Britain is increasing police numbers by 40 per cent for Sunday's London marathon as part of an effort to reassure competitors and spectators after bombs devastated the Boston race on Monday.

US authorities today said 12 bodies have been recovered from the site of a massive explosion that leveled a fertiliser plant in the quiet central Texas town.

The estranged uncle of the Boston Marathon terror attacks suspects asked one of his nephew at large to surrender, saying his brother's children have brought shame to the entire Chechen community.

Cambridge, Massachusetts, has been in a lockdown after a series of events that followed when suspects in the Boston marathon bombing shot Sean Collier, a young Massachusetts Institute of Technology police officer (badge 179 but yet unnamed) in his cruiser. Rediff team reports.

Akhil Tripathi, father of the missing student who was wrongly identified as a suspect, tells Rediff.com's George Joseph

The constant buzz of helicopters have continued all night into the morning hours. In Cambridge on Friday most of the streets are eerily dead, and roads that are usually swarmed with pedestrians and drivers on their way to work are empty and still.

The two Boston Marathon bombing suspects are believed to be brothers of Chechen-origin, media reports said as authorities here ordered lockdown of the city to hunt for the surviving suspect after the other one was killed in a shootout with police.

Police are hunting in Watertown, 10-km from Boston, for someone they believe is the white-hatted "suspect number two" in the Marathon bombings, after a police officer was shot dead last night on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology campus.

In the video footage from surveillance cameras along the route of the marathon, the two men are seen walking together on the sidewalks in the direction of the finish line.

United States President Barack Obama on Thursday condoled the victims of the Boston Marathon bombings here in an emotional inter-faith service, vowing to find those responsible for this "senseless" act as he stressed that a "bomb cannot beat us" and the nation will "finish the race."

New York Knicks forward Rasheed Wallace announced his retirement from the National Basketball Association (NBA) on Wednesday after injuries ruled him out of this season's playoffs.

Investigators appear to have spotted a possible suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings through footage from surveillance videos that shows the individual allegedly carrying and planting the bomb near the finish line of the popular sporting event.

Leading news outlets like CNN and Fox News falsely reported that federal authorities had identified and arrested a suspect in the bombings.

The suspect, Paul Kevin Curtis, 45, was arrested by FBI on Wednesday at his residence in Corinth, responsible for the mailings of the three letters sent through the US Postal Service which contained a granular substance that preliminarily tested positive for ricin.

Boston police on Wednesday denied media reports that claimed a suspect in Marathon twin blasts has been arrested.

A letter sent to US President Barack Obama has been tested positive for the deadly poison ricin, federal investigating agencies said on Wednesday.

A "suspicious substance" was found in a letter sent to US President Barack Obama, the US Secret Service said on Wednesday.

Indian intelligence agencies say that in western countries lone warriors, working independent of terror outfits, are carrying out acts of terrorism, Vicky Nanjappa

Any move by developed nations to engage in financial protectionism and keep savings at home will be "terribly misguided", feels Chidambaram.

India has all the three requirements to guarantee investment protection--a stable and democratic political structure, a belief in the rule of law and transparent and independent legal system.

India is aiming for a material acceleration in growth, with targets of 6.1-6.7 per cent in the current fiscal 2013-14, over 7 per cent in FY 2015.

Vicky Nanjappa explains why the use of pressure cooker bombs isn't limited only to the Boston Marathon blasts.

The London Marathon will go ahead as planned on Sunday despite the bomb attack on the Boston race which killed three people and wounded more than 100, police and officials said on Tuesday.

A look at previous attacks on sports events and failed plots following Monday's bomb blasts that killed three people at the Boston Marathon.

The Boston bombs were lethal devices consisting of metal, nails and ball bearings crammed into pressure cookers, it has emerged.

The organisers of the Boston Marathon said on Tuesday they planned to hold the 118th edition of the race next year, vowing to continue in the wake of a bombing attack that killed three and injured 176 at the finish line on Monday.

Deadly bomb blasts that hit the Boston marathon on Monday will not affect the future of city sports events even though full security can never be guaranteed for the thousands of fans, experts said on Tuesday.

A day after twin bomb blasts rocked Boston, a senior Republican senator received a poison-laced letter, source of which is being investigated.

United States President Barack Obama described the Boston Marathon blasts as "an act of terror" and vowed to bring to justice all those who were responsible for the heinous and cowardly act.

An Indian-origin runner and his family escaped the twin bombings during the Boston Marathon as he finished the run about an hour before with a personal best time.

The Pakistani Taliban, which claimed responsibility for a botched car bombing in New York's Times Square in 2010, on Tuesday denied any role in the bombings at the Boston Marathon in the US that killed three people and injured over 140.

Bhasker Desai, a seasoned runner from Mumbai, timed a creditable 3:46:23 in the Boston Marathon, but the twin blasts left him shocked.

A woman, who witnessed the horrific Boston bombings, was reminded of the deadly 2008 attacks in Mumbai, a city she was visiting when Pakistani terrorists went on a rampage killing 166 people.

Analysts believe that it was unlikely that an international terror network was behind the explosions.

The Pakistani Taliban, which claimed responsibility for a botched car bombing in New York's Times Square in 2010, today denied any role in the bombings at the Boston Marathon in the US that killed three people and injured over 140.

A 78-year-old veteran American runner, knocked down by the huge impact of the two bombs that hit the Boston Marathon, has become an Internet sensation after he managed to get up and finish the race.

American sportstars react with horror to the Boston Marathon bomb blasts.

According to reports, federal investigators are looking into possible links with the Patriot's Day anniversaries of the Branch Davidian compound seige in Waco, Texas, and the Oklahoma City bombing.

"The people of India join me in condemning the attack in the strongest terms. We stand in solidarity and sympathy with the bereaved families, the injured and the people of the United States," Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said, expressing shock and sadness over the attack.

"This was my first time at Boston Marathon, and to get into the race you have to qualify certain criteria. It's more of a challenge you set for yourself," Andotra told rediff.com. "It was very unfortunate to see what happened. The commotion, the way people were disturbed. My family and I did go through some trouble but obviously it's nothing compared to people who were injured and lost their life."