Balenciaga is raising eyebrows — and getting lashed — over its “Trash Pouch,” a baffling design “inspired by a garbage bag” with an even more outrageous price tag: a hefty $1,790.

The luxury fashion house’s shiny drawstring bag — which is made out of calfskin leather, emblazoned with a subtle logo and comes in the basic Hefty bag black along with the solid Glad-esque white as well as yellow and blue — is making its way to stores after debuting in the Fall 2022 ready-to-wear collection in Paris last March.

“I couldn’t miss an opportunity to make the most expensive trash bag in the world, because who doesn’t love a fashion scandal?” Balenciaga’s creative director Demna Gvasalia said.

Now being sold in stores, the “Trash Pouch” has gone viral thanks to a social media post that has garnered lots talk, with reactions ranging from puzzled to outraged to fits of laughter.

“Hmm this is rude,” wrote one commenter, while another called out the brand for being full of garbage: “Balenciaga is a meme designer.”

One person questioned whether it was a “social experiment” and another mused, “This getting out of hand.”

“They really trying to make a joke out of the consumers at this point,” chimed in another.

Someone else not amused by the trashy design even warned, “Please dont let theze brandz play you.”

Still, some found the humor in the wacky design. “I got 40 of those under my sink,” one person commented.

One jokester went for the jugular with garbage bag puns, writing, “It’s a CINCH some will be GLAD to own this bag, but they will have to pay a HEFTY price.”

“Whoever buys this needs to be thrown out in it,” said another.

Several commenters compared it to the 2001 comedy “Zoolander” in which Ben Stiller’s character models a collection inspired by the homeless. “This is ‘Zoolander’ in real life with the clothing line Derelict. Where is Mugatu at this rate?”

But one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. At least one person plans to buy the bag, simply commenting, “need.”

Whale bones and some of the UK’s oldest steps are among new finds unveiled at the famous Ness of Brodgar Neolithic settlement in Orkney.

The Ness of Brodgar, next to the famous Ring of Brodgar, is one of the most important sites of its type in Europe.

University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI) archaeologists have finished seven weeks of excavation in the first season back after the pandemic.

They say what they have found this year has got the whole team excited.

The site has been under excavation since 2004, revealing a complex of Neolithic buildings.

Site director Nick Card said: “We’ve expanded Trench J and revealed more of the northern wall – The Great Wall of Brodgar – and we can see stone steps built and actually integrated into it and these are some of the earliest steps in the UK.

“Again we see the Ness being a centre for innovation.”

Stone steps have been found
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Also in Trench J is Structure 5, the earliest building on site which dates back to 3,400 BC.

An expansion of the digging here revealed an unexpected find.

Project officer Anne Mitchell said: “There are these post-holes in the structure and we’ve found some quite interesting deposits in those.

“One by the side of the trench had a whale bone in it, a vertebrae sideways on, which we’re very carefully going to conserve and perhaps even find out what type of whale it was.”

A drought has been officially declared in parts of Wales after an extended period of dry weather and low rainfall caused water levels to plummet.

South-west Wales has seen just 65.5% of its average rainfall for July with rivers now running “exceptionally low”, Natural Resources Wales (NRW) said.

It comes as the first hosepipe ban in Wales for more than 30 years is also now in force.

The ban covers Pembrokeshire and parts of Carmarthenshire.

It means people will not be allowed to water their plants or wash their cars using a hose.

Gardener Karen Hilton, who has an allotment in Narberth, Pembrokeshire, believed her onions and broccoli were smaller than expected because of the lack of rain.

She said the hosepipe ban meant she would be using her watering can more often.

Allotment holders had, she said, “all been doing rain dances.”

“We’ll be looking to see what vegetables were ok and what did not survive,” she added.

“And we’ll have to learn to plant veg that are more drought-tolerant.”

NRW said the threshold to trigger drought status in south-west Wales was met on Friday with the country experiencing its driest five-month period, between March and July, in 40 years.

It said the decision was taken along with the Welsh government’s Drought Liaison Group due to the impact the prolonged heatwave had wreaked on the environment, particularly rivers and reservoirs.

Yolyn Am Ice Field, more commonly referred to as Yolyn Am, is a deep and narrow gorge that fills with glacier ice in the winter period, and it is located in the Gurvan Saikhan Mountains that are stretching in the southern part of Mongolia.

The name derives from an Old World vulture, the Lammergeier, which is called Yol in Mongolian, thus the valley is sometimes translated to Valley of the Vultures or Valley of the Eagles.

Being also part of of the Gobi Gurvansaikhan National Park, Yolyn Am can be found in the Zuun Saikhanii Nuruu sub-range of the larger mountain range, and also there is a very small part of the Gobi Desert that reaches this amazing Mongolian feature.

Even though the desert receives little precipitation, during the winter months, an ice field is created in the canyon that reaches several meters in thickness, and was 2 to 3 km (1 to 2 mi) long by the end of the season and until recently it stayed year round.

However, due to the global warming and the rising of the temperature, the ice has began to melt more and more quickly, sometimes even earlier than usual, and the visitors coming here are only able to enjoy in the mesmerizing hike that will offer and amazing view of the very wide entrance that opens up remarkably to a great gorge.

Still, not only visitors are able to see the vultures for which the canyon gets its name, but there are also mountain goats and pikas, which are actually part of the rabbit family.

Still, as Mongolia is very vast and there are many places that deserve to be seen in person, the Yolyn Am Ice Field is certainly among the top that will captivate everyone who dares to have an unique Mongolian adventure, whether if it is in the winter time to see the ice field, or some other colorful season.