Eideard

Standing on what was once Ethiopia’s oldest maximum security prison, the new African Union headquarters funded by China is a symbol of the Asian giant’s push to stay ahead in Africa and gain greater access to the continent’s resources.

Critics point to an imbalance in what they see as the new “Scramble for Africa”. But the prospect of growing Chinese economic influence is welcomed by African leaders, who see Beijing as a partner to help build their economies at a time when Europe and the United States are mired in economic turmoil…

The brown marble and glass monolith was fully paid for by China, right down to the office furniture, and cost $200 million. The office complex and almost 100-metre tower is Addis Ababa’s tallest building by far.

For the past decade, Africa has recorded economic growth of an average of 5 per cent but its underdeveloped infrastructure has in part hindered its capacity to develop further. Chinese companies are changing that. They are building roads and investing in the energy sector, and are active in areas such as telecoms technology…

Beijing now appears keener to flex its diplomatic muscle in the continent. It has also contributed $4.5 million for the African Union peacekeeping force battling Islamist militants in Somalia.

Outside the complex, hundreds of Chinese support staff, delegates and officials snapped pictures of their country’s most ostentatious presence yet in Africa. Yet African officials insist they aren’t being manipulated by China, and say the relationship is not based on aid but on trade and development.

“There are people who still consider Africans like children who can be easily manipulated. The good thing about this partnership is that it’s give and take,” said the Democratic Republic of Congo’s ambassador to Washington, Faida Mitifu.

In a related story, Congressional Republicans are supporting – well, nothing that I could find.

I googled “Congressional Republicans aid to Africa” and got bored after wandering through several pages mostly of Republican candidates for president each trying to prove he’ll do the most to reduce foreign aid to anyone!

A new service launched by a UK department store promises to make life a little easier for couples who divorce, by offering them a gift registry option in stores.

Debenham’s launched its divorce gift list service on the heels of an increase in popularity of divorce greetings cards and divorce celebration parties complete with cake.

“If someone is getting divorce and they’re moving out of their marital home they may be living on their own for the first time in their life,” Debenham’s PR manager Ruth Attridge told CNN.

“There’s lots of things they don’t have because not everyone has two toasters so it’s something they’re going to need…

“Unlike a wedding list which tends to be full of luxury items, I think this is going to be more basic,” Attridge said.

“People will get towels, bed linens, irons, toasters and kettles.”

The launch date was anything but random — Debenham’s chose the month of January because it’s the busiest month for divorce in the UK.

Does everyone wait to see what they get for Giftmas, first?

Why is this man smiling?

Amazon.com on Saturday released its annual post-Christmas statement on holiday sales and made one thing clear: the Kindle was king…

“We are grateful to our customers for making Kindle the most gifted item ever in our history,” said Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos.

In another milestone for the e-reader, the company noted that on Christmas Day, for the first time ever, Amazon customers bought more Kindle books than physical books. The company didn’t offer specific numbers for either category.

The peak shopping day for the online retailer was December 14, when customers ordered more than 9.5 million items worldwide, “a record-breaking 110 items per second.”

Among those items bought between November 15 and December 19, the top electronics, following the Kindle, were Apple’s iPod Touch 8GB and the Garmin Nuvi 260W GPS.

In the video game category, top sellers were the Wii Fit Plus with Balance Board; New Super Mario Bros., and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

RTFA for lots of detail – including some too boring to ever need mention. My favorite?

The last Local Express Delivery order that was delivered in time for Christmas, was placed by a Prime member and went to Seattle. It was a Kindle that was ordered at 1:43 p.m. on Christmas Eve and delivered at 4:57 p.m. that evening.

Outstanding. Having spent a number of boring years in traffic management, I’m astounded at what contemporary commerce can offer.

Barry Goldberg said a nice gesture went unappreciated at the Wal-Mart Supercenter at Lisbon Landing over the weekend.

He said he purchased $1,300 worth of $10 gift cards to Wal-Mart with the intention of dressing as Santa Claus and giving them out in front of the store. He said it wasn’t a gimmick it or stunt. He said he was just moved to do something nice to make the holiday brighter.

But his gesture of kindness as the Secret Santa didn’t last long…

“They asked me, ‘Well, where did you get these cards?’” he said. “’I bought them from your store 20 minutes ago.’ ‘Well, what are you doing?’ (they asked). I said, “I’m giving out gift cards. It’s the holidays. The right thing to do is to give, isn’t it?’”

In a statement to Eyewitness News, Wal-Mart states,” While we appreciate the customer’s patronage, we understand that he was interrupting the flow of foot traffic in the store’s vestibule.”

After the story made the news, the manager of the Target store in town – one with brains as opposed to the dweeb managing the Wal-Mart store – called Goldberg and told him he could bring the cards to a Target store and swap them out and pass them out there.

Guests at an Israeli wedding hall can now insert a credit card into a machine at its entrance, tap in a sum and leave a gift for the bride and groom.

“It’s new in Israel and the world,” Aya Alon Kaufman of the Gan Oranim hall in Tel Aviv said on Israel’s Channel 10 television. “It’s very convenient … guests can give a gift even if they forget their chequebooks.”

She said couples pay 500 shekels ($155) to rent the device, which resembles an automated teller machine, and the recorded funds are transferred into their bank account the next day.

The machine…prints out a “deposit” slip with the guest’s name, which can be put into an envelope along with a congratulatory note and inserted into a slot in the device for the couple to retrieve.

L’chaim!