How a US aircraft carrier is part of a high-stakes stand-off in the South China Sea
There are few greater displays of US military might than its aircraft carriers – when they move, the world pays attention. They are huge floating cities of sorts.
The US has 11 and they are still the best in the world.
The USS Nimitz is one of them. It’s a warren of cabins and control rooms, beneath an enormous flight deck. It can carry around 5,000 military personnel and as many as 7,000 when you include the accompanying “strike force” of war ships and jets.
We went aboard when the ship was docked temporarily in South Korea but had just completed a deployment in the South China Sea.
Deployments like this are routine, but they are undertaken in the knowledge they will be noticed by one power in particular, and that power is China, the US’ increasingly assertive competitor.
Lt Ben Bushong, who served in the US navy for seven years – much of it as a helicopter pilot – showed us around.
He and his colleagues know things are tense, as they have been for some time.
“The big picture is helping keep a free and open Indo-pacific,” he said.
“I would just say we’re always ready and we’re always training, so if we ever get called we’re ready to respond.”
Lt Ben Bushong told Sky News the aircraft carrier is ‘always ready to respond’
And rarely has being ready felt more pressing.
The US’ face-off with China has multiple fronts and almost all are becoming more fraught.
Just a few weeks ago, China’s new foreign minister said that if the US does not “hit the breaks” on what it sees as provocations then “conflict will surely follow”.
China has increasingly been making a point of flexing its muscles in the seas that surround it.
For many years it has been accused of militarising islands in the contested South China Sea and engaging in illegal fishing, but recently it has also been sailing and flying much closer to the self-governing island of Taiwan.
There have also been more specific incidents of concern – just last week, China said it chased away a US vessel that had “illegally” entered waters around the contested Paracel Islands, a claim the US denied.
And then there was declassified footage shot by a US jet of a Chinese fighter flying just feet away from it, in a move the US has described as aggressive and dangerous.
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The reality is that China can now afford to flex these muscles because it has rapidly developed the largest navy in the world, increasing 10-fold in just the last 20 years.
But it is the reason that US presence here is so important, according to the Rear Admiral Christopher Sweeney who leads the Nimitz’s strike fleet.
“First, we are going to sail operate and fly wherever international law allows,” he said.
“And my message to the PRC (People’s Republic of China) would be that we’re resolute in that, we’re not going to be bullied, we’re not going to be coerced and we are going to stay here and fly and operate in international norms.”
Rear Admiral Christopher Sweeney leads the Nimitz’s strike fleet
China sees the US efforts here as part of a broader effort to contain it. Fundamentally, it sees this region as its back yard.
But in answer to that allegation the admiral was resolute.
“We do not seek to contain China, we do not seek conflict with China, we seek to set international norm that we all prosper from”.
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If fighting did break out in this region, it would most likely be over the island of Taiwan, the self governing democracy China sees as its own.
China has not ruled out taking the island by force and deterring this is one of the US’ key objectives.
In the meantime, China’s increasing assertiveness is pushing many other Asian nations closer to the US and each other.
The show of allegiance with South Korea was front and centre – the two are undertaking joint drills this week and will work with Japan too next month.
While much of the tension between the US and China is invisible and covert, this is a region that is increasingly fractured and there is a high-stakes stand-off playing out.
Israel pounded the outskirts of Gaza City overnight, as Benjamin Netanyahu’s government vowed to press on with a planned offensive on the city.
Families streamed out of the city as the explosions hit.
“I stopped counting the times I had to take my wife and three daughters and leave my home in Gaza City,” said Mohammad, 40.
“No place is safe, but I can’t take the risk. If they suddenly begin the invasion, they will use heavy fire.”
Mahmoud Abedrabo mourns over the body of his son Hamada in Gaza City on 24 August. Pic: Reuters
Others said they would prefer to die and not leave.
“We are not leaving, let them bomb us at home,” said Aya, 31, who has a family of eight, adding that they couldn’t afford to buy a tent or pay for the transportation.
“We are hungry, afraid and don’t have money,” she said.
Mourners pray next to the body of Palestinian boy Hamada Abedrabo on 24 August. Pic: Reuters
Witnesses said that overnight they heard nonstop explosions in Zeitoun and Shejaia.
Tanks shelled houses and roads in Sabra, and buildings were blown up in Jabalia.
On Sunday, the IDF said its forces had returned to combat in Jabalia to strengthen its control of the area and dismantle militant tunnels.
Smoke rises following an Israeli strike in Gaza City. Pic: Reuters
It added that the operation there “enables the expansion of combat into additional areas and prevents Hamas terrorists from returning to operate in these areas.”
This month, Israel approved a plan to seize control of Gaza City. The offensive isn’t expected to start for another few weeks.
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In the meantime, mediators in Egypt and Qatar are trying to resume ceasefire talks between the two sides.
On Friday, Israel’s defence minister Israel Katz said that Gaza City will be razed unless Hamas releases all its remaining hostages and ends the war on Israel’s terms.
Mourners transport the body of Ahmed Balata on 24 August. Pic: Reuters
Around half of Gaza’s two million residents currently live in the city and on Friday a global hunger monitor said that Gaza City and its surrounding areas are officially suffering from famine that will likely spread.
Israel said the monitor ignores steps Israel has taken since late July to increase aid supplies into and across Gaza.
Eight more people died of malnutrition and starvation in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry on Saturday.
281 people, including 114 children, have now died of malnutrition and starvation since the war started, according to the ministry.
The war began on 7 October 2023, when Hamas-led gunmen killed around 1,200 people in southern Israel, mainly civilians, and took 251 hostages.
Since then, Israel has killed at least 62,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza health ministry, and internally displaced nearly its entire population.
Two married couples have died after a British car veered off the road and crashed in Germany, according to police.
The fatal accident happened shortly after midnight on Saturday in the trees near a highway in the Kassel district, north of Hesse in central Germany.
The 32-year-old male driver, a 31-year-old female passenger, a 32-year-old female passenger, and a 30-year-old female passenger all died at the scene, despite the efforts of German emergency services.
Sky News understands UK officials have not been contacted for assistance.
At roughly 12.30am on Saturday, the car appears to have veered off the road and crashed into nearby trees around 30m from the road, according to the Kassel police department.
Pic: Feuerwehr Reinhardshagen
One of the victim’s phones automatically alerted the emergency services to the incident, who sent an ambulance to the scene.
Soon, fire engines, ambulances, command vehicles and emergency support vehicles were all dispatched.
When emergency workers arrived, the car was lying on its side, wedged between several trees.
It wasn’t until they removed the roof that they found all four passengers.
Pic: Feuerwehr Reinhardshagen
The accident happened on Highway L3229
The emergency workers who dealt with the victims were immediately supported by the specialist mental health workers at the fire station in Reinhardshagen.
“This high number of deaths is an extraordinary operation for our Reinhardshagen Volunteer Fire Department,” said a fire department spokesperson.
“For some of the emergency personnel, it is the first time they have been confronted with death in this way.
“Therefore, a great deal is being done to help us process these images. We will also discuss this among ourselves and within families, because not everyone can easily shake off what they have seen.”
An investigation into the accident is ongoing and is being conducted by the Hofgeismar police station.
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