Two die in Russia grenade blast

A grenade explosion has killed a man and his wife in the southern Russian city of Vladikavkaz - the second deadly blast there this week.

Police said the latest incident in the republic of North Ossetia followed a domestic dispute.

Two people died on Tuesday after a bomb exploded outside a bank in the city, 100km (60 miles) west of war-torn Chechnya.

It is not yet clear if the latest blast was accidental or deliberate.

The couple had been discussing their relationship, North Ossetia Interior Minister Kazbek Dzantiyev was quoted as saying.

"They talked it over. He killed himself and the wife."

An unnamed official with the regional security service said there were "two versions of what happened - an accidental explosion or a deliberate one because of jealousy".

Chechen conflict

Prosecutors are still investigating whether Tuesday's blast was linked to the conflict in Chechnya, where clashes continue between separatist rebels and Russian forces.

The fighting in Chechnya occasionally spills into neighbouring areas, which have also been hit by gangland shootings and bombings.

A bomb attack on a market in Vladikavkaz in 1999 killed 55 people and injured another 168.

Another bomb in April 2002 killed seven people and injured at least 39 others.