Ethiopian maid survives apparent 4-story suicide leap in Lebanon

The Daily Star

BEIRUT: An Ethiopian maid was in critical condition Friday after she allegedly threw herself from the fourth store balcony of her Mount Lebanon employer's home in an apparent suicide attempt, a security source said.

The source told The Daily Star that the woman suffered severe fractures and bruises after leaping from her employer's balcony in the town of Bsalim, 12 kilometers northeast of Beirut.

Security forces launched an investigation into the case at the request of the judiciary. The woman's employers are being questioned, the source added.

According to the International Labor Organization, Lebanon is home to over 250,000 female migrant domestic workers, the majority of whom come from Sri Lanka, Ethiopia, the Philippines and Bangladesh to work as housemaids.

Thai police drop probe into WHO official over maid slavery allegations

Bangkok, April 10, 2015 (AFP) -  Thai police on Friday dropped a probe into allegations of human trafficking, abuse and modern-day slavery levelled by an Ethiopian maid at her employers -- a top World Health Organization official and his wife.
      The 25-year-old unnamed maid filed a complaint with police last month accusing Dr Yonas Tegegn, the WHO's top representative in Thailand, and his wife of abusing her and forcing her to work without pay for nearly two years at a residence in Nonthaburi, a northern satellite city of Bangkok.
      "After questioning witnesses we have decided there are no charges to be brought," investigating officer Colonel Mana Tienmaungpak told AFP.
      Tegegn, also an Ethiopian national, has firmly denied any wrongdoing over the "baseless" allegations.

Fitch Affirms Ethiopia at 'B'; Outlook Stable

(The following statement was released by the rating agency) PARIS/LONDON, April 10 (Fitch) Fitch Ratings has affirmed Ethiopia's Long-term foreign and local currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) at 'B'. The issue ratings on senior unsecured foreign currency bonds are also affirmed at 'B'. The Outlooks on the Long-term IDRs are Stable. The Country Ceiling and the Short-term foreign currency IDR are also affirmed at 'B'. KEY RATING DRIVERS Ethiopia's 'B' IDRs reflects a balance between the economy's high exposure to weather and commodity price shocks, as illustrated by particularly weak development and governance indicators, and strong economic growth associated with improved public and external debt ratios since debt relief under HIPC in 2005-2007. More specifically, they reflect the following key rating drivers: -Development and World Bank governance indicators remain weak despite impressive achievements of the authorities' development strategy in the last decade, illustrating low debt tolerance and entrenching the IDRs in the 'B' rating category. Income per head remains among the lowest of Fitch-rated sovereigns. -Macroeconomic performance is broadly in line with peers. After outperforming peers with an average 10.2% over the past five years, real GDP growth is likely to reach 9%-10% in FY15 (ending in early July 2015), as authorities maintain a large public investment effort. Structurally high and volatile inflation has moderated to single-digits over the past 18 months (February 2015: 7.4%), due to moderate domestic and

Evidence Against Bloggers & Journalists Doesn’t Back Charges

 By William Davison
(Bloomberg) -- Ethiopian prosecutors have failed to present evidence relating to charges that a group of bloggers and journalists support terrorism, a defense lawyer at the latest court hearing said.

Six members of the Zone 9 blogging group and three freelance journalists were charged in July at the Federal High Court in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, for working with banned organizations such as the U.S.-based Ginbot 7, which the Horn of Africa nation categorizes as a terrorist group. A witness on Wednesday testified that police last year collected a political manifesto from a Health Ministry office, where one of the defendants worked, lawyer Ameha Mekonnen said.
“No witness is brought who has either direct or indirect knowledge of the material element of the charge,” Ameha said in an interview. “The witnesses are here to prove that there was no maltreatment or pressure when the search was conducted.”

Cameroon poised for victory against Ethiopia

Despite a difficult preparation, the defending champions are determined to qualify on Saturday.

Despite the late start of the training and the absence of valuable sparring partners, the coach of the Indomitable Lions, Carl Enow Ngatchu says he is confident his team is going to obtain victory against Ethiopia on Saturday and qualify for the 2015 African Games to take place in Congo Republic.

“We are going to do everything possible to win so as to be able to defend our title in Congo,” he said. He admitted that Ethiopia was a formidable football side; reason why the goals came only in the last ten minutes of the away leg in Addis Ababa but said Cameroon is going to carry the day. “It is going to be a tough game for both sides but I believe at the end Cameroon is going to have the upper hand.

The feeling of optimism is shared by his players who say they are waiting for Saturday to prove their mettle. It would be recalled the match counts for the return leg of the qualifiers for the 2015 African games. In the away leg in Addis Ababa a fortnight ago, the Lionesses took a good option towards qualification by beating Ethiopia 2-1. A simple draw or victory will therefore be enough to enable Cameroon sail through.

Algeria's Solimani fears 'resilient' Ethiopia in Nations Cup qualifiers

Algeria will face Ethiopia, Lesotho and Seychelles in their Nations Cup qualifiers' campaign
Sporting Lisbon's Algerian striker Islam Solimani voiced confidence regarding Algeria's chances in the Nations Cup qualifiers, despite fearing the Ethiopia challenge.

Algeria were paired in group J with Ethiopia, Lesotho and Seychelles.

"It is an easy group," Solimani told Algerian magazine El-Heddaf on Thursday.

"I think we have a good chance in this group… But we have to respect our opponents and not underestimate them," he continued.   

Having previous experiences with Ethiopia, the 26-year-old expected tough clashes with the east African country.

Ethiopian Theatrical Film Yeketnesh