
US and NATO Ally Flex Aircraft Carrier Muscles in Pacific
Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content.
Aircraft carriers deployed by the United States and the United Kingdom conducted joint operations during a war game amid concerns over China's increasing presence in the Pacific.
The operations—which took place in the Timor Sea, north of Australia, as part of Exercise Talisman Sabre 2025—followed China's simultaneous deployment of a pair of aircraft carriers in the western Pacific in June, in a move seen as challenging U.S. naval dominance.
Newsweek has contacted the Chinese defense and foreign ministries for comment via email.
Why It Matters
The American aircraft carrier, USS George Washington, is one of the U.S. naval vessels based in Japan. Prior to its deployment near Australia, the nuclear-powered warship patrolled the South China Sea, where China is involved in territorial disputes with regional countries.
Meanwhile, HMS Prince of Wales, a British aircraft carrier, has been leading a naval strike group on an eight-month mission since April. It is scheduled to visit Japan later this summer.
The deployment of the Prince of Wales marked the fourth time a European North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) member state has dispatched an aircraft carrier to the Indo-Pacific since 2021, supporting efforts to keep China in check while the U.S. remains preoccupied with tensions in the Middle East.
The British aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales, front, and the United States aircraft carrier USS George Washington, back, sail in formation in the Timor Sea on July 18.
The British aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales, front, and the United States aircraft carrier USS George Washington, back, sail in formation in the Timor Sea on July 18.
Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Nicolas Quezada/U.S. Navy
What To Know
The USS George Washington, accompanied by the cruiser USS Robert Smalls and the destroyer USS Shoup, participated in dual aircraft carrier operations with the Prince of Wales Carrier Strike Group in the Timor Sea on Friday, according to photos released by the U.S. Navy.
The Prince of Wales was joined by two British ships—the destroyer HMS Dauntless and the tanker RFA Tidespring—alongside the Australian destroyer HMAS Sydney, the Norwegian frigate HNoMS Roald Amundsen, and the Canadian frigate HMCS Ville de Québec.
In addition to naval vessels sailing in formation, U.S. Navy aircraft were seen flying over the joint U.S.-U.K. carrier strike group. The aircraft, including F-35C stealth fighter jets, were assigned to the Carrier Air Wing 5, which was deployed aboard the USS George Washington.
The Prince of Wales also carried up to two dozen F-35B fighter jets, which are capable of short takeoffs and vertical landings on ships without full-length runways, while the F-35C—one of their sister variants—is specifically designed for operations from aircraft carriers.
The Royal Navy said this powerful demonstration of naval power brought together advanced capabilities and carrier aviation, describing the formation as a "mighty allied naval force."
The U.S. also deployed the amphibious assault ship USS America, which operates F-35B aircraft, for Exercise Talisman Sabre 2025. According to U.S. Navy photos, the warship was seen conducting flight operations in the Coral Sea, northeast of Australia, on Wednesday.
The United States George Washington Carrier Strike Group sails alongside the British Prince of Wales Carrier Strike Group in the Timor Sea on July 18.
The United States George Washington Carrier Strike Group sails alongside the British Prince of Wales Carrier Strike Group in the Timor Sea on July 18.
Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Nicolas Quezada/U.S. Navy
What People Are Saying
The U.S. Navy said in a photo caption on Friday: "Talisman Sabre is the largest bilateral military exercise between Australia and the United States advancing a free and open Indo-Pacific by strengthening relationships and interoperability among key allies and partners, while enhancing our collective capabilities to respond to a wide array of potential security concerns."
The Royal Navy said in a press release on Friday: "As allies demonstrate their commitment to the collective security of the Indo-Asia-Pacific region, the U.S. Navy's George Washington Carrier Strike Group joined up with the U.K. Carrier Strike Group for dual carrier operations in the Timor Sea—between the Australian mainland and Timor-Leste and Indonesia."
What Happens Next?
It remains to be seen whether the USS America will join the USS George Washington and the Prince of Wales during the exercise in Australian waters, forming a triple F-35 carrier strike group.
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USA Today
31 minutes ago
- USA Today
Trump's golf trip to Scotland reopens old wounds for some of his neighbors
BALMEDIE, Scotland − Long before he was the 45th and the 47th president, on a wild and windswept stretch of beach in northeast Scotland, Donald Trump the businessman, was accused of being a bad neighbor. "This place will never, ever belong to Trump," Michael Forbes, 73, a retired quarry worker and salmon fisherman, said this week as he took a break from fixing a roof on his farm near Aberdeen. The land he owns is surrounded, though disguised in places by trees and hedges, by a golf resort owned by Trump's family business in Scotland, Trump International Scotland. For nearly 20 years, Forbes and several other families who live in Balmedie have resisted what they describe as bullying efforts by Trump to buy their land. (He has denied the allegations.) They and others also say he's failed to deliver on his promises to bring thousands of jobs to the area. Those old wounds are being reopened as Trump returns to Scotland for a four-day visit beginning July 25. It's the country where his mother was born. He appears to have great affection for it. Trump is visiting his golf resorts at Turnberry, on the west coast about 50 miles from Glasgow, and at Balmedie, where Forbes' 23 acres of jumbled, tractor-strewn land, which he shares with roaming chickens and three Highland cows, abut Trump's glossy and manicured golf resort. On July 28, Trump will briefly meet in Balmedie with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to "refine" a recent U.S.-U.K. trade deal, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said. Golf, a little diplomacy: Trump heads to Scotland In Scotland, where estimates from the National Library of Scotland suggest that as many as 34 out of the 45 American presidents have Scottish ancestry, opinions hew toward the he's-ill-suited-for-the-job, according to surveys. "Trump? He just doesn't know how to treat people," said Forbes, who refuses to sell. What Trump's teed up in Scotland Part of the Balmedie community's grievances relate to Trump's failure to deliver on his promises. According to planning documents, public accounts and his own statements, Trump promised, beginning in 2006, to inject $1.5 billion into his golf project six miles north of Aberdeen. He has spent about $120 million. Approval for the development, he vowed, came with more than 1,000 permanent jobs and 5,000 construction gigs attached. Instead, there were 84, meaning fewer than the 100 jobs that already existed when the land he bought was a shooting range. Instead of a 450-room luxury hotel and hundreds of homes that Trump pledged to build for the broader community, there is a 19-room boutique hotel and a small clubhouse with a restaurant and shop that sells Trump-branded whisky, leather hip flasks and golf paraphernalia. Financial filings show that his course on the Menie Estate in Balmedie lost $1.9 million in 2023 − its 11th consecutive financial loss since he acquired the 1,400-acre grounds in 2006. Residents who live and work near the course say that most days, even in the height of summer, the fairway appears to be less than half full. Representatives for Trump International say the plan all along has been to gradually phase in the development at Balmedie and that it is not realistic or fair to expect everything to be built overnight. There's also support for Trump from some residents who live nearby, and in the wider Aberdeen business community. "There used to be nothing but dunes here," said one Balmedie resident who lives in the shadow of Trump's course. "He's made it look a lot more attractive, no matter what other people might say." Fergus Mutch, a policy advisor for the Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce, said Trump's golf resort has become a "key bit of the tourism offer" that attracts "significant spenders" to a region gripped by economic turmoil, steep job cuts and a prolonged downturn in its North Sea oil and gas industry. Trump in Scotland: Liked or loathed? Still, recent surveys show that 70% of Scots hold an unfavorable opinion of Trump. Despite his familial ties and deepening investments in Scotland, Trump is more unpopular among Scots than with the British public overall, according to an Ipsos survey from March. It shows 57% of people in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland don't view Trump positively. King Charles invites Trump: American president snags another UK state visit While in Balmedie this time, Trump will open a new 18-hole golf course on his property dedicated to his mother, Mary Anne MacLeod, who was a native of Lewis, in Scotland's Western Isles. He is likely to be met with a wave of protests around the resort, as well as the one in Turnberry. The Stop Trump Coalition, a group of campaigners who oppose most of Trump's domestic and foreign policies and the way he conducts his private and business affairs, is organizing a protest in Aberdeen and outside the U.S. consulate in Edinburgh. During Trump's initial visit to Scotland as president, in his first term, thousands of protesters sought to disrupt his visit, lining key routes and booing him. One protester even flew a powered paraglider into the restricted airspace over his Turnberry resort that bore a banner that read, "Trump: well below par #resist." 'Terrific guy': The Trump-Epstein party boy friendship lasted a decade, ended badly Trump's course in Turnberry has triggered less uproar than his Balmedie one because locals say that he's invested millions of dollars to restore the glamour of its 101-year-old hotel and three golf courses after he bought the site in 2014. Trump versus the families Three families still live directly on or adjacent to Trump's Balmedie golf resort. They say that long before the world had any clue about what type of president a billionaire New York real estate mogul and reality-TV star would become, they had a pretty good idea. Forbes is one of them. He said that shortly after Trump first tried to persuade him and his late wife to sell him their farm, workers he hired deliberately sabotaged an underground water pipe that left the Forbes – and his mother, then in her 90s, lived in her own nearby house – without clean drinking water for five years. Trump International declined to provide a fresh comment on those allegations, but a spokesperson previously told USA TODAY it "vigorously refutes" them. It said that when workers unintentionally disrupted a pipe that ran into an "antiquated" makeshift "well" jointly owned by the Forbeses on Trump's land, it was repaired immediately. Trump has previously called Forbes a "disgrace" who "lives like a pig." 'I don't have a big enough flagpole' David Milne, 61, another of Trump's seething Balmedie neighbors, lives in a converted coast guard station with views overlooking Trump's course and of the dunes and the North Sea beyond. In 2009, Trump offered him and his wife about $260,000 for his house and its one-fifth acre of land, Milne said. Trump was caught on camera saying he wanted to remove it because it was "ugly." Trump, he said, "threw in some jewelry," a golf club membership (Milne doesn't play), use of a spa (not yet built) and the right to buy, at cost, a house in a related development (not yet constructed). Milne valued the offer at about half the market rate. When Milne refused that offer, he said that landscapers working for Trump partially blocked the views from his house by planting a row of trees and sent Milne a $3,500 bill for a fence they'd built around his garden. Milne refused to pay. Over the years, Milne has pushed back. He flew a Mexican flag at his house for most of 2016, after Trump vowed to build a wall on the southern American border and make Mexico pay for it. Milne, a health and safety consultant in the energy industry, has hosted scores of journalists and TV crews at his home, where he has patiently explained the pros and cons − mostly cons, in his view, notwithstanding his own personal stake in the matter − of Trump's development for the local area. Milne said that because of his public feud with Trump, he's a little worried a freelance MAGA supporter could target him or his home. He has asked police to provide protection for him and his wife at his home while Trump is in the area. He also said he won't be flying any flags this time, apart from the Saltire, Scotland's national flag. "I don't have a big enough flagpole. I would need one from Mexico, Canada, Palestine. I would need Greenland, Denmark − you name it," he said, running through some of the places toward which Trump has adopted what critics view as aggressive and adversarial policies. Dunes of great natural importance Martin Ford was the local Aberdeen government official who originally oversaw Trump's planning application to build the Balmedie resort in 2006. He was part of a planning committee that rejected it over environmental concerns because the course would be built between sand dunes that were designated what the UK calls a Site of Special Scientific Interest due to the way they shift over time. The Scottish government swiftly overturned that ruling on the grounds that Trump's investment in the area would bring a much-needed economic boost. Neil Hobday, who was the project director for Trump's course in Balmedie, last year told the BBC he was "hoodwinked" by Trump over his claim that he would spend more than a billion dollars on it. Hobday said he felt "ashamed that I fell for it and Scotland fell for it. We all fell for it." The dunes lost their special status in 2020, according to Nature Scot, the agency that oversees such designations. It concluded that their special features had been "partially destroyed" by Trump's resort. Trump International disputes that finding, saying the issue became "highly politicized." For years, Trump also fought to block the installation of a wind farm off his resort's coast. He lost that fight. The first one was built in 2018. There are now 11 turbines. Ford has since retired but stands by his belief that allowing approval for the Trump resort was a mistake. "I feel cheated out of a very important natural habitat, which we said we would protect and we haven't," he said. "Trump came here and made a lot of promises that haven't materialized. In return, he was allowed to effectively destroy a nature site of great conservation value. It's not the proper behavior of a decent person." Forbes, the former quarry worker and fisherman, said he viewed Trump in similar terms. He said that Trump "will never ever get his hands on his farm." He said that wasn't just idle talk. He said he's put his land in a trust that specified that when he dies, it can't be sold for at least 125 years.


Newsweek
2 hours ago
- Newsweek
India's New Deals Leave US to Catch Up
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. On a sweltering afternoon beside the turquoise waters of the Indian Ocean, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stood beside Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu for the island nation's 60th birthday. It was not only ceremonial, however. Three agreements and four memorandums of understanding were signed with a country that had once been seen as inching into China's orbit. Days earlier and at a different place on the diplomatic scale, Modi had inked a new trade agreement with former colonial power Britian — calling it "a blueprint for our shared prosperity." But as the world's most populous nation forges a new global diplomatic playbook, one country appears conspicuously left out and with a trade deal still hanging in the balance: the United States. "We wish to engage with the world, including the West, on equal terms," Sanjeev Sanyal, a key member of Indian Prime Minister Modi's Economic Advisory Council told Newsweek. "We understand that Western countries have their interests, but we also have ours. So, we will speak up for our interests. This does not mean that we won't be willing to engage or make reasonable trade-offs." India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi (2L) inspects a guard of honour during his ceremonial reception at the Republic Square in Male on July 25, 2025. India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi (2L) inspects a guard of honour during his ceremonial reception at the Republic Square in Male on July 25, 2025. Photo by Mohamed Afrah / AFP A U.S. State Department spokesperson described India as "a strategic partner with whom we engage in full and frank dialogue, including on its relationship with Russia and problematic actions by China." "We deeply value our relationships with fellow Indo-Pacific nations like India and Maldives. We will continue to work with our partners to advance American interests by ensuring the region remains free and open, and continues to become more connected, prosperous, secure, and resilient," the spokesperson said. White House In a sign of India's importance for U.S. President Donald Trump's administration, he was an early visitor to the White House in the second Trump term. But the optics of India's recent diplomatic activity are hard to ignore. India's diplomatic calendar this month reads like a G20 cheat sheet: France, UAE, Egypt, Iran, Russia — now Britain and the Maldives. And in a move that would have been unthinkable even a year ago, India just resumed offering tourist visas for Chinese citizens, ending a five-year freeze following deadly clashes in a disputed border area in 2020. "China and India should adhere to the direction of good neighborliness and friendship," Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said during a July 15 meeting with Indian counterpart S. Jaishankar. "China is willing to work with India to promote sustained, healthy, and steady development," he added. These moves reflect India's deepening role as a global swing power, geopolitical analysts said. "Power—not justice, not fairness, not laws, rules, or ethics—but raw, unadulterated, crude and unhinged power has become the key determinant of international relations," Gautam Chikermane, Vice President at Observer Research Foundation told Newsweek. "Threats have become the new vocabulary, whims are the new rules. Every country must have Plan B and Plan C in place. India already does." India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi gestures as he speaks during a joint press conference with Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer on July 24, 2025. India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi gestures as he speaks during a joint press conference with Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer on July 24, 2025. Photo by KIN CHEUNG/POOL/AFP via Getty Images Landmark Deal with Britain India's landmark deal with the UK is seen as much about geopolitics as about goods and services. It wasn't rushed. Negotiations began in May 2022, took three years, and involved tough domestic balancing acts—protecting farmers, small businesses, and service sectors on both sides. "It is not easy to sign a trade agreement like this," said one senior Indian trade official involved in the deal. "But both sides were patient. We weren't desperate, and we didn't take ultimatums." "This agreement is more than just trade," UK opposition Conservative MP Bob Blackman told Newsweek. "It reflects a shift in how both nations perceive power and partnership. No longer limited to Commonwealth nostalgia, the UK–India relationship is maturing—grounded in democratic resilience and pragmatic alignment." In contrast, there is still no trade deal with the United States despite some optimism voiced by President Trump and India. "The United States is very close to a trade deal with India... I think we'll get it done soon," Trump said at a recent press briefing. Yet, almost in the same breath, he reiterated his frustration with India's trade stance, immigration policies, and neutrality on Russia. "The era of building factories in China and hiring workers in India is over," Trump added—comments that have left New Delhi watching with a wary eye. Trump has also threatened secondary tariffs of up to 100% on countries importing Russian oil—a clear warning to India, which continues buying discounted energy from Moscow in what it sees as a vital economic hedge, not a geopolitical endorsement. "India's successful trade deal with the UK demonstrates that it has global trading options and that it is not desperate enough for a trade deal with the United States to open up its agricultural sector," Lisa Curtis, director at the Center for a New American Security told Newsweek. "The Trump administration would be wise to make concessions for India in the interest of the larger strategic partnership." "One of the greatest foreign policy accomplishments of the first Trump administration was elevating the U.S.–India strategic partnership," Curtis continued. "It would be a mistake for the second Trump administration to sacrifice those gains."

Los Angeles Times
3 hours ago
- Los Angeles Times
Hong Kong police offer rewards for tips leading to the arrest of 19 overseas activists
HONG KONG — Hong Kong police announced rewards for information leading to the arrest of 19 overseas-based activists for their roles in what they called a subversive organization abroad, accusing them of violating a national security law imposed by Beijing. Police said in a statement Friday that the group, Hong Kong Parliament, aimed to promote self-determination and establish a 'Hong Kong constitution,' alleging it was using illegal means to overthrow and undermine China's fundamental system or usurp the institutions in power in Hong Kong or Beijing. At the request of the police, the city's court issued arrest warrants for activists Elmer Yuen, Johnny Fok, Tony Choi, Victor Ho, Keung Ka-wai and 14 others. They are alleged to have organized or participated in an election abroad for the Hong Kong Parliament, as well as setting up or becoming members of the group. According to a Facebook statement by the group on June 30, its election drew some 15,700 valid votes through mobile app and online voting systems. It said the candidates and elected members came from various regions, including Taiwan, Thailand, Australia, the U.S., Canada and Britain. While the group calls itself Hong Kong Parliament, its electoral organizing committee was founded in Canada and its influence is limited. Police already offered 1 million Hong Kong dollars, or about $127,400, for information leading to the arrest of Yuen, Ho, Fok and Choi when previous arrest warrants were issued against them. For the other 15, rewards of 200,000 Hong Kong dollars were offered, and residents were urged to provide information about the case or the people. 'The investigation is still ongoing. If necessary, police will offer bounties to hunt down more suspects in the case,' police said. They also called on the wanted activists to stop their activities, saying that they hoped they 'will take this opportunity to return to Hong Kong and turn themselves in, rather than making more mistakes.' Yuen said in a Facebook Live broadcast that the election was not quite successful in drawing active participation, and that the police campaign would help the group rally support for the resistance movement. 'It helps us with a lot of advertising,' Yuen said. During the live chat with Yuen, Sasha Gong, another activist targeted by the bounties, accused Hong Kong of becoming a police state. She said she is a U.S. citizen and would report her case to the American authorities and lawmakers. Over the last two years, Hong Kong authorities have issued arrest warrants for various activists based overseas, including former pro-democracy lawmakers Nathan Law and Ted Hui. Authorities also canceled the passports of some of them under a recent security law introduced to the city last year. The moves against overseas-based activists have drawn criticism from foreign governments, especially given the former British colony was promised that its Western-style civil liberties and semi-autonomy would be kept intact for at least 50 years when it returned to Chinese rule in 1997. U.K. Foreign Secretary David Lammy and Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said in a joint statement that the warrants and bounties on people living in Britain are 'another example of transnational repression,' and that the act encourages reckless behavior on U.K. soil. In March, the United States sanctioned six Chinese and Hong Kong officials who it alleged were involved in 'transnational repression' and acts that threaten to further erode the city's autonomy. Beijing and Hong Kong contend that the national security laws were necessary for the city's stability. Hong Kong police have maintained that the Beijing-imposed law applies to permanent residents in Hong Kong who violate it abroad. In retaliation for the U.S. move, China in April said it would sanction American officials, lawmakers and leaders of nongovernmental organizations who it says have 'performed poorly' on Hong Kong issues. Leung writes for the Associated Press.