the bombing, have traveled from China to honor their only child. "We cherish everything that Lingzi was a part of," her father says "Even though last year’s Marathon [was tragic], we want to be there to witness something good come out of it."
• The marathon will go ahead Monday or the 118th time, this year with the field expanded to 36,000 to accommodate thousands of runners halted by last year's blast, reports the Washington Post. A million spectators are expected to line the route—twice the usual number.

(More Boston Marathon bombing stories.)