The superstar singer, actress and author has announced the launch of "Doggy Parton" -- a line of dog apparel and accessories produced in partnership with SportPet Designs.
The line will feature shirts, dresses, squeaky toys and even a blonde wig inspired by Parton. A portion of the proceeds will go to Willa B. Farms, a rescue organization that provides a home for displaced animals.
"'Puppy Love'' was my very first record and 6 decades later, my love for pets is stronger than ever. This inspired me to start my own line of Doggy Parton apparel, accessories, toys and more with a little 'Dolly' flair," Parton said in a statement. "Part of the proceeds will support Willa B Farms, a rescue where animals in need find never-ending love. Don't we all need that?'"
Initially the products will be available via DoggyParton.com and Amazon with more retailers to be announced in the future.
CDC Director Rochelle Walensky is reorganizing the agency, saying it didn't react quickly enough during the Covid pandemic, according an internal review of the agency's operations released on Wednesday.
Walensky laid out several organizational changes the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will take over the coming months to correct missteps and failures that occurred during the last 2.5 years of the pandemic, according to a fact sheet.
"For 75 years, CDC and public health have been preparing for COVID-19, and in our big moment, our performance did not reliably meet expectations," Walensky said in a statement. "My goal is a new, public health action-oriented culture at CDC that emphasizes accountability, collaboration, communication, and timeliness."
The central objectives of the reorganization are focused on sharing scientific data faster and making it easier for the public to understand health guidance, according to the briefing document. Walensky launched the review in April after the massive winter surge of infections from the omicron variant upended the nation's public health response.
The CDC repeatedly faced criticism during the pandemic for confusing public health recommendations and releasing data too slowly through retrospective reports that were outpaced by the rapid spread of the virus. Public health experts were often frustrated that briefings on the pandemic relied on data from other countries, such as the United Kingdom and Israel.
Walensky is appointing an executive to lead a team that will implement changes. The CDC will also create a new executive council that reports directly to Walensky to determine the agency's key priorities backed up by budget decisions.
The agency's science and laboratory sciences divisions, which play crucial roles in investigating and tracking public health threats such as Covid, will also report to the CDC director.
The CDC is also creating an equity office to make sure agency's workforce reflects the U.S. population and better communicates public health guidance across all groups.
The PCB is set to launch an Under-19 women's T20 tournament, which will be contested by six regional associations starting on August 13. Lahore Country Club, Muridke, will be the venue for the 10-day round-robin tournament, which offers a platform to 84 players in all, with 15 reserve players on standby.
The PCB hopes to use the tournament to "create a strong talent pool" in the country, with one eye on the inaugural U-19 Women's T20 World Cup in South Africa next year.
Only players born on or after September 1, 2003, are eligible for the tournament. ESPNcricinfo understands that the top performers will be bumped up into the senior sides of the national T20 and one-day domestic tournaments.
The pathway to Pakistan's senior women's team had till now been vague, with no lines going down to the grassroots level, meaning a pool of only 30-35 competitive cricketers at the senior level. Women cricketers in the country had, till now, two tournaments: three teams each playing the National T20 and ODI Challenge Cups.
This Under-19 tournament looks to offer a more concrete pathway to senior cricket, with squads having been selected after country-wide open trials, followed by practice games among the selected players across the PCB-run women's regional academies.
This is not the first time, though, that the PCB is organising junior cricket for women. Between 2004 and 2008, the PCB conducted an annual U-17 tournament. That was replaced by an U-19 tournament between 2009 and 2013. All women's tournaments at the youth level were disbanded in 2013, though, due to a policy shift.
The participating squads are:
Central Punjab U-19: Shawal Zulfiqar (capt), Areesha Noor, Eyman Fatima, Farah Imran, Haleema Azeem Dar, Haleema Dua, Jaweria Ali, Komal Khan, Laiba Nasir, Noor Fatima, Quratulain Ahsen, Rida Aslam, Warda Yousaf and Zamina Tahir Chugtai
Balochistan U-19: Humaira Ghulam Hussain (capt), Alisha Aslam, Aman Fatima, Amina Javed, Azra Habibullah, Dura-E-Nayab, Fakhra Abdullah, Fiza Noor, Kalsoom Kakar, Madhur Moolani, Misha Kareem, Ruqia Nazar, Shakira Ahmed and Shamim Amirullah
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa U-19: Zaibunisa Niaz (capt), Aleesha Khan, Aliza Khan, Bakhtawar Arifullah, Gule Nayab, Hansa Zair Gul, Humaira Husain, Jalwa Anwar, Javeria Qamar, Mahnoor Aftab, Malaika Afridi, Sumbal Liaquat, Tayyaba Imdad and Tehzeeb Shah
Northern U-19: Maham Anees (capt), Fatima Sardar, Hadia Mushtaq, Kainat Riasat, Laiba Mubashar, Maheen Irfan, Malaika Noor, Mariyam Shehzadi, Muskan Abid, Noor Fatima, Rida Ashfaq, Sarah Jan Peter, Syeda Hania Zehra and Tahira Malik
Sindh U-19: Aroob Shah (capt), Abeera Kaleem, Aliza Sabir, Anosha Nasir, Dina Razvi, Eman Adeel, Farhia Fahim, Haniah Ahmer, Kainat Eman Shah, Khizra Rani, Sara Fatima, Taskeen Fatima, Tooba Khan and Wasfa Hussain
Southern Punjab U-19: Aqsa Hafeez (capt), Anam Bibi, Aqsa Yousaf, Eman Fatima, Javeria Asharaf, Javeria Siddique, Laila Manzoor, Muqadas Bukhari, Rimsha Shehzadi, Sahar Fatima, Sana Khan, Sania Mazhar, Shameer Rajpoot and Uzma Iqbal
French authorities on Tuesday will move ahead with an ambitious rescue mission for the beluga whale that has been trapped in the Seine River for a week now, local media reported.
The animal swam upstream from the English Channel after having wandered far from its pod, Franceinfo reported.
Reports from experts suggest that the whale was alert but had not eaten for days.
Sea Shepherd France, a non-profit group working for the protection of the oceans, has been keeping watch by boat over the whale for the last week.
The group will attempt to extract the whale from the water assisted by local police, fire fighters and other officials.
The plan is to catch the beluga in a net, lift him by a crane, and place him in a truck at which point he will be transported to another seawater location for a few days to be examined and cared for, then released back into the sea.
The whale is, however, presently 130 kilometers (80.77 miles) from any coast.
Tricky operation
What makes the operation harder is that there is no vehicle accessibility on the banks of the river where the whale is.
Lamya Essemlali, president of Sea Shepherd France, told Franceinfo the rescue operation will be “particularly sensitive and heavy in logistics.”
She acknowledged the urgent need to feed the whale and get him hydrated.
“We have two former whale keepers with us, but it’s unclear how the beluga will react. Feeding a cetacean in captivity is one thing, it’s another with a wild animal,” Essemlali added.
In a tweet on Friday, Sea Shepherd said: “The animal is extremely emaciated.”
Attempts to feed him have been made over the last week, with dead herring, then live trout, even vitamin substances tossed into the water, but the beluga has not consumed anything, the non-profit group added.
Belugas are found most near the Svalbard archipelago, a cluster of islands between Norway and the North Pole or in the St. Lawrence River in Quebec, Canada.
Health hazard
The warmer temperatures of the Seine are harmful to the beluga's health. So is swimming in freshwater.
The operation also must be carried out, authorities say, as quickly as possible to sustain the whale’s life.
Despite plans for the very risky operation and the whale’s precarious state, Gerard Mauger, vice-president of the Cotentin Cetacean Study Group (GECC), told Franceinfo the beluga “is a well-toned animal, which spends very little time on the surface and performs long apneas” a temporary suspension of breathing in which the whale is submerged.
The deep dives, Mauger said, are a sign that his lung capacity “remains good.”
Mauger added, however, that catching the whale will be tricky.
“Even trying to approach him very carefully, it’s difficult. He makes a lot of changes of direction,” he added.
An Iranian satellite launched by Russia blasted off from Kazakhstan early Tuesday and went into orbit amid controversy that Moscow might use it to improve its surveillance of military targets in Ukraine.
A live feed from Russian space agency Roscosmos showed the launch of the Soyuz-2.1b rocket carrying the Khayyam satellite from the Russia-controlled Baikonur cosmodrome at the scheduled time of 05:52 GMT.
The Russian mission control confirmed its subsequent entry into orbit.
Iran, which has maintained ties with Moscow and refrained from criticism of the Ukraine invasion, has sought to deflect suspicions that Moscow could use Khayyam to spy on Ukraine.
Last week, U.S. daily The Washington Post quoted anonymous Western intelligence officials as saying that Russia "plans to use the satellite for several months or longer" to assist its war efforts before allowing Iran to take control.
But the Iranian Space Agency said on Sunday that the Islamic republic would control the Khayyam satellite "from day one."
"No third country is able to access the information" sent by the satellite due to its "encrypted algorithm," it said.
The purpose of Khayyam is to "monitor the country's borders," enhance agricultural productivity and monitor water resources and natural disasters, the space agency said.
In a pre-launch statement on Monday ISA praised "the high reliability factor of the Soyuz launcher."
"Due to Khayyam satellite's weight of more than half a ton and the very high success rate of the Soyuz launcher, the launch of the Khayyam satellite has been entrusted to Russia," the statement on the space agency's website noted.
As Moscow's international isolation grows under the weight of Western sanctions over Ukraine, the Kremlin is seeking to pivot Russia towards the Middle East, Asia and Africa and find new clients for the country's embattled space program.
Russian President Vladimir Putin met Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran last month -- one of his few trips abroad since the invasion began.
'Long-term cooperation'
Khayyam, apparently named after the 11th-century Persian polymath Omar Khayyam, will not be the first Iranian satellite that Russia has put into space — in 2005, Iran's Sina-1 satellite was deployed from Russia's Plesetsk cosmodrome.
Iran is currently negotiating with world powers, including Moscow, to salvage a 2015 deal aimed at reining in Tehran's nuclear ambitions.
The United States — which quit the landmark Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or JCPOA under then-president Donald Trump in 2018 — has accused Iran of effectively supporting Russia's war against Ukraine while adopting a "veil of neutrality."
During his meeting with Putin last month, Iran's Khamenei called for "long-term cooperation" with Russia, and Tehran has refused to join international condemnation of Moscow's invasion of its pro-Western neighbor.
Iran insists its space program is for civilian and defence purposes only, and does not breach the 2015 nuclear deal, or any other international agreement.
Western governments worry that satellite launch systems incorporate technologies interchangeable with those used in ballistic missiles capable of delivering a nuclear warhead, something Iran has always denied wanting to build.
Iran successfully put its first military satellite into orbit in April 2020, drawing a sharp rebuke from the United States.
Türkiye, Qatar heap scorn on Israel following its air strikes on Palestine's blockaded enclave that left at least 10 civilians dead and 75 others wounded, raising tensions in the explosive Mideast region.
Five-year-old Alaa Kaddum had a pink bow in her hair and a wound on her forehead, as her body was carried by her father at her funeral in Gaza.
(AA)
Türkiye and Qatar have strongly condemned Israeli "aggression" on the besieged Palestinian enclave of Gaza, where Tel Aviv's air strikes killed at least 10 people, including a five-year-old girl, and wounded 75 others, triggering a barrage of retaliatory rocket fire from resistance fighters.
Türkiye on Saturday said it is "unacceptable that civilians, including children, lose their lives in attacks." Turkish Foreign Ministry urged "restraint and common sense" amid rising tension in the region following the deadly attacks on the blockaded enclave.
"We are deeply concerned about the rising tension in the region after the attacks. We emphasise the need to end these events before they turn into a new spiral of conflict," it said.
Qatar also joined Türkiye to condemn Israeli attacks on the Palestinians, urging "the international community to act urgently to stop the repeated attacks by the [Israeli] occupation against civilians, especially women and children."
Doha reiterated its "firm" position on the justice of the Palestinian cause, the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, and the establishment of their independent state on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
Iran called the Israeli operation a "brutal attack" that resulted in the killing of "resistance commanders" and defenceless Palestinian people.
The UN envoy for the Middle East Peace Process said he is "deeply concerned by the ongoing escalation between Palestinian militants and Israel, including the targeted killing today of a Palestinian Islamic Jihad leader inside Gaza."
"In the past few hours, at least 10 Palestinians were killed by Israeli air strikes. I am deeply saddened by reports that a five-year-old child has been killed in these strikes. There can be no justification for any attacks against civilians," Tor Wennesland added.
Meanwhile, sources said Egypt is working to calm the latest escalation in Gaza.
An Egyptian security source told the AFP news agency in Gaza that Cairo's mediation efforts had been ongoing since Friday when Israel launched attacks on what it described as Islamic Jihad targets.
Israeli officials earlier referred to Egyptian mediation when briefing reporters about the bombardment, adding the strikes killed 15 fighters.
Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid described the strikes as a "precise counter-terror operation against an immediate threat", and announced the killing of Taysir al Jabari, who he described as Islamic Jihad's second-in-command.
Islamic Jihad said the Israeli bombardment amounted to a "declaration of war" before it unleashed an "initial response" of more than 100 rockets toward Israel.
An Egyptian source separately said that a delegation from Islamic Jihad may head to Cairo later on Saturday.
Hamas' Doha-based leader Ismail Haniyeh held talks with "Egyptian intelligence" over the violence, a Hamas statement said.
Five-year-old girl killed
Flames poured out of a building in the main Gaza City following the first round of strikes, while wounded Palestinians were evacuated by medics.
Palestine's Health Ministry reported that "a five-year-old girl, targeted by the Israeli occupation" was among 10 people killed.
Alaa Kaddum had a pink bow in her hair and a wound on her forehead, as her body was carried by her father at her funeral.
Hundreds of mourners gathered in Gaza City for the funerals of Jabari and others killed in the air strikes.
Fresh Israeli strikes came a little more than a year after an 11-day war between Israel and Palestine in May 2021, which killed at least 250 Palestinians in Gaza and 13 in Israel and left the blockaded enclave's economy shattered.
Egypt, a historic broker between Israel and resistance movements in Palestine, negotiated the ceasefire that ended the fighting.
A narrow strip of land where some 2.3 million Palestinians live on a patch of 365 square kilometres, Gaza remains blockaded by Israel from land, air, and sea since 2007.
A joint investigation will establish responsibility for the incident that left at least two people dead and 15 injured and impose severe sanctions against the peacekeepers involved.
The incident came days after demonstrators took to the streets in several towns in eastern Congo to demand the departure of the UN mission.
(Reuters)
The Democratic Republic of Congo has launched an investigation after the UN peacekeeping mission in the country, MONUSCO, admitted that its troops killed two people in a shootout in a town on the border with Uganda.
“Two compatriots died and 15 were wounded following shots fired by peacekeepers from a contingent of the MONUSCO intervention brigade from Uganda,” said Patrick Muyaya Katembwe, the DRC's minister in charge of communication and media and government spokesman on Sunday.
He announced the opening of a joint investigation with MONUSCO to establish responsibility for the incident, learn the motivation behind it and to impose severe sanctions against the peacekeepers involved.
Katembwe said they are already under arrest, stressing that they can no longer be part of the contingents of the UN mission pending the outcome of a plan to withdraw MONUSCO from the DRC.
In a statement, Bintou Keita, head of the mission, said she had learned with deep shock about the grave incident, which happened Sunday morning.
“During this incident, soldiers of the Intervention Brigade of the MONUSCO force, returning from leave, opened fire at the border crossing for unexplained reasons and forced their way through. This serious incident resulted in loss of life and serious injuries,” she said.
Footage of the incident posted on social media showed uniformed men advancing towards an immobilised UN convoy behind a closed barrier in the town of Kasindi in eastern DR Congo's Beni territory.
After a verbal exchange, the peacekeepers appear to have opened fire before opening the gate. They drove on and continued to shoot, scattering residents.
“The perpetrators of the shooting have been identified and arrested pending the conclusions of the investigation that has already begun in collaboration with the Congolese authorities,” added Keita.
The incident came days after demonstrators took to the streets in several towns in eastern Congo’s North Kivu province to demand the departure of the UN mission.
The protests claimed the lives of 19 people, including three peacekeepers.
Jean-Pierre Lacroix, the UN under-secretary-general for peace operations, visited Congo on Saturday, where he held talks with Congolese authorities aimed at avoiding a recurrence of the tragic incidents.
The UN mission in Congo has been facing criticism for its perceived ineffectiveness at stopping fighting in the volatile east.
The Justice Department on Friday opened an environmental justice investigation into allegations that the city of Houston has failed to respond equitably to reports of illegal dumping in predominantly Black and Latino neighborhoods.
Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke, who heads the civil rights division, said the probe will focus primarily on the northeast section of the nation’s fourth-largest city, including the neighborhoods of Trinity and Houston Gardens. Residents in those communities have voiced long-standing concerns over the dumping of furniture, tires, medical waste, automated bank teller machines, dead animals and even human bodies, officials said.
Since his appointment last year as the nation’s top law enforcement official, Attorney General Merrick Garland has sought to prioritize issues of environmental justice, announcing the creation in May of a Justice Department office to help coordinate the federal government’s legal strategy. The Houston case, officials said, was prompted by a 65-page complaint from Lone Star Legal Aid, which alleged that the city has denied services and failed to enforce municipal codes in some neighborhoods.
“The complaint we received indicates the issues extend back years,” Clarke said. “It’s deeply troubling to see the reports of the items regularly dumped and abandoned in Black and Latino communities.”
Justice officials said investigators have requested data from Houston’s 311 city services center to determine whether there has been a pattern of neglect of calls from certain sections of the city. The probe will focus on the city’s Department of Neighborhoods, the police department and the solid waste management division, all of which receive federal funding.
Under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, jurisdictions that receive federal funding are barred from discriminating on the basis of race, color or national origin.
Clarke said illegal dumping can disadvantage neighborhoods in multiple ways, including by attracting rodents and mosquitoes, lowering property values, causing illness, obstructing sewer drainage and contaminating drinking water.
“In America, your Zip code often is a key determinant of your cancer risk … and even your expected life span,” said Todd S. Kim, assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s environment and natural resources division. “It’s true that any of us could be exposed to environmental contamination, but it’s also true that communities of color, low-income communities and tribal communities bear these hardships disproportionately.”
Clarke said the Justice Department would seek to work collaboratively with Houston officials to develop a voluntary compliance plan to address any violations uncovered in the investigation.
