VELSHI: It is time now to go "Globe Trekking." The U.S. Army calls it a revolutionary weapon that makes American soldiers more lethal and safer. I'm talking about the XM-25 Smart Rifle, it's now being used for the first time on any battlefield in Afghanistan. The Army says this shoulder-fired grenade launcher can kill an enemy hiding behind walls or other cover. It uses an array of sights, sensors and lasers that read the distance to the target, assess elements like air pressure, sends the data to a microchip embedded in the shell before it's launched. So a soldier could program a shell to explode just over an enemy hiding behind a wall, showering lethal fragmentations over the hiding area. Just a few of these rifles are in country now, but the Pentagon plans to buy 12,000 beginning next year. OK, now to Russia, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's outrage over the latest WikiLeaks. In one State Department cable released by WikiLeaks, defense secretary of state -- Defense Secretary Robert Gates is quoted saying that Russian democracy has disappeared and the government was an oligarchy run by the security services. Putin dismissed the complaint calling Gates deeply misled. Also, in an interview with CNN's Larry King, Putin says he'll make a concerted decision about whether he'll seek the presidency again in 2012. And our last stop in "Globe Trekking" today, the Ivory Coast. Still no winner in the country's runoff presidential election, but the country remains in the grips of anger and violence. The Constitutional Council has validated the results and one electoral commission member became so outraged that he tore up the ballot. Well, you'll likely do it and so do I, posting status updates on social media. Well now toddlers can do it, too. That's next in today's "Big I."
Revolutionary Weapon in Afghanistan War