Apple's new store in Dubai might be its best one yet

PHOTO: APPLE

Apple on Thursday opened its brand new retail store in Dubai’s Dubai Mall.

Perched right above Dubai Fountain, the store has a 186-foot curved storefront and a balcony which overlooks Burj Khalifa and offers beautiful views.

Apple Dubai Mall will also serve as a venue to watch the spectacular evening fountain shows and will host Apple’s new global in-store experience, Today at Apple announced.

Thousands of customers gather at Apple Dubai Mall for the grand opening on Thursday afternoon. PHOTO: APPLE

“We view our stores as a modern-day town square, where visitors come to shop, be inspired, learn or connect with others in their community,” said Angela Ahrendts, Apple’s senior vice president, Retail.

“And what better place to come together than overlooking Dubai’s epicenter, where the Dubai Fountain, Burj Khalifa and Dubai Mall meet. We are so honoured to have a home at one of the world’s most incredible and dynamic intersections.”

Apple Dubai mall is unique. The third store in UAE, the store’s motorised ‘Solar Wings’ respond to changing environmental conditions. When the sun is at its hottest, they will cool the store. In the evenings, they open up to allow visitors onto the public terrace.

Inspired by the the traditional Arabic Mashrabiya, each ‘Solar Wing’ is locally fabricated from 340 carbon fiber reinforced polymer rods, and at 180 feet wide, the 18 panels make up one of the world’s largest kinetic art installations.

All of the store’s 148 employees are ready to welcome customers from around the world and speak a collective 45 languages. Apple’s location overlooking the lake will stay open as late as midnight to everyone exploring the area.

Apple Dubai Mall employees collectively speak 45 languages and are trained to assist customers from across the globe. PHOTO: APPLE

I've wanted to work with Deepika for a long time: Vin Diesel

XXX leading man Vin Diesel has finally spoken up about working with Deepika Padukone in his next film — and he has nothing but praise for the Indian actress.

"I've wanted to work with Deepika for a long time. We were very close to working together in Furious 7," he begins.

Deepika Padukone's fans were delighted when it was rumoured that she'll be the Fast & Furious gal in the seventh installment of the franchise. And it turns out that they weren't the only ones disappointed when that didn't materialise.

"I've been dying to work with someone from Bollywood and bridge that gap. I think there something very multicultural about that, and very exciting," he explained.

If Deepika is experiencing any nervousness about her Hollywood debut, this shout-out ought to put her at ease:

"I think she's going to be such a delight. I think the world's going to go crazy over her character," he gushed.

Deepika is set to play Serena, a huntress who will help Xander on his latest mission, in the upcoming film. She begins shooting with the crew next month.

 The New Republican Health-Care Plan Is Single-Payer for Dummies

It’s important to understand what the GOP is trying to do. 

By David Dayen

 Every time some upstanding leftist brings up single-payer health care, the punditocracy dismisses them as deluded fantasists without any understanding of the realities of government or markets. But House Republicans are apparently going to vote tomorrow on an Obamacare replacement framework that accepts the entire logic of single-payer. It just does it in the dumbest way imaginable.

Let’s understand what House Republicans are trying to do. The American  Health Care Act is described as a repeal to Obamacare. But the party’s constituents and even the president of the United States don’t favor such a move, or at least don’t want to deal with the consequences of denying someone coverage because of a pre-existing condition. Yet this is precisely what the House Freedom Caucus demands, based on their belief that “Obamacare regulations” (like insurance companies having to accept sick people) are raising prices.

So an amendment negotiated between the Freedom Caucus and a moderate Republican backbencher from New Jersey named Tom McArthur gives states the ability to obtain waivers to several Obamacare requirements, including the “essential benefits” package that defines acceptable insurance, and the “community rating” provision that forces insurers to charge the same rate for all applicants, except for a narrow band based on age and whether or not the patient smokes. This effectively repeals the pre-existing condition exclusion, because in the states that receive the waiver, they can charge an unlimited amount to the sick, pricing them out of the market.

States could only get the waiver if they showed that their new plan would either “reduce average premiums, increase enrollment, stabilize the market, stabilize premiums for individuals with pre-existing conditions or increase the choice of health plans,” according to Politifact. But there’s enough wiggle room in there (after all, if you purge the sick from the health-insurance rolls, average premiums would indeed probably go down) that a state government friendly to the cause of dismantling Obamacare would surely grant the waiver.

Moderate Republicans grew nervous at the idea that health care would only be affordable for the healthy and not the sick. McArthur claimed, in  a press release, that no state could get a waiver unless it figured out how to handle those with pre-existing conditions, like by creating a high-risk pool. These are prohibitively expensive and have failed almost wherever they’ve been tried. McArthur also said that only those with a lapse in coverage can be charged more based on health status, but this creates an incentive for health-insurance companies to jack up prices for everyone, to weed out the poor, who correlate with those who require more health care.

The point is, the moderates needed more assurances. So Representative Fred Upton engineered another amendment to alleviate the  consequences of the previous amendment. Upton’s provision would use $8 billion in public funds over five years to compensate people with pre-existing conditions who face higher health-insurance prices (possibly through a privately issued high-risk pool, possibly through just subsidizing those who experience cost increases; it’s a bit unclear at this point). After going over this with President Trump, Upton, and Representative Billy Long reversed their position and agreed to support the bill. The vote is likely to be tomorrow.

This is so convoluted it’s going to be hard to work through. And the money involved, a mere $1.6 billion a year, is really pathetic and nearly 90 percent less of what experts say would be necessary to properly fund such a mechanism. But let’s break down what Republicans are doing. By allowing health-insurance companies to discriminate based on a pre-existing condition, the GOP would break the market for this subset of people. And then they would use government funds to fix this market failure. But they would funnel it directly to health-insurance companies, rather than eliminating the middleman.

This is single-payer for dummies. In a single-payer system, the government picks up the health-care costs for the population, paid for through progressive taxation. The market power of having one insurance  payer can work to lower overall health care costs, making the system sustainable. In Trumpcare’s single-payer for dummies, the fragmented private-insurance middleman remains intact. But taxpayer dollars still pick up the health-care costs for those who cannot afford it. Instead of acquiring market power, they just give those taxpayer dollars to the private middlemen, which tells the private middlemen they can charge whatever they want and always get paid.

Microsoft launches stunning new Surface laptop

A view of the new Microsoft Surface Laptop. PHOTO: REUTERS

SAN FRANCISCO: Microsoft on Tuesday unveiled a Surface laptop and streamlined operating software in a move aimed at regaining ground in classrooms, where Google Chromebooks have taken hold.

Surface Laptop powered by a Windows 10 S operating system were shown off at an education-focused Microsoft event in New York City, and will hit the market next month in an array of countries with the hardware starting at $999.

Surface Laptop was aimed at college students and evidently intended to set a performance bar for partners, some of which will be coming to market with lower priced computers powered by Windows 10 S to entice students at all grade levels.

The Windows 10 S operating system is geared toward the education market and is Microsoft’s answer to Google’s Chrome OS. PHOTO: REUTERS

“Our goal with Windows 10 S is to develop the open vibrant partner-centric ecosystem we have today,” Windows and Device group executive vice president Terry Myerson said in a release.

He gave a list of partners that included Acer, ASUS, Dell, Fujitsu, HP, Samsung, and Toshiba, and said Windows 10 S devices priced as low as $189 should be available in coming months.

Microsoft is taking orders for Surface Laptop, and planned to begin shipping them in mid-June.

Panos Panay, vice president of Microsoft Surface Computing, speaks about the new Microsoft Surface Laptop during a Microsoft launch event. PHOTO: REUTERS

Google Chromebooks that act as gateways to programs and services hosted in the internet cloud have become a hit in US classrooms, taking terrain once dominated by Microsoft and Apple.

Computers running on streamlined Windows 10 S will tap into online tools such as Microsoft Office 365 and will get applications that have been vetted at a Windows online shop, according to the Redmond, Washington-based technology giant.

A view of the new Microsoft Surface Laptop following a Microsoft launch event. PHOTO: REUTERS

“Windows 10 S is inspired by students and teachers, streamlined for simplicity, security and superior performance,” Myerson said.

Acer unveils world’s slimmest laptop

“I believe it best reflects the soul of Windows.”

Microsoft also announced a partnership with educational company Pearson to integrate 3D and mixed reality experiences into higher level curriculum.

The alliance could lead to classroom content tailored for Microsoft HoloLens augmented reality headgear.

Fast and Furious franchise will receive an MTV Generation Award

The Fast and Furious series will receive the MTV Generation Award at the MTV Movie & TV Awards.

According to Variety, stars Vin Diesel will accept the award at the Adam Devine-hosted event alongside co-stars Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson and Jordana Brewster.

This is the first time a franchise has taken this award, which is usually given to an individual. Last year the award was given to Will Smith, with previous awardees including Johnny Depp, Reese Witherspoon and Robert Downey Jr.

As part of the Fast and Furious celebration, J Balvin, Pitbull and Camila Cabello will perform their Fate of the Furious soundtrack single "Hey Ma" for the first time on TV during the awards ceremony.

The MTV Movie & TV Awards will take place on 7 May.

Maryam Nawaz schooled on Panama Papers scandal by Pulitzer-winning journalists

The Pakistani Twitter-sphere today saw the prime minister's daughter being schooled by two Pulitzer prize-winning journalists on the true nature and global impact of the Panama Papers scandal.

In a bid to 'cleanse' her family's name of the Panama Papers controversy, Maryam Nawaz had taken to Twitter Tuesday evening to share her thoughts.

She claimed the Panama Papers, which rocked some of the most powerful public office holders in several countries, had been "trashed in the rest of the world".

She doubled down on that statement by tweeting that the scandal was "never about corruption".

Unexpectedly, Bastian Obermayer‏ — a Pulitzer-winning journalist from German publication Süddeutsche Zeitung who was the first to receive the Panama Papers and who eventually took the lead in breaking the story internationally — stepped in at that point to set the record straight.

"Sorry to tell you," he said, "[but the] Panama papers ARE about corruption."

Maryam retorted saying that the "misery of the journalists" who broke the Panama story "is understandable".

She also expressed regret over what she alleged was a "nexus" between the Panama Papers journalists and their "Pakistani counterparts" and said it was "sad that they became a part of conspiracy against Pakistan".

Obermayer responded by giving her some perspective on what journalism is about and what the scope of the Panama Papers actually was:

Minutes later, Frederik Obermaier‏, another Pulitzer-winning journalist who worked on the Panama Papers and who co-authored the authoritative book on the international scandal with Bastian Obermayer, joined the conversation.

He reminded Maryam that the scandal had not been as inconsequential as she believed.

The conversation eventually subsided after Maryam Nawaz stopped tweeting.

Comic Wisdom - by Sabir Nazar