Mexico demands Adidas compensation for Indigenous-inspired shoe design
Authorities confirmed the move on Friday following the launch of the 'Oaxaca Slip On' by Willy Chavarria.
The sneaker features a woven huarache-style upper, drawing from Mexico's iconic leather sandals.
Critics argue the design exploits Oaxaca's cultural heritage while being manufactured in China without Indigenous involvement.
President Claudia Sheinbaum highlighted corporate exploitation of Indigenous communities in her press conference.
She stated the government is exploring legal avenues to support affected artisans.
Deputy Culture Minister Marina Nunez revealed Adidas has engaged Oaxacan officials about restitution.
The dispute follows previous clashes with global brands like Zara and Louis Vuitton over traditional designs.
Adidas and Chavarria have yet to publicly respond to Mexico's demands.
Chavarria previously stated his intention to honour his Mexican roots through the collaboration.
He praised Adidas for its cultural respect in an interview with Sneaker News. - Reuters
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The Star
6 hours ago
- The Star
How a CIA hit on al Qaeda ensnared a US citizen in Afghanistan
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -As a crowd looked on, uniformed Taliban surrounded the Toyota Landcruiser in which Mahmood Habibi, a naturalized U.S. citizen, sat. Other Taliban smashed open the door of his Kabul apartment, emerging later with his laptop and papers. Blindfolded in the back seat, Habibi and his driver were driven off by gunmen sporting shoulder patches of the Taliban's feared secret police, the General Directorate of Intelligence (GDI), according to several witness statements in U.S. government possession seen by Reuters. Afghanistan's Taliban government denies it detained Habibi, 37, who was a former head of Afghanistan's civil aviation. While dividing his time between the United States and Kabul working for a private company, he became a U.S. citizen after the Taliban took power in 2021. The Taliban also says they have no knowledge of his whereabouts, three years after he disappeared. That is contradicted by the witness accounts and other evidence, including data monitored from Habibi's cellphone, described to Reuters by a U.S. official and a former U.S. official familiar with the matter. The Taliban denials present a conundrum for the FBI, which is leading the U.S. government effort to gain his release; and for the State Department, which describes Habibi's detention a major impediment to exploring increased engagement with Afghanistan, three years after his August 10, 2022 arrest. U.S. President Donald Trump has made freeing Americans held abroad a top priority and already has secured the release of dozens, including from Afghanistan, Russia and Venezuela. The case of Habibi - the only publicly identified American held in the country - has been harder to resolve. This story is the most comprehensive account to date of the circumstances of Habibi's capture and includes previously unreported details. Among them, interviews with the U.S. official and a former U.S. official with knowledge of the case reveal that the Taliban likely detained Habibi because the CIAhadpenetrated the companywherehe sources say the U.S. spy agency had accessed one of the company's security cameras, helping it pinpoint the al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in a Kabul guesthouse. Habibi's detention came 10 days after Zawahiri - the last of the top plotters of the September 11, 2001, attack on the United States - was dramatically assassinated by a U.S. drone strike on the guesthouse, ordered by Trump's predecessor, Joe Biden. At the time, U.S. officials briefed journalists that it was a CIA operation. The U.S. sources told Reuters that Habibi was unaware of the CIA plot and was wrongly detained after returning to Kabul from a work trip to Dubai after the assassination, oblivious of the danger he was in. The CIA, the Taliban, the White House and Habibi's employer, Virginia-based ARX Communications, did not respond to detailed requests for comment for this story. ARX has previously said neither it, nor its subsidiaries, were involved with the strike on Zawahiri. Reuters could not independently verify whether Habibi was or wasn't aware of the plot. In a statement to Reuters, a State Department spokesperson called for Habibi's immediate release. "We know the Taliban abducted Mahmood Habibi nearly three years ago," the spokesperson said. A co-worker detained with Habibi, then later released, saw him in GDI headquarters and heard him in an adjacent room being asked if he worked for the CIA or was involved in the strike on Zawahiri, according to one of the statements in U.S government possession, seen by Reuters. Then, in June and August of 2023, the U.S. government detected that his mobile phone had been switched on in GDI headquarters, the U.S. official and former official said. Reuters could not reach the witnesses who made statements, including the coworker, or verify the accuracy of their account of Habibi's detention. The U.S. official familiar with the matter said excerpts of the statements have been presented to the Taliban in response to their repeated denials of Habibi's detention. As Habibi and his family on Sunday mark the third anniversary of his arrest, the Trump administration has stepped up efforts to win his release, including offering a $5 million reward for information. But so far, he appears no closer to freedom, the U.S. sources said. "Our family has new hope that the Trump team will be successful," said Habibi's older brother, Ahmad. Ahmad said his brother would never have gone to Kabul four days after the Zawahiri assassination if the CIA had told ARX to warn him it was too dangerous to return. 'Nobody told him anything. Neither the company, neither the CIA nor anybody. So, he just went back,' Ahmad said. The U.S. government officially considers Habibi a hostage, said the U.S. official, because his arrest and location remain unconfirmed by the Taliban. The official and the former official spoke on condition of anonymity, citing the sensitivity of the case. In response to a request for comment, the FBI said that along with partners in other U.S. departments involved in hostage recovery, it remains "committed to bringing Habibi home to his family." The Taliban rejected an offer made last year to trade Habibi for alleged Osama bin Laden aide Mohammad Rahim al-Afghani, the last Afghan held in the Guantanamo Bay military prison. 'We've tried in terms of both carrots and sticks,' said the official, who requested anonymity to discuss the case. The Taliban "literally throw up a wall," said the official. CAMERA ON CELL TOWER As part of the operation against Zawahiri, the CIA penetrated the Asia Consultancy Group (ACG), a subsidiary of ARX, according to the current and former U.S. officials, who provided previously unreported details of how the spy agency was able to target the al Qaeda chief. Reuters presented these details to the CIA, ACG and ARX, requesting comment, but received no response. ACG, whose parent is headquartered in Herndon, Virginia, had a contract to erect cellphone towers around Kabul, the sources said. CCTV cameras were fitted to the towers to protect the structures, they said. One of the cameras, the sources said, was pointed at a house U.S. officials have linked to Sirajuddin Haqqani, the Taliban's acting interior minister both at the time and now, in the heart of Kabul's diplomatic quarter, a short distance from the shuttered British and American embassies. The sources said the camera sent back video to the CIA confirming Zawahiri's presence in the residence. That confirmation helped the agency kill the Egyptian Islamist with two drone-fired Hellfire R9X missiles on July 31, 2022, as he emerged onto a balcony, they said. His wife and family survived the strike. While officials in the Biden administration at the time described the CIA's drone operation to kill Zawahiri with Hellfires, the details of the agency's operation on the ground, including the presence of the camera and its role in identifying Zawahiri have not been previously disclosed. ARREST On the day of his arrest, Mahmood Habibi was in his apartment in Kabul's Sherpur neighborhood packing to return to New Jersey, where he had a home, with the help of a sister, who was there with her two children, according to Ahmad. It was about noon when a phone call came from the ACG office saying it had just been raided by the Taliban, Ahmad said. Habibi told his sister that he had to leave without explaining why. He was arrested immediately after getting into his vehicle, Ahmad said. A few minutes later, somebody announcing that they were with GDI knocked on his apartment door, according to Ahmad and a witness statement. His sister declined to open it, telling those outside that she had to conform to the Taliban rule that an adult male relative had to be present. The Taliban broke open the door, entered the apartment and rifled through closets and drawers, demanding Habibi's laptop, according to Ahmad and the witness statement. A crowd had gathered outside after the Taliban arrived in five vehicles, blocked the street and surrounded Habibi's car, before driving him off, according to Ahmad and a separate witness statement. The GDI arrested 30 other ACG employees, according to a letter that ACG sent to Afghanistan's Ministry of Communications, seen by Reuters. Except for Habibi and one other, all were eventually released. In the letter, dated September 15, 2022, ACG asked that family members be allowed to visit him and three other staff who the GDI still held. The ministry appeared to confirm Habibi was a GDI prisoner in a reply two days later, seen by Reuters, saying that the intelligence directorate would decide on the petition when its investigation was completed. However, in a July 3, 2025 statement reported by Afghanistan's state news agency, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said that in response to requests from Habibi's family, the Taliban had investigated but no evidence has been found to suggest that he was detained by Afghanistan's security forces. Mujahid said the Taliban are a legitimate governing body that does not detain individuals without due process or hide them from public view. Mujahid did not respond to a Reuters request for comment. US CITIZEN Born to parents from the southern city of Kandahar, Habibi is one of eight siblings – three brothers and five sisters – who grew up in the Kabul neighborhood of Karte Parwan. His excellent English helped him secure a job with the U.N. civil aviation agency in Kabul in 2008. He worked for the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration's U.S. embassy office from 2011 to 2013. Tapped as deputy civil aviation minister, Habibi helped transition Afghanistan's air traffic system from U.S. control to the U.S.-backed Kabul government. Habibi became civil aviation minister in 2017. He held that post until 2019 while earning a civil aviation master's degree from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in Florida, the university confirmed. In 2019, he resigned and then joined ARX to help oversee its Afghan subsidiary's contract to run air traffic control at Kabul's international airport. Habibi lived between the city and the United States, accumulating the last of the 30 months of U.S. residency he needed over a five-year period for U.S. citizenship in 2021, Ahmad said. He was in Kabul with his family during the chaotic departure of the last U.S. troops in August 2021, Ahmad said, as the Taliban consolidated its grip on the capital after 20 years of war. Habibi flew from Dubai to Kabul on August 4, 2022, after stopping in Qatar to check on his family and parents who were housed on a U.S. military base there waiting for final processing of U.S. immigration visas, said Ahmad. A week later Habibi was arrested. His wife, daughter and parents, who waited in Qatar until October for their visas before flying to the United States and settling in California, have not seen or heard from him since. Resolving Habibi's case would be the easiest way for the Taliban, who crave international recognition as Afghanistan's legitimate rulers, to explore improving ties with the U.S., the current U.S. official said. Since Habibi's detention, four other Americans have been arrested and released by the Taliban. (Reporting by Jonathan Landay; Additional reporting by Saeed Shah in Islamabad; Editing by Frank Jack Daniel)
The Star
12 hours ago
- The Star
Trump's chip tariffs may drive South-East Asia into China's arms, analysts warn
US plans to impose 100 per cent of tariffs on imported chips are a heavy blow to South-East Asia's chip industry and could push the region closer to China, according to observers. US President Donald Trump announced the duties on semiconductors and chips on Wednesday, saying that only companies that were 'building in the United States' were exempt. It is unclear just how much of a US manufacturing presence companies would need to have to qualify for tariff exemptions or reductions, or whether the policy will differentiate between the more advanced AI chips and legacy semiconductors. South-East Asia, led by Singapore and Malaysia, has emerged a key manufacturing hub for legacy semiconductors, integrated circuits that use older technology. Vietnam, which has stepped up investment in semiconductor production and workforce training in recent years, is also emerging as a key player in the global supply chain. With the region already struggling to absorb other tariffs imposed as part of Trump's 'America first' policy, the latest US duties – as well as Washington's policy unpredictability – could open the way for China, analysts said. Antonio Fatas, professor of economics at INSEAD business school, said Trump's tariffs on imported chips showed that the American leader was still testing the limits of economic policies, even though they were damaging global growth and adding to inflation in the United States. 'For South-East Asian countries, this is a confirmation that exporting to the US has become much harder, that the US is not a reliable partner and that you cannot trust it even if you manage to sign a deal,' he said. Fatas said the US had 'clearly become an unreliable partner' and would become more isolated, and that meant that countries – and firms – would try to find opportunities and build trade relations with others. 'Countries like China where saving rates are too high should step in and provide that impetus. If they did, we would see a regionalisation of trade flows as they move away from the US. But before we get there, there will be pain,' he said. Since Trump returned to the White House in January, Beijing has ramped up its charm offensive to South-East Asia, a region that is now a priority for China's neighbourhood diplomacy to offset its own pressure from the US. In April, Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Vietnam, Malaysia and Cambodia, and in May, Chinese Premier Li Qiang also paid an official visit in Indonesia and Malaysia. Beijing also rolled out red carpet for Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong in June, when Xi urged Singapore to join China on 'right side of history' and to promote an 'equal multipolar world'. City University of Hong Kong professor Julien Chaisse noted that China's most attractive feature at the moment was its sense of certainty – something Beijing was deliberately projecting to strengthen its long-term appeal to Asean. 'China is quietly positioning itself as the more predictable option. It is not offering perfection, but it is offering clarity ... And that is exactly the kind of language that appeals to Asean leaders who are trying to shield their economies from policy shocks,' Chaisse said, referring to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. And while Southeast Asian countries had been 'cautious by nature' about taking sides between China and the US, there was a limit. 'If one partner keeps disrupting the system while the other offers to support it, the choice starts to become less about politics and more about survival,' he said. However, there is no sign that Asean is about to give up its neutrality, according to Dylan Loh, assistant professor in the Public Policy and Global Affairs Programme at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University. 'US tariff pressure does present an opportunity for China to strengthen its economic ties in the region, insofar as China is positioning itself as a reliable partner through trade agreements and investment. That said, this alone will not portend any major shift or alignment with China – we do not see clear evidence of this,' Loh said. He said countries in the region continue with 'a mix of hedging, balancing, deeper Asean integration, and diversification of their ties [with other countries] while maintaining their relationship with the US and China as best as possible'. Still, countries in the region will have to take the semiconductor tariff pain, at least for now, according to Xu Tianchen, senior China economist at the Economist Intelligence Unit. 'There is no doubt that Southeast Asia will be the first in line to be affected. If Trump expands tariffs to consumer goods such as mobile phones containing foreign chips, the impact will be even greater. This is because Southeast Asia is an important production base for consumer electronics,' Xu said. Like China, South-East Asia's position in the global semiconductor industry is largely cemented by its strength in cost-efficient operations, with very limited access to advanced-node processor chips. The 100 per cent US tariffs would erode its edge for China as a low-tariff launch pad for chip exports to the US. 'China was selling low-end semiconductors elsewhere, but in a way, packing in Southeast Asia, especially in Malaysia. Now, it would not be able to do that with the 100 per cent tariffs,' said Alicia García-Herrero, chief economist for Asia-Pacific at French investment bank Natixis. -- SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
New Straits Times
15 hours ago
- New Straits Times
Public urged not to spread false claims over Zara Qairina case
KUALA LUMPUR: The public has been advised not to spread unverified claims or act as a judge in the case of the death of Zara Qairina Mahathir. Communications Minister Datuk Fahmi Fadzil said that through the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), his ministry had detected false viral content related to the case. "Recently, we saw viral content accusing various parties of colluding in the case (of Zara's death). "That content strayed far from the truth. In fact, there was even an individual who claimed the late Zara had entered a washing machine, but that person has since apologised. "I advise the public not to get carried away and refrain from sharing unverified information. We must understand that the deceased's mother has cooperated with the authorities. "When the family has placed their trust in the authorities, we (the public) should give them space to carry out their duties," he said. He said this when met after the launch of the Federal Territories 2025 Children's Protection Advocacy Programme: Kasih Kanak-Kanak at the Kerinchi People's Housing Project (PPR) here today. Also present were Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri; Social Welfare Department director-general Datuk Che Murad Sayang Ramjan; and Kuala Lumpur JKM director Che Samsuzuki Che Noh. Fahmi, who is also the Lembah Pantai MP, said bullying was now defined as a crime following amendments to the Penal Code passed in Parliament. "Now, the police can investigate bullying under the amended Penal Code, which allows for appropriate punishment against offenders. "For our part, the MCMC has instructed the public to be vigilant and to be careful with all information received. "Do not act as a judge and make your own decisions because we have a legal system that must be followed," he said. Previously, it was reported that Zara Qairina, a Form One student at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Agama (SMKA) Tun Datu Mustapha Limauan in Papar, was believed to have fallen from the third floor and was found unconscious in a drain near the hostel at 4am on July 16. The 13-year-old student was later confirmed dead after receiving treatment at Queen Elizabeth I Hospital in Kota Kinabalu.
