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takyon [soylentnews.org] writes:

In yet another laser beam incident [soylentnews.org], crew on a flight carrying Pope Francis reported a laser beam sighting [bbc.com] to air traffic control in Mexico City:

Alitalia flight AZ4000 was travelling from Havana with the Pope on board, and was preparing to land when the laser was spotted.
No crew or passengers were injured by the beam, the airline added.

[...] "This is yet another incident that shows how serious and widespread the issue of laser attacks on aircraft is," said Jim McAuslan, General Secretary of the British Airline Pilots Association (Balpa), in response to the case involving the Pope's plane. "Modern lasers have the power to blind and the potential to dazzle and distract pilots during critical phases of flight," he told the BBC. "Shining a laser at an aircraft is illegal and dangerous and puts all those on board and on the ground nearby at completely unnecessary risk."

In another story from the UK laser crime beat, Englishman Philip Houghton has been sentenced to 20 weeks in prison [bbc.com] for admitting to shining a laser pen at a Humberside Police helicopter that was investigating a shooting.

Aboard the plane headed from Rome to Mexico, the Pope said that contraception may be the "lesser evil" [npr.org] for women at risk of catching the Zika virus. In comments made on the ground, he chastised Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump for his plan to build a wall [nbcnews.com] on the Mexican border.

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