Bombings in Moscow?

World news can be quite shocking. One wakes up in the morning and hears about killings and bombings and death and catastrophy and agony in the news. This morning though, Monday March 29th, Muscovites did not hear anyhting about the suicide blasts that had hit two underground trains and stations of Moscow's Metro until 2 hours later. National radio and TV kept broadcasting morning shows, advertisements and soaps, but nothing about the devastation in their city. People left homes for work, still embarking trains, clueless about the threat. This practice of delaying news reports or even conceal them must have reminded everyone of the autocratic and secretive way officials handled reporting of current matters in socialist Russia.

In the attacks, occuring at Lublyanka station and Park Kultury, 38 people were killed and dozens more injured. Russian officials blamed Islamist separatists from the Caucasus for the attack in the heartland of Russia. (Picture by Time Magazine)