*Sierra Leone Cancels 👎 China-Funded Mamamah Airport ✈*

Sierra Leone has cancelled a $400m (£304m) Chinese-funded project to build a new airport outside the capital Freetown.

Aviation Minister Kabineh Kallon told the BBC that the project, which was due to have been completed in 2022, wasn't necessary and its current international airport would be renovated instead.

He said the current president, Julius Maada Bio, "didn't see any need for Mamamah [the proposed airport]" and was considering building a bridge from the capital to Lungi airport - the only international airport in the country.

"If we take a closer look at these African countries that are heavily in debt, China is not their main creditor," China's special envoy for Africa, Xu Jinghu, told a news conference in September, Reuters reports.

Some Africans are also wary of the high levels of debt being built up and say the costs of some projects have been inflated by corruption, while others welcome China's involvement, saying that the roads, ports, railways and other projects are badly needed.

*French 🇫🇷 Watchdog Calls for Ban ✋ on Tanning Beds*

France's health watchdog says the risk of cancer from sunlamps and sunbeds is proven and authorities should act to stop people being exposed to artificial ultraviolet rays.

Although less common than other skin cancers, malignant melanoma is the major cause of death and more common among people with a pale complexion.

France, in common with several countries including the UK and US, already has a ban on under-18s using tanning sunbeds, but the watchdog says that is not enough.

Some 22,000 workers are employed in the industry, according to the French union of tanning booth workers in a market worth €231m (£200m; $265m).

The French government has for years come under pressure impose a ban from the upper house of parliament and medical groups but has so far avoided taking action.

Potentially Catastrophic" Hurricane Michael Makes Landfall in Florida Panhandle as Category 4 Storm❗*

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Hurricane Michael slammed ashore near Mexico Beach, Fla., Wednesday, becoming the most powerful storm on record to hit Florida’s Panhandle.

The Category 4 storm’s center made landfall in a region rimmed with tourist beaches and fishing villages, while packing maximum-sustained winds of 155 miles per hour, according to the National Hurricane Center. The storm could also push up to 14 feet of ocean water onto the coast while drenching parts of three states with as much as a foot of rain.

“This is the worst storm that the Florida Panhandle has seen in a century,” said Gov. Rick Scott at a news conference Wednesday morning. “All along our coast, communities are going to see unimaginable devastation.”

Michael is the first Category 4 storm to hit the Panhandle since 1851, when record-keeping began, a hurricane center spokesman said.

Plastic Bottle 🍾 Washes up On Manx Beach After 47 Years 😱*

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A plastic washing-up liquid bottle that is at least 47 years old has been found on an Isle of Man beach, just days after a similar find in the UK.

Marked 4d off, the distinctive Sqezy container predates decimalisation in Britain in 1971.

It was found in Port St Mary on Sunday by beach cleaners just days after a similar bottled washed up on Brean Beach in Somerset.

Beach Buddies' Bill Dale said described the new find as "a weird coincidence".

He added that the two bottles could be "two of the oldest pieces of plastic ever found on British beaches".

"To find a bottle this old is quite amazing, but it is shocking how long plastic rubbish can survive."

In 1971, Brian Clough guided Derby County to the club's first league title, Ted Heath was the British prime minister and acts such as the Bee Gees and T-Rex topped the charts.

*Nigeria Loses 1.4m Tons Coal Export Opportunity to Ghana*

Nigeria has lost the opportunity of exporting 1.4 million tons of coal from the middle belt area of the country to Ghana annually, the Nigerian Export-Import Bank, NEXIM has said.

Speaking at the Sub-regional workshop and joint committee meeting organized by the Union of African Shippers Council in conjunction with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, UNCTAD, Technical Adviser to the Managing Director of the bank, Hope Yongo, said that the logistics of moving the consignment from Nigeria to Ghana is hindered.

Yongo explained that the Ghanaian government needed 2,000 tones every month to power its second coal plant which would have brought the annual coal demand from Nigeria to 1.4 million tonnes. He said there is no shipping link along the sub-region. He also stressed that there is no rail link in the region. As a result of the hindrances, the Ghanaian government had to resort to shipping the needed cargo from Australia.

*FG Approves N22.6bn for Workers’ Entitlements*

The Federal Government is set to commence the final verification and payment of N22.6 billion entitlements to all former staff of the defunct Nigeria Airways.

This was contained in a statement on Tuesday by Mr. Paul Abechi, the Special Adviser on Media to the Finance Minister, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed.

The process will hold simultaneously in the three regional hubs of Lagos, Kano and Enugu.

According to Abechi, the payment exercises will hold at Sky-Power Catering, Ikeja, Lagos; ABC (former Nigeria Airways Office), Bank Road, Kano; and Villa Toscana Hotel, at 1 Aguleri Street, Independent Layout, Enugu.

The exercises begin Monday, October 15 till Monday, October 22, 2018 at the designated centers, except for Enugu which ends on Thursday, October 18, 2018.

The statement said: “Beneficiaries are expected to come along with the following documents to the centres: Letter of Appointment, Letter of Confirmation, Letter of Last Promotion, Letter of Retirement, NAL Identity Card, Other Means of Identification (National ID Card, International Passport, Driver’s License, etc), Particulars of Bank Account: A cheque slip or statement of Bank Account, Letter of Administration to be presented by Next-of-Kin (NOKs) in the case of deceased beneficiaries.

“Beneficiaries will be subjected to biometric data capture; beneficiaries should come along with copies of documents listed above for submission to the verification committee; beneficiaries are to be captured in an orderly manner, hence notice will be placed at the venue and specific date for capturing of each beneficiary will be indicated.”