Islamabad:  Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday congratulated Pakistan Army and scientists on the successful launch of Fatah-II Guided Rocket System.

In a statement, he said Fatah-II is result of tireless work of Pakistan Army and scientists.                                                   

The Prime Minister hoped that the System would further fortify Pakistan's defence.

Earlier in the day, Pakistan Army conducted successful training launch of Fatah-II Guided Rocket System with a range of 400 kilometers.

According to ISPR, the launch was aimed at perfecting the launch drills and procedures.

Equipped with state-of-the-art navigation system, unique trajectory and manoeuvrable features, Fatah-II is capable of engaging targets with high precision and defeating any missile defence system.

Fatah-II is being inducted in Pakistan's Artillery Divisions for stand-off, precision engagement of deep targets.

The rocket system will significantly upgrade the reach and lethality of Pakistan Army's conventional arsenal.

The flight test was witnessed by Chief of the General Staff Pakistan Army, senior officers from the three services and dedicated scientists and engineers.

President, Prime Minister, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, Chief of Army Staff and all Services Chiefs have congratulated participating troops and scientists on this excellent achievement.

(AFP): An award-winning journalist in Indian-occupied Kashmir (IoK), who spent more than five years in jail, returned home on Wednesday after a court in the disputed region granted him bail in an ongoing terrorism case.

Asif Sultan, a reporter with a magazine that is now shuttered, was first arrested in August 2018 accused of “harbouring known militants”. Further charges under the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) were levelled against him after he was accused of participating in a jail riot.

Sultan was briefly bailed in February but rearrested two days later on fresh charges under the act. A relative and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said Sultan had been released again this week.

“He returned home today, but the bail conditions are very harsh. He is virtually banned from talking to anyone outside the family,” the relative told AFP, declining to be named for fear of reprisal.

Kunal Majumder of CPJ said on social media platform X that Sultan had been bailed on Tuesday.

A court document seen by AFP and dated Friday said that Sultan’s detention did “not serve any purpose” and granted his bail on strict conditions.

Sultan was forbidden from travelling outside IoK, using encrypted communication apps such as WhatsApp and allowing anyone else to use his phone.

More than half a million Indian soldiers are deployed in IoK, battling a running freedom movement from groups demanding independence or the territory’s merger with Pakistan. The fighting has killed tens of thousands of people, mostly civilians.

India accuses Pakistan of backing the insurgents, a charge that Islamabad denies.

Kashmiri journalists say independent media has suffered since Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government cancelled the region’s limited autonomy and imposed a drastic security clampdown in 2019.

Media workers have been arrested under anti-terrorism laws or repeatedly summoned by police for interrogation over their work, and authorities shut the independent Kashmir Press Club.

Last November, a court granted bail to a prominent local Kashmiri correspondent for the US-based Christian Science Monitor newspaper, two years after he was charged with “glorifying terrorism” in the disputed territory and accused of “spreading fake news”.

CANNES, France: The Cannes Film Festival got rolling on Wednesday with a strong day for female representation, including the new ‘Mad Max’, a Meryl Streep masterclass and the leading figure of France’s #MeToo movement.

‘Furiosa’, the latest instalment of the post-apocalyptic ‘Mad Max’ franchise, features Anya Taylor-Joy in the blood-splattering lead role, playing alongside ‘Thor’ star Chris Hemsworth.

They were due on the red carpet later on Wednesday for the world premiere, playing out of competition at the festival on the Cote d’Azur, which runs until May 25.

Taylor-Joy plays a younger version of the character portrayed by Charlize Theron in the previous film, ‘Fury Road’.

Meanwhile, two very different stories about women kicked off the race for the festival’s top prize, the Palme d’Or.

‘The Girl with the Needle’ is billed as the story of a Danish woman who set up an underground adoption agency after World War I.

And ‘Wild Diamond’ follows a French teenager seeking fame and recognition by applying for a reality TV show, from first-time director Agathe Riedinger.

Streep masterclass

One of the most iconic women in cinema, Meryl Streep, will also be delivering a masterclass, a day after receiving an honorary Palme d’Or at the opening ceremony.

“I’m just so grateful that you haven’t gotten sick of my face,” Streep, 74, joked to the audience, as she received her honorary Palme d’Or from French actor Juliette Binoche.

And there is a screening of a short film about sexual abuse, ‘Moi Aussi’ (“Me Too”) by French actor Judith Godreche.

She has become a leading figure in France’s #MeToo movement after accusing two directors of assaulting her when she was a teenager in the 1980s – even appearing before the Senate this year to call for greater protections on film sets.

It comes amid a wave of new allegations in France, most notably against veteran actor Gerard Depardieu, and persistent rumours that more big names will face accusations.

Godreche told AFP she has a nuanced view of the #MeToo movement.

“There is growing awareness, but sometimes things are announced in a way that feels too staged. It’s not very spectacular being abused, it’s not very funny, it’s not very theatrical,” she said.

Gerwig hopeful

Picking this year’s Palme d’Or falls to a jury led by Greta Gerwig, who became the first woman director to make a $1-billion movie last year with ‘Barbie’.

“Every year I cheer when there are more and more women being represented,” Gerwig told reporters on Tuesday.

“Fifteen years ago, I couldn’t have imagined the number of women represented not only at international festivals but in distribution and board conversations, and so I’m hopeful that it’s just continuing,” she said.

Still to come at the 77th edition of the festival is the hotly anticipated return of ‘The Godfather’ director Francis Ford Coppola with his decades-in-the-making epic, ‘Megalopolis’, on Thursday.

Also in the running are a Donald Trump biopic, ‘The Apprentice’, and new films from arthouse favourites David Cronenberg (‘The Shrouds’), Italy’s Paolo Sorrentino (‘Parthenope’), as well as ‘Emilia Perez’, an unlikely-sounding musical about a Mexican cartel boss having a sex change from French Palme d’Or-winner Jacques Audiard.