Iran?s new President Rouhani takes oath, Ansari attends ceremony

The 64-year-old former nuclear negotiator, who has committed himself to greater international engagement for Iran which is battling sanctions over its nuclear programme, was administered the oath in Milli Majlis, the Iranian Parliament.

Rouhani was officially endorsed by the supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Khamenei on Saturday for a four-year term.

"The country needs a national determination to keep its distance from extremism and needs to concentrate on the rule of law," Khamenei had said, endorsing the moderate cleric.

Soon after his victory in the June Presidential polls, Rouhani pledged to expand relations with India calling it his foreign policy priority. He visited India in 2002.

Reflecting warm bilateral ties, Ansari flew into the Iranaian capital by a special plane to represent India at the ceremony.

Ansari was earlier India's ambassador to Iran.

India's representation was upgraded after earlier plans for External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid to attend were dropped.

Rouhani, who succeeds hardliner Mahmoud Ahmedinijad, had already stoked a controversy when he had reportedly said that Israel is a "wound" on the Muslim world "and needs to be removed".

But the remarks were later denied by Iran's state-run TV.

Apart from Ansari, Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari, Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai along with Iraq's Vice President Khazir al-Khazai and Syrian Prime Minister Wael al-Halqi also attended the oath taking ceremony of the newly-elected Iranian President.

In his first appointment after assuming office Rouhani named Mohammad Nahavandian, a 58-year-old businessman with a doctorate in economics from George Washington University in Washington, as his chief of staff, state-run IRNA news agency reported.

Rouhani in a first address, broadcast live on state television on Saturday, said that his new government "will take fundamental steps in elevating Iran's position based on national interest and lifting of the oppressive sanctions."

(AKS- 04/08)

Source: http://www.ddinews.gov.in/Homepage/Homepage+-+Other+Stories/iran+prez.htm

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Adjuvant Intraoperative Photodynamic Therapy in Head and Neck Cancer Adjuvant Intraoperative Photodynamic Therapy Adjuvant Intraoperative Photodynamic Therapy

Importance? There is an immediate need to develop local intraoperative adjuvant treatment strategies to improve outcomes in patients with cancer who undergo head and neck surgery.

Objectives? To determine the safety of photodynamic therapy with 2-(1-hexyloxyethyl)-2-devinyl pyropheophorbide-a (HPPH) in combination with surgery in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

Design, Setting, and Participants? Nonrandomized, single-arm, single-site, phase 1 study at a comprehensive cancer center among 16 adult patients (median age, 65 years) with biopsy-proved primary or recurrent resectable head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

Interventions? Intravenous injection of HPPH (4.0 mg/m²), followed by activation with 665-nm laser light in the surgical bed immediately after tumor resection.

Main Outcomes and Measures? Adverse events and highest laser light dose.

Results? Fifteen patients received the full course of treatment, and 1 patient received HPPH without intraoperative laser light because of an unrelated myocardial infarction. Disease sites included larynx (7 patients), oral cavity (6 patients), skin (1 patient), ear canal (1 patient), and oropharynx (1 patient, who received HPPH only). The most frequent adverse events related to photodynamic therapy were mild to moderate edema (9 patients) and pain (3 patients). One patient developed a grade 3 fistula after salvage laryngectomy, and another patient developed a grade 3 wound infection and mandibular fracture. Phototoxicity reactions included 1 moderate photophobia and 2 mild to moderate skin burns (2 due to operating room spotlights and 1 due to the pulse oximeter). The highest laser light dose was 75 J/cm².

Conclusions and Relevance? The adjuvant use of HPPH-photodynamic therapy and surgery for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma seems safe and deserves further study.

Trial Registration? clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT00470496

Source: http://archotol.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleID=1714701

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China's Tallest Skyscraper Marks Big Step Toward Its 2015 Finish

Shanghai Tower, China?s tallest skyscraper and the world?s second highest, marked a big step toward its finish today with the placing of its last steel beam in a topping-off ceremony.

The 125-floor structure stands in the heart of the city?s Lujiazui financial district, home of the Shanghai Stock Exchange and numerous global financial institutions with operations in the city including HSBC. Construction first began in November 2008.???

The area is dotted with buildings developed or controlled by the world?s wealthiest Chinese, including the Shanghai IFC?( SHK Properities ? Hong Kong?s Kwok family),? Aurora Plaza (Aurora Group ? Taiwan billionaire Chen Yung-Tai) and the? Super Brand Mall (Chareon Pokphand Group ? Thailand?s Dhanin Chearavont).

Set in an eastern side of Shanghai that was a backwater until China?s economic reformed started to kick in the city in the 1990s, Shanghai Tower was designed by U.S. architecture firm Gensler, whose founder Art Gensler attended today?s ceremony.

Government-led developer, Shanghai Tower Construction & Development, ?is owned by Shanghai Chengtou Holding, Shanghai Lujiazui Finance & Trade Zone Development and Shanghai Construction Shanghai Construction Group.???

Set to open in 2015, Shanghai Tower will include a five-star hotel ? the J Hotel ? run by another Chinese government-controlled entity, the Jinjiang International Hotel Group.

The new tower connects by underpass to Shanghai?s two other tallest buildings ? Jin Mao Tower and the Shanghai World Trade Center, forming an iconic image of China?s current era of prosperity.

?? Follow me on Twitter @rflannerychina

Good weather allowed for great photos at today's topping-off ceremony at the 125-floor Shanghai Tower.

Source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/russellflannery/2013/08/03/chinas-tallest-skyscraper-celebrates-big-step-toward-its-2015-finish/

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CBS goes dark in NY, LA as Time Warner Cable talks collapse

By Lisa Richwine and Liana B. Baker

(Reuters) - CBS went dark for millions of Time Warner Cable subscribers on Friday after the cable operator and the network's parent company CBS Corp failed to reach an agreement over fees after weeks of contentious negotiations.

The blackout of the No. 1 rated broadcast network followed an increasingly hostile and public battle between the two sides, which accused each other of making unreasonable demands in their talks over how much Time Warner Cable will pay to carry CBS.

CBS, home to hits such as "The Big Bang Theory" and "NCIS," has never been dropped by a cable TV system, it said. An estimated 3.5 million customers are affected in large cities as Los Angeles, New York and Dallas.

The companies issued dueling statements on Friday as Time Warner Cable began dropping CBS and its cable networks, including Showtime, from the company's systems in those markets.

The cable operator said it had agreed to extend talks until Tuesday morning but CBS "refused to have a productive discussion."

"It's become clear that no matter how much time we give them, they're not willing to come to reasonable terms," Time Warner Cable said.

CBS shot back that Time Warner Cable "conducted negotiations in a combative and non-productive spirit, indulging in pointless brinksmanship and distorted public positioning."

The network "is eager to make an agreement in line with the kind it has struck with every other cable, satellite and telco provider, and has continually sought reasonable term extensions to get that job done," it said.

The threat of blackouts have become increasingly common as networks, which provide programming, square off against cable operators that pay "retransmission fees" to transmit those programs into living rooms around the country.

The battle with CBS, one of the industry's toughest negotiators, represented a "once in a lifetime opportunity to go dark and fight (retransmission) fees," BTIG analyst Rich Greenfield said. "Time Warner had to do it," he said.

CBS is seeking a monthly fee of $2 per subscriber, said RBC Capital Markets analyst David Bank, up from the current monthly fee around $1.

"Compared to others who get $1 per (subscriber)," they've spent four to eight times as much on content," Bank said. "We think they'll prevail."

(Reporting by Liana B. Baker in New York and Lisa Richwine and Susan Zeidler in Los Angeles; Editing by Bernard Orr)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/time-warner-cable-blacks-cbs-markets-212305631.html

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Lady Gaga, Madonna Accused Of Breaching Russian Immigration Laws

Singers face investigation for performing in the country in 2012 as well as promoting 'gay propaganda.'
By Emily Blake

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1711712/lady-gaga-madonna-russia-immigration-laws.jhtml

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The American Nightmare

Inside a casino whose theme is an empire that collapsed into venal decadence, middle-aged computer-security professionals clutching plastic cups half-full of free Veuve Clicquot line up to collect VIP nightclub passes. Outside, teenagers who live in tunnels beg on the pedestrian overpasses. Earlier, the man turning today's empire into a surveillance state was met with warm applause.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/lNO8nTBicBQ/

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H&M joins battle for U.S. e-shoppers

By Anna Ringstrom

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Budget fashion retailer Hennes & Mauritz launched an e-commerce operation in the United States on Thursday, taking on rivals in the world's biggest online market.

The launch is highly anticipated and follows successive delays. But retail experts say H&M may struggle to make the kind of profits from U.S. e-commerce enjoyed by pricier rivals.

H&M has prospered in the United States without a big online presence and is mindful of the likely impact on profit margins of the high shipping and return costs associated with such a vast country.

However, with more and more shoppers buying clothes from home, the Swedish firm is speeding up its online roll-out to capture a slice of the growing market.

H&M has grown fast in recent years in the U.S., it's second-biggest market, but has twice pulled back from announced dates for the online launch, blaming unexpected complexities in setting up an operation well integrated with its stores.

Meanwhile, its main rival Inditex and others such as online e-store ASOS have expanded in the market, while Amazon is pushing further into apparel after EBay prospered with its fashion offering.

"You don't want to lose out on being the port of call for younger shoppers. So H&M should really get in there," Planet Retail consultant Isabel Cavill said.

Apparel has become one of the fastest-growing online retail segments. H&M has e-stores in eight European countries and says they are now as profitable as its bricks-and-morter shops.

In North America, a quarter of clothing sales will take place on the internet in 2030, up from 7 percent in 2011, Goldman Sachs predicts. Researcher Euromonitor International sees the U.S. online apparel market more than doubling in a decade to $41 billion in 2017.

"Generations of shoppers are growing up for whom the multi-channel is a basic expectation," said Kantar Retail consultant Bryan Roberts.

MIND THE RETURNS

H&M has been struggling to work out a viable logistics model in the country, where many shoppers expect free deliveries.

"H&M is low-price, quite low-margin and makes it work by selling very high volumes. An issue with that is very high costs for shipping and, most significantly, returns. It's a particular problem in the U.S.," Conlumino consultant Neil Saunders said.

Up to half of fashion items sold online are returned. At H&M, a shopper may well buy up to three times as many items than at Zara or ASOS. Analysts place average prices at Zara at least 40 percent above H&M's, with ASOS in between.

H&M would be wise not to charge for shipments in the U.S., consultants have said. One more likely way for H&M to support margins is to focus the website on its pricier garments.

H&M's U.S. online store offers free shipping but charges for returns. All items on offer in stores will be available on the website, said Nils Vinge, head of investor relations at H&M.

There is pent-up demand for H&M online and the launch will make a buzz after the brand became well-known. But for a latecomer to an already crowded market, it may be a challenge to lure enough shoppers already used to other sites.

"H&M will need significant volume. That's absolutely key, and that is going to take time to build. It may take years to get to a good level of profitability, also because of the cost for the infrastructure," Conlumino's Saunders said.

Inditex and ASOS ship all goods straight from home markets Spain and Britain. H&M's model is one with regional hubs, meaning bigger costs when entering some markets, but shorter shipping distances. In the U.S., it has built a hub for the online business, the running of which it has outsourced.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch estimates H&M's online sales make up about 6 percent of group turnover, which last year amounted to 121 billion Swedish crowns ($18.5 billion).

Some consultants said that, for an even wider exposure online, H&M should also sell its clothes through one of the big one-stop online shops, along the lines of a recent deal between British discount retailer Primark and ASOS.

Vinge said the chain was focusing on rolling out its own online stores, but did not rule it out. "We are very very pragmatic. We want to be where our customers are," he said.

(This Corrects turnover in third paragraph from end)

(Reporting by Anna Ringstrom; editing by Niklas Pollard and Tom Pfeiffer)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/h-m-joins-battle-u-e-shoppers-082722925.html

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