Sam Thielman:

US authorities have required airlines from 13 nations to forbid passengers from carrying any electronic or electrical device larger than a cellphone.

The new edict was distributed in an email described as “confidential” from the US transportation safety administration (TSA) on Monday.

The requirement forbids passengers from bringing laptops, iPads, Kindles and even cameras larger than mobile phones into the cabin. All such devices must be checked.

Devices with lithium-ion batteries aren’t allowed in checked baggage as far as I know. So this is basically a ban on close to everything apart from cellphones. I know I won’t be visiting the US anytime soon, even though the ban will most probably not include my home country — I can’t bring myself to condone this sort of behaviour.