This was published 7 years ago
Theresa May follows Donald Trump's laptop and tablet ban on flights from the Middle East
Every Monday to Friday I'll be delivering a personally-curated newsletter. Call it the double espresso of news – the morning news kickstart for busy people who want to know what they need to know before they get going.
By Latika Bourke
1. UK ban
Not for the first time the nature of international travel is changing dramatically because of the threat of radical Islamic terrorism.
For many, gone are the days of watching your movies on your tablet or laptop, finishing that speech, writing that presentation or editing that scuba diving video with the changes announced today.
Critics of Prime Minister Theresa May say she's too chummy with the US President.Credit: AP
The United Kingdom is following in the footsteps of the United States in banning laptops and any devices larger than a phone from the cabin hold for inbound flights from Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia.
The ban applies to UK carriers: British Airways, EasyJet, Jet2.com, Monarch, Thomas Cook and Thomson as well as foreign carriers Turkish Airlines, Pegasus Airways, Atlas-Global Airlines, Middle East Airlines, Egyptair, Royal Jordanian, Tunis Air and Saudi.[Reuters]
Prime Minister May signed off on the ban earlier on Tuesday.
The BBC's Home Affairs correspondent Daniel Sandford says the Brit's move is clearly in line with that of the United States. [BBC]
2. 'Unpleasant corner of hell'
Northern Ireland's Former Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness. Credit: Charles McQuillan
The body of the ex-IRA turned political leader's body was returned home to Derry in Northern Ireland overnight. [BBC]
Tributes from all corners have dominated the day in Britain for Martin McGuinness. Perhaps the most striking has been the one paid by a former Tory minister, whose wife was paralysed in the 1984 Brighton bombing.
"I hope that his [Catholic] beliefs turn out to be true and he'll be parked in a particularly hot and unpleasant corner of hell for the rest of eternity," said Lord Noman Tebbit. [Sky News UK]
3. Aust politics
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Attorney-General Senator George Brandis.Credit: Andrew Meares
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is hitting the phones to reassure ethnic communities over proposed changes to the Racial Discrimination Act, report James Massola and David Wroe. [Fairfax]
Turnbull backed free speech and reforming 18c before he won the leadership in a clear nod to conservatives but Laura Tingle believes voters will hold "genuine rage" and think the PM has 'once again abandoned his perceived views" with the Cabinet's decision on the RDA. [Financial Review]
The urbane Member for Wentworth, whom many in the Liberal party consider is chiefly advised by his formidable wife Lucy Turnbull, "Malsplains" when questioned about the changes by a female Labor MP, according to Fleur Anderson. [Financial Review]
And the changes could cost seats, say "party insiders".[Philip Coorey/Financial Review] with a "broad range of ethnicities" opposed, says The Guardian. [Katharine Murphy and Christopher Knaus]
Arthur Sinodinos has been copping heat ever since he said One Nation in 2017 are "more sophisticated" than they were two decades ago but will today liken the fringe party's views on vaccinations to that of their stance on climate change science.
But what is troubling for Sinodinos is that One Nation's views on climate change science are shared by many in his own party. [Laura Tingle/Financial Review]
The government will split in two its proposals to make savings, in a bid to get at least some passed ahead of the May budget. [ABC]
4. Hezbollah leader killed by his own
A big story in Middle Eastern politics with Israel claiming to verify reports that Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant Shia group, killed its own leader Mustafa Amine Badreddine in Syria.
Hezbollah blamed Sunni extremists. Israel is an enemy of Hezbollah and has an interest in trying to feed division within the organisation. [BBC]
5. Twitter shuts down terrorists
The social media company has been the target of governments ever since jihadists began setting up Twitter accounts to spread their propaganda to potential recruits.
But the company's latest transparency report says Twitter shut down a total 376,890 terrorist accounts in just six months. [Liat Clark/Wired]
6. Red Apples
Apple has quietly debuted special edition red iPhones and iPads [Dave Gershgorn/Quartz] and a video app with a voice-to-subtitles feature called Clips [Lauren Goode/The Verge].
It is the first update to the iPad since 2014, which peaked in terms of sales in 2013 and has been declining ever since. [Shira Ovide/Bloomberg]
But the tech giant's long-term project is augmented reality (eg Pokémon Go is AR). [Mark Gurman/Bloomberg]
Ever since I went android (first Samsung now Pixel) in 2015 I'm so meh about Apple but happy to hear your thoughts on iOs v Android.
And that's it from me today, you can follow me on Facebook for more.
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