Ethiopia’s election commission says provisional results from Sunday’s parliamentary election show that the governing party of the Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has a clear lead. The poll has been condemned by the human rights group, Human Rights Watch, as theatre. Will Ross reports from Addis Ababa.

Victory for Ethiopia’s governing party was widely expected, but few had predicted such a landslide. Even in the capital Addis Ababa where the opposition swept the board in the last election, the governing party is said to win almost all the seats. Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Meles Zenawi came to power in 1991. He puts the victory down to an impressive track record, especially in terms of economic growth. However, the governing party has been accused of using intimidation to suppress the opposition. Human Rights Watch described Ethiopia’s election as multi-party theatre staged by a single party state.

A Kenyan constitutional court has ruled that Islamic courts are illegal and discriminatory. A panel of three judges ruled that the courts favoured Islam over other faiths. Mary Harper reports.

A panel of three judges ruled that the provision for Islamic courts in the constitution favoured Islam over other faiths. The Christian church in Kenya which brought the case to court six years ago has long been opposed to the existence of Islamic courts, which mainly deal with matters of marriage and inheritance. The issue of Islamic courts and that of abortion have been a sticking point in the country’s new proposed constitution, which is due to go to a referendum in August.