Laptop Cabin Ban on Some UK & US Flights

Available for over a year

UK and US authorities have banned large electronic items in cabin baggage on some flights. Affected airports include some of the busiest hubs in the Middle East, Turkey and North Africa. Tom Blank, a former security policy chief of the US Transportation Security Administration, explains why the ban has been implemented. Also in the programme, the BBC's Joe Miller gets a glimpse of the robotic world of the future from digital companies at the CeBIT technology conference in Hanover, Germany. Scotland's government is debating a new independence referendum, and we get the views of our regular economic commentator Roger Bootle of Capital Economics. In a bid to improve road safety, the Japanese government is offering pensioners who give up driving discounts on noodles, taxis and even funerals. Matt Saunders is road test editor at the motoring website Autocar, and tells us what he makes of the initiative. Plus, as gin undergoes a surge in popularity around the world, the BBC's Mike Johnson reports from the London Gin Festival. (Picture: Fliers use laptops on a plane. Picture credit: AFP / Getty Images.)