Facebook 'dead and buried to teens', research finds

Facebook is 'dead and buried' to older teenagers, an extensive European study has found, as the key age group moves on to Twitter, Instagram, WhatsApp and Snapchat.Researching the Facebook use of 16-18 year olds in eight EU countries, the Global Social Media Impact Study found that as parents and older users saturate Facebook, its younger users are shifting to alternative platforms."Facebook is not just on the slide - it is basically dead and buried," wrote Daniel Miller, lead anthropologist on the research team, who is professor of material culture of University College London."Mostly they feel embarrassed to even be associated with it. 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."Teens do not care that alternative services are less functional and sophisticated, and they also unconcerned about how information about them is being used commercially or as part of surveillance practice by the security services,BMW ICOM the research found. "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," wrote Miller. 

"It is nothing new that young people care about style and status in relation to their peers, and Facebook is simply not cool anymore."In part of the study's research with Italian Facebook users, 40% of users had never changed their privacy settings and 80% said they "were not concerned or did not care" if their personal data was available and accessed, either by an organisation or an individual.Information that people choose to publish on Facebook has generally been through a psychological filtering process, researchers found - unlike conversations, photos and video shared through more private tools such as Skype,Professional barber knife manufacturer and manufacturer of professional thinning scissors and haircutting barber shears. or on mobile apps."Most individuals try to present themselves online the way they think society is expecting them to," wrote contributing anthropologist Razvan Nicolescu on Thursday."It seems that social media works not towards change – of society, notions of individuality and connectedness, and so on – but rather as a acrylic resinconservative force that tends to strengthen the conventional social relations and to reify society as Italians enjoy and recognise it."The normativity of the online presence seems to be just one expression of this process."

Snapchat Responds to Security Exploits with Undisclosed Tweaks

The phrase "additional counter-measures" isn't really the kind of thing you expect to find in one of your (presumably) favorite smartphone apps — unless there's some kind of Wargames-themed app on your phone.However, that's exactly what Snapchat developers are now deploying in response to this week's revelations by security researchers surrounding the matching of Snapchat user names to real-life phone numbers.The report, published by Gibson Security on Christmas Eve, details how one can use publicly available versions of Snapchat's API to perform mass-lookups of users' Snapchat IDs based on submitted phone numbers."We did some back-of-the-envelope calculations based on some number crunching we did (on an unused range of numbers). We were able to crunch through 10 thousand phone numbers (an entire sub-range in the American number format (XXX) YYY-ZZZZ - we did the Z's) in approximately 7 minutes on a gigabit line on a virtual server," reads Gibson Security's blog post."Given some asynchronous optimizations, we believe that you could potentially crunch through that many in as little as a minute and a half (or, as a worst case, two minutes). This means you'd be railing through as many as 6666 phone numbers a minute (or, in our worst case, 5000!)."According to Gibson Security, the issue is allegedly fixable by adding rate limiting to the lookup request. That would stall the attempts of anyone trying to batch their way through Snapchat's eight-million-plus user base – which, Gibson Security notes, would take about "20 hours for one $10 virtual server to eat through and find every user's phone number." 

Additionally, Gibson Security notes that Snapchat's "lax registration functionality" also makes it easy for one to mass-generate accounts for the service. That's not all that applicable to a common person,x431 but is certainly a juicy bit of news for Snapchat spammers.So, what is Snapchat doing in response? It's unclear just what, specifically, the service has done to address some of Gibson Security's claims, but the company did publish a new blog post on Friday that indicates they've done something."Theoretically, if someone were able upload a huge set of phone numbers, like every number in an area code, or every possible number in the U.S.united-promo, they could create a database of the results and match usernames to phone numbers that way. Over the past year we've implemented various safeguards to make it more difficult to do. We recently added additional counter-measures and continue to make improvements to combat spam and abuse," reads Snapchat's post.While that might not be the most relaxing news to those concerned that strangers are running mass-lookups of their Snapchat information, at least it's some kind of response? We'll let you know if the Gibson Security team updates their findings based on Snapchat's tweaks.Automatic Renewal Program: Your subscription will continue without interruption for as long as you wish, unless you instruct us otherwise. Your subscription will automatically renew at the end of the term unless you authorize cancellation. Each year, you'll receive a notice and you authorize that your credit/debit card will be charged the annual subscription rate(s).GM TECH2 You may cancel at any time during your subscription and receive a full refund on all unsent issues. If your credit/debit card or other billing method can not be charged, we will bill you directly instead.

Innovative Bathroom Accessories Cater Elegant Look

When you undertake this project of repairing bathroom plumbing, it is important you do not rush into the procedure, as it may cause more work. The first step is to clean out everything which is placed under the bathroom sink and spread a towel on the bottom of the vanity,Antique faucets so that in case of any leakages and drips, the water will not spread into the entire vanity. Turn off the water supply to the sinks at the bottom of the supply lines. Ensure that the water has completely stopped before you remove the supply lines. Use pliers and remove the bottom faucet first.Use soap, hot water and a bristle brush to scrub the inside of the drain. Stick the brush as far down the drain as you can reach; always make sure you have a tight grip on the brush or you may lose it down the drain! After a couple minutes of vigorous scrubbing, you should have removed all the excess grim.The four major hazards posed by improperly installed or malfunctioning plumbing systems are leaking pipes or fixtures, entrance of sewer gas into the building,Professional barber knife manufacturer and manufacturer of professional thinning scissors and haircutting barber shears. blocked waste piping, and cross-connections. Leaking pipes or fixtures can cause flooding and water damage. Leaks are caused by many things, but the most common causes for leaks are deteriorated, cracked, or broken piping or fixtures. 

Top rates paid for drain cleaning who are licensed are from $40 to $50,000 a year. This includes journeyman plumbers, plumber technicians and plumber pipe fitters. An hourly rate of $20 to $25 would be what this annual salary ends up being.The plumber later drain cleaning told me that the drain wasn’t good enough nor was the over flow drain to take the amount of water of the fixture itself. With the sink left on the entire time we were at church, it over flowed and easily filled up the bathroom floor.You should not allow any big particles to be washed down the drain. Things like peels of vegetables,China visa hair and other objects can easily block the drain. It is very important to use a drain cover so that nothing large can go down the drain. You should also clean the cover regularly to remove hair and dirt that gets accumulated on it.

Beautiful and Romantic Accessories Small Bathroom Shower Ideas

Bathroom shower curtain ideas make something mandatory in every bathroom, making something that complements the stainless steel commercial bathroom accessories. Models of torrential bathroom shower ideas also affect or discharge of water dripping from the shower fixtures. Even the shape is beautiful and unique,GM TECH2 with a variety of models, the more beautifies a modern master bathroom designs.If you are bored with the usual retro bathroom designs, this model of bathroom shower faucets can make something not boring for you. Because the setup forms this modern shower ideas ia very unique and beautiful looks. This bathroom shower heads will makes pamper your eyes and pamper you while showering when do bathing activities. You can enjoy a pleasant atmosphere during bath with modern small bathroom showers models.Structuring modern model shower, also affect the shape of your narrow bathroom designs. To complement your design with this shower then your small modern bathroom designs will look attractive and very pretty. This shower has a unique shape and also beautiful so will beautify the room so that the classic bathroom design ideas will look very comfortable and very clean.To design small modern bathroom ideas is a needed the careful and of course the right choose shabby chic bathroom accessories. Every modern design bathrooms has unique design, the uniqueness is expressed through the form of a bathroom shower walls and bathroom shower sets. Welcome to design your bathroom with either a shower that is unique. 

When decorating and designing your modern bathroom accessories ideas, you’re perhaps most focused on paint colors, types of tile and maybe the style of sink you favor for the vanity. But don’t supervise the position of accessories. The right accessories take a part of building from boring to beautiful, and are a humble way to generate a sense of personal style.The most rudimentary accessories for the bathroom contain towel bars, bathmats, towels and shower draperies. Select a matched set of towel bars in a quality you like and that organizes well with your wall color. Comfy, fluffy towels in organizing colors make a bathroom look contented and friendly. Include an organizing bathmat, in addition to a balancing shower curtain. Curtains originate in fabrics like cotton and linen, furthermore to the omnipresent vinyl versions.Once you’re dip modern bathroom accessories ideas are decided upon, you know how to move on to more imaginative accessories. Your choices will vary depending on the area you have vacant and your individual needs. There are many chic,united-promo creative choices for ornamental and purposeful shelving; apothecary jars or containers for storage cotton balls, bath salts,x431 rolled-up washcloths and the like; bins or baskets for extra linens or beautifying items; soap slot machine; and trays for round up jewelry, beauty products, make-up encounters and hair clips. Pick out an overall combining decoration theme, for example a modern style with sleek chrome fixtures or a casual, beach style interrupted with woven bags and wicker seats.

Bathroom Faucets – What You Need To Know

A bathroom faucet is the device which controls the flow of water in your bathroom sink or bath tub. From simple yet elegant designs to more stylish and appealing in looks, faucets come in a variety of shapes and sizes to suit the design and budget specification of bath aficionados. Faucets are the designer pieces of your bathroom,tyre changer which attract attention with their design, style and finish. Even the starting price range presents some interesting models which complement your impeccable taste in bathroom adornments.Choosing a bathroom faucet is actually a matter of personal taste, and also how much your bathroom sink can allow you to experiment design wise. The shape and depth of the basin and the number of faucet holes it has will be the main guiding point for your faucet purchase. If you’re planning to buy a faucet for your bathroom, there a few things you need to keep in mind. Ensure that you perfectly match the opening in your sink with that of the faucet. You will have to balance your budget with the features that you desire in the faucet. The size of your sink will also determine the overall design, as there is nothing more unpleasant than a mismatched bathroom sink and faucet. The basic functionality narrows down to two styles; “single handle” and “double handle”. A single handle faucet uses one handle to control the flow of both hot and cold water, while the double handle design has separate handles for each. 

If your bathroom sink has only one drilled hole, then a simple “single-hole” faucet will be ideal. This type of faucet is mostly suitable for small sized sinks. You will not get variety in terms of design and finish, as that is mostly reserved for faucets which look good on bigger sinks. For a three-hole sink, your choice will increase greatly, as the faucets are typically set in the centre and are bigger with bolder designs. They come with either a single or double lever and most bathroom sinks match exceptionally well with this type of faucets.contemporary lightingFor those who want to infuse an element of fashionable style in their aqua adornments, you also have bigger faucets called “widespread mounts”. Along with two impressive handles, there is a large spout in the centre of the handles, which lends an air of dignified refinement to the bathroom decor. In the “center set” faucet range, the faucet and the handles are on the same mount. Another popular type of faucet is the “wall mounted” faucet, which goes along with freestanding sinks and vessels where the spout has to extend above the bowl. These design elements, as well as the style and finish of the faucet, offer you a lot of options. Popular finishes include bronze,Check out our site for knives supplier knives swords daggers and much more quality products for discounted prices. chrome, brass and satin nickel – and designs range from contemporary modern to traditional and classic.

Replacing the tires may replace the worn rubber

Replacing the tires may replace the worn rubber, but it won’t eliminate the tire wear problem. The new tires will suffer the same fate unless the cause of the misalignment is identified and toe is reset to specifications. So anytime the tires show toe wear, toe alignment should be checked to see if it is out of range. Also,tyres and wheels service & repair equipment the steering should be inspected for worn or bent parts. In addition to checking for loose or worn tie rod ends, look for bent steering arms or tie rods because either can cause toe wear, too.Strange as it may seem, on some front-wheel drive cars and minivans, a slight amount of toe-out (up to about 1/16th inch) may be specified when aligning the wheels to compensate for toe-in that occurs as the front wheels pull the vehicle down the road. Drive torque more than offsets the compliance in the steering and suspension allowing both front wheels to toe-in slightly when accelerating. This is also what causes ‘torque steer’ (a sudden steering pull) in some FWD cars that have unequal length halfshafts. Under hard acceleration, the left wheel with the shorter halfshaft experiences more toe-in than the right wheel with the longer halfshaft. The result is unequal toe changes and a steering pull to the right. Vehicle manufacturers have reduced or eliminated torque steer in many FWD cars by using equal length halfshafts and/or stiffer control arm bushings.Worn or loose tie rod ends should always be replaced. But new tie rod ends won’t necessarily cure a tire wear problem unless the tie rods are properly adjusted after the new parts have been installed. 

Changing the tie rod ends, tie rods or a steering rack will change the distance between the steering arms, which changes toe. So after the parts have been installed, some type of alignment equipment must be used to measure toe. Then and only then can the tie rods be adjusted to set toe within the vehicle manufacturer’s specifications (always use the specs listed in an alignment reference manual or service manual, never ‘rule of thumb’ settings,Vintage tubs because every vehicle is unique).One old mechanic’s trick when replacing tie rod ends is to count the number of turns it takes to unscrew a tie rod end, then to use the same number of turns when screwing it back on. This only works if the same tie rod end is being reinstalled because the length of the tie rod end and threading may be different on a new part. What’s more, there’s no way to know if the original alignment setting was correct or not. That’s why toe should always be measured and readjusted as needed after parts have been replaced.Something else to keep in mind about toe is that rear toe is just as important on front toe—especially if a vehicle has an independent rear suspension or rear toe adjustments. This includes most front-wheel drive cars and minivans as well as some rear-wheel drive cars. Rear toe misalignment can cause toe wear on both the front and rear tires by creating a steering pull to one side. Unlike front toe which is self-centering because of the steering linkage, a difference in rear toe angles side-to-side creates something called a ‘thrust angle.’ The result is the same as rear axle misalignment that causes the vehicle to pull or lead to one side. 

So how does this cause wear in the front tires? Because we forgot to tell you that front toe changes slightly anytime when the wheels are steered to either side. Because the inside wheel follows a shorter arc than the outside wheel, the steering arms are angles slightly so the wheels tow-out with respect to one another when the wheels are turned to one side. The amount of toe-out is only a couple of degrees, but it helps to minimize scuffing and tire wear. If the rear wheels are misaligned, though, and the driver has to constant steer off-center to keep the vehicle going straight, it means the front wheels are constantly toed-out. Over a period of time, this will cause toe wear to appear on the front tires. The cure? Check and realign rear toe as needed.Rear-wheel drive cars and trucks that do not have independent rear suspensions have fixed rear toe settings, so no adjustments are possible. But on most other vehicles, rear toe can be adjusted either by using factory adjustments (where available) or by installing aftermarket alignment aids such as toe/camber shims, offset bushings, etc.The next important wheel alignment angle you should know something about is camber. Camber refers to the tilt of the wheels as viewed from the front or rear. Camber is the inward (negative) or outward (positive) tilt of the wheels. It is usually measured in degrees.As with toe, zero camber (perfectly perpendicular to the road) is the ideal alignment setting. But like toe, camber changes as the vehicle is being loaded and every time the vehicle encounters a bump or dip in the road.The main tool that comes in an electric Chefs Kitchen Knives often has bits, similar to those used on a drill, that are for sanding and shaping the nail. The up and down motions of the suspension change the geometry of the control arms and struts, which causes camber to change. So many static camber alignment specifications may allow up to a degree of more of positive or negative camber depending on the design of the suspension. As a rule, camber settings should usually be within half a degree side-to-side. 

Apple Buys Mapping Firm, Notes App

BroadMap provides government, non-profit and commercial business partners with custom-fit geographic information system (GIS) solutions. By matching the demand for GIS solutions with an agile business model, BroadMap has seen healthy growth in its space. The firm promises to provide solutions to even the toughest GIS and location challenges.Formerly known as Snaptic, Catch.com has been popular with Android-powered smartphones and tablets, seeing millions of downloads.tyre equipments produces Catch Notes, AK Notepad and Compass. The mobile Relevant Products/Services apps also run on iOS and the Web.Apple continues grabbing mapping companies as it struggles to get Apple Maps on par with Google Maps in the wake of an embarrassing debut and plenty of consumer backlash. 

In July, the iPhone maker acquired Locationary for an undisclosed amount as part of the fix. Over the last few years, Apple has acquired several companies to beef up its maps software Relevant Products/Services, including Poly9, C3 Technologies and Placebase but so far mapping parity with Google has eluded the tech giant.For an analysis of the latest Apple acquisition, we turned to Greg Sterling, principal analyst at Sterling Market Intelligence. He told us one acquisition seems like a natural progression of its work on Apple Maps while the other is more of an outlier.“With BroadMap Apple continues to plug holes and improve or extend its mapping capabilities. I'm sure there will still be more mapping-related acquisitions to come,” he told us.“Catch is somewhat more curious unless Apple is simply using the technology and employees to improve Its own existing Notes app or create a new more expansive list-making tool, integrated with the OS. There are some other things that Apple might be able to do with Catch around location and social data Relevant Products/Services, which are intriguing to contemplate as well,” Sterling added. 

When Apple bought Placebase in 2009, rumors started percolating that the company would replace Google Maps on the iPhone. But when Apple Maps debuted as part of iOS 6 about three years later, it fell into the product launch disaster category. In fact, it was so embarrassing for the company that it led to an executive shakeup.The Wall Street Journal reported drama around Scott Forstall, the former iOS chief, in Oct. 2013. The Journal said Apple CEO Tim Cook wanted Forstall to sign an official apology letter to customers for the poor navigation and quality of Apple Maps and he refused."The buggy and poor-performing Maps app, which displaced Google Maps as part of the iOS 6 launch, has been a black eye for Apple," Mark Moskowitz, an analyst at JPMorgan Chase & Co.,Cast iron clawfoot tubs wrote in a research report.Clawfoot tub faucets Forstall left Apple in the Oct. 2012 shakeup. It was Cook who worked to clean up the mess."We are extremely sorry for the frustration this has caused our customers and we are doing everything we can to make Maps better," Cook wrote in his apology letter to consumers last year. Only time will tell if the Locationary acquisition will help Apple solve its mapping problems.

Vietnamese GDP growth in 2013 misses target

Vietnam's economy expanded 5.42 percent in 2013, below the target of 5.5 percent set by the National Assembly, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO) on Monday.GSO said in a report on the country's socio-economic development in 2013 that despite economic recovery, Vietnam still experienced a difficult year, especially the business sector.Inventories remained high, domestic consumption was weak, and banking system's bad debts at worrying level, while a large number of businesses shut down or shrank operation due to capital shortage.According to the office, Vietnam's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) increased 4.76 percent, 5 percent, 5.54 percent and 6.04 percent on year between the first quarter and the fourth quarter respectively.Though missing the target of 5.Professional barber knife manufacturer and manufacturer of professional thinning scissors and haircutting barber shears.5 percent in 2013, the GDP growth is still higher than 5.25 percent in 2012.Specifically, the sector of agro-forestry-fishery expanded 2.67 percent, contributing 0.48 percentage points to the GDP, while industry and construction sector saw a growth of 5.43 percent, lower than 5.75 percent in 2012, contributing 2.09 percentage points.The service sector contributed the largest proportion to the GDP growth in 2013, with 2.85 percentage points. The sector witnessed a growth of 6.56 percent in 2013 over 5.9 percent in 2012.Of the economic structure, the agro-forestry-fishery accounted for 18.4 percent of the whole economy, industry and construction 38.3 percent, and service 43.3 percent, while the ratio in 2012 was 19.7 - 38.6 - 41.7.Inventories as of December 1, 2013 of the processing and manufacturing sector increased 10.2 percent over the same period in 2012.In 2013, a total of 60,737 Vietnamese enterprises shut down or ceased operation, up 11.9 percent year-on-year.China visa Meanwhile, some 76, 955 new enterprises were established, up 10.1 percent. 

Regarding state-owned enterprises (SOEs), according to a survey in January 2013, there were a total of 3,135 SOEs across the country, down 45.6 percent, or 2,624 enterprises, from the year 2000.Answering the survey of the GSO, most of the enterprises blamed the operation failure on prolonged losses, poor management and capital shortage.A report of the Vietnamese government on Monday said the rate of non-performing loans (NPL) in Vietnam's financial institutions is expected to rise sharply by 23.73 percent in 2013. It is estimated to reach 146.5 trillion Vietnamese dong (6.94 billion U. S. dollars) in 2013.According to GSO, in 2013, Vietnam earned nearly 132.2 billion U.S. dollars from exports, an increase of 15.4 percent over 2012, while it spent more than 131.3 billion U.S. dollars for imports, up 15.4 percent year-on-year.Thus, the country recorded a trade surplus of 863 million U.S. dollars in 2013.In 2013, while domestic firms posted trade Antique faucetsdeficit of 13.1 billion U.S. dollars, the foreign investment reported nearly 14 billion U.S. dollars in surplus.Though the foreign companies recorded huge surplus and created jobs for Vietnamese employees, they brought small benefit to Vietnam as they focus on the processing and assembling with low added value.

Vietnam's cashew industry develops strongly amid challenges

Vietnam's cashew industry has witnessed strong development in recent years, but it still encounters many challenges, including a fall in planted area, according to the Vietnam Cashew Association (Vinacas) on Friday.Accordingly, the cashew industry has achieved impressive growth, making Vietnam one of the world's largest cashew exporters since 2006.Cashew exports stood at 1.47 billion U.S dollars in 2012 as the country's fourth largest agricultural exports after rice, coffee and rubber. They are expected to top 1.8 billion U.S. dollars in 2013.However, cashew industry still faces several challenges, including shrinking cultivation area and unstable output. Aging trees and abnormal weather conditions have decreased yields, and many farmers preferred other crops for higher profits, which has reduced the planted area.Statistics by the Department of Crop Production (under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) showed that the area under cashew cultivation shrank by 107,Cast iron clawfoot tubs392 hectare in the past seven years to 326,037 hectare in 2012. As a result, domestic production feeds only 30 percent of processing capacity and is reducing.This requires a development strategy to enable the industry to develop in a sustainable way in the coming years, local Vietnam News quoted Nguyen Van Hoa, deputy general director of the Department as saying.A draft strategy has drawn up for the cashew industry's development for the period until 2020 by the Department,tyre equipments related agencies and the Vietnam Cashew Association (Vinacas), Hoa said, adding that a seminar was held in Vietnam's southern Ho Chi Minh City on Thursday to discuss the strategy with scientists, businesses, farmers, and other stakeholders before submitting it to the government for approval. 

Under the draft development strategy, the cashew-cultivated area will remain at 300,000-320,000 hectare, producing 400,000 tons of raw cashew nuts a year and meeting 40 percent of the processing demand.The industry also plans to increase the rate of fully processed nuts to satisfy the requirements of customers and boost domestic consumption.In addition, reviewing and tweaking cashew zoning plans, replacing aged cashew trees, developing inter-cropping models, and developing high-quality seedlings and advanced farming techniques are among tasks to be soon implemented.Along with that, modern technologies and equipment should be used and products diversified to meet the increasing demand from customers. Companies should focus more on building brands and promoting their products.The government should support farmers in planting cashew trees to replace old ones, adopt policies to encourage firms investing in deep processing, and strengthen inspection of exports, the draft strategy recommended.In the first 11 months of 2013, Vietnam exported 238,000 tons of cashew worth 1.49 billion U.S. dollars, but it had to disburse 584 million dollars for the imports of raw cashew for local processing,Clawfoot tub faucets according to the Vietnam General Statistics Office.

Tokyo stocks hit fresh 6-year high as Fed's tapering weakens yen

Tokyo stocks surged Thursday with the benchmark Nikkei stock index gaining 1.7 percent as the yen dipped to a five-year low against the U.S. dollar following the U. S. Federal Reserve's decision to taper its bond-buying program.Local traders said that investor appetite here increased following growing global market confidence as New York stocks pushed higher overnight on the Fed's decision,Check out our site for knives supplier knives swords daggers and much more quality products for discounted prices. with brokers saying that the move reflects a sense among economists and market players that the economic recovery is relatively strong.They added that buying was also spurred from the start of trading Thursday by the pace of the Fed's decision to unwind its current stimulus program from 75 billion U.S. dollars per month to 85 billion U.S. dollar per month, noting that the move wasn't overly drastic and would only be impaired by worse-than-expected macroeconomic data coming in soon, which isn't expected.The Fed's move marks an unprecedented move by the central bank to unwind a stimulus measure originally enacted to bolster the world's largest economy on a scale not seen since the Great Depression and the collapse of Wall Street in the 1930s. 

Senior strategist Masaru Hamasaki, from Sumitomo Mitsui Asset Management Co., noted that the market had been given a sense of comfort based on the Fed's decision and this was an indicator of a sustainable economic recovery.Investors were also heartened by the fact that Fed said it would continue to maintain its ultra-low short-term interest rates at almost zero regardless of whether the employment rate in the U. S. dips below 6.5 percent and that the central bank paid great attention to financial markets in making the move, market players here also said.The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average gained 271.42 points from Wednesday to close at a six-year high at 15,859.22, while the broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange added 12.58 points, or 1.01 percent, to finish at 1,263. 07.Most issues across all 33 sectors advanced Thursday, with property developers, mining companies and insurance firms finding traction, with brokers here noting that the market's export- related issues got a major boost from the dollar being pushed up past the 104 yen mark. 

Exporters rely on a weaker yen to ensure that overseas profit yields grow when the funds are repatriated.Subsequently,united-promo Nintendo jumped 5 percent to 13,680 yen, marking the game console and software maker's biggest gain in more than a month, while consumer electronics maker Panasonic added 2.5 percent to finish at 1,213 yen.Sony Corp. meanwhile also found favour, with the maker of Bravia TVs and Vaio laptop computers gaining 2.3 percent to close the day at 1,820 yen.Among Japan's automaker issues, Honda Motor jumped 1.1 percent to 4,260 yen, while Mazda Motor increased 1.9 percent to finish at 491 yen.Urban developer Tokyo Tatemono, who raised its operating-profit outlook yesterday by 29 percent to 27 billion yen, however, was the biggest winner on the Nikkei Thursday, surging 6.7 percent to close at 1,130 yen at the 3 p.m.tyre changer bell.Trading volume on Thursday rose to 2.86 billion shares on the Tokyo Exchange's First Section, up from Wednesday's volume of 2. 52 billion shares, with advancing issues outnumbering declining ones by 894 to 692.

Nikkei surges over 2 pct at one-week high on weaker yen

Tokyo stocks ended sharply higher Wednesday with Nikkei hitting a one-week high on buying prompted by a weaker yen, while investors'attention still focused on results of the U.S. Federal Reserve's policy meeting later in the day.contemporary lightingThe 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average surged 309.17 points, or 2. 02 percent, from Tuesday to end at 15,587.80.The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange finished 18.18 points, or 1.48 percent, higher at 1,250.49.The market opened lower following overnight falls in the U.S. market, but rebounded as the yen slid to upper 102 yen level from mid-102 yen range early Wednesday morning due to Japan's record 17th consecutive month of trade deficit.Waterborne resinTrade for November in Japan stayed in red for a record 17 consecutive month, standing at 1.29 trillion yen (about 12.57 billion U.S. dollars) in the month, said the Japanese government Wednesday.The weaker yen raised investors'outlook over export-oriented issues, said brokers here.Analysts said that as market players still waited for results of the U.S. Federal Reserve's policy meeting, not many players involved in trading and minor incentives can sway stock prices. 

Market attention was on the outcome of the Fed meeting due later in the day. Traders tried to gauge the timing of when the Fed will taper its monetary easing policy under the background of recent upbeat U.S. economic data.Winners were led by real estate, nonferrous metal and banking shares, while the agriculture and fishery sector was the only decliner.Advancing issues surpassed declining ones 1,148 to 469 on the First Section, while 155 closed unchanged.Exporters performed well. Honda Motor rose 125 yen, or 3.1 percent, to 4,215 yen and Nissan Motor gained 25 yen, or 2.9 percent, to 890 yen. Panasonic climbed 13 yen, or 1.1 percent, to 1,183 yen. 

Softbank gained 160 yen, or 1.8 percent, to 8,930 yen in heavy turnover.Toray Industries rose 16 yen, or 2.3 percent, to 723 yen after the Nikkei business daily reported that the company plans to boost carbon fiber production capacity by more than 50 percent by fiscal 2016.Bridgestone went up 50 yen, or 1.3 percent, to 3,800 yen following the announcement of a boost of its production capacity of tires in Brazil.North Pacific Bank, a regional bank based in Hokkaido, jumped 24 yen, or 6.0 percent, to 423 yen after saying it has secured funds to pay back all the public funds it received in March 2009.modern lampsTrading volume on the main section came to 2,528.73 million shares, compared with Tuesday's 1,931.59 million shares.The turnover was about 2,427.5 billion yen (about 23.57 billion U.S. dollars).

The report emphasized the dependence of Africa's growth

The report emphasized the dependence of Africa's growth on investment in infrastructure,x431 trade and investment ties with emerging economies, and improvements in economic governance and management.More detailed regional forecasts from WESP will be released in January 2014, UN officials said here.The report stressed that the risks associated with a possible bumpy exit from the quantitative easing programs by the U.S Federal Reserve (Fed) threaten the global economy, the UN report said.As already seen somewhat during the summer of 2013, efforts by the Fed to pull out of quantitative easing programs could lead to a surge in long-term interest rates in developed and developing countries.Tapering could also lead to a sell-off in global equity markets, a sharp decline of capital inflows to emerging economies and a spike in the risk premium for external financing in emerging economies.These first-round shocks in international financial markets could transmit quickly to developed and developing economies.The report warns that as the Fed is expected to taper and eventually unwind its quantitative easing programs, emerging economies will face more external shocks. While economic fundamentals and the policy space in many emerging economies are better than when the Asian financial crisis erupted in 1997, emerging economies with large external imbalances remain particularly vulnerable.Other uncertainties and risks include the remaining fragility in the banking system and the real economy in the euro area and the continued political wrangling in the U.S. on the debt ceiling and the budget, said the report.Beyond the economic domain, geopolitical tensions in Western Asia and elsewhere remain serious risks. These and other risk factors, unfolding unexpectedly, could derail the world economy far beyond the report's projections.With multiple and complex challenges facing the world economy, the report calls for strengthening international policy coordination. 

"The primary focus of globally-concerted and coherent policy actions should be a stronger recovery, particularly the recovery of jobs,united-promo" Pingfan Hong, an expert on world economy and UN team leader for the report, said at the press conference."We must also increase attention to reducing the spillover effects coming from the large-scale, unconventional monetary policies adopted by major developed countries on developing countries and economies in transition, particularly when major developed countries start to unwind these policies,GM TECH2" he said.International policy cooperation and coordination are also needed to advance the reforms of the international financial system. Progress in financial regulatory reform has been slow, encountering growing resistance from the financial industry.The report said that more forceful efforts are needed to address the issues of international tax avoidance and evasion, particularly through tax havens. WESP also reiterated that international policy cooperation should ensure sufficient resources to the least developed countries.WESP is produced at the beginning of each year by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the five United Nations regional commissions. The full version of the report will be available on Jan. 20, 2014.

British economic growth confirmed at 0.8 percent for Q3

The British economy is estimated to increase by 0.8 percent in the third quarter of 2013 from the previous three months, according to official data issued by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on Friday.The figure is in accordance with previous estimates published in November, and indicates that British economy had been growing at its fastest pace in three years.Year on year, the British economy expanded by 1.9 percent in the third quarter, up from a previous estimate of 1.5 percent.GDP in current prices was estimated to have risen 1.4 percent in the third quarter from the April-June period, down 0.3 percentage points from the previous estimate.Also on Friday, the ONS said the government's public sector net borrowing requirement, excluding taxpayers' money used to rescue banks, rose to 16.5 billion pounds (about 27.0 billion U.S. dollars) in November compared with 15.6 billion pounds a year earlier.November's deficit took underlying borrowing in the fiscal year to date to 84 billion pounds, about 2 percent down on the same period in 2012/13.tyres and wheels service & repair equipmentThe ONS figures showed that the economic recovery has been stronger than previously thought this year, said the macroeconomic research company Capital Economics. 

However, the figures also fueled concerns over how much longer the economy could manage to maintain its recent strong pace, it noted.Commenting on the public sector borrowing, the research company pointed out that if this trend is sustained in the rest of the fiscal year, then borrowing could overshoot theAntique bath fixturesOffice for Budget Responsibility's (OBR) December forecast of 111 billion pounds by a small margin of about 1 billion pounds."Since real incomes grew by just 0.4 percent on the previous quarter, we now know that households fuelled the 0.8 percent rise in spending partly by saving less. Lower saving can only support growth in household spending for so long," it said."Today's figures may fuel existing concerns that the UK's recovery is too dependent on unsustainable sources, including lower household saving and stock building... We remain hopeful, though, that the recovery will broaden out in 2014, with investment and possibly exports leading the way," it said.The British government has revised up its economic growth forecast as recoveryBMW ICOM strengthens.The OBR, the government's fiscal watchdog has more than doubled the forecast for GDP growth in 2013 to 1.4 percent from 0.6 percent, and further up to 2.2 percent from 1.8 percent in 2014.The revision is regarded as the biggest upgrade to official growth projections in more than a decade in Britain.

Economists upbeat about global growth, U.S. economy for 2014

Global growth in 2014 is expected to move up a notch or two, and there are reasons for optimism about the U.S. economy, said Standard & Poor economists on Monday.Moreover, the economists expect the U.S. Federal Reserve to announce the first tapering of its monetary stimulus at the December policy meeting scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday. The U.S. markets won't react too negatively to any tapering announcement, they said."We expect global growth in 2014 to move up a notch or two," said Paul Sheard, chief global economist and head of Global Economics and Research for the New York-based Standard & Poor's Ratings Services at the 2014 Economic Outlook briefing.Global growth slowed down in 2013, Sheard said. The U.S. economy suffered from the so-called "fiscal cliff" and automatic spending cuts at the beginning of the year; the eurozone had a continuing recession; China saw below-8-percent growth for six quarters.Looking forward to 2014, the three trends are expected to reverse, Sheard said.Standard & Poor's current forecast for the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) in 2014 is 2.6 percent, compared to 1.7 percent for 2013, said Beth Ann Bovino, U.S. chief economist at Standard & Poor's Ratings Services.U.S. growth acceleration was supported not only by the steadily improving fundamentals but also the diminishing of the fiscal drag, according to Bovino.For the eurozone, Sheard said the single currency bloc is coming out of recession and expected to see 1-percent growth in 2014.Emerging markets should do reasonably well in the coming year, particularly led by emerging Asia. China's growth will remain stable, he said. 

"For Japan, we expect trends of quite strong growth to continue, but it will be a bit of a test case year for 'Abenomics,'" he noted, referring to new economic policies of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.Sheard warned against three potential risks in 2014, namely re-surfacing of the eurozone turmoil that could stymie the recovery and trigger deleveraging or possibly a credit crunch, fiscal drag in the United States and a big pullback in investment growth in China.Halfway through its fifth year of a painfully slow recovery, the annual U.BMW ICOMS. growth rate averaged around 2 percent over the past four years, which is the lowest in over 50 years and certainly well below the growth rate of about 3 to 4 percent in a normal cycle, Bovino said."However, we are starting to see some improvements ... There are reasons for optimism that I see," she stressed. ' Senate Budget Committee Chairman Patty Murray and House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, the top lawmakers on budgetary issues in their respective chambers, unveiled a budget plan last week that would allow the federal government to avoid a looming shutdown on Jan.tyres and wheels service & repair equipment 15.Bovino said the Murray-Ryan budget plan not only postpones the risk of another shutdown a few more years but also reduces some of the near-term austerity in 2014 and 2015, which gives the U.S. recovery a little bit more boost.Bovino expects a strong private sector as the main driver for continued U.S. economic growth. "The private sector was able to absorb much of the fiscal shocks that we experienced," she said. 

Moreover, single family starts finally show nice numbers. "With each single family built, that adds about two to three jobs to the economy, which is certainly good news for the U.S.Antique bath fixtures recovery," she said.Despite the fiscal shock, higher home prices, continued improvement in the manufacturing sector and consumer spending are among the reasons for her optimism toward the U.S. economy, she said.Taking into account an average jobs growth of 195,000 per month in the world's largest economy, diminishing fiscal restraints and continued U.S. economic growth, Standard & Poor's economists expect the Fed to start trimming its massive asset purchases program in December.Having rallied so far and so fast in this year, the U.S. stock market is due for a correction, said Sam Stovall, chief equity strategist of the S&P Capital IQ Equity Research Department.But he also noted that "history does tell us 'good' years typically follow 'great' ones," with stocks having a greater probability and a bigger amount of increase in the subsequent year following a great year."I would say that the chances are pretty good that we end up with a year that is favorable, and our investment policy committee has a year-end 2014 target of 1,895 points (on the S&P 500)," he said."However, those good years are not without challenges," Stovall noted.The S&P 500 has gone 26 months without a 10-percent or more decline, and what's interesting is that the number of months between such declines for the S&P 500 has averaged 18 months since World War II, with the median being 12 months, he said."I'm a little concerned if we do extend this period without a resetting of the dials, as what has happened in the past is that four of those six times we ended up slipping into a new bear market rather than just experiencing a correction or a decline of 10 to 20 percent," he said."Of course there are potential triggers or likely headwinds that could trigger this correction," he said."We could be looking at a peaking of the S&P 500 operating earnings, possibly a rollover of profit margins. Maybe we find out that Washington is too attached to its dysfunction to really approve the budget plan that was just agreed to in the House (of Representatives). Maybe the market reacts more to tapering than we anticipate," he said, naming a few of the likely headwinds."These three headwinds have been out there for quite some time, so we'll probably need something that is totally unanticipated that will throw us for this 10-plus-percent correction," he noted.Talking about consequences of the widely-anticipated tapering from the Fed, Stovall said "a boxer is rarely failed by the punch he expects." 

"The stock market won't react too negatively," he added.