News in Brief 2024-07-12

S Korea to deploy 'StarWars' laser weapons targeting N Korean drones

SEOUL, July 11: South Korea will deploy laser weapons to shoot down North Korean drones this year, becoming the world's first country to deploy and operate such weapons in the military, the country's arms procurement agency said on Thursday. South Korea has called its laser programme the "StarWars project". The drone-zapping laser weapons the South Korean military has developed with Hanwha Aerospace are effective and cheap, with 2,000 won ($1.45) per shot, but quiet and invisible, the Defence Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) said in a statement. "Our country is becoming the first country in the world to deploy and operate laser weapons, and our military's response capabilities on North Korea's drone provocation will be further strengthened," DAPA said, calling those weapons as a game changer in the future battlefield. — Reuters

Bosnian Muslims commemorate Srebrenica genocide

SREBRENICA (Bosnia and Herzegovina), July 11: Thousands of solemn mourners gathered in the town of Srebrenica in Bosnia on Thursday to remember the 1995 massacre of Bosnian Muslims, less two months after the United Nations established a memorial day to mark the genocide. On July 11, 1995, Bosnian Serb forces captured the eastern Bosnian town-which was then a UN-protected enclave-and killed 8,000 Muslim men and boys in the following days. It was the worst massacre in Europe since World War II and two international courts ruled it was genocide. "It's hard when July comes. They ended up like this only because they had a (Muslim) name," said Mevlida Hasanovic as she prayed at the tomb of her cousin, who was 18 when he was killed. — AFP

Fire breaks out at France's Rouen cathedral

ROUEN (France), July 11: A fire broke out Thursday in the spire of the cathedral in northern French city Rouen, its mayor said, sharing a photo of a column of smoke rising from the Gothic landmark. The fire's "origin is unknown at this point," mayor Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol posted on X, adding that "all public resources are mobilised" to fight the fire. Local fire service SDIS76 said the alarm was raised around midday (1000 GMT) and that 33 vehicles and 63 firefighters were on the scene. "Fire broke out at the tip of the spire, which isn't made of wood, but rather metal," the prefecture of the Seine-Maritime department said. — AFP

Australia probes killing of 65 kangaroos

SYDNEY, July 11: Australian authorities said Thursday they are investigating the illegal killing of at least 65 kangaroos found shot or apparently rammed by a vehicle. A local wildlife shelter alerted Victorian wildlife officials after finding the eastern grey kangaroos in rural paddocks about 120 kilometres (75 miles) north of Melbourne, officials said. "At least three of the kangaroos were found alive but were subsequently euthanised due to the severity of their injuries," said the state's Conservation Regulator. "Two kangaroo joeys were recovered and are being cared for at a wildlife shelter," it said in a statement. The marsupials had suffered fatal gunshot wounds and "traumatic injuries consistent with being rammed by a vehicle", the regulator said. Used shotgun cartridges were found in the area. — AFP

Iraq issues death sentence against wife of late IS leader

BAGHDAD, July 11: An Iraqi court issued a death sentence against a wife of the late Islamic State leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, for working with the group and detaining Yazidi women in her home, the Iraqi judiciary said on Wednesday without naming the woman. The Supreme Judicial Council in Iraq said the Yazidi women were kidnapped by Islamic State gangs in Sinjar district, west of Nineveh Governorate, and then held prisoner by the woman in her house in Mosul. The woman is being held in Iraqi custody. "The criminal court today sentenced Baghdadi's wife to death by hanging for crimes against humanity and genocide against the Yazidi people and also for contributing to terrorism actions," a court official who declined to go on record as he is not authorised to talk to the media told Reuters. The ruling must be ratified by an Iraqi appeal court to become final and applicable, the official added. — Reuters