Russia Today presenter Yulia Shapovalova ended her shift Monday morning and made her way down to the Park Kultury metro station. After entering the station, she was quickly told to evacuate by officials who, little did she know, were trying to clear out the station before a female suicide bomber detonated a charge.

In the interview, Shapovalova is visibly distraught.

Two female suicide bombers detonated bombs today, one at Lubyanka station around 7:50 a.m., and the other, about 40 minutes later, at Park Kultury station across town. Preliminary estimates place the death toll at around 40, however some have reported it being as high as 60 and even 100.

Islamic extremists from the Caucasus region, which includes Chechnya, which has long been at odds with Russian government, are being blamed for the attacks. In 2004, extremists from the region set off a bomb in Moscow’s metro station, killing at least 40 and injuring more than 130.

No groups have yet taken responsibility for the blasts.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin vowed "the terrorists will be destroyed." In a speech this morning, President Obama condemned the “heinous” terrorist attacks and pledged to stand with Russia in the fight against global violent extremism.

With files from the New York Times.

As Gazans mark the anniversary of last month’s bombardment by Israel, children in the strip are suffering more and more. Israel’s bombing of the Gaza strip in 2006 and the winter of 2008/09 has reportedly caused birth defects in Gazan children, according to doctors in the strip.

High levels of toxins caused by the bombs, as well as the trauma of the war, is cited as one of the main reasons doctors are seeing a higher number of defects in children born since 2006.

A news story by Al Jazeera English reports on the trauma of one child affected by the bombing. His mother was forced to give birth in a “makeshift” clinic during the bombing last year and her son, Mohammad, has cerebral palsy:

A 24-year-old Colorado resident was indicted in a New York federal court Thursday on charges of conspiracy to use explosive bombs in the United States.

Najibullah Zazi, according to Justice Department documents, received “detailed bomb-making instructions in Pakistan, purchased components of improvised explosive devices, and traveled to New York City on September 10, 2009 in furtherance of his criminal plans. “¦ Zazi remained committed to detonating an explosive device up until the date of his arrest” according to the FBI.

FBI agents arrested Zazi last week on charges of lying to the FBI regarding a domestic and international terrorism case.

Zazi “”¦knowingly and intentionally conspired with others to use one or more weapons of mass destruction” the FBI reports.

A search of Zazi’s home computer turned up bomb-making instructions and frequent searches of hydrochloric acid, a highly corrosive mineral acid. He also allegedly purchased several items needed to produce Triacetone Triperoxide (TATP) a highly unstable‚ powder used in the July 2005 London bombings.

According to the FBI, Zazi and his companions purchased “unusually large amounts” of hydrogen peroxide and acetone products – both of which can be used to produce TATP.

Authorities also intercepted e-mail and text messages that showed Zazi had deep interests in acquiring bomb-making instructions.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, though optimistic, acknowledged the case is ongoing and the threat has not been completely curbed. “We believe any imminent threat arising from this case has been disrupted, but as always, we remind the American public to be vigilant and to report any suspicious activity to law enforcement.”

If convicted, Zazi faces life imprisonment.

The investigation is being conducted by the Denver and New York FBI Joint Terrorism Task Forces, which include officers from more than 50 local, state and federal agencies.

Illinois man arrested

On a related note, 29-year-old Michael C. Finton of Illinois was arrested Thursday on charges of planning to bomb the federal building in Springfield, Illinois. Finton, also known as Talib Islam, actually tried to detonate a vehicular bomb earlier this year, however undercover agents rendered the bomb inactive before allowing him to set off on his mission.

Finton also faces life in prison is convicted.

Pakistan is in bad shape. A lot of horrible things have been going on in the distressed nation for a while: people are being displaced, people are dying, the Taliban is taking over areas, the army is claiming it’s killed more than 1,000 insurgents.

The Taliban is bombing mosques and the civilians, until now, were standing idly by.

For a long time it was difficult for civilians in Pakistan to publicly show their disloyalty to the Taliban. After all, Pakistan supported the Taliban organization for nearly seven years with arms and aid, while the Taliban imposed very, very strict Sharia law on all under them, in Afghanistan and parts of Pakistan.

Then they were ousted in 2004 by NATO forces and have been regaining muscle ever since.

Now the Taliban is waging war on Pakistan, a former provider and new enemy. They are attacking civilian establishments in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), most recently suicide bombing a mosque and killing at least 40 people.

So as you can imagine by having read all that has been happening to the residents of Swat Valley and NWFP, and the displacement of millions and the deaths of thousands, the civilians have had enough.

On Saturday, nearly 500 residents of the Upper Dir district (near Swat Valley, where the suicide mosque bombing took place) banded together to form a small but determined civilian army, known as a “lashkar” and attacked the Taliban.

The angry, armed mob attacked five villages and destroyed 20 houses suspected of belonging to Taliban forces. Seven Taliban fighters were killed in the surge and the villagers now occupy three villages and are attempting to push the Taliban out of the other two.

“We are Muslims, we pray regularly and read the Koran. We don’t want them, they have to go,” said Upper Dir resident Samiullah Khan, Reuters India reports.

“Attacking a mosque is not Islam. They’re not Muslim” he said.

The U.S. is hoping for sustained fighting from the Pakistani army to help push out the Taliban and neutralize their forces. By doing this, support for the insurgency in Afghanistan will be cut off, potentially leading to the defeat of al Qaeda and the war in Afghanistan.

It’s safe to say the residents are rising up. They are angry with their army for taking so long to act and for allowing the displacement of so many of their own people. They are angry with the Taliban for thinking they can act in any way and claim Islam as their defense.

They are angry that their way of life has been so disrupted. Now they are taking it back.

More bombs exploded in Pakistan today, this time in the busy city of Peshawar. Two separate attacks were executed; one near a military checkpoint where a suicide bomber detonated himself and killed four soldiers, and the other in a busy market, where two motorcycles carrying time bombs exploded to kill six and injure 70, according to bomb disposal squad chief Shafqat Malik, the British Broadcasting Company reports.

The attack comes just hours after the Taliban attacked Lahore and promised more attacks on Pakistan’s urban centers in response to an increase in military offensives in Swat Valley. Pakistan’s army says it has recaptured more than 70 percent of Swat Valley’s main city, Mingora, and expects to complete the operation within days, the BBC reports.

Some of the wounded are no doubt in serious condition, suffering injuries similar to yesterday’s victims: broken bones and severe burns. Television reports, according to the BBC, show civilians dragging others out of the market to safety.

Gunmen began openly firing on police as they arrived on the scene. None have been reported dead.

Peshawar, capital of the North Western Frontier Province, has seen an increase in bomb attacks over the past few weeks. On May 16 and May 23, car bombs exploded in dense areas, killing nearly 20 people and injuring more than 100.

Yesterday’s bomb and gun attack in Lahore, which targeted police and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) buildings, killed more than 20 and injured upwards of 200 civilians.

Click here for pictures of the blast on BBC.

North Korea, one of the pillars of Bush’s “axis of evil”, conducted an underground test of a nuclear bomb last night about 50 miles northwest of the northern city of Kilju. According to predictions by Russian officials, the bomb generated a blast of between 10 and 20 kilotons, which places it in the range of “Little Boy” and “Fat Man”; the two atomic bombs that ravaged the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945.

North Korea is part of the Pacific-Asia region, which is also occupied by China, South Korea and Japan. China is the only other nuclear power in the region; however it is a member of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) which attempts to limit the spread of nuclear weapons around the world. China’s stance on nuclear weaponry has been fairly steady, though the proximity of this nuclear test could spur China to ensure its own nuclear arsenal is operational.

South Korea has been at odds with North Korea since the early 1950s, and the two are technically still at war even though an armistice was signed more than 55 years ago. Their border is the most heavily armed in the world, and the introduction of President Lee-Myung Bak has served to reignite hostility between the two countries. Bak has publicly called for the nuclear disarmament of North Korea, a demand that has angered Kim Jong-Il. But he’s always pretty angry.

The last regional neighbor is Japan, the only country to have ever been subjected to a nuclear attack and a steadfast supporter of all treaties and attempts to de-nuclearize unstable states. According to Al-Jazeera, “analysts fear that if Japan felt pressured into developing nuclear weapons, it would trigger an arms race‚ across the region.” Personally, after the atrocities faced by their people in 1945, I really don’t see any way in which Japan would seriously consider developing a nuclear arsenal.

North Korea hasn’t always been so defiant. It actually ratified the NPT in 1985, but withdrew from the treaty in 2003 after being accused by the U.S. of operating an illegal uranium weapons program, claims that were later said to be misinformed. Since then North Korea has been the subject of the six-party talks, a series of diplomatic sessions between China, the U.S., Japan, Russia, South Korea and North Korea to try and peacefully resolve all security concerns that stemmed from its withdrawal from the NPT.

Three years after the first six-party talks and just one year after admitting it had nuclear weapons, in 2006, North Korea launched seven missiles into the Sea of Japan and conducted an underground test of a nuclear device, citing “hostile U.S. policy” as the main cause. Following the two events, the UN Security Council unanimously agreed to impose economic and diplomatic sanctions on North Korea as a punishment for its defiance.

Soon after, in 2007, talks resumed and North Korea agreed to shut down its nuclear weapons facilities in exchange for fuel oil and the stabilization of international relations between the U.S. and Japan. The sanctions were periodically lifted by the U.S. and other countries as North Korea met certain requirements.

However, in April 2009, North Korea decided to pull out of six-party talks indefinitely after the UN Security Council criticized and labeled what North Korea claimed to be a failed satellite launch as a long-range missile test. The country then banned all international nuclear inspectors and vowed to continue enhancing its nuclear arsenal and technology, something, it seems by the magnitude of yesterday’s blast, it had been doing all along.

North Korea also tested ballistic missiles yesterday, which has incited some panic among civilians who see it as an indication of an impending nuclear attack. However according to several experts North Korea cannot launch a nuclear attack because it has not weaponized its nuclear arsenal.

So while this is a particularly troubling event, let’s see what comes of the UN meeting and what steps the international body will take to ensure this stops now. Hopefully it is, as many are predicting, just a method of compensation by Jong-Il. His health is rumored to be declining so quickly after last year’s stroke that he is already thinking about his replacement.

The favorite? Why, his youngest son, of course.

UPDATE: UN Security Council releases statement unanimously condemning North Korea’s actions. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon “‘strongly deplores’ the latest test as a ‘clear and grave’ violation of past resolutions,” CBC reports.

Stick with Blast for developments.

Here is your daily dose of Darwin.

According to Newsday, a Long Island, N.Y. woman found two pipe bombs in her driveway.

But rather than, you know, panic, freak out, call the police, run away, and scream, the woman picked up — reached out with her hands and picked up — the two pipe bombs, put them into her car, and began driving to the local police station.

The woman called the police to say she was coming by with a few bombs. The dispatcher told her to immediately pull over and get out of her car. A police bomb squad responded and used a robotic arm to remove the bombs. They did not detonate.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is investigating.

No, Boston is not in the grips of a mad scientist with anthrax. Nor is it under siege from a series of terrorist briefcase bombs.

It was pot, marijuana, Mary Jane, grass, weed and a whole lot of it that tied up half the emergency services in the city Thursday afternoon.

Mailroom workers at One Financial Center found a “white powdery substance” on a package around noontime and called 911. Fire fighters quarantined the four exposed workers and ran through decontamination protocols to clear them, said Steve MacDonald, a spokesman for the Boston Fire Department.

Fire officials eventually called out a Level 3 Hazardous Materials Incident, requiring anyone entering the building to don specialized Hazmat suits for safety.

Tests determined that the white powder was in fact laundry detergent.

But when they took a closer look at the package, fire fighters found a briefcase beneath the detergent. So they called in the Boston Police Bomb Squad to investigate. They x-rayed the briefcase and determined it was not bomb.

Then U.S. Postal Police were called in to take custody of the package and another suspicious package with the same address and handwriting.

Postal Police found 45 pounds of marijuana in the two packages. The detergent may have been an attempt to mask the marijuana, but it drew far more attention to it than anyone could have imagined.

No one was injured, sickened, or given the munchies as a result of the powder, briefcase or pot.