‘Superman’ drone crashes into nuclear plant

Paris: Greenpeace crashed a Superman-shaped drone into a French nuclear plant on Tuesday to demonstrate its vulnerability to outside attacks, the environmental group said. Greenpeace said it had flown the drone — piloted by an activist — into the no-fly zone around utility EDF's Bugey nuclear plant, near Lyon, and then crashed it against the wall of the plant's spent-fuel pool building. This action highlights extreme vulnerability such buildings that contain high amount of radioactivity, Greenpeace said. Reuters

China firm develops ‘laser gun’

Beijing: A Chinese firm has developed a laser gun designed for police use that can set fire to protesters’ hair or banners from a range of almost one kilometre. The 15-mm calibre weapon weighs 3 kg, has a range of 800 metres (2,600 feet) and can pass through glass and other transparent obstacles. A ZKZM fiber laser company official said the weapon will “immediately” produce a “strong pain response” in the target but stressed it was designed to be “non-lethal”. AFP