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Canada and Philippines sign defense pact to counter Beijing’s influence in South China Sea | Conflict News
China has frequently accused the Philippines of acting as a ‘troublemaker’ and ‘saboteur of regional stability’.
Published On 2 Nov 2025
The Philippines and Canada have signed a defence pact to expand joint military drills and deepen security cooperation in a move widely seen as a response to China’s growing assertiveness in the region, most notably in the disputed South China Sea.
Philippine Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr and Canadian Defence Minister David McGuinty inked the Status of Visiting Forces Agreement (SOVFA) on Sunday after a closed-door meeting in Manila.
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McGuinty said the deal would strengthen joint training, information sharing, and coordination during humanitarian crises and natural disasters.
Teodoro described the pact as vital for upholding what he called a rules-based international order in the Asia-Pacific, where he accused China of expansionism. “Who is hegemonic? Who wants to expand their territory in the world? China,” he told reporters.
The agreement provides the legal framework for Canadian troops to take part in military exercises in the Philippines and vice versa. It mirrors similar accords Manila has signed with the United States, Australia, Japan and New Zealand.
China has not yet commented on the deal, but it has frequently accused the Philippines of being a “troublemaker” and “saboteur of regional stability” after joint patrols and military exercises with its Western allies in the South China Sea.
Beijing claims almost the entire waterway, a vital global shipping lane, thereby ignoring a 2016 international tribunal ruling that dismissed its territorial claims as unlawful. Chinese coastguard vessels have repeatedly used water cannon and blocking tactics against Philippine ships, leading to collisions and injuries.
Teodoro used a regional defence ministers meeting in Malaysia over the weekend to condemn China’s declaration of a “nature reserve” around the contested Scarborough Shoal, which Manila also claims.
“This, to us, is a veiled attempt to wield military might and the threat of force, undermining the rights of smaller countries and their citizens who rely on the bounty of these waters,” he said.
Talks are under way by the Philippines for similar defence agreements with France, Singapore, Britain, Germany and India as Manila continues to fortify its defence partnerships amid rising tensions with Beijing.
OPEC+ agrees to a slight increase in oil output for December with a pause in production for Q1
OPEC+ agrees to small December oil output hike, and Q1 pause
Dodgers Owner Purchases Lakers for $10 Billion approved by NBA
The NBA’s Board of Governors approved the $10 billion sale of a majority stake in the Los Angeles Lakers to Mark Walter, owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers. The transaction, which will finalize soon, is the largest sports franchise sale in history.
Buss Family Keeps Minority Stake
The Buss family, owners of the Lakers since Dr. Jerry Buss bought the team in 1979, will keep a partial interest. Jeanie Buss will continue as the team’s governor for at least five years after the deal closes.
“Mark Walter has a long association with our leagues, having served as a minority owner of the Lakers and as the principal owner of the WNBA’s Sparks for more than a decade,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said. “As Mark assumes his role as majority owner of the Lakers, I have no doubt that he will be a committed steward of the team.”
Silver praised the Buss family for “46 years of transformational leadership” and expressed excitement that Jeanie Buss will remain “an active and engaged member of our league.”
A Legacy of Winning
Dr. Buss bought the Lakers for $67.5 million in 1979, acquiring the Forum and the Los Angeles Kings as part of the deal. Under his ownership, the Lakers became a cultural phenomenon. The “Showtime” era, led by Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, produced five championships in the 1980s.
The team added five more titles between 2000 and 2010 with Kobe Bryant, and another in 2020 behind LeBron James. Since 1980, the Lakers have captured 11 NBA championships, more than any other franchise during that span.
After Dr. Buss passed away in 2013, Jeanie Buss took control of team operations. She consolidated authority in 2017 after removing her brother Jim Buss from his front-office role following four straight playoff misses.
Walter Leads the Next Chapter
Mark Walter, CEO of TWG Global, became a Lakers stakeholder in 2021. As chairman and controlling owner of the Dodgers, he guided the team to four World Series appearances and two titles in 2020 and 2024.
“The Los Angeles Lakers are one of the most iconic franchises in all of sports,” Walter said. “It’s a privilege to work alongside Jeanie Buss as we maintain that excellence and set the standard for success in this new era.”
This Extra-Wide Tiny House Provides the Comfort of a Big Home in a Portable Format
This light-filled tiny house combines compact dimensions with a focus on daylight and home comforts. Featuring an extra-wide interior, it squeezes in a well-proportioned kitchen, a downstairs bedroom, and a bathroom with a bathtub.
The Shasta, by Spindrift Homes, is based on a double-axle trailer and has a length of 26 ft (7.9 m). That’s on the smaller side for a North American tiny house but its increased width of 10 ft (3 m) means that it offers more natural house-like proportions inside compared to a typical tiny house – albeit at the cost of requiring a permit to tow on a public road.
The home’s exterior is clad in cedar and topped by a metal “Dormer-style” roof. It’s accessed by French doors, which help lend it a more cottage-like feel and of course help maximize the daylight inside, along with no less than 15 windows.
Inside, the main door opens onto the living room. Though small, you can definitely see the difference with the extra width in here, and it contains a sofa with integrated storage plus a wood-burning stove. There’s also a Bluetooth surround sound stereo system installed.
Spindrift Homes
The kitchen occupies the center of the home and is well-proportioned for a tiny house of its size. It includes an oven and three-burner propane-powered stove, a fridge/freezer, farmhouse-style sink, and butcher block countertops with a fold-up countertop extension for additional prep space. From the kitchen, a sliding door provides access to the bathroom. As mentioned, this has a bathtub with shower, which is a rare luxury in a tiny house, as well as a flushing toilet and a vanity sink.
Another sliding door in the bathroom connects to the master bedroom. Thanks to its downstairs position it has ample headroom to stand upright and it features a double bed and some storage space. The room also has its own French doors providing direct access to the outside.
The Shasta’s secondary bedroom is situated upstairs and is accessed by a storage-integrated staircase. The bedroom itself is a typical loft model with a low ceiling and room for another double bed.
Spindrift Homes
The Shasta is available from US$135,000, though lots of options can be configured in, including a longer version that has additional space for a larger kitchen and more appliances.
Source: Spindrift Homes
Three individuals killed in most recent US operation targeting suspected drug vessel in Caribbean
Three men have been killed in a US strike on an alleged drug-smuggling boat in the Caribbean, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has said.
It is the latest in a series of attacks on vessels the Trump administration says are being used to smuggle drugs into the US.
Since they began in September, experts have questioned the legality of the strikes under international law, which have drawn strong criticism from Latin American leaders whose citizens have been targeted.
Combatting the flow of illegal drugs is a key policy for US President Donald Trump – but some have suggested the strikes are part of efforts to influence politically opposed governments in the region.
Hegseth said the boat targeted on Saturday was operated by a designated terrorist organisation – without specifying which one – and had been travelling in international waters when it was hit.
The vessel was travelling along a known drug-smuggling route and carrying narcotics, he said, without providing evidence.
Announcements of these strikes are usually accompanied with grainy footage but no evidence of the alleged drug trafficking and few details about who or what was on board each vessel.
Hegseth’s statement late on Saturday was accompanied by a video that appears to show a blurred-out boat travelling through the water before exploding.
The Trump administration has insisted that it was targeting “narco-terrorists”.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro has previously described the attacks as “murder” and said they were being used by the US to “dominate” Latin America.
Meanwhile, Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro accused Washington of “fabricating a war”.
The two left-wing leaders have increasingly been at odds with the Trump administration.
Following Petro’s comments, the US placed sanctions on him and his inner circle, as well as removing Colombia’s certification as an ally in the war on drugs. Trump has threatened military action against land targets in Venezuela.
But this, he has admitted, may require the consent of the US Congress.
However, some US lawmakers, both Democrat and Republican, have said the strikes on vessels also required congressional approval – something Trump has denied.
Others have questioned whether the lethal strikes were legal at all.
The UN’s human rights chief Volker Turk said on Friday that such attacks were a violation of international human rights law.
“Over 60 people have reportedly been killed in a continuing series of attacks carried out by US armed forces… in circumstances that find no justification in international law,” he said.
“These attacks – and their mounting human cost – are unacceptable.”
Experts in Latin American politics have suggested the strikes in the Caribbean and Pacific were part of a suite of measures designed to influence change in Colombia and Venezuela.
The US is among many nations that consider Maduro’s election last year as illegitimate, while Trump has been critical of Petro’s policies on combatting the drug trade in his country, which has traditionally been a US ally.
Washington has steadily been building up a force of warships, fighter jets, marines, spy planes, bombers and drones in the Caribbean over the past few months, which it has framed as part of a crackdown on drug-trafficking but which military analysts say is much larger than what is needed.
From designing Happy Meal toys to creating prosthetic skulls: How one founder turned her passion into a $20 million business
Happy Meal toys like Transformer figurines and Hot Wheels cars have sparked joy with little kids for decades—and now, one of the designers behind the miniatures is changing lives for thousands of people. Dallas-based entrepreneur Nancy Hairston founded MedCAD, a surgical solutions company, in 2007—and in the decades since, its 3D-printing innovations have helped patients recognize themselves in the mirror again.
But before Hairston was building skull implants, she spent most of her career in the design world. When she graduated art school with a sculpture MFA from Loyola University in 1991, she had a rude awakening: She couldn’t find any open jobs for what she wanted to pursue. Meanwhile, 3D animation was all the rage at the time, so Hairston pivoted and took on a litany of modeling and animation jobs, from Mary Kay cosmetics to software company Alias. Eventually, she landed in the toy industry. The tactile practice of sculpting in clay was now being done digitally on a computer, which meant designing in 3D—and major corporations were wanting it to manufacture everything from toys to shoes.
“It was as if a lightning bolt hit me,” Hairston tells Fortune, speaking of the first time she entered the 3D-modeling world. “That was [all] the rage. That was the tool to use. So I started doing Happy Meal toys and Bratz toys for Mattel.”
However, the late 2000s changed things: The entrepreneur says her peers’ roles were all heading to Asia, leaving behind medical and aerospace work as the main points of entry in the U.S. Luckily, Hairston was already recognizing the potential for 3D modeling in healthcare—so she quit her “sensible” 9-to-5 job and launched MedCAD.
“It was thrilling and scary, but I saw the opportunity because the technology was so new,” Hairston recalls.
The call from a surgeon that changed Hairston’s life
She had already started tinkering with anatomy modeling, adapting the toy-development software she’d used for orthognathic surgery applications like jaw and teeth repairs. By the time 2009 came around, she built a business plan to get FDA clearance. And younger surgeons—who grew up exposed to advanced tech and 3D animation, Hairston says—were starting to take note as word spread of her innovations.
Then, Hairston’s phone rang. The ensuing call would alter the trajectory of her career.
“[I had] one of those pivotal moments in your life, where your whole world changes. I got a phone call from a surgeon that I knew, and he said, ‘Hey, you know, do you think you could make me a cranial implant?’” Hairston says. “And that’s how it started.”
MedCAD went on to fill the unmet needs of patients with small to large deformities stemming from trauma-related injuries or physical abnormalities. Skull implants have continued to be a huge part of the business, but the company has since expanded into other areas of the body such as foot, ankle, and facial reconstruction products, all conceptualized with 3D designs.
“We were some of the earliest people doing it,” Hairston continues. “There’s a fantastic thread to all of this is, that we are able to bring a person back as much as we can to a normalized state with a lot less surgeries. [Patients are] waking up with the ability to have teeth implants after they heal. That’s the power of this technology—we can do a more holistic approach to reconstructing a foot or a face.”
Scaling MedCAD to upwards of $20 million in annual revenue
Since founding MedCAD nearly two decades ago, the company has continued to grow in the 3D-implant space. The company tells Fortune it has achieved profitability and boasts an annual revenue estimated to be between $10 million and $20 million this year and in 2026, but did not specify exactly how much it’s making in annual profit. Cranial and neuro products are a key growth driver, experiencing 18% to 25% growth year-over-year since 2022. It’s also ramping up a direct-to-hospital strategy, but a majority of its revenue comes from long-term contracts with global medical leaders needing implants and medical devices.
Despite having a successful run in toy-designing and founding a profitable business, Hairston says she’s most energized by the difference her implants make in peoples’ lives. Sparking joy among little kids with her McDonald’s toys and Bratz dolls was one achievement, but she’s making even more waves for thousands of medical patients hoping to feel whole again.
“Toys are really fun for children, but they’re not played with for long,” Hairston says. “We can really make a difference making these kinds of products for humans that change their lives. That gave me a lot of the power and the passion to do it.”
Preparing Bones for Day of the Dead
new video loaded: Cleaning Bones for Day of the Dead
Practitioners of an annual ritual to clean deceased relatives’ bones are grappling with a new challenge: tourists. Jack Nicas, our Mexico City bureau chief, visits Pomuch, a town in Eastern Mexico that celebrates Día de Muertos unlike any other place.
By Jack Nicas, Marian Carrasquero, Leila Medina, Rebecca Suner and Stephanie Swart
November 2, 2025
VENU collaborates with Primary Wave to create unique live music events inspired by artists
Venue operator and premium hospitality destination provider Venu Holding Corporation has inked a strategic partnership with Primary Wave Music to bring “artist-inspired” programming and immersive content to its venues nationwide.
According to the announcement, the partnership creates “a scalable pipeline of premium content with enduring market demand”.
Primary Wave represents more than 200 artists and estates, including Luther Vandross, Whitney Houston, and James Brown. Its catalog features over 1,000 Top 10 singles and 400 No.1 hits.
According to a press release, the collaboration will support multi-dimensional programming, including live residencies, theatrical performances, and original productions, as VENU seeks to redefine the live entertainment experience beyond traditional concerts.
“Developing a multi-dimensional content strategy in-house to include residencies, theatrical performances, and other original productions is a top priority for us. This relationship represents a key step in creating truly unique and diversified content as we look beyond live concerts.”
J.W. Roth, Founder, Chairman, and CEO of VENU
J.W. Roth, Founder, Chairman, and CEO of VENU said: “Primary Wave’s approach to honoring music’s greatest legends while empowering new voices makes them the perfect partner as we expand our artist-inspired programming across the country.
“Developing a multi-dimensional content strategy in-house to include residencies, theatrical performances, and other original productions is a top priority for us. This relationship represents a key step in creating truly unique and diversified content as we look beyond live concerts.”
VENU is actively expanding its footprint with three new amphitheaters set to open in 2026 across Tulsa, Oklahoma; El Paso, Texas; and the Dallas metro area.
“This partnership provides an opportunity to build a dynamic platform that will connect our iconic catalog of music with fans across multiple generations.”
Lisa Fruggiero, Vice President of Brand Partnerships at Primary Wave
Future venues will feature the company’s Multi-Seasonal Configuration Technology, designed to provide year-round comfort through radiant heating, massive fans, wind walls, and canopied roofs. The company aims to operate up to 40 locations by 2030.
“Coming together with VENU was an easy decision,” said Lisa Fruggiero, Vice President of Brand Partnerships at Primary Wave.
She added: “This partnership provides an opportunity to build a dynamic platform that will connect our iconic catalog of music with fans across multiple generations.
“These cutting-edge experiences will push the boundaries of how fans can engage and celebrate our legendary roster of artists for years to come.”Music Business Worldwide
Al Jazeera reports on thousands fleeing el-Fasher displacement camp in Sudan
Tens of thousands of people in Sudan have fled el-Fasher and the advance of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in the Darfur region. Al Jazeera’s Hiba Morgan reports from a camp for displaced civilians in the neighbouring Northern State where people are in desperate need of assistance.
Published On 2 Nov 2025