fixed yet?
That's cool.
notable
https://news.usni.org/2021/03/31/uss-dwight-d-eisenhower-launching-anti-isis-missions-from-mediterranean-french-carrier-takes-helm-of-ctf-50
USS Dwight D. Eisenhower Launching Anti-ISIS Missions from Mediterranean, French Carrier Takes Helm of CTF 50
The Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group is launching air missions as part of the international coalition’s anti-ISIS effort, the Navy announced on Wednesday.
The service in a news release said Carrier Air Wing 3, which is operating from USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) in the Mediterranean Sea, launched aircraft for Operation Inherent Resolve.
“Our strike group is ready and capable of providing direct, long-range combat operational air support from the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. CSG-2’s presence in U.S. Sixth Fleet shows the flexibility of our naval forces to conduct operations whenever and wherever necessary,” Carrier Strike Group Two commander Rear Adm. Scott Robertson said in the release.
“We can provide a wide range of options to our nation and allies in deterring adversarial aggression and disruption of maritime security and regional stability,” he continued.
The sorties come the same day the French ministry of defense announced that aircraft carrier FS Charles de Gaulle (R 91) assumed the helm of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command’s Task Force 50, as reported by Naval News, which noted this is the carrier’s second stint leading the task force. The French carrier previously led the command element between December 2015 and March 2016.
According to Naval News, Eisenhower is expected to assume control of the task force from Charles de Gaulle next month. The American aircraft carrier is still operating in the U.S. 6th Fleet area of responsibility. East Coast carrier strike groups typically use the Suez Canal to enter the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility and U.S. Central Command. But hundreds of ships were recently delayed from transiting the waterway because of a stuck container ship that blocked passage through the canal for nearly a week.
The sorties from Eisenhower come after ISIS this week took responsibility for an attack on the Mozambique town of Palma, the New York Times reported on Tuesday.
Multiple Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers – USS Thomas Hudner (DDG-116), USS Mahan (DDG-72), USS Mitscher (DDG-57) and USS Laboon (DDG-58) – make up the Ike carrier strike group, in addition to guided-missile cruiser USS Monterey (CG-61).
Both Eisenhower and Charles De Gaulle started their respective deployments in February. This is Eisenhower‘s second deployment in a year.
>USS Dwight D. Eisenhower Launching Anti-ISIS Missions from Mediterranean, French Carrier Takes Helm of CTF 50
https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2021/03/france-assumes-command-of-us-task-force-50/
France Assumes Command of US Task Force 50
The French Navy (Marine Nationale) Charles de Gaulle carrier strike group (CSG) today assumed command of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command's (NAVCENT) Task Force (CTF) 50. Task Force 50 is one of the components of the U.S. naval forces deployed in the Arab-Persian Gulf region.
On March 31, 2021, at the request of the United States, France took command of TF 50 during its presence in the Gulf, for the second time (the first time in December 2015). The Charles de Gaulle CSG is made up of the Multi-Mission Frigate Provence, the Air Defense Frigate Chevalier Paul, the Command and Supply Vessel Var and the Belgian frigate Léopold 1er. It will ensure all the prerogatives generally attributed to an American combat group, including the naval air force of the Inherent Resolve Coalition to fight Daesh in the Gulf.
French Ministry of the Armed Forces statement
France has been cooperating for many years with the United States in the fight against terrorism, in the Sahel as in the Levant. This cooperation confirms the recognition by the United States of the value and operational credibility of the French military.
As mentioned, it is the second time since December 2015 that aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle becomes the flagship of Task Force 50. French Navy vessels regularly join this task force too (Forbin, Jean Bart and Auvergne in 2017).
Charles de Gaulle CSG will likely be in charge of CTF 50 until IKE CSG (with U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Dwight D.Eisenhower) takes over later in April. IKE is likely running late on schedule, following the Ever Given incident in the Suez canal.
For the record, the French CSG set sail on Sunday 21 February for a long operational deployment named “Clemenceau 21”. The CSG is set to be back in Toulon in June.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/30/world/africa/isis-mozambique-attack.html
ISIS Claims Responsibility for Mozambique Attack
An affiliate of the militant group has seized large swaths of territory, including another important port town, but the assault last week demonstrated a new level of boldness.
JOHANNESBURG — The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for a dayslong ambush of a port town in northern Mozambique last week that forced tens of thousands of people to flee the area and left dozens dead, including some foreigners.
The attack on the town, Palma, was an alarming escalation of the war in the gas-rich province of Cabo Delgado, where insurgents with loose ties to the Islamic State have killed at least 2,000 people in a campaign of violence over the past three years.
In recent months, the local insurgency has grown in strength and seized large swaths of territory, including the region’s other main port town. Last week’s attack demonstrated a new level of boldness from the insurgents and was the closest the group has come to a multibillion-dollar gas project that is operated by international energy companies.
Few analysts believe that the Islamic State in the Middle East maintains a close relationship with the insurgency, which was born out of frustration over local grievances and shares few of the Islamic State’s ideological aims. But claiming responsibility for the deadly attack underscores the organization’s ability to leverage loose ties with militant groups around the world to create the impression of a truly global struggle.
The Islamic State claimed on Monday that more than 55 people — including Mozambican army troops, Christians and foreigners — were killed in the ambush carried out by its local affiliate, the Islamic State Central Africa Province, according to the SITE Intelligence Group.
Mozambique defense officials said on Sunday that “dozens” had been killed in the attack, including seven foreigners who had sought refuge inside a hotel and attempted to escape by road on Friday. Militants ambushed a 17-vehicle convoy shortly after it left the hotel, the Amarula Palma, and only seven of the vehicles made it to the beach, where a fleet of boats was rescuing hundreds of people trapped in the town.
At least one South African, Adrian Nel, 40, was killed in the escape attempt from the Amarula Palma Hotel. Several other South Africans are still missing and presumed dead, according to private security contractors, and at least one British citizen was missing as of Sunday night.
Security contractors have seen several decapitated bodies in the town in recent days, according to Lionel Dyck, the founder of the South African security company Dyck Advisory Group, which helped evacuate people from Palma.
This month, the United States formally designated the insurgency, known locally as Al-Sunna wa Jama’a, as a global terrorist entity and U.S. Special Forces soldiers began training Mozambican troops. The insurgents became identified with the Islamic State Central Africa Province in 2019.
Still, many analysts say the insurgency remains a homegrown crisis, born out of an array of grievances that have long plagued the impoverished region.
“This is a domestic insurgency based on domestic grievances,” said Joseph Hanlon, a visiting senior fellow at the department of international development at the London School of Economics, who is an expert on Mozambique. “There are loose ties but the insurgents have not seceded control to IS.”
He added: “This is not an Islamic jihad.”
Since militants overran the town on Saturday, the Mozambique military and contractors with Dyck Advisory Group, which was brought in by the government, have tried to flush the insurgents from the town. But militants still control much of Palma, including the town’s banks, government offices, factories and army barracks, according to a statement that the Islamic State released on Monday.
In recent days, tens of thousands of people have fled Palma for nearby areas, worsening a humanitarian crisis that has escalated drastically over the past year.
At the start of 2020, the conflict had displaced 18,000 people in Mozambique, according to the World Food Program. By the beginning of this year, that number had grown to over 600,000.
“The crisis had been escalating for some time,” said Lola Castro, regional director for Southern Africa for the program. “But at this moment we are looking at a humanitarian disaster.”
Eric Schmitt contributed reporting from Washington.
https://twitter.com/hillaryclinton
>James Charles apologizes for 'flirty' messages with underage boys: 'I'm ashamed'
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Charles_(internet_personality)
James Charles Dickinson (born 1999) is an American Internet personality, beauty YouTuber and make-up artist. While working as a local makeup artist in his hometown of Bethlehem, New York, he launched his self-titled YouTube channel, posting makeup tutorials. In 2016, he became the first male ambassador for CoverGirl after a tweet featuring his makeup went viral online.
>James Charles apologizes for 'flirty' messages with underage boys: 'I'm ashamed'
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Charles_(internet_personality)
James Charles Dickinson (born 1999) is an American Internet personality, beauty YouTuber and make-up artist. While working as a local makeup artist in his hometown of Bethlehem, New York, he launched his self-titled YouTube channel, posting makeup tutorials. In 2016, he became the first male ambassador for CoverGirl after a tweet featuring his makeup went viral online.
>Chief epidemiologist of Chinese CDC admitted “They Didn’t Isolate The Virus”.
>How many more times does this have to be said before it's official? There. is. no. isolate.
>exhausting
>Why didn't George Floyd die from Covid like everyone else on planet earth?
Sadly, George Floyd killed himself.