New satellite imagery has captured the USS Nimitz strike carrier group operating in the South China Sea amid rising tensions with China. The South China Sea is a critical maritime corridor, with an estimated one-fifth of global trade passing through its waters each year.

Chinese coast guard ships have used powerful water cannons and rammed a Philippine government vessel near Thitu Island in the South China Sea.

Sweden is eyeing a permanent defence attaché in the Philippines to secure trade lanes against a ‘changed China’ in the Indo-Pacific.

The United States and the Philippines have formed a new joint task force to strengthen cooperation and increase military readiness in areas including the South China Sea, the Pentagon said on Friday.The announcement followed a meeting between Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth and Philippine Secretary of National Defense Gilberto Teodoro at a gathering of ASEAN defence ministers in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines said on Saturday that its forces staged naval and air drills with counterparts from the United States, Australia and New Zealand from Thursday to Friday in the disputed South China Sea.

China's military said on Saturday it monitored and tracked a joint patrol organised by the Philippines in the disputed South China Sea on October 30 and October 31. Tian Junli, a