Nairobi  - A lack of political will has prevented the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights from hearing a single case in the ten years since it was established, campaigners said Wednesday.

A spokesman for Minority Rights Group said that the failure to act came despite major human rights crises in Darfur, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zimbabwe.

Moscow  - Pro-Kremlin lawmaker and former Chechen fighter Ruslan Yamadayev was shot dead in an apparent contract killing in central Moscow on Wednesday, Russian news agencies reported.

"At 17:20 an unknown man approached the car at the red traffic light, shot Yamadaev and injured the other passenger," the Interior Ministry said in a statement.

Washington, Sept. 24 : Democrats are keeping track of how long it''s been since the Republican presidential ticket answered questions from the media.

Washington, Sept. 24 : Democrats are keeping track of how long it''s been since the Republican presidential ticket answered questions from the media.

Opposition leader LK Advani has written a letter to former president Dr APJ Abdul Kalam requesting him to build a national consensus on Terror and the need to effect strict anti-terror laws. 

San Francisco  - After an 80-day battle with legislators, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on Tuesday signed a 143- billion-dollar state budget that ended a spending impasse in the richest and most populous state in the US.

The budget makes up California's 15.2-billion-dollar deficit with a combination of cuts and increased revenues and includes special provisions for a rainy-day fund intended to smooth out fluctuations in state tax revenue.