(TEL) Young Users See Facebook as 'Dead And Buried'

TWTR was up 4.8% yesterday in heavy volume...82.5mil shares yesterday...we should continue to see more switch from FB to TWTR as we see less and less interest in FB...

Young Users See Facebook as 'Dead And Buried'
2013-12-27 13:37:29.937 GMT

 
Matthew Sparkes
     Dec. 27 (Telegraph) -- A study of how teenagers in eight
countries use social media has found that Facebook is “not just
on the slide, it is basically dead and buried”, but that it is
morphing into a service to keep in touch with older family
members
     A study of how teenagers in eight countries use social media
has found that Facebook is “not just on the slide, it is
basically dead and buried”.
     Professor Daniel Miller of University College London said in
a blog post: “Mostly they feel embarrassed even to be associated
with it.
     “This year marked the start of what looks likely to be a
sustained decline of what had been the most pervasive of all
social networking sites. Young people are turning away in their
droves and adopting other social networks instead, while the
worst people of all, their parents, continue to use the service.
     “Where once parents worried about their children joining
Facebook, the children now say it is their family that insists
they stay there to post about their lives. Parents have worked
out how to use the site and see it as a way for the family to
remain connected. In response, the young are moving on to cooler
things.
     “What appears to be the most seminal moment in a young
person’s decision to leave Facebook was surely that dreaded day
your mum sends you a friend request.”
     The study, which was funded by the European Union, studied
16 to 18-year-olds in eight countries and found that Facebook use
was in freefall. Instead, young people are turning to simpler
services like Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and WhatsApp which
professor Miller conceded were “no match” for Facebook in terms
of functionality.

-0- Dec/27/2013 13:37 GMT

WSJ : China to Blacklist Health Firms Implicated in Bribery (GSK )

China to Blacklist Health Firms Implicated in Bribery
Listed Companies to Be Barred for Two Years From Selling in the Relevant Province

BEIJING—China's health regulators are rolling out a corporate blacklist for drug and medical-device companies implicated in commercial bribery, a move aimed at stamping out corruption in the country's graft-ridden health-care sector.
Beginning in March, the National Health and Family Planning Commission will publish on its website a record of medical-related manufacturers, agencies and individuals charged with bribery by courts, sued, punished or investigated for bribery, the commission said in a statement on its website Friday. The statement also said that the agency reserved the right to place any company on the list for legal and regulatory violations.
Listed companies will be barred for two years from selling their products within the province in which they are implicated, the statement said. It said companies can apply as usual to sell their products in other provinces but will be at a disadvantage.Companies listed twice in a five-year period will be banned nationally for two years, the statement said.
The developments come amid a heightened state of scrutiny of China's health-care industry.
The Ministry of Public Security in July accused U.K. drug company GlaxoSmithKlineGSK.LN +1.35% PLC of bribing doctors, hospitals and government officials in an effort to sell more drugs at higher prices. Glaxo has said it appears some of its managers in China might have broken the law, and says it is cooperating with the probe.
French food giant Danone SA's baby-food arm Dumex Baby Food Co. announced in October it would overhaul management and marketing at its infant formula business in China following allegations by the official China Central Television that it paid hospital staff to use its products and boost sales.
The health commission's list will show details such as the name, address and legal representative of bribery-connected manufacturers or individuals, as well as information on their alleged crimes, the statement said. It also said regional health departments will be required to report companies to central authorities within a month of any alleged offense.
Medical companies have in recent years flocked to the Chinese market, where a health-care overhaul has expanded access to services and boosted demand for pharmaceuticals and medical devices. The country's health-care spending is expected to triple to $1 trillion by 2020 from $357 billion in 2011, according to consulting firm McKinsey & Co.
Yet the country's hospital system, underfunded and strained, has historically been plagued by kickbacks and ripe for corruption. Doctors are widely seen as underpaid, which makes them prime recipients of honorariums, which are legal, or illegal cuts of sales from drug companies, industry insiders say.
Health-care companies typically sell through multiple layers of distributors that are difficult to oversee, industry players say.

>>> US Gapping down

Gapping down

In the news: TKC -3.7% (weakness in overseas trading), SID -3.1% and IRE -1.7% (still checking), LNKD -1.1% (pulling back with TWTR), TXTR -1% (following 6+ point drop on Citron report).

A few China internet related names are trading lower: SOHU -2.1%, WUBA -1.2% (after +14% move higher), BIDU -0.6%

Analyst comments: TWTR -1.9% (following 3+ point move higher; downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at Macquarie)

(BFW) Erdogan’s Son Said to Be Summoned in Corruption Probe: Radikal

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Erdogan’s Son Said to Be Summoned in Corruption Probe: Radikal 2013-12-27 12:15:40.986 GMT

By Bloomberg News Dec. 27 (Bloomberg) -- A prosecutor prepared a summons calling Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s son as a suspect in a probe into graft, according to a scanned copy of a document published by Radikal newspaper. * Necmettin Bilal Erdogan was to be called to the prosecutor’s office in Istanbul on Jan. 2 to testify as suspect on charges of “establishing and being a member of a criminal organization with the aim of profit,” according to the document, dated Dec. 25 and published in Radikal and other local media today * Telephone calls to the prosecutor’s office in Istanbul and the prime minister’s office in Ankara seeking verification went unanswered today * TURGEV, a charity on which Bilal Erdogan is a board member along with other members of the Erdogan family, said it wasn’t speaking to press when reached by telephone today * An official at Erdogan’s office who asked not to be named, citing the sensitivity of the matter, declined to comment and said to wait for Erdogan’s comments today * Document was signed by prosecutor Muammer Akkas, who issued a statement yday saying his work was being obstructed, police were refusing search and detention orders from the judiciary, and that he’d been removed from the case * The suspect may be brought to the prosecutor’s office by force if he refused to heed the call, document says * NOTE: Erdogan said the corruption probe was targeting him through his son, according to Milliyet newspaper on Dec. 26; link: NSN MYEMSE6S972B <GO> * NOTE: Radikal link: {http://bit.ly/1jOJyis}

For Related News and Information: Turkey Prosecutor Says Government Obstructing Graft Probe NSN MYGHAR6TTDSV <GO> First Word scrolling panel: FIRST<GO> First Word newswire: NH BFW<GO>

--Benjamin Harvey. Editors: Benjamin Harvey, Heather Harris

To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Benjamin Harvey in Istanbul at +90-212-317-3901 or bharvey11@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andrew J. Barden at +971-4-364-1057 or barden@bloomberg.net

(BFW) Dixons CEO James: ’Yesterday Our Biggest Sales Day Ever’

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BN 12/27 11:20 *DIXONS CEO SEBASTIAN JAMES COMMENTS ON SALES IN TWITTER POST BN 12/27 11:20 *DIXONS CEO: 'YESTERDAY OUR BIGGEST SALES DAY EVER'

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Dixons CEO James: ’Yesterday Our Biggest Sales Day Ever’ 2013-12-27 11:25:28.606 GMT

By Heather Burke Dec. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Dixons CEO Sebastian James comments on sales in Twitter post. * NOTE Dec. 17: Dixons 1H U.K. LFL Sales Beat Ests.; Pre-Tax Profit Doubled {NSN MXXVUS6JIJVI <go>} * NOTE: U.K. Shoppers Brave Storms and Floods for ‘Record’ Spending Day {NSN MYGPXF6VDKHW <go>}

Link to Company News:{DXNS LN <Equity> CN <GO>}

For Related News and Information: First Word scrolling panel: {FIRST<GO>} First Word newswire: {NH BFW<GO>}

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Heather Burke at +44-20-7673-2044 or hburke2@bloomberg.net

(BFW) Turkish Army Says Not Willing to Take Part in Political Debates

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Turkish Army Says Not Willing to Take Part in Political Debates 2013-12-27 09:18:44.313 GMT

By Selcan Hacaoglu Dec. 27 (Bloomberg) -- “The Turkish Armed Forces in no way wants to be involved in political debates,” the military says in statement on website today. * NOTE: The statement comes amid political turmoil over graft allegations that ensnared members of PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s govt * NOTE: Erdogan’s govt has curtailed powers of once-powerful Turkish army, which ousted 4 govts since 1960

For Related News and Information: First Word scrolling panel: FIRST<GO> First Word newswire: NH BFW<GO>

To contact the reporter on this story: Selcan Hacaoglu in Ankara at +90-312-440-7622 or shacaoglu@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andrew J. Barden at +971-4-364-1057 or barden@bloomberg.net