Two Hindu leaders elected on a Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) ticket are set to join the cabinet of the BNP-led government headed by Tarique Rahman, with one also expected to serve as Speaker. The appointments of Goyeshwar Chandra Roy and Nitai Roy Chowdhury have drawn attention to minority representation in the Muslim-majority nation of approximately 170 million people. Their inclusion has prompted debate in neighboring India, where critics have contrasted Bangladesh’s cabinet composition with the absence of a Muslim minister in India’s ruling party-led Union Cabinet. The discussion has intensified amid claims by some Hindutva groups regarding the safety of Hindus in Bangladesh. In the recent elections, the BNP secured a two-thirds majority, winning 209 seats with nearly 50 percent of the vote. Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami recorded its strongest performance, while the National Citizen Party emerged as a smaller but notable force. The polls also saw participation from 79 minority candidates across multiple parties, underscoring the ongoing focus on religious and ethnic representation in national politics.
🇬🇷🏠 A real estate advertisement aimed at Israeli buyers is attracting attention at Athens International Airport, where it promotes apartments in Greece starting at around €90,000. The ad, displayed in the arrivals area of Eleftherios Venizelos Airport, carries the slogan “Don’t go home without a home in Greece” and is associated with Palmo Group, a company targeting Israeli investors interested in Greek property. Israeli real estate firms and investors have been increasingly active in Greece, particularly in Athens and Thessaloniki, buying, renovating and managing properties.
U.S. President Donald Trump has pledged a $5,000 payment to every American adult if Republicans retain control of both chambers of Congress in the November midterm elections, unveiling the proposal during a nearly two-hour speech at a campaign rally in Dallas, Texas. Branding the plan a "Trump dividend," the president told an enthusiastic crowd that voters would share in the rewards of Republican victory at the ballot box. The proposal, which would cover approximately 270 million adults, carries an estimated price tag of $1.35 trillion, according to projections. Trump did not detail how the program would be financed, though he suggested the payouts would stem from what he described as the country's "tremendous economic success" and could be partly funded through additional tariffs on foreign goods. He also pressed recipients to spend the money domestically, saying: "We don't want you going to Canada to spend the money. We don't want you going to China, to Germany. You have to spend the money in the United States." The president urged supporters to treat the midterm vote as a direct endorsement of his leadership, telling the crowd: "I want you to assume that I'm on the ballot." Warning that handing power to "radical left Democrats" would set the country back, Trump said the nation would spend the next decade trying to recover, adding: "We have a crazy, small, sick cloud hanging over our country, and we're going to defeat communism in America." He pointed to his second term as "the most successful two years of any presidency financially and in every other way," while acknowledging the historical difficulty his party faces in midterm elections.
Speaking to Geo TV on Tuesday, Pakistan's Defense Minister Khawaja Asif said any spillover of the Yemen conflict into Saudi Arabia would activate the Makkah Joint Defense Agreement, under which an attack on Pakistan, Saudi Arabia or Türkiye is treated as an attack on all three. "We are bound by the terms and conditions of this pact," Asif said. "God willing, we will honor them in case there is a need." His comments came hours after Houthi forces launched missile and drone strikes on southern Saudi Arabia, hitting Abha, Khamis Mushait, Jazan and Najran and wounding at least 73 people. Asif called the Houthis "non-state actors" and said the group risked serious consequences if it dragged Saudi Arabia further into Yemen's war, adding: "We don't need to respond to a brick with a stone." Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye signed the Makkah pact on August 7, 2026, to formalize collective defense commitments. Asif stressed the agreement is purely defensive, activated only in response to aggression against a member state.
💥 Adidas has started selling single shoes for Israeli soldiers who lost limbs while bombing Muslims in Gaza. The campaign features Shalev Biton, a former Israeli soldier who lost his left leg in Gaza in May 2021. 🖌️ @cihatkiyat
Israeli daily Haaretz has published a sweeping investigation exposing a critical intelligence failure surrounding the October 7, 2023, Al-Aqsa Flood operation, revealing that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu received a direct warning from a regional leader but chose to ignore it. According to the report, UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed placed a 45-minute phone call to Netanyahu approximately ten days before the Hamas incursion, relaying specific intelligence that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was planning a major escalation that would shake the region. The Emirati leadership reportedly obtained this information through Palestinian contacts and advisers aware of Sinwar's intentions, and due to the sensitivity of the matter, conveyed it directly to the prime minister rather than through Israel's intelligence services.
US rapper Macklemore is facing a petition calling for his removal from Ed Sheeran’s ongoing U.S. tour after he used his opening set at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey to voice support for Palestinians. During performances on September 4 and 5, the rapper called for a “Free Palestine” and performed his protest song “Hind’s Hall,” while footage related to Gaza and the occupied West Bank appeared on stadium screens. His remarks drew both support and criticism from concertgoers. The Israeli-American Council subsequently launched a petition urging Sheeran, tour organizers, and venues to remove Macklemore from the remaining dates, arguing that the concert stage should not be used for political messaging.
Bollywood filmmaker Tigmanshu Dhulia has said anti-Muslim prejudice has become increasingly visible within India's film industry, arguing that the changing social climate has also reshaped the stories being told on screen. He made the remarks during the Editors Guild of India's Rajendra Mathur Memorial Lecture in New Delhi, where he discussed censorship, media freedom, and the state of Indian cinema. Dhulia said Bollywood cannot remain detached from broader social attitudes, adding that filmmakers are part of the same society where Islamophobia has grown. He suggested that the industry, despite its reputation for diversity, has also been affected by those prejudices. The director also said concerns over legal complaints and police action have created a climate of caution among writers and filmmakers, leading many to reconsider dialogue and storylines before they are written. He described self-censorship as an increasingly common reality in the industry. Dhulia further criticized the growing commercialization of Bollywood, saying business interests have weakened storytelling, while insisting that successful films ultimately depend on craftsmanship rather than political ideology.
German sportswear company Adidas apologized on Monday after an advertising campaign featuring a former Israeli soldier prompted a backlash and calls for a boycott. The campaign featured Shalev Biton, whose left leg was amputated after he was wounded while serving in the Israeli army in 2021, to promote Adidas’s Single Shoe service. “We recognize that an image used in a recent local activation by the local team has raised concerns and strong reactions,” Adidas said in a statement, according to a report by the Times of Israel. “It was never our intent to cause offense and we apologize for anyone affected,” the company added, describing the promotion as a local initiative rather than part of a global campaign. Biton was one of 11 disabled athletes featured on posters displayed at Adidas stores in Israel. Pro-Palestinian activists criticized the decision to include a former Israeli soldier in a campaign centered on amputees, contrasting the promotion with the thousands of Palestinians who have lost limbs during Israel’s war on the Gaza. The World Health Organization estimates published in May said Gaza has recorded more than 5,000 traumatic limb amputations and over 22,000 major extremity injuries since October 2023. Up to a quarter of those with life-changing injuries were children. Spanish actor Javier Bardem was among those who urged consumers to boycott the company over the promotion. Adidas said its Single Shoe service was intended to promote inclusion by allowing people with limb differences to only purchase the shoe they need. The company introduced the service in 23 European countries in January, offering individual shoes for 50% of the price of a pair at Adidas-owned stores and outlets. It was developed in consultation with disability groups and organizations, including ParalympicsGB. Adidas said the program was expanding across Europe, Asia and the Middle East, including Palestine, the United Arab Emirates, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and Egypt. The company said it would “continue to listen, learn and work to ensure that our actions reflect the inclusive values we stand for.” Adidas’ past Israel-Palestine controversies Adidas has faced similar controversies on several occasions over the past decade and a half. In 2012, the company faced boycott calls from Arab sports officials over its sponsorship of the Jerusalem Marathon, whose route passed through Occupied East Jerusalem. Arab youth and sports ministers announced a boycott of companies sponsoring the event, arguing that the race was being used to reinforce Israeli claims over the city. Adidas was no longer among the marathon’s sponsors the following year. The company came under renewed pressure in 2018, when more than 130 Palestinian football clubs and sports associations urged Adidas to end its sponsorship of the Israel Football Association. Campaigners objected to the association’s inclusion of clubs based in illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. Adidas said at the time that it operated in a “politically neutral way,” while adding that it supported human rights standards and had raised the issue with FIFA. The company later ended its sponsorship of the Israeli association, although it did not publicly attribute the decision to the Palestinian campaign. Another backlash erupted in July 2024 after Adidas removed Palestinian-American model Bella Hadid from a retro shoe campaign referencing the 1972 Munich Olympics after Israel criticized her inclusion. Hadid, who has long spoken publicly in support of Palestinian rights, reportedly hired lawyers over the decision. Adidas later apologized to her and other campaign partners, saying it had made an “unintentional mistake” and was revising the campaign. The company did not reinstate Hadid, however, and its handling of the episode triggered further criticism and calls for a boycott on social media.
The 46-year-old Israeli rabbi and military reservist committed suicide in Kiryat Malakhi after reportedly struggling with psychological trauma following his service in Gaza. Barsheshet, a father and religious reservist, took part in Israel’s military operations in Gaza and became complicit in the murder of innocent people. His funeral was held on Saturday evening after Shabbat at the town’s cemetery, attended by relatives, friends and acquaintances.
Israel is facing a water crisis after five of its six desalination plants, which supply a large share of the country's water, were knocked offline this week by a microalgae bloom clogging seawater intake pipes. Israeli environmental experts trace the algae to Egypt's Nile River delta, but warn that untreated sewage flowing from Gaza has likely intensified the bloom. All six wastewater-treatment plants in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed during Israel's military campaign, and roughly 40,000 cubic meters of untreated sewage are discharged into the Mediterranean each day, according to the Palestinian Water Authority. Noga Armi, chief executive of the Israeli environmental group Zalul, said "the scientific link is well established" between the sewage and the algae's growth. A Mekorot spokesman attributed the plant failures to high seawater temperatures without addressing Gaza's role. The shutdown forced Israel to ration water and led Mekorot to briefly halt supply to Gaza, leaving nearly a million Palestinians without water, according to UNICEF.
Oscar-winning actor Susan Sarandon says she is still losing roles because of her outspoken support for Palestinians. Speaking at the Venice Film Festival, Sarandon said that some agencies continue to discourage producers from hiring her, describing it as part of an entrenched industry power structure. However, she said she feels more accepted internationally than by the U.S. industry establishment. She was dropped by UTA in 2023 following anti-genocide remarks she made at pro-Palestinian rallies.
Cappadocia in central Türkiye has been named Europe’s best winter destination by global travel publisher Lonely Planet, topping its list of the 13 best places to visit in Europe during winter. The region ranked ahead of destinations including Finland’s Lapland, Greece’s Santorini, Germany’s Bavarian Alps and Wales’ Eryri. Lonely Planet highlighted Cappadocia’s snow-covered fairy chimneys, underground cities and quieter low-season attractions, including Keşlik Monastery, Kaymaklı Underground City and Göreme Open Air Museum. Winter hiking in Ihlara Valley and stays in boutique cave hotels were also cited among the region’s attractions. Cappadocia Site President Aydın Cem Aslanbay said the recognition reflected recent conservation and sustainable tourism efforts, adding that the UNESCO World Heritage region is increasingly developing into a year-round tourism destination.
Spanish actor Javier Bardem has publicly called for a boycott of Adidas after the sportswear brand featured Israeli soldier Shalev Biton in an advertisement for its “Single Shoe” service. In Instagram posts using the hashtag #BoycottAdidas, the Oscar-winning actor criticized the campaign and questioned the company’s decision to feature an Israeli soldier amid the severe humanitarian crisis and genocide in Gaza. Bardem also shared images and videos of Palestinian children who have undergone amputations, further supporting his call to boycott Adidas.