Peshawar’s Consumer Protection Court has fined Khaadi Pakistan Rs. 50,030 for charging a customer Rs. 30 for a branded shopping bag — a small-sounding dispute that’s produced a ruling with potentially wide implications for retailers across the country who charge for bags carrying their own logos. What Actually Happened The case traces back to December 20, 2025, when complainant Shafqat Aamir (referred to as Shafaq Aamir in some reporting) purchased clothing worth Rs. 7,000 from Khaadi’s University Road outlet in Peshawar. Alongside that purchase, she was separately charged Rs. 30 for a shopping bag bearing Khaadi’s promotional logo. She filed…
Author: M Awais
The Pakistan Army has signed a memorandum of understanding with US drone maker Powerus that includes an initial order for unmanned aerial systems — a deal notable not just for what it signals about warming US-Pakistan defense ties, but for the company’s pending merger with a firm backed by two of President Donald Trump’s sons. What Was Actually Signed Powerus co-founder Brett Velicovich confirmed the agreement to Reuters, saying the company signed “a very important MOU” that included an initial order for what he described as “power systems.” Asked what specific technology the agreement covered, Velicovich declined to provide details,…
OpenAI has launched GPT-6 Astra, calling it the company’s most intelligent and aligned model yet — a frontier AI system that landed after a delayed, security-driven rollout, and one that OpenAI itself says crossed a threshold serious enough to require new safety gating around its most powerful capabilities. What GPT-6 Astra Actually Is Astra was released as a limited preview to approved users on September 3, 2026, with general availability for paid ChatGPT users following the next day. It’s positioned as the successor to GPT-5.6 Sol, OpenAI’s previous flagship model, with state-of-the-art performance specifically in computer use, web browsing, software…
The European Union has laid out plans to ban social media entirely for children under 13 and restrict access to a limited, supervised form until age 15 — a tiered approach European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen unveiled during her annual keynote address to the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Wednesday. What Von der Leyen Actually Announced Speaking to the European Parliament, von der Leyen framed the plan around age-appropriate protection levels: “Each age has its own sensitivities. And therefore, each will have its own tailored protection level,” she said, before laying out the core rule plainly: “No social…
OpenAI is in early talks with investors about a new funding round that could value the ChatGPT maker at more than $1.2 trillion — a jump that would make it one of the most valuable private companies ever created, and would let it leapfrog rival Anthropic in the process. What’s Actually Being Reported According to multiple reports citing sources familiar with the matter, OpenAI has begun preliminary discussions with investors about a private funding round ahead of its planned initial public offering (IPO). Notably, several reports specify that the investor outreach was initiated by potential backers themselves, not by OpenAI…
China has set a global first in brain-computer interface (BCI) regulation, issuing what its drug regulator calls the world’s first official product standard specifically for AI-powered devices that read and interpret brainwave data — a move that puts China ahead of the US and international bodies on a technical question nobody else has formally answered yet. What the New Standard Actually Covers China’s National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) approved and issued the standard on Monday, targeting BCI medical devices that use AI to process electroencephalogram (EEG) data — brainwave signals captured either through scalp electrodes or implanted sensors. The standard…
Japan’s Air Self-Defense Force (ASDF) is presumed to have lost one of its three prized Global Hawk surveillance drones after it vanished from radar during what officials described only as a training flight over the Sea of Japan on Tuesday. What Happened The RQ-4B Global Hawk took off from Misawa Air Base in Aomori Prefecture at around 10:20am local time. Trouble began roughly two and a half hours later: communications equipment problems started after 12:55pm, and the aircraft’s radar track disappeared entirely by around 12:58pm. Its last known position was over international waters roughly 50 kilometers north of Tottori Prefecture,…
Pakistan’s national selector Aaqib Javed has flatly denied reports that he’s about to resign or be removed from his role, calling the swirling speculation “fake news” — even as multiple outlets report PCB chief Mohsin Naqvi is preparing a broader shake-up of the board’s cricket administration. What Aaqib Actually Said In a text message to Dawn on Tuesday night, Aaqib addressed the rumors directly and briefly: “No resignation, it’s fake news.” The denial came just a day after multiple outlets, citing internal sources, reported that PCB chief Mohsin Naqvi was preparing significant changes aimed at addressing Pakistan cricket’s recent decline…
If you’ve noticed Meta AI missing from a WhatsApp group it used to be in, you’re not imagining it — but the full picture is more nuanced than a simple “Meta is pulling the feature.” Here’s what’s actually confirmed, and what’s just speculation floating around online. What’s Actually Confirmed: You Can Remove Meta AI From a Group Yourself WhatsApp’s own Help Center confirms that Meta AI can be added to or removed from a group as a member, similar to how you’d manage any other participant. Any group member can typically add Meta AI to a chat, and depending on…
Searching for “Ehsaas Program eligibility check” today will land you on dozens of websites promising instant Rs. 25,000 or Rs. 12,000 payments — almost none of them official. Here’s how to actually check your eligibility safely, and why so much of what you’ll find online about this program is misleading. First: Ehsaas and BISP Are Now the Same System If you’ve been searching for “Ehsaas Program” specifically, it’s worth knowing upfront that Ehsaas — launched in 2019 as Pakistan’s national social protection umbrella — now operates under the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP), which manages the country’s cash assistance system…