Tens of thousands have marched through the Chechen capital to protest the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, which again put a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed on its cover.

The parents of Tamerlan Tsarnaev have insisted that he went to Dagestan and Chechnya last year to visit relatives and had nothing to do with militants operating in the volatile part of Russia.

French star and newly registered Russian citizen Gerard Depardieu was visiting his “friend”, the controversial Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, partying into the night, and vowing to make a film about the Muslim region.

French actor Gerard Depardieu has continued his dalliance with Russia by hitting the dance floor in the Republic of Chechnya.

Hollywood celebrity Hilary Swank has said she “deeply regrets” visiting a concert held on the Kremlin-backed Chechen leader’s birthday.

Ruud Gullit has denied that a rift with Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov prompted his departure from Russian Premier League side Terek Grozny earlier this month.

Ruud Gullit has been sacked as manager of Russian side Terek Grozny after just five months in the role.

The suicide bomber who killed 35 people at Moscow’s busiest airport was deliberately targeting foreigners, investigators said today.

ISLAMIC insurgents including a suicide bomber stormed Chechnya’s parliament, leaving six people dead and 17 injured in one of the most brazen attacks on the provincial capital in months, officials said.

A Russian police spokesman has said at least six people were dead after insurgents stormed the parliament and agriculture ministry in Russia’s volatile Chechnya region.

WEEPING mourners walked through Chechnya’s capital yesterday to honour activist Natalya Estemirova, whose brazen kidnapping and execution-style killing shocked Russia’s beleaguered human rights community and prompted international outrage.

The Russian-backed Chechen leader accused of being behind the murder of activist Natalya Estemirova today promised to lead an investigation into the killing.

A suicide bomber has killed four police officers and wounded five people in the provincial capital of Chechnya.

Russia ordered an end to its counter-terrorism operation in Chechnya today in a move that could lead to the withdrawal of tens of thousands of troops from the southern republic.

THE president of Chechnya justified the right of male relatives to carry out “honour killings” after seven young women were found shot dead.

The president of Chechnya has justified the right of male relatives to carry out ’honour killings’ after seven young women were found shot dead.

Russian authorities have detained two suspects over the killing of investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya, it was claimed today, although her newspaper dismissed the report as “absolutely wrong".

Russian investigators continue to probe the brazen daylight killing of star investigative journalist and fierce government critic Anna Politkovskaya, singling out her work as the most likely motive for the killing, news reports said.

Russia’s top prosecutor today took charge of investigating the murder of a journalist who was a prominent critic of the war in Chechnya and planned to publish a story about torture and abductions in the region.

Police in Chechnya killed rebel leader Abdul-Khalim Sadulayev during a special operation today, authorities said.

A group of foreign diplomats and journalists arrived in the eastern Uzbek city of Andijan today to assess the scope of a violent government crackdown on demonstrators.

UZBEKISTAN’S top prosecutor said yesterday that 169 people had been killed in violence in the eastern town of Andijan, including more than 50 foreign fighters.

Chechen Deputy Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov said in an interview published today that he and his security service had set the target of killing rebel warlord Shamil Basayev by May 9, the first anniversary of Kadyrov’s father’s assassination in a bombing at a Victory Day parade in the Chechen capital Grozny.

CHECHEN rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov, blamed by Russia for last year's school hostage slaughter, has been killed during an army raid, Russian President Vladimir Putin was told yesterday.

Russian security officials accused Shamil Basayev of planning the seizure of the school with al-Qaida financing, the ITAR-Tass news agency reported today.

The Kremlin’s favoured candidate for president of war-battered Chechnya overwhelmingly won an election that opponents claimed was riddled with fraud, Russian news agencies reported today.

A man who tried to bring a suspicious package into a polling station in Chechnya today was killed in an explosion as he ran away, election officials said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin made an unannounced visit to Chechnya today, laying flowers at the grave of the war-ravaged region’s assassinated president.

THE Kremlin has given its support to Chechnya’s top police official who is seeking to replace the region’s assassinated president.

CROWDS of mourners streamed to a village in the Chechen foothills yesterday to bury President Akhmad Kadyrov, killed by a bomb in Chechnya’s capital, and his widely-feared son was named a top official in the republic hours later.

Thousands of mourners flocked to Chechen President Akhmad Kadyrov’s native village for his funeral today, a day after the Moscow-backed leader was killed by a bomb blast that cast Russia’s efforts to stabilise and control the war-ravaged region into chaos.

Russian president Vladimir Putin has vowed retribution after an explosion ripped through a stadium in the Chechnya’s capital during a Victory Day parade, killing its president Akhmad Kadyrov.

CHECHNYA’S president Akhmad Kadyrov, who was killed yesterday in an explosion in the capital Grozny, is a one-time rebel who earned innumerable enemies when he switched to Moscow’s side during the current war.

THE Kremlin-backed president of Russia's warring Chechnya region was killed yesterday when an explosion tore through a stadium in the Chechen capital where he was attending Victory Day observances, officials said.

Chechen President Akhmad Kadyrov was among at least 20 people killed in a bomb blast at a Grozny stadium where he was attending Victory Day observances, officials said.

Chechen president Akhmad Kadyrov was among 10 people hurt today when a landmine exploded during Victory Day celebrations in a stadium in the capital Grozny.

ISLAMIC extremists were blamed yesterday for suicide bombings, attacks on police and an explosion at an alleged terrorist bomb-making factory in Uzbekistan that killed 19 people including the bombers and injured 26.

A series of explosions blamed on Islamic militants in the former Soviet Central Asian state of Uzbekistan left at least 19 people dead today.

THE Kremlin’s candidate Akhmad Kadyrov won a landslide victory in Chechnya’s presidential election but few voters believed he would bring a rapid end to the fighting that has devastated their republic.

Chechnya’s Kremlin-appointed leader was assured of victory in the region’s presidential vote, a widely expected outcome after his main challengers withdrew or were removed from an election condemned by critics as a sham.

REBEL Chechnya voted for a new president yesterday, in a virtually one-horse race which the Kremlin hopes will help bring peace to the war-devastated region, but which many observers doubt will make a real difference.

CHECHEN refugees flocked around Angelina Jolie yesterday as the actress visited a refugee camp in Ingushetia.

Chechen refugees flocked around Angelina Jolie today as the Hollywood actress visited a refugee camp in Ingushetia.