Worst airports in the world.

Islamabad airport in Pakistan has been voted the worst airport in the world.

The Islamabad Benazir Bhutto International Airport managed to knock Manila's Ninoy Aquino international airport (NAIA) off the top spot (down to fourth), where it had sat for the last three years running.

Islamabad was voted the worst based on comfort, cleanliness, facilities and customer service.

The Worst Airports 2014 report featured a quote in which a traveller compared it to a "central prison" with "aggressive security checks".

According to the Independent, the poll, carried out by the Guide to Sleeping in Airports website, said: "Travellers have also complained about the airport's inability to handle passengers for over a decade – and thankfully, it seems the end of ISB is near.

"A new airport is slated to be completed for mid-2016, which should dramatically improve air travel to the city."

Jeddah's King Abdulaziz international airport came in at second place, with someone highlighting its "rude immigration officers and lengthy queues", and Kathmandu's Tribhuvan international airport was third, reports the Guardian.

The paper adds that New York's LaGuardia airport found itself at 10th place, and US vice president Joe Biden even likened it to a "third world country" back in February.

There were no UK airports on the list, but London Luton Airport did find itself 8th worst on the regional list for Europe.

The top 10 worst airport in the world are:

1. Islamabad Benazir Bhutto international airport, Pakistan (ISB)

2. Jeddah King Abdulzaziz international airport, Saudi Arabia (JED)

3. Kathmandu Tribhuvan international airport, Nepal (KTM)

4. Manila Ninoy Aquino international airport, Philippines (MNL)

5. Tashkent international airport, Uzbekistan (TAS)

6. Paris Beauvais-Tille international airport, France (BVA)

7. Frankfurt Hahn international airport, Germany (HHN)

8. Bergamo Orio al Serio international airport, Italy (BGY)

9. Berlin Tegel international airport, Germany (TXL)

10. New York City LaGuardia international airport, USA (LGA)

China Says 43 Suspected Ebola Carriers

BEIJING—

China has broken its silence on suspected cases of Ebola in the country, reporting that 43 individuals in the southern province of Guangdong recently tested negative for the virus.

Chinese media reported the country is stepping up measures to prevent the deadly virus from reaching its shores.

A short report released late Tuesday night from Xinhua had few details, but the numbers it divulged were surprising.

According to Xinhua, some 8,672 individuals have traveled to Guangdong from Ebola-hit areas in West Africa since late August. And of that number, more than 5,437 have been released from medical supervision.

Few details

The report gave no details about the rest of the travelers. It also did not clearly say what it meant by medical supervision or specify which countries the travelers were from.

An official at the Liberian Embassy said that Chinese authorities have not informed them of any suspected cases. Officials at the Sierra Leone Embassy were unavailable for comment.

The Canton Fair, China’s largest trade exhibition, opened last week in Guangzhou and runs through early November.

Chinese media reports said screening at the fair has been stepped up with temperature-testing facilities.

Reports also said that those attending the fair from Ebola-hit areas in West Africa have been asked to stay in designated hotels while their temperatures are being monitored.

At major international airports in China, special screening lines for travelers from West Africa have also been set up.

African studies professor

Adams Bodomo, a professor of African Studies at the University of Vienna, said when he arrived recently in Beijing he had to go through the special line because he carries a Ghana passport.

Bodomo later traveled to Guangzhou from Hong Kong by train.

At Guangzhou East Station, Bodomo said there was also a special line set up for individuals carrying West African passports.

“Because Guangzhou has the largest community of Africans in the country, in China, the thinking is that if the virus is to come into the country at all, it will most likely be through Guangzhou,” he said.

Bodomo said at that time he did not hear about any individuals being quarantined, but everyone was on edge even in late August and early September.

“It seems a lot of people are scared and there is a lot of scaremongering in the community,” Bodomo said.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said that individuals from affected countries who are screened for symptoms and show no signs of the virus are allowed to travel in China without restrictions.

She referred further questions to Chinese health authorities.

However, officials did not respond to a request for more information on the situation in Guangzhou and how suspected travelers were being handled.

China is not alone in its concerns about the spread of the deadly virus.

There is a growing global debate about the need for travel bans.

Some U.S. lawmakers said a travel ban would be useful, but U.S. President Barack Obama has so far sided with health officials who are opposed to a travel ban.

Against closing borders

On Wednesday, however, the United States will begin funneling all flights from Ebola-hit areas in West Africa through five major airports.

Elhadj As Sy, secretary general of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, expressed optimism while speaking at a press conference in Beijing that the outbreak could be brought under control in four to six months. 

Sy also said closing borders will not stop the spread of the virus.

"So it (Ebola) creates a lot of fear and extreme panic that sometimes leads to very irrational type of behaviors and measures, like closing borders, cancelling flights, isolating countries, etc.," Sy said.

"Those are not solutions. The only solution is how can we join our efforts to contain those kinds of viruses and epidemics at their epicenter," he added.

China said it is reaching out to the international community to offer increased support and collaboration. Beijing has pledged some $35 million in medical aid to the worst affected countries.

Since the outbreak began China has sent nearly 200 medical personnel to West African countries to help fight the spread of the virus.

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Exposed: Ex-militant, Asari Dokubo’s Role In Nigeria’s $9.3m Cash-For-Arms Scandal – APC Finally Reveals

Nigeria’s $9.3m cash seized in S-Africa

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has asked President Goodluck Jonathan to explain to Nigerians what Mujaheed Asari Dokubo, was doing on the plane that illegally ferried US$9.3 million to South Africa, where Asari Dokubo, another Nigerian and an Israeli were arrested, according to a published report. In a statement issued in Abuja, Wednesday, by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said since the federal government has taken ownership of the funds by saying the National Security Adviser (NSA) issued the end-user certificate for the arms purchase, it stands to reason that the same government will know the involvement of all those aboard the plane.

It said, therefore, that the federal government has a lot of questions to answer on the whole deal, including whether Asari Dokubo is the contractor or the end user, who he was procuring arms for and for what purpose. APC said the questions become pertinent because even the NSA, who issued the end-user agreement for the purchase, does not and cannot purchase arms for any of the armed services. The Service Chiefs have separate budgets from the NSA for arms purchase.

“Under our Constitution, the NSA is an adviser and has no executive powers to deploy troops from any of the services or purchase arms for them. That the arms purported to be purchased from South Africa were ordered from the office of the NSA is nothing but a mere fabrication, and raises serious questions about the motive for the purchase. Nigerians will therefore like to know on whose behalf Asari Dokubo was purchasing arms. This is very crucial because Asari Dokubo has been threatening that Nigeria will not know peace if his benefactor, President Jonathan, is not re-elected.”

Therefore, Nigerians will like to know whether he has started stockpiling arms to make his threat a reality, since elections are due in a few months’ time. “If these arms are meant to fight insurgency, as the government has claimed, what is Asari Dokubo’s business purchasing arms for the Nigerian military, if indeed they were for the military? Does it not occur to the Nigerian government that this man who once took arms against the state may not have jettisoned his sinister plan against the same state?”

“Which country will ever allow a man who once carried arms against the state to now be purchasing arms for the same state? Even if it is true that he is purchasing the arms for the state, what prevents him from also using the opportunity to purchase arms for his own sinister motive? Could this be why Asari Dokubo has been talking publicly and confidently, without official censure, that President Jonathan must be re-elected or Nigeria will not know peace again?” the party queried.

“On Tuesday, we again asked President Jonathan to come clean on the US$9.3 million and US$5.7 million deals. We also asked him to tell Nigerians the identity of the two Nigerians who were on the plane that illegally ferried money to South Africa. Now that the Nigerians are known, and they are the President’s men, the story has taken a new dimension,” it said. APC said since those who claim to be fighting for Nigeria’s unity may actually be the ones working against it, since those who lay claim to patriotism may actually be any but patriotic, it is more urgent now, than ever, for the National Assembly to take these cash-for-arms deals seriously, instead of dismissing the concerns of Nigerians on the basis of some rules as the House of Representatives has glibly done.”

The party commended the media for keeping the story alive and for working hard to unearth the identity of the Nigerians aboard the ill-fated plane that illegally flew money into another country in violation of that country’s laws and all known tenets of decency. It called on the media, in pursuance of its constitutional role of a watchdog, not to relent in exposing the circumstances surrounding the cash-for-arms deals, which have seriously embarrassed Nigeria in the comity of nations and which have the potential to threaten Nigeria’s unity, going by the latest revelations.

Nigeria in the eyes of Google....

I guess its keke, danfo and okada......