COLU @ CONCEPTS

Image copyright REUTERS President Vladimir Putin has unveiled Russia's first monument to people killed in political repression under Communist dictator Joseph Stalin. At least 750,000 people were executed and millions deported or imprisoned under Stalin's rule from the 1920s to the 1950s in the Soviet Union. Mr Putin said seeing the era clearly would help "prevent it being repeated." But critics accused him of continuing political repression and "crushing civil freedoms". Wall of Grief: Russia remembers victims of Soviet repression A group of dissidents from the Soviet era wrote to a news website that they considered the event to be "untimely and cynical". Stalin's victims Millions died under Joseph Stalin, who ruled the Soviet Union from 1929 to 1953 Victims died in deportations, famine, forced collectivisation, executions and in prison camps At least 750,000 people were executed during Great Terror of 1937-38 Millions were ...

Image copyright REUTERS Image caption The US compound in Benghazi was attacked on 11 September 2012 US forces have captured a man accused of involvement in the 2012 attack on an American compound in the Libyan city of Benghazi, President Donald Trump said. Mustafa al-Imam was seized in Libya, the president said in a statement. Mr al-Imam is facing charges including murder. The US ambassador and three other Americans died in the incident. During last year's election campaign, the raid became a focus for Republican attacks on Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. She was secretary of state when the compound was targeted in September 2012. "Yesterday, on my orders, United States forces captured Mustafa al-Imam in Libya," Mr Trump said. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Mr al-Imam would "face justice in federal court for his role in the attack". Another suspect, Ahmed Abu Khattala, is already on trial in the US. A Republican-led House Select Comm...

Image copyright AFP/GETTY IMAGES Image caption Amina Okuyeva and her husband both fought as volunteers against pro-Russian rebels A Chechen man accused of plotting to kill Russian President Vladimir Putin has been injured and his wife killed in an attack near Ukraine's capital Kiev. Adam Osmayev "was wounded but will live" after a car he was in was shot at, Ukrainian Interior Ministry adviser Anton Herashchenko said. He said Mr Osmayev's wife Amina Okuyeva died in the attack in Hlevaha village. In 2012, Russian officials said Mr Osmayev was suspected of being part of a plot by Islamists to kill Mr Putin. Russian media reported at the time that the plotters were planning to plant mines on Kutuzovsky Avenue in Moscow, used by Mr Putin on a daily basis. Russia later asked Ukraine to hand over Mr Osmayev - but the authorities in Kiev refused to do so, saying they wanted to wait until the European Court of Human Rights considered his appeal against extraditio...

Image copyright AFP Image caption Vlada Dzyuba, 14, died less than two weeks after taking part in Shanghai Fashion Week A Chinese modelling agency has denied claims that a Russian teenage model it represented died from overwork. Vlada Dzyuba, 14, died in China on Friday after participating in Shanghai Fashion Week. Her Shanghai-based agency, ESEE Model Management, said she was a happy young girl who enjoyed her modelling work. Many foreign models in China are from the former Soviet Union. China has laws that allow children under the age of 16 to work in certain industries. According to reports, Vlada began feeling dizzy and fell sick and was taken to a Shanghai hospital on Wednesday. She died on Friday from multiple organ failure after her condition quickly worsened. The Chinese Global Times state newspaper said she died of blood poisoning. The Siberian Times, an English-language newspaper in Russia, alleges that the teenager, from the Russian city of Perm, died of meningit...

Image copyright AFP Image caption Mr Trump has said transgender people should not serve in the military "in an capacity" A US federal judge has temporarily blocked Donald Trump's attempt to bar transgender people from the military. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly overruled a  presidential memo  issued by Mr Trump, which sought to reverse an Obama administration policy change. Ms Kollar-Kotelly's injunction returns the US military to the status quo - allowing transgender personnel to serve openly and new recruits to join up. The case was filed against in August by a group of unnamed plaintiffs. The judge  agreed  with the plaintiffs' assertion that the president's directives were "not genuinely based on legitimate concerns regarding military effectiveness or budget constraints, but are instead driven by a desire to express disapproval of transgender people generally". 'My stomach dropped': Transgender troops hit by ban Delay...

Image copyright GETTY IMAGES Image caption Mr Puigdemont has left Catalonia but his portrait was still hanging in government buildings on Monday Sacked Catalan President Carles Puigdemont has gone to Belgium, a lawyer he has hired there says. The lawyer, Paul Bekaert, did not comment on reports that Mr Puigdemont could be preparing an asylum claim. Spanish prosecutor have called for rebellion charges to be brought against him and other organisers of Catalonia's banned independence referendum. The Spanish central government took direct control of Catalonia on Monday, replacing sacked officials. It suspended the region's autonomy and called for fresh elections after Mr Puigdemont and his government declared independence last week. Belgian lawyer Paul Bekaert said Mr Puigdemont was now in the Belgian capital, Brussels. "I'm his lawyer in case he needs me," he said. "At the moment there are no specific dossiers I am preparing for him." Cata...