Ethiopia's main opposition parties on Tuesday won the first round battle in their attempts to challenge the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front's (EPRDF) landslide victory in last month's general elections. "At least we have managed to have our case filed at the court," Gidada Negasso, Ethiopia's former president, told PANA on phone after the Supreme Court allowed the opposition coalition to challenge the EPRDF landslide win in the 23 May elections.

A non-governmental relief agency, Refugee International, has criticised humanitarian organisations in the Horn of Africa for ignoring the plight of Somali refugees living in camps and urban settings in neighbouring countries, according to a report published here Thursday. The report said humanitarian actors overlook thousands of Somali refugees that have sought asylum in cities in neighbouring countries, thus exacerbating their already grave humanitarian situation.

The international community risks losing the global battle against HIV/AIDS, unless funding for projects to stem the spread of the disease and keep those infected healthy is sustained and increased, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has warned. "In our global war on AIDS, the international community is on the verge of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory," Ban wrote in an editorial opinion published in the Austin American-Statesman, a US-based newspaper.