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TSA blocking uncharged mobile devices from flights at some international airports

TSA blocking uncharged mobile devices from flights at some international airports

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International travelers will have to make sure they charge all their devices before boarding their flights. In an announcement made Sunday, the TSA now plans on blocking flyers with uncharged phones and electronic devices at certain undisclosed airports in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. In addition to other forms of screening, passengers will need to prove their devices can actually turn on before flying.

According to NBC News, the new security measures are being made in an effort to stop an al-Qaeda terror plot aimed at blowing up an airliner. Officials are reportedly concerned that a laptop, smartphone, or tablet might be used as a bomb. Passengers' shoes will also be scrutinized at checkpoints. It's assumed that the new measures will prove more effective than the agency's Screening of Passengers by Observation Techniques (SPOT) program, which, after a General Accounting Office study, was found to perform "the same as or slightly better than chance."