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US adding second aircraft carrier in Middle East

The United States is increasing the number of aircraft carriers deployed in the Middle East to two, keeping one that is already there and sending another from the Indo-Pacific, the Pentagon said Tuesday.The announcement comes as US forces hammer Yemen’s Huthi rebels with near-daily air strikes in a campaign aimed at ending the threat they pose to civilian shipping and military vessels in the region.The Carl Vinson will join the Harry S. Truman in the Middle East “to continue promoting regional stability, deter aggression, and protect the free flow of commerce in the region,” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement.”To complement the CENTCOM maritime posture, the secretary also ordered the deployment of additional squadrons and other air assets that will further reinforce our defensive air-support capabilities,” Parnell said, referring to the US military command responsible for the region.”The United States and its partners remain committed to regional security in the CENTCOM (area of responsibility) and are prepared to respond to any state or non-state actor seeking to broaden or escalate conflict in the region,” he added.The Huthis began targeting shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden after the start of the Gaza war in 2023, claiming solidarity with Palestinians.Huthi attacks have prevented ships from passing through the Suez Canal, a vital route that normally carries about 12 percent of world shipping traffic. Ongoing attacks are forcing many companies into a costly detour around the tip of southern Africa.- ‘Real pain’ -A day before the carrier announcement, US President Donald Trump vowed that strikes on Yemen’s Huthis would continue until they are no longer a threat to shipping.”The choice for the Huthis is clear: Stop shooting at US ships, and we will stop shooting at you. Otherwise, we have only just begun, and the real pain is yet to come, for both the Huthis and their sponsors in Iran,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform.Trump added that the Huthis had been “decimated” by “relentless” strikes since March 15, saying that US forces “hit them every day and night — Harder and harder.”On Wednesday, the Huthis accused the United States of killing four people in fresh air strikes on Hodeida province.The US president has also ramped up rhetoric towards Tehran, threatening that “there will be bombing” if Iran does not reach a deal on its nuclear program.Satellite images seen by AFP showed that Washington had between March 26 and Wednesday doubled the number of B-2 bombers at a US-UK military base in the Indian Ocean, from three to six.The photos from imaging company Planet Labs PBC also showed the presence of six Stratotanker in-flight refuelling aircraft at the Diego Garcia base, within range of Iran.Trump’s threats come as his administration battles a scandal over the accidental leak of a secret group chat by senior security officials on the Yemen strikes.The Atlantic magazine revealed last week that its editor — a well-known US journalist — was inadvertently included in a chat on the commercially available Signal app where top officials were discussing the strikes.The officials, including Trump’s National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, discussed details of air strike timings and intelligence — unaware that the highly sensitive information was being simultaneously read by a member of the media.

Hunger returns to Gaza as Israeli blockade forces bakeries shut

At an industrial bakery in war-ravaged Gaza City, a conveyor belt that once churned out thousands of pitta breads every day has come to a standstill.The Families Bakery is one of about two dozen supported by the World Food Programme (WFP) that have halted production in recent days due to flour and fuel shortages resulting from an Israeli blockade.”All 25 WFP-supported bakeries in Gaza have shut down due to lack of fuel and flour,” the UN agency said in a statement on Tuesday, adding that it would “distribute its last food parcels in the next two days”.Abed al-Ajrami, chairman of the Bakery Owners Association in Gaza and owner of the Families Bakery, told AFP that the WFP was the only sponsor of Gaza bakeries and provided them with “all their needs”.”The repercussions from the closure of the bakeries will be very hard on citizens because they have no alternative to resort to,” he told AFP.Speaking in front of a large industrial oven that had not been fired up, he said that bakeries were central to the UN agency’s food distribution programme, which delivered the bread to refugee camps across Gaza.Despite a six-week truce that allowed displaced Gazans to return to what remained of their homes, negotiations for a lasting end to the fighting have stalled.On March 2, Israel imposed a full blockade on the Palestinian territory, and cut off power to Gaza’s main water desalination plant.On March 18, Israel resumed its strikes on Gaza. Days later, Hamas again began firing rockets at Israel.The Palestinian militant group has accused Israel of using starvation as “a direct weapon in this brutal war”, pointing to the bakeries’ closure as an example.It called on Arab and Muslim countries to “act urgently to save Gaza from famine and destruction”. – ‘Reliving the famine’ -Residents of Gaza City were wary of the future.”I got up in the morning to buy bread for my children but I found all the bakeries closed,” Mahmud Khalil told AFP.Fellow resident Amina al-Sayed echoed his comments.”I’ve been going from bakery to bakery all morning, but none of them are operating, they’re all closed,” she said, adding that she feared the threat of famine would soon stalk Gaza once again.”The price of flour has risen… and we can’t afford it. We’re afraid of reliving the famine that we experienced in the south” of the territory.International charities working in Gaza warn that its 2.4 million people cannot endure more shortages after many of them were displaced multiple times during the devastating military campaign Israel launched in response to Hamas’s October 2023 attack.Those who took advantage of the six-week truce to return to bombed out homes have been “arriving in utter destitution”, said Gavin Kelleher of the Norwegian Refugee Council.”We’ve been set up to fail as a humanitarian response. We’re not allowed to bring in supplies, we’re not able to meet needs,” he lamented.Alexandra Saieh, of British charity Save The Children, echoed Kelleher’s remarks.”When Save The Children does distribute food in Gaza, we see massive crowds because every single person in Gaza is relying on aid,” she said.”That lifeline has been cut.”