TODAY: Homophobia-driven murder leads to accusations against Kremlin; 59 detained in connection with Occupy; Surkov dismissal shows isolated Putin; U.K.’s Cameron leaves Russia with assurances of shared goal on Syria; plans to sell arms to Syria show Russia-U.S. discord, Kasparov says the sides have no common ground; Cyprus loan extension not final; Voina intercepted in London.

Investigators say that the torture and murder in Volgograd of 23-year-old Vladislav Tornovoi was a homophobic attack, with government critics blaming recent laws against ‘homosexual propaganda’ for encouraging homophobia. Gay rights activist Nikolai Alekseyev said the case ‘demonstrates the fruits of homophobic policy that is being pursued in the country’.  Others say the authorities are ‘accomplices’ in the murder, and Alekseyev suggested that the victim was only noted as gay by investigators to imply that he was ‘abnormal and therefore expendable’.  A reported 59 protesters were detained in Moscow over the past week as part of attempts to revive the Occupy movement.  Most of Russia’s high wage-earners live in sparsely populated hubs where natural resources are plentiful, says Forbes, concluding that this makes ‘a Moscow-led opposition’ unlikely.  The dismissal of Vladislav Surkov suggests that President Vladimir Putin is becoming increasingly isolated in his own government, says Reuters.