Queen Elizabeth knights 100-year-old fundraising captain

WINDSOR: Queen Elizabeth II knighted Captain Tom Moore on Friday, recognising the 100-year-old for lifting the spirits of the nation during the gloom of the Covid outbreak by raising over $40 million for health workers. The World War II veteran raised a record sum of 33 million pounds ($41 million) by walking 100 laps of his garden with the aid of a walking frame in April in the run-up to his birthday. The queen honoured Moore at an investiture at Windsor Castle, using her knighting sword. Showing self-depreciating humour, the Yorkshireman become a symbol of British endurance in the face of the adversity of the Covid crisis. Reuters

Advertisement

Jumbos retire: British Airways bids adieu to Boeing 747s

LONDON: The “queen of the skies” will no longer don the red, white and blue of the Union Jack after British Airways retired its fleet of Boeing 747s on Friday as a result of the pandemic. The airline, which was the world’s biggest operator of the 747-400 model, had already planned to ground its fleet of 31 of the iconic wide-bodied jets in 2024. But the pandemic, which has seen most of the world’s planes grounded, has hastened its journey into retirement, especially as forecasters predict that passenger numbers will remain lower than normal, potentially for years to come. AP