The figures could change as some ships typically switch off their location transponders during the voyage

International News via Reuters:

Five commodity vessels transited the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, little changed from a day earlier but well below the 10-day average of 15, preliminary shipping data showed on Wednesday.

Two tankers carrying liquefied petroleum gas and one tanker carrying bitumen exited the Gulf via the strait, while two empty product tankers entered the waterway from the Gulf of Oman, initial data from shiptracker Kpler showed at 0408 GMT. On Monday, four commodity vessels transited the waterway, the data showed.

The figures could change as some ships typically switch off their location transponders during the voyage.

Transits through the Bab el-Mandeb, another major maritime chokepoint in the Middle East, were also roughly little changed at 31 commodity vessels versus 29 the day before, Kpler data showed, but in line with the 10-day average.

Iran said it had resumed discussions with Oman on managing the Strait of Hormuz amid increased economic pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump.

The two sides said on Tuesday they had explored creating a temporary joint shipping corridor and agreed to remove mines from the waterway.

“Any agreement between these two parties does not mean we will see normalisation in oil flows through the key chokepoint,” ING Economics said in a note.

“We would likely need to see the U.S. lift its blockade on Iranian ports and ease sanctions on Iran before we see any move towards normalisation.”

Reporting by Mohi Narayan; Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Christian Schmollinger

No cause of death was disclosed, but Parton’s publicist said she died peacefully in Nashville

International News via Reuters:

Dolly Parton was around six when she wrote her first song: “Little Tiny Tasseltop,” an ode to her corncob doll with corn-silk hair. Her mother stored it preciously in a shoebox.

“I loved that little doll,” Parton wrote decades later. “I expressed myself and my feelings through writing — I’m sure what I was thinking was, ‘Well, Tasseltop has to have a song about her.'”

Parton never stopped making music after that. The irrepressible country music singer, songwriter and actress whose charisma, heartfelt lyrics and business acumen captured the public’s imagination for nearly six decades, died on Tuesday aged 80, her family said in a statement. 

No cause of death was disclosed, but Parton’s publicist said she died peacefully in Nashville. People magazine reported the star fought a “brief battle with cancer,” citing her representatives. Days earlier, Parton told the magazine she was dealing with unspecified health issues but planned to keep working. 

“By her example, we believed anything was possible,” her nephew, Bryan Seaver, said in a video message. “She never saw a door she couldn’t open, and the doors she opened made and changed history.” 

With classic songs including “Coat of Many Colors,” “Jolene” and “I Will Always Love You,” Parton became one of the best-selling female artists of all time, with over 100 million records sold. She won 11 Grammy awards, including a Lifetime Achievement Award. 

Parton’s wholesome personality, combined with her towering blond hairdos, flamboyant costumes and giddy delight at holding center stage, endeared her to Americans of all backgrounds and helped introduce country music to international audiences.

Over the years Parton hosted a TV variety show, starred in movies, and even created a theme park, Dollywood, a popular tourist spot in her home state of Tennessee — all in addition to her lauded work as a songwriter.

But the quality that gave her enduring star power was her ability to connect with people. Coming from a self-described “dirt-poor” family, Parton often stood in as a symbol of the working-class American and regularly threw her name and money behind causes she believed in.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Parton donated $1 million to vaccine research at Vanderbilt University in 2020, making her an early sponsor of Moderna’s vaccine development.

She conducted a literacy program for preschool children across the United States, as well as in Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and Ireland, and provided scholarships to high school students in the Tennessee county where she was born.

The county erected a life-size statue of her in front of the courthouse in thanks, though she declined another proposed statue of her in Nashville in 2021, saying, “Given all that’s going on in the world, I don’t think putting me on a pedestal is appropriate at this time.” 

It was this ability to stay true to her roots, combined with her drive to work hard and her nonpartisanship, that fueled her appeal among conservatives and liberals in a politically polarized America.

‘MAMA HAD THIS HAUNTING VOICE’

Dolly Rebecca Parton was born on January 19, 1946, in Pittman Center, Tennessee, and grew up in a one-room cabin in nearby Locust Ridge. One of 12 children of tobacco farmer Robert Lee Parton, her difficult childhood gave credibility to her often personal songs trilled in a distinctive soprano.

Her mother, Avie Lee, would sing constantly — songs from England, Ireland and Wales that told a story. “Mama had this haunting voice, and Lord you would feel it,” Parton wrote in her 2020 book “Dolly Parton, Songteller” co-authored with Robert K. Oermann.

Parton got her first real guitar when she was eight. Her mother would say, whenever she had guests: “I want you to hear this song this little thing has made up. It’s really good.” Parton loved the attention.

She was singing on a local radio station by age 11, and at age 13 was appearing on the Grand Ole Opry, a weekly country music concert in Nashville, Tennessee.

After graduating from high school, she moved to Nashville to pursue a music career and began a famous partnership with country music singer Porter Wagoner, which would include a years-long stint on his TV show and 14 top-ten duets. She penned her hit song “I Will Always Love You” as a farewell to Wagoner when she decided to pursue a solo career.

On the first day Parton arrived in country music’s capital, she met Carl Dean, an asphalt paver. They would marry two years later, in 1966. Throughout their long marriage, Dean shunned the spotlight and did not tour with her, though he would be a muse for many of her greatest hits, including “Jolene,” which was inspired by a red-haired bank teller’s crush on Dean.

‘THE DOLLY IMAGE’

Her own appearance was the object of intense interest. Initially embarrassed, she eventually found the humor in frequent questions about her extravagant dress sense and generous figure. 

She dismissed rumors that her breasts were insured and laughed off periodic rumors that she was bedridden due to their weight, telling People magazine: “Well, they are heavy, but they haven’t crippled me yet.”

Parton patterned her signature look on a woman she would see walking around her Tennessee hometown in tight skirts and high heels, with red nails, red lipstick and peroxided hair. “I thought she was beautiful. But everybody said, ‘She’s trash!'” Parton wrote in her 2023 book “Behind the Seams: My Life in Rhinestones.” “I laughed and said, ‘Well, if that’s trash, that’s what I want to be when I grow up!'”

But as much as she embraced her signature look, she also viewed it as distinct from herself. “I look one way and am another,” she told Ladies’ Home Journal in 1982. “It makes for a good combination. I always think of ‘her,’ the Dolly image, like a ventriloquist does his dummy. I have fun with it. I think, what will I do with her this year to surprise people? What’ll she wear? What’ll she say?”

She also expressed the wish that her appearance would serve to sell, rather than overshadow, her talent.

‘I WANT TO PAINT A PICTURE’

Her music gained a following not only among the public but also with fellow singers who widely covered her songs – perhaps most famously Whitney Houston’s rendition of “I Will Always Love You.” Some of Parton’s most beloved covers and duets were with her goddaughter, American pop star Miley Cyrus, and Cyrus’ father, country music star Billy Ray Cyrus. 

“Jolene” was covered by artists as varied as Beyoncé and The White Stripes.

While Parton was a force on stage and an accomplished vocalist, what set her apart from her peers was her talent with words. Parton wrote every one of her hit songs. All told, she penned an estimated 3,000 throughout her life, though she recorded only about 450 of them.

“I love to write poetic songs and sing flowery words,” she wrote in “Dolly Parton, Songteller.” “I like to make you see something visually, so I want to paint a picture. And I love to come up with clever lines, not just like a songwriter, but like a poet.”

‘THE SONGS ARE MY LEGACY’

Parton made her movie debut in 1980’s “9 to 5,” starring alongside Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin, with the title tune earning Parton an Oscar nomination for songwriting. She got another Oscar songwriting nomination in 2006 for “Travelin’ Thru,” written for the film “Transamerica.”

Her other movie acting roles included “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas,” “Steel Magnolias,” “Rhinestone” and “Straight Talk.”

Twenty-five of her songs reached No. 1 on the Billboard Country charts and she was a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame, receiving its highest honor, the Johnny Mercer Award, in 2007. She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2022.

Parton received her first Grammy award in 1978 for her song “Here You Come Again.” In 1988, she won the People’s Choice Award for favorite all-around female entertainer.

But despite all her accolades and achievements, Parton found the greatest meaning in her art. 

“I feel like I’m closest to God when I write,” she wrote in “Dolly Parton, Songteller.” “A great line will just come to me, and I’ll go, ‘Hey, thank You, Lord. I know I didn’t think of that.'” 

“At the end of the day, I hope that I will be remembered as a good songwriter. The songs are my legacy.”

For more obituaries, click here.

Reporting by Ryan Patrick Jones, Katharine Jackson, Lisa Richwine and Daniel Trotta; Editing by Daniel Wallis, Olivier Holmey amd Kate Mayberry

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) classified both events as safety incidents rather than serious incidents, saying there was no immediate risk of collision as flight and ground crews reacted to avoid conflict

International News via Reuters:

Australia’s transport safety regulator on Wednesday opened two investigations into taxiing conflicts at Sydney airport, involving a Virgin and Qantas aircraft on August 16 and a Jetstar and Bombardier aircraft on August 25.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) classified both events as safety incidents rather than serious incidents, saying there was no immediate risk of collision as flight and ground crews reacted to avoid conflict.

• On August 16, a taxiing Virgin 737 was told by air traffic control to give way to a Qantas 737 vacating the runway. The instruction was not read back correctly and went unnoticed by controllers, the ATSB said in a statement.

• On August 25, incomplete traffic information was passed to a Jetstar A320, creating a conflict with a taxiing Bombardier Dash 8.

• The two investigations are being run separately but with coordinating teams, and could be widened or combined depending on the evidence.

• The ATSB expects to publish preliminary reports on both investigations within six to eight weeks.

• Virgin and Qantas, which also owns Jetstar, said in separate statements they will support the ATSB’s investigations.

• The regulator is already investigating four similar incidents at the airport, including one that injured a member of a plane’s cabin crew.

Reporting by Alasdair Pal in Sydney; Editing by Christian Schmollinger