A teenage pilot is set to land in Dubai during his world-record attempt to become the youngest person to fly around the globe solo in a small plane.
Mack Rutherford, a 16-year-old British-Belgian pilot, received his pilot's licence in 2020, making him the youngest pilot in the world at age 15.
On March 23, he took off from Bulgaria to begin his journey around the world in an ultralight plane, weighing only 325 kilograms and flying at speeds of 299 kilometres per hour.
So far, he has flown to South Africa, Congo, Madagascar, Mauritius, Italy, Greece, Sudan and Kenya. He will fly over Oman next and then make a brief stop in the UAE.
He is due to land, weather permitting, at Dubai International Airport at 10am on Thursday, June 2.
Mack was born into a family of aviators and has been inspired by them. His father Sam is a professional ferry pilot, while his mother Beatrice and sister Zara are private pilots.
In January 2022, Zara became the youngest woman to circumnavigate the globe solo.
The 19-year-old returned to the Belgian town of Kortrijk on January 21, a little more than five months after she set off on August 18, 2021.
Now Mack wants to add to his family’s achievements, and also meet and inspire people during his journey.
According to the Guinness World Records, the youngest person (in both male and female categories) to circumnavigate by aircraft, solo, is Travis Ludlow.
He was 18 when he completed his solo flight in 2021 to earn the record.
“There are many people of my age who do amazing things. Often few people know about them,” Mack said.
“I am really looking forward to meeting some of them. Together we can show that young people make a difference.”
After the UAE, he will head east to Kazakhstan and across Russia. He will then cross the Bering Strait into Alaska and continue along the west coast of America to Mexico.
Mack will then head north again along the east coast to Canada, before crossing the Atlantic and stopping in Iceland and the UK. His epic journey is due to finish in Bulgaria's capital Sofia.
Mack's mission can be tracked online on his website.
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Thu Mar 15 – West Indies v Afghanistan, UAE v Scotland
Fri Mar 16 – Ireland v Zimbabwe
Sun Mar 18 – Ireland v Scotland
Mon Mar 19 – West Indies v Zimbabwe
Tue Mar 20 – UAE v Afghanistan
Wed Mar 21 – West Indies v Scotland
Thu Mar 22 – UAE v Zimbabwe
Fri Mar 23 – Ireland v Afghanistan
The top two teams qualify for the World Cup
Classification matches
The top-placed side out of Papua New Guinea, Hong Kong or Nepal will be granted one-day international status. UAE and Scotland have already won ODI status, having qualified for the Super Six.
Thu Mar 15 – Netherlands v Hong Kong, PNG v Nepal
Sat Mar 17 – 7th-8th place playoff, 9th-10th place play-off
Biography
Favourite drink: Must have karak chai and Chinese tea every day
Favourite non-Chinese food: Arabic sweets and Indian puri, small round bread of wheat flour
Favourite Chinese dish: Spicy boiled fish or anything cooked by her mother because of its flavour
Best vacation: Returning home to China
Music interests: Enjoys playing the zheng, a string musical instrument
Enjoys reading: Chinese novels, romantic comedies, reading up on business trends, government policy changes
Favourite book: Chairman Mao Zedong’s poems
Graduated from the American University of Sharjah
She is the eldest of three brothers and two sisters
Has helped solve 15 cases of electric shocks
Enjoys travelling, reading and horse riding
COMPANY PROFILE
Initial investment: Undisclosed
Investment stage: Series A
Investors: Core42
Current number of staff: 47
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Under ‘snapback’, measures imposed on Iran by the UN Security Council in six resolutions would be restored, including:
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Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
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UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Lexus LX700h specs
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THE APPRENTICE
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Camelpox
Caused by a virus related to the one that causes human smallpox, camelpox typically causes fever, swelling of lymph nodes and skin lesions in camels aged over three, but the animal usually recovers after a month or so. Younger animals may develop a more acute form that causes internal lesions and diarrhoea, and is often fatal, especially when secondary infections result. It is found across the Middle East as well as in parts of Asia, Africa, Russia and India.
Falconpox
Falconpox can cause a variety of types of lesions, which can affect, for example, the eyelids, feet and the areas above and below the beak. It is a problem among captive falcons and is one of many types of avian pox or avipox diseases that together affect dozens of bird species across the world. Among the other forms are pigeonpox, turkeypox, starlingpox and canarypox. Avipox viruses are spread by mosquitoes and direct bird-to-bird contact.
Houbarapox
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Pakistan squad
Sarfraz (c), Zaman, Imam, Masood, Azam, Malik, Asif, Sohail, Shadab, Nawaz, Ashraf, Hasan, Amir, Junaid, Shinwari and Afridi
