(Aisha Chowdhry, Special for USA TODAY) -- Despite threats from militant groups, many women headed to the polls in Pakistan to vote in the country's historic elections Saturday.

Attacks killed 24 and wounded dozens more during the day in a continuation of what has been a brutal election season with more than 130 people killed in bombings and shootings.

"There is always a fear factor of your life but we are all going to die eventually, depends on the way you are going to die," said Madiha Latif, "might as well go down doing something right, I guess." Latif is a polling agent and the brains behind the non-partisan voter campaign "Pakistan Votes."

Saturday's historic elections mark the country's first transition from one elected government fulfilling its term to another - without a military coup - and Pakistan's 37 million registered women voters are eager to make an impact.

(USA TODAY) -- A volunteer paramedic who was among the first on the scene of a massive explosion last month at a West, Texas fertilizer plant was arrested early Friday and charged with possession of a destructive device.

WASHINGTON, DC (WUSA 9) --- DC residents spilled out from the District courthouse after listening to lawyers speak on their behalf for a lawsuit filed against school closures. The lawsuit is filed by the community organization, Empower DC.

Attorney Jamie Raskin said the school closures raises the issue of racial discrimination, when the schools proposed to be shut down are in the poorest DC neighborhoods with mostly black and Hispanic students.

Raskin represented the plaintiffs in front of the judge and provided an extensive argument. He is a Constitutional Law professor at American University.