One person has died and 53 homes have been destroyed after a gas explosion sparked a fire that tore through a San Francisco suburb.

At least 17 people have died in a suicide car bombing at a market in Russia's North Caucasus region.

A US Christian pastor is rethinking his decision to cancel a Koran-burning event after claiming he was lied to over a deal regarding a mosque in New York.

The adoptive parents of a seven-year-old Russian girl have expressed their shock at seeing the sordid conditions in which she now lives.