Our daily stroll around the world

🇨🇳 Chinese scientists claim to have developed a laser weapon that can fire indefinitely. While laser technology has existed since 1960, the high-energy beams typically produce too much excess heat over time, causing damage to the laser chamber and reducing the quality of the beam. But Chinese military scientists say they recently developed a new cooling system allowing high-intensity lasers to fire indefinitely, though their results have yet to be verified outside of China. Both the US and China have spent years trying to develop laser weapons that can shoot fast-moving aerial targets at the speed of light at a lower cost than interceptor missiles.

🇷🇺 The Russian ruble is at its lowest level since the early days of the Ukraine War. The value of a single ruble fell below $0.01 yesterday, continuing a slide that’s erased about one-third of the currency’s value since January. Analysts say the ruble’s recent decline is being driven by increased domestic defense spending and falling exports – particularly in the oil and natural gas sector, which has been repeatedly sanctioned by Western governments since Moscow invaded Ukraine.

🇦🇺🍄 An Australian woman at the center of a deadly mushroom mystery has given her account of the events. The ongoing case is centered around a mushroom lunch, prepared by the woman, that was attended by four relatives of her estranged husband (who was also invited but declined). In the days following the lunch, three of the four attendees died and a fourth was hospitalized in critical condition due to suspected poisoning from death cap mushrooms, which grow freely in the surrounding area. The woman, who is being treated as a suspect, sent a letter to police this week saying she purchased the mushrooms from an Asian supermarket and that she also fell ill after eating the meal.