The death toll of yesterday’s Vladikavkaz suicide bombing has reached 17.  Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said that the attackers were people ‘without a soul, without a heart‘, as President Dmitry Medvedev vowed to ‘catch the monsters, the scum‘ (three suspects have already been detained, reports say).  The BBC and RFE/RL have video footage of the blast.  The latter quotes Putin as saying ‘I know what Muslims think of these extremists. We feel their support, especially in the North Caucasus region, and we see it‘, and is also running a report on ‘insurgency websites‘ that suggest ‘local civilian support‘ for terrorist activities.  US President Obama was quick to condemn the blast.  Firefighters are still battling blazes in Altai and Novosibirsk as strong winds help the fires to spread.  Officials and construction companies affiliated with the Khimki forest highway say that the alternative routes proposed are too expensive.