World Briefs

Canada, Philippines to sign key defence pact to boost combat drills

Manila: Canada and the Philippines, both vocal critics of China’s increasingly aggressive actions in the disputed South China Sea, have concluded talks for a key defence pact that would allow their forces to hold joint combat drills and boost defence engagements, the Department of National Defense in Manila said Friday. Canada and other Western nations have been reinforcing their military presence in the Indo-Pacific to help promote the rule of law and expand trade and investment in the region. That dovetails with Philippine efforts under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr to broaden defence ties with friendly countries.

Popular Iranian singer who urged women to go without hijab lashed

dubai: Iranian officials have flogged a popular singer who posted a song online urging women to remove their mandatory headscarves over a conviction for possessing and consuming alcohol, his lawyer and authorities said. Mehdi Yarahi was flogged on Wednesday, his lawyer Zahra Minuei wrote on the social platform X. Iran’s semiofficial Fars news agency, quoting an anonymous official, said the sentence was for him drinking and having alcoholic drinks, not his music. The lashes were “fully carried out in Branch 4 of the Enforcement of Sentences Office at the Tehran Morality Security Prosecutor’s Office, and Mr Mehdi Yarahi’s case has been closed,” Minuei said.