A number of groups are to hold a demonstration on Cork’s Grand Parade on Tuesday in protest at the reported detention and killing of gay men in Chechnya.

Police in the southern Russian republic of Chechnya have reportedly rounded up more than 100 men suspected of homosexuality and at least three have been killed, a respected newspaper says.

The leader of Russia's Chechnya republic has posted a video that appears to show the country's former prime minister Mikhail Kasyanov in the crosshairs of a rifle - a video Mr Kasyanov is calling a murder threat.

Russian president Vladimir Putin resurfaced, smiling and looking his normal self after a 10-day absence from public view that fuelled a wave of rumours about his health.

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.

Russian President Vladimir Putin celebrated his 62nd birthday in the wilderness of Siberia as supporters from across Russia create tributes in his honour.

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.

Bill Mott managed to win the first ever Dubai World Cup but he still has a little unfinished business with the richest horse race on the planet.

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.

Gerard Depardieu, the French actor who has waged a battle against a proposed super-tax on millionaires in his native country, has been granted Russian citizenship.

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

Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov has banned his employees from celebrating his 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 admits he has been left bemused by the events surrounding his dismissal as coach of Russian side Terek Grozny.

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

TOM QUEALLY reports Dubai World Cup favourite Twice Over to have made progress since his winning appearance at Meydan on March 3.

Tom Queally reports Dubai World Cup favourite Twice Over to have made progress since his winning appearance at Meydan on March 3.

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.

Shooting has erupted in the parliament of Russia’s volatile Chechnya region, Russian news agencies reported today.

Bankable will bid for Group One success at the Melbourne Spring Carnival next month after obliging as the odds-on favourite in the Fortune Stakes at Sandown.

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 prime minister Vladimir Putin got a tigress cub for his birthday and will give the animal to a zoo, state broadcaster Vesti-24 reported.

Russian voters were expected to endorse Vladimir Putin’s choice of a successor in today’s presidential election, allowing Mr Putin to retain a measure of power in his nation whose wealth and global voice have grown even as democratic freedoms diminished.

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".

A drunken driver collided with a motorcade carrying Chechen President Alu Alkhanov as he returned to Chechnya, killing an escorting security officer and critically injuring four others, law enforcement officials said today.

Anna Politkovskaya’s newspaper today published an unfinished article on torture in Chechnya that the journalist had been working on when she was killed.

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.

The younger brother of Chechen rebel leader Doku Umarov has turned himself in, a government spokesman said today, denying an earlier claim that Umarov himself had surrendered.

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

The prime minister of Russia’s conflict-torn province of Chechnya was in a serious but stable condition today after a car crash outside Moscow that officials insisted was a traffic accident despite initial concerns about a possible assassination attempt.

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 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.