Thursday, 01 September 2011 

Addis Ababa, September 1 (WIC) - The Ethiopian Government expressed its deep disappointment over Gadhafi family’s act of severely injuring an Ethiopian woman by pouring boiling water.

Ethiopian Foreign Affairs Minister Spokesperson, Ambassador Dina Mufti said the government received information of the injured Ethiopian woman on August 30, 2011 and held discussion with the victim’s family the following day.

“The government of Ethiopia will make every necessary effort to bring the victim from Libya and get her due compensation for the damage,” Dina said.

 Shwygar Mullah was serving as a nanny for Gadhafi’s son Hannibal. She said Aline, wife of Gadhafi's son Hannibal, poured boiling water on her for failing to keep a child quiet.

In an interview with CNN Shwygar described the horror saying: “She took me to a bathroom. She tied my hands behind my back, and tied my feet. She taped my mouth, and she started pouring the boiling water on my head like this," imitating the vessel of scalding hot water being poured over her head.

The victim also explained that she suffered such a harsh treatment for a second time. She also said that she had never received a payment for her service and cannot pay for her treatment.

The spokesperson said the Ethiopian government is gathering all the necessary information relating to the incident. (ERTA) 

Addis Ababa, June 17, 2011 (WIC) ­- A new study assessing World Bank support for programs that target the most vulnerable people shows that social safety nets (SSNs) are achieving their objectives and there is a growing effort in Africa to establish them to help keep the poor from sliding deeper into poverty.

According to allafrica.com, the study, conducted by the Independent Evaluation Group (IEG), said the bank provided U.S.$11.5 billion in lending and advisory services for SSNs in the developing world during the past decade.

Few countries were prepared for the food, fuel and financial shocks that pushed 64 million additional people into extreme poverty by the end of 2010, the study said.

"The food crisis of the last few years was really a wake-up call to many, many countries and to donors and to the bank that social safety nets are critically important," Jennie Litvack, lead economist with IEG and the main author of the study, told AllAfrica.

"Sometimes these are issues that only get the attention of governments and the bank and journalists during a crisis, but actually the real work has to happen between the crises," she said.

Addis Ababa, June 17 (WIC) - The 17th Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union (AU) is scheduled to take place from 23 June to 1st July 2011 in Malabo, Republic of Equatorial Guinea.

Holding under the theme: “Accelerating Youth Empowerment for Sustainable Development”, the 17th Ordinary Session of the Summit of the African Union will officially kick off on Thursday 23 June 2011, with the 22nd Ordinary Session of the Permanent Representatives Committee (PRC).

Meanwhile, prior to their meeting in Malabo, the Ambassadors who form the PRC have already started deliberating the agenda of the Summit at the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Addis Ababa, June 17 (WIC) - Ethiopian Airlines Enterprise said it will resume flights to the capital of Sudan, Khartoum, and today after they were suspended due to a volcanic ash cloud from an eruption in Eritrea.

The ash cloud is expected to clear soon, allowing routes to eastern and northern Ethiopia to reopen, the company said in an e-mailed statement to Bloomberg.

The Nabro volcano erupted on June 12, spewing a 13.5- kilometer (8.4-mile) plume of ash into the air, according to the Volcanic Ash Advisory Center in Toulouse, France. (Bloomberg)