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.
🇮🇳 Posters in Lucknow, India, have portrayed Prof. Muhammad Yunus, Elon Musk and other prominent figures as the ten heads of Ravana, accusing them of working against the country's interests. Signed by a group called Sanatan Raksha Sangathan, the posters brand those depicted as Ravanas opposed to Sanatan India. In Hindu tradition, Ravana is the ten-headed king of Lanka described in the Ramayana. He is portrayed as an arrogant, cruel, oppressive and tyrannical ruler who used his power to terrorize sages, abduct women, and dominate others. He is known for his lust, ego, greed, and wickedness, and for his act of abducting Sita, which led to his destruction by Lord Rama.
🇲🇾 Malaysia has banned civil servants from using the navigation app Waze, citing data security concerns over its Israeli origins. Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s office said the measure aims to protect government information and personal data from potential misuse, noting that Waze, owned by Google, was founded in Israel and remains incorporated there.
#Türkiye , #Qatar , #Pakistan and #Indonesia have signed a defense industry cooperation pact called “#Badr” in Doha, Qatar. The deal covers joint production, research and development, and technical military training.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fell further behind former Army Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot in a new opinion poll released Monday, with the opposition politician widening his lead in public perceptions of who is better suited to head the government. The Channel 12 survey found that 45% of respondents considered Eisenkot better suited to serve as prime minister compared with 33% for Netanyahu, widening the gap to 12 percentage points from 10 in the previous poll. The findings come just eight days before Israel’s Oct. 27 parliamentary elections, with Eisenkot’s Yashar party also projected to emerge as the largest in the 120-seat Knesset.
🇬🇧🇵🇸 Green Party of England and Wales leader Zack Polanski has defended his party’s move to equate Zionism with racism, arguing that Zionism is racist in practice. He cited the killing of Palestinians and the consequences of Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Speaking on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg on October 18, Polanski was asked whether Israel had a right to exist. He responded that international law does not grant states an inherent right to exist, while maintaining that people do have that right.
⛓️🇵🇸 More than 1,500 Palestinian detainees held by Israel are seriously ill, with some suffering from life-threatening conditions amid inadequate medical treatment, according to the Palestine Center for Prisoners’ Studies. The centre called for international medical teams to visit the detainees urgently and urged investigations into deaths attributed to medical neglect.
🇵🇸 Palestinian children struggled to breathe after Israeli forces fired tear gas canisters directly at their family’s car during a raid on Aqraba, southeast of Nablus in the occupied West Bank. The canisters shattered the car’s windows.
🇵🇸 An Israeli soldier was seen pinning down the head of a blindfolded and bound elderly Palestinian man inside his home during a raid in the occupied West Bank. The soldier used the man as a prop for a social media photograph.
💰 According to Channel 12, the Israeli government has approved a plan to cut 2.6 billion shekels, equivalent to $840 million, from ministry budgets and redirect the funds to the defence establishment.
🇩🇰 🔐 A person claiming responsibility for a data breach involving Denmark’s Central Register of Persons (CPR) says they accessed the system through an account belonging to an IT company that used the password “123456.” Danish newspaper Politiken reported that at least three accounts at the company, including an administrator account, were protected by the same password. The individual said they had no intention of selling or leaking the information. The breach exposed the names, addresses and personal identification numbers of approximately 8.8 million people, according to Danish broadcaster DR. The Ministry of Research, Education and Digitalization said the incident involved the misuse of a Danish company’s authorized access to the register. Authorities have suspended the company’s access and notified the Danish Data Protection Agency. The ministry said people registered for name and address protection were not affected by the unauthorized access. Research, Education and Digitalization Minister Christina Egelund urged people to remain vigilant and warned them not to disclose passwords or other confidential information in response to phone calls, emails, or other inquiries, even if the person contacting them knows their name, address, or CPR number. The CPR system contains about 11 million registered people, including deceased people and Danish citizens who have moved abroad.
US President Donald Trump criticized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday over strikes on Russian oil refineries, arguing that the attacks were driving up global energy prices. "I think that's a disgrace. There's plenty of other targets," Trump said in an interview with Newsmax, criticizing attacks on facilities producing diesel fuel. "When you shoot at diesel refineries where you make, you know, diesel oil and we need that, and the world needs that, then he's not doing a good service for the world," he added. Speaking on Newsmax's "Finnerty" program from the White House, Trump also questioned Zelenskyy's leadership and willingness to negotiate an end to the war. "Zelenskyy is not a good guy for us to deal with," Trump said. "He doesn't want to settle. He says he wants to settle, but he doesn't. No, I'm not a big fan of Zelenskyy," he added. Asked about a proposed two-month pause to allow Ukraine to hold elections, Trump responded: "I think you need an election." He also questioned whether Ukrainians were satisfied with their leadership amid continued Russian attacks on residential buildings. Trump cited an interview with a Ukrainian woman who blamed Zelenskyy for the country's suffering and military losses, quoting her as saying: "Zelensky has destroyed our country." The US president also argued that Russia's larger population gave Moscow a significant manpower advantage over Ukraine. He said Russia could sustain heavy military losses while Ukraine lacked comparable manpower. Trump acknowledged that Ukraine had received advanced US military equipment, describing it as the "best equipment in the world."