Science and technology

Pakistan government has decided to expand 4G services to the country’s far-flung areas to bridge the digital divide in underserved regions. As per details, the Universal Service Fund (USF) Board has approved seven major projects aimed at expanding broadband and fiber optic infrastructure across Pakistan. The decision was taken under the leadership of IT Secretary and USF Board Chairman Zarar Khan, with a total investment of Rs7.49 billion. The approved projects include five broadband service initiatives and two fiber optic deployments, covering 940 kilometers of fiber to connect 347 villages and 113 towns/union councils in 12 districts. According to USF, these projects will benefit around 2.8 million residents through fiber connectivity and 965,000 individuals via broadband services. Zarar Khan noted that the accelerated rollout, guided by Federal IT Minister Shaza Fatima, is enabling thousands of skilled youth and women from remote areas to participate in the freelancing and dig...

NEW YORK: The world’s most advanced AI models are exhibiting troubling new behaviors – lying, scheming, and even threatening their creators to achieve their goals. In one particularly jarring example, under threat of being unplugged, Anthropic’s latest creation Claude 4 lashed back by blackmailing an engineer and threatened to reveal an extramarital affair. Meanwhile, ChatGPT-creator OpenAI’s o1 tried to download itself onto external servers and denied it when caught red-handed. These episodes highlight a sobering reality: more than two years after ChatGPT shook the world, AI researchers still don’t fully understand how their own creations work. Yet the race to deploy increasingly powerful models continues at breakneck speed. This deceptive behavior appears linked to the emergence of “reasoning” models -AI systems that work through problems step-by-step rather than generating instant responses. According to Simon Goldstein, a professor at the University of Hong Kong, these newer...

ISLAMABAD:  In a high-level meeting between Federal IT Minister Shaza Fatima Khawaja and Saudi Minister for Communications and IT Eng. Abdullah Al-Swaha, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have reiterated their commitment to proceeding with Pakistan-Saudi tech collaboration. Both nations discussed the initiation of the Pakistan Digital Corridor to link with China and Central Asia, planning to boost global digital connectivity. During the meeting, the main highlight was Pakistan’s endorsement of a Rs 4.8 billion Public Sector Development Program (PSDP) initiative to provide semiconductor training in Pakistan for over 7,000 youth in the modern technologies. Minister Shaza Fatima highlighted Pakistan’s full support for Saudi Arabia’s National Semiconductor Hub, stating the importance of joint ventures in AI and computing technologies. Both sides also explored cooperation under the Saudi National Technology Development Program to boost private-sector partnerships. Pakistan’s current cyber...

SpaceX said on Thursday its debris recovery efforts after last week’s Starship explosion have been hindered, and it has sought cooperation from Mexico, whose president has raised the possibility of legal action against the company. A massive Starship spacecraft by SpaceX exploded into a dramatic fireball during testing in Texas last week, which Elon Musk’s space firm attributed to a “major anomaly.” The Starship rocket appeared to have experienced at least two explosions in rapid succession, lighting up the night sky and sending debris flying, according to video capturing the moment it exploded. “Despite SpaceX’s attempts to recover the anomaly related debris, which is and remains the tangible property of SpaceX, these attempts have been hindered by unauthorized parties trespassing on private property,” the company said in a post on social media platform X. “We have requested local and federal assistance from the government of Mexico in the recovery,” it said, adding that...

Xbox has added Rockstar Games’ Grand Theft Auto (GTA 6) to the online Store, a year before the game’s release. The hotly anticipated title in the blockbuster franchise is set to release on May 26, 2026, after Rockstar Games delayed it from the Fall 2025 release date. “We are very sorry that this is later than you expected. The interest and excitement surrounding a new Grand Theft Auto has been truly humbling for our entire team. We want to thank you for your support and your patience as we work to finish the game,” Rockstar Games said in a statement at the time. The developer has confirmed that GTA 6 will be released for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S. However, Rockstar Games has yet to issue an official statement about the release date for a PC version. Ahead of the game’s release, Xbox has updated its library, allowing players to add Grand Theft Auto VI to the Wishlist. Read more: Twitch CEO reveals why GTA 6 won’t hurt Grand Theft Auto 5 popularity Fans of the game antici...

SHANGHAI/BEIJING, June 27, 2025: Exceptionally strong initial orders for Xiaomi YU7 electric sport utility vehicle sent shares in the automotive newcomer to a record high on Friday and fanned speculation that Tesla may have to cut prices to fight back. In the first 18 hours after the Xiaomi YU7 went on sale, Xiaomi received some 240,000 orders that it considers locked in, with buyers having paid either a hefty deposit for ready-to-deliver cars or a smaller deposit for cars still to be made. The smartphone and appliance maker made a huge splash in China’s electric vehicle market with the launch of its first vehicle, the SU7 sedan, in March last year. The car has outsold Tesla’s Model 3 in China on a monthly basis since December and has even earned a rave review from Ford CEO Jim Farley. Xiaomi YU7 is only its second model and priced from 253,500 yuan ($35,360), it undercuts Tesla’s Model Y by nearly 4%. That will likely lead to more market share loss for the U.S. automaker, analyst...

Apple is set to reveal the iPhone 17 Pro Max, its most powerful smartphone yet, with an inauguration event expected between September 11 and 13, 2025, followed by global availability starting September 19. Following its once-a-year release pattern, Apple is proud to introduce a host of upgrades that could redefine the flagship smartphone experience. The iPhone 17 Pro Max contains the A19 Pro chip in its heart, developed on a cutting-edge 3nm processor, ensuring significant gains in performance and energy efficiency. This advanced powerhouse will be combined with 12GB of RAM, a significant bounce from previous models, enabling seamless task management and future-proofing the device for AI-driven features in iOS 26. Above all, the notable feature that stands out as innovative is the vapour chamber cooling system, a first for iPhones. This cutting-edge heat dissipation, already common in high-end Android devices, will help manage the heat generated by the A19 Pro chip during strenuo...

The US Federal Trade Commission is sending over $126 million in refunds to Fortnite players who were “charged for unwanted purchases while playing the game.” In a statement, the agency said that it is set to send 969,173 checks and PayPal payments on June 25 and 26 to consumers who already filed a valid claim by February 14. The Fortnite refund comes after the FTC reached a settlement with Epic Games, the developer of the game, in 2023. According to the FTC, Epic Games “agreed to pay $245 million to settle” the agency’s “allegations that Epic used deceptive practices to trick players into making unwanted purchases.” Read more: Apple blocks access to video game Fortnite in US, EU, Epic Games says At the time of the settlement, Epic Games said, “We accepted this agreement because we want Epic to be at the forefront of consumer protection and provide the best experience for our players.” Apart from the Fortnite refund, the US agency has also announced reopening the process for Fort...

COCHABAMBA, Bolivia- June 26, 2025: In the busy shopping district of the Bolivian city of Cochabamba, ATMs let shoppers swap coins for cryptocurrency, beauty salons offer cut-price deals if you pay in Bitcoin, and people use Binance accounts to buy fried chicken. Bolivians are facing a rising economic crisis, with reserves of dollars near zero, inflation at 40-year highs and fuel shortages causing long lines at the pump. The country’s currency has lost half its value on the black market this year, even as the official exchange rate has been held artificially steady by government intervention. Some Bolivians are now turning to crypto exchanges like Binance, cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, and stablecoins like Tether as a hedge against the depreciation of the boliviano. Official data is patchy, and cryptocurrency was outlawed in Bolivia until last year, but the most recent central bank figures showed transactions of digital assets at $24 million in October. Analysts estimate it has s...

Facebook Group admins are reporting mass bans due to a technical error, affecting thousands of groups worldwide. According to TechCrunch, the banned groups span various categories, including innocuous content like savings tips, parenting support, and gaming communities. Meta spokesperson Andy Stone confirmed the issue, stating, “We’re aware of a technical error that impacted some Facebook Groups. We’re fixing things now.” The reason for the mass bans is not yet known, though many suspect that faulty AI-based moderation could be to blame. Affected group admins have received vague violation notices, citing issues like “terrorism-related” content or nudity, despite their groups not posting such content. Some are advising others to wait for the issue to be resolved rather than appealing the ban. The mass bans have sparked frustration among Facebook users, with many taking to Reddit to share their experiences and seek solutions. This incident follows recent mass suspensions on Insta...

MindsEye developer Build a Rocket Boy is reportedly laying off employees less than a month after the tumultuous release of its debut game. According to a report by IGN , the developer confirmed some internal changes weeks after launching its game, which was considered a rival of the hotly anticipated Grand Theft Auto (GTA) 6. Comparisons had been made between MindsEye and GTA 6 before the former’s launch. Part of the reason for the comparison was Build a Rocket Boy founder Leslie Benzies, who previously served as Rockstar North president and was also the original creator of the Grand Theft Auto series. However, MindsEye proved to be a flop amid complaints about bugs and several other technical issues. Read more: MindsEye developer opens up after disastrous launch While Build a Rocket Boy has announced its plans to release updates to resolve the issue, gamers have largely been disappointed by the game in the initial experience. The developer has now reportedly begun layoffs afte...

June 25: Microsoft has been hit with a lawsuit by a group of authors who claim the company used their books without permission to train its Megatron artificial intelligence model. Kai Bird, Jia Tolentino, Daniel Okrent and several others alleged that Microsoft used pirated digital versions of their books to teach its AI to respond to human prompts. Their lawsuit filed in New York federal court on Tuesday, is one of several high-stakes cases brought by authors, news outlets and other copyright holders against tech companies including Meta Platforms, Anthropic and Microsoft-backed OpenAI over alleged misuse of their material in AI training. The complaint against Microsoft came a day after a California federal judge ruled that Anthropic made fair use under U.S. copyright law of authors’ material to train its AI systems but may still be liable for pirating their books. It was the first U.S. decision on the legality of using copyrighted materials without permission for generative AI trai...

CAPE CANAVERAL, United States: A US commercial mission carrying crew from India, Poland and Hungary blasted off to the International Space Station on Wednesday, taking astronauts from these countries to space for the first time in decades. Axiom Mission 4, or Ax-4, launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 2:31 am (0631 GMT), with a brand-new SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule riding atop a Falcon 9 rocket. The vehicle is scheduled to dock with the orbital lab on Thursday at approximately 1100 GMT and remain there for up to 14 days. Aboard the spacecraft were pilot Shubhanshu Shukla of India; mission specialists Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski of Poland and Tibor Kapu of Hungary; and commander Peggy Whitson of the United States, a former NASA astronaut who now works for the company Axiom Space, which organizes private spaceflights, among other things. The last time India, Poland or Hungary sent people to space, their current crop of astronauts had not yet been born — and back th...

Twitch CEO Dan Clancy has asserted that Grand Theft Auto 5 will remain popular on the streaming platform despite the launch of GTA 6. Rockstar Games has confirmed that the upcoming title in the blockbuster franchise will arrive on May 26, 2026. Following the confirmation, several developers reportedly rescheduled the release of their titles in an attempt to avoid the clash with GTA 6. While industry analysts have predicted the game to be a blockbuster, Twitch CEO Dan Clancy believed that the launch of GTA 6 would not hurt the popularity of Grand Theft Auto 5 on the streaming platform. During a recent interview with a foreign media outlet, Clancy expressed his disappointment over the delay in the release date of the game. He, however, maintained that GTA 5 will remain popular on Twitch due to the RP (roleplay) mod. Read more: GTA 6 delay weighs on global videogame market growth, data shows “The interesting thing was it was going to be a little strange because whenever it does co...

Meta Platforms’ (META.O), WhatsApp messaging service has been banned from all U.S. House of Representatives devices, according to a memo sent to all House staff on Monday. The notice said the “Office of Cybersecurity has deemed WhatsApp a high risk to users due to the lack of transparency in how it protects user data, absence of stored data encryption, and potential security risks involved with its use.” The memo, from the chief administrative officer, recommended using other messaging apps, including Microsoft Corp’s (MSFT.O), Teams platform, Amazon.com’s (AMZN.O), Wickr, Signal, and Apple’s (AAPL.O), iMessage and FaceTime. Read more: WhatsApp users beware: Alert issued for hacking threats Meta disagreed with the move “in the strongest possible terms,” a company spokesperson said, noting that the platform provides a higher level of security than the other approved apps. In January, a WhatsApp official said Israeli spyware company Paragon Solutions had targeted scores of its use...

As Sony gears up to release Death Stranding 2, its creator, Hideo Kojima, has reflected on the challenges he faced during the development of the game. The game is set to be released on June 26, around six years after the launch of Death Stranding. The original title became a fan-favourite as soon as it hit the shelves, and fans had been asking Hideo Kojima to develop a sequel. The notable game developer is finally set to release the sequel game, Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, later this week. Ahead of the game’s release, Hideo Kojima reflected on the challenges he faced when he first began working on the sequel. “I planned Death Stranding 2 before the pandemic and was already testing some things out, but after the pandemic hit, I fell quite ill. For the first time in my life, I thought I could never make another game, and I felt very isolated. I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t even visit the hospital. I was in a crisis unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before in my life,...

Final Fantasy 16 producer Naoki Yoshida has hinted at releasing the game on the Nintendo Switch 2 gaming console. While the game was released on the PS5 in 2023 on the PS5, it came to PC via Steam and Epic Games Store in 2024. Earlier this year, the latest entry in the popular franchise dropped on Xbox consoles during the June 8 Xbox Games Showcase. Final Fantasy 16 producer Naoki Yoshida has now hinted at developing a Nintendo Switch 2 version. During a recent interview with a foreign media outlet, Yoshida noted that Nintendo remains the last gaming platform that does not have the game. “All that’s left is Nintendo,” he said. The Final Fantasy 16 producer was joined by co-director Kazutoyo Maehiro, who said, “I want to do my best. I want to conquer it.” Read more: CD Projekt launches Cyberpunk 2077 game on Nintendo Switch 2 It is worth noting here that the Nintendo Switch 2 gaming console comes with backward compatibility, allowing gamers to enjoy Final Fantasy entries releas...

A fresh rumour suggests that the next PlayStation State of Play event is planned for the second half of September and it could feature the reveal of a new God of War game. According to industry leaker Detective Seeds, PlayStation is currently gathering trailers for what is expected to be a longer-than-usual State of Play . While no official confirmation has been made, the leaker hints that Santa Monica Studio, the developer behind the hugely successful God of War series, may showcase their next project during the broadcast. Santa Monica Studio has released almost nothing but God of War titles since its founding, apart from its debut game Kinetica back in 2001. Read More: 2K Games confirms Borderlands 4 pricing, content details So, speculation is high that the teased project will indeed be a new God of War game. Whether it will be a full sequel or a spin-off remains unclear, but fans are already buzzing with excitement. The rumour also mentions Saros , the upcoming game fro...

Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford has announced an exciting feature in the hotly anticipated Borderlands 4. The upcoming game has been the topic of discussion for months, with talks mostly focused on the pricing of the game. 2K Games, the parent company of Gearbox, confirmed the pricing of Borderlands 4 last week. According to 2K Games, the upcoming title in the looter shooter will launch in three editions—Standard, Deluxe, and Super Deluxe—on all platforms, with prices set at $69.99, $99.99, and $129.99, respectively. Now, Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford has revealed that the game will come with an optional combat radar when it launches in September. Pitchford made the announcement in a long thread on X, in which he revealed the feature was not in the initial plans. However, the developers began looking into the possibility after multiple fans requested the combat radar feature. Read more: 2K Games confirms Borderlands 4 pricing, content details “These guys splintered off and made some...

April 16, 2025: The Trump-endorsed World Liberty Financial Initiative (WLFI) has enhanced its advisory board with the strategic appointment of Bilal Bin Saqib, a British-Pakistani entrepreneur and Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree, announced on April 15. This move aligns with WLFI’s recent launch of its USD1 stablecoin and its plans to expand its decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol. Who Is Bilal Bin Saqib? A London School of Economics graduate and Member of the British Empire (MBE), Bilal Bin Saqib is renowned for his work in social entrepreneurship and technology. His non-profit, Tayaba, has transformed clean water access in underserved Pakistani communities through innovative solutions. During the COVID-19 pandemic, his One Million Meals campaign delivered over a million meals to UK NHS frontline workers. As a venture capitalist, Saqib advises Web3 projects like The Coin Masters, Busha, and Corol Reef. He also serves as Chief Advisor to Pakistan’s Finance Minister for the Pakistan Cryp...

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has blocked 163,200 illegal SIMs so far across the country, ARY News reported quoting PTA. According to documents, the PTA has permanently deactivated 6.43 million inactive SIMs in a crackdown against illegal and fake SIMs in Islamabad. Additionally, 2.989 million SIMs registered under the identity cards of deceased individuals have been blocked. The authority also blocked 171 SIMs registered under the names of unrelated women in new districts and 69,246 SIMs linked to canceled identity cards. Furthermore, 783,000 SIMs associated with over 360,000 expired identity cards have been blocked, as per PTA documents. The PTA has intensified its monitoring and actions against fake SIMs. Across the country, 62 raids were conducted, resulting in the arrest of 72 individuals involved in the illegal sale of SIMs. During these raids, 193 illegal biometric devices and 11,470 SIMs were seized. Additionally, over 296,000 digital fingerpri...

US President Donald Trump on Thursday extended to September 17 a deadline for China-based ByteDance to divest the U.S. assets of short-video app TikTok despite a law that mandated a sale or shutdown without significant progress. Trump signed an executive order pushing back Thursday’s deadline for 90 days, a step he had previously signaled. The Republican president had already twice granted a reprieve from federal enforcement of a law that mandated the sale or shutdown of TikTok that was supposed to take effect in January, absent significant progress toward a sale. Trump has said he wants to keep the app, which helped him woo young voters in the 2024 presidential election, active in the U.S. He has also expressed optimism that Chinese President Xi Jinping would approve a deal that preserves the app, though it is unclear how significantly the topic has featured in the two countries’ ongoing talks to resolve a tariff dispute. “We are grateful for President Trump’s leadership and sup...

SpaceX’s massive Starship spacecraft exploded into a dramatic fireball during testing in Texas late on Wednesday, the latest in a series of setbacks for billionaire Elon Musk’s Mars rocket program. The explosion occurred around 11 p.m. local time while Starship was on a test stand at its Brownsville, Texas Starbase while preparing for the tenth test flight, SpaceX said in a post on Musk’s social-media platform X. The company attributed it to a “major anomaly,” and said all personnel were safe. “Preliminary data suggests that a nitrogen COPV in the payload bay failed below its proof pressure,” Musk said in a post on X, in a reference to a nitrogen gas storage unit known as a Composite Overwrapped Pressure Vessel. “If further investigation confirms that this is what happened, it is the first time ever for this design,” he continued. SpaceX didn’t immediately respond to a request for further comment. The Starship rocket appeared to experience at least two explosions in quick succe...

THIMPU, Bhutan, Jun 18, 2025: “I can’t get this anywhere else,” says Tshering Lhamo, a 29-year-old shopkeeper in Thimphu, as she gestures toward the clean Himalayan air outside her thangka shop. She once studied in Kuala Lumpur but came back to Bhutan for the peace—and the purity. Her friend, Kezan Jatsho, who has never left the country, adds, “I cherish the peace here,” even as many of their peers migrate abroad. But the serenity they speak of is under threat. Bhutan, a tiny Himalayan kingdom of 745,000 people—roughly the size of Switzerland—is lauded as the world’s first and only carbon-negative country. Forests cover over 72 percent of the land, and the constitution mandates that no less than 60 percent remain forested forever. Clean air, abundant water, and natural beauty define life here. This environmental commitment is not new. Since 1972, Bhutan’s national philosophy of Gross National Happiness (GNH) has prioritized well-being over GDP, championing sustainability, cultural ...

ISLAMABAD: Telecom subscribes in Pakistan has crossed the landmark of 200 million, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) said. To celebrate the milestone, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority has offered a complimentary package to the telecom users. According to the package, on June 20, users will receive 2 GB of free data and 200 on-net minutes valid for 24 hours. According to PTA, the country now has over 197 million mobile subscribers, while broadband users have exceeded 143 million. Fixed-line telephone users stand at around 3 million. The authority also reported that mobile services are available in 80.30% of the country’s geographic areas. Earlier, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) warned mobile users, advising them to make sure their SIM cards are registered under their name to avoid unauthorised usage. Read more: PTA issues SIM registration warning According to a recent announcement on the social media platform, Facebook, PTA highlighted that users mus...

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman claimed on Wednesday that Meta is aggressively trying to recruit OpenAI employees by offering staggering bonuses, in an effort to bolster its AI division amid intensifying competition. In a June 18 interview with his brother, Jack Altman, on the topic “The Future of AI,” Sam Altman revealed that Meta had offered $100 million bonuses to OpenAI staff in an unsuccessful bid to lure them. Responding to a question about Meta’s scale, he remarked that Meta views OpenAI as its biggest competitor, stating that Meta’s current AI initiatives have not progressed as well as the company had hoped. “Meta started making giant offers to a lot of people on our team — like $100 million signing bonuses. I’m really happy that, at least so far, none of our best people have decided to take them up,” Sam Altman said. He also criticized Meta’s approach, stating that the company is “not great at innovation,” while OpenAI has built a culture of repeatable innovation. His comments fol...

Build A Rocket Boy, the developer of MindsEye, has opened up after the game received mostly negative reviews on its launch. The game, considered a rival to GTA 6, failed to meet the expectations as players complained about bugs and several other technical issues. MindsEye is a GTA-styled third-person shooter developed by Build A Rocket Boy. Fans were expecting the game to rival GTA 6, given that Leslie Benzies, former Rockstar North president, serves as the director of the studio. It is worth noting here that Benzies served as the lead developer on the Grand Theft Auto series between GTA III to GTA V. Read more: MindsEye developer opens up on GTA 6 comparison However, the debut game of his new studio failed to impress gamers and critics, who dubbed it a failed attempt at cloning GTA 6. Following the negative reviews of MindsEye, Build A Rocket Boy took to X to share its dismay for failing the expectations of gamers “We are heartbroken that not every player was able to experien...