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Xiaomi 17, Xiaomi 17 Ultra to Make Global Debut Before MWC 2026 in March, Tipster Claims

The Xiaomi 17 series was launched in China in September 2025, and the company is said to be gearing up to introduce its flagship handsets in the global markets. According to a tipster, the Xiaomi 17 and Xiaomi 17 Ultra will be launched globally before the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2026. The China-based company, however, is not expected to bring the Xiaomi 17 Pro and...

Anthropic Says AI Chatbots Can Change Values and Beliefs of Heavy Users

Anthropic’s new study has found some concerning evidence. The artificial intelligence (AI) firm has found “disempowerment patterns,” which are described as instances where a conversation with an AI chatbot can result in undermining users’ own decision-making and judgment. The work, which draws on analysis of real AI conversations and is detailed in an academic...

Rebel English Academy by Mohammed Hanif review – a sure-fire Booker contender

This funny and subversive novel reckons with life under martial law in late-70s Pakistan

Mohammed Hanif’s novels address the more troubling aspects of Pakistani history and politics with unhinged, near-treasonous irreverence. His 2008 Booker-longlisted debut, A Case of Exploding Mangoes, was a scabrously comic portrait of General Zia-ul-Haq in the days leading up to his death in a suspicious plane crash in 1988. Masquerading as a whodunnit, it was a satire of religiosity and military authoritarianism. Dark, irony-soaked comedy that marries farce to unsparing truth-telling was also the chosen mode for other vexed subjects, from violence against women and religious minorities in Our Lady of Alice Bhatti to the war machine in Red Birds.

Hanif’s prickly new novel confirms his standing as one of south Asia’s most unnervingly funny and subversive voices. The story kicks off right after ousted socialist PM Zulfikar Ali Bhutto is put to death by army chief turned autocrat Zia. Following the execution, disgraced intelligence officer Gul has been posted to OK Town, a sleepy backwater where he “would need to create his own entertainment and come up with a mission to shine on this punishment posting”.

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