The Reliable Killer

摘要

Here's today's puzzler: Name a Russian innovation that whips most everything America and Western Europe throws against it, has astounding firepower, and is unaffected by heat, cold, and sand. (No, if s not Maria Sharapova.) Need more hints? It's easily transported, and its familiar silhouette has made it a must-have fashion accessory certifying the rebel status of figures from the anonymous Viet Cong to Osama bin Laden. Give up? It's the Kalashnikov assault rifle, also known as the AK. Since its first large-scale production in 1947, this low-tech weapon of mass destruction has spread across the globe, doling out death from Afghanistan to the U.S.