memory of troops killed in combat zones...Alexander Blake Klass Army Pfc. Alexander Blake Klass, 20,...
Transcript of memory of troops killed in combat zones...Alexander Blake Klass Army Pfc. Alexander Blake Klass, 20,...
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A Green Beret, Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Fla.,served in Afghanistan and is trying to helpthose who helped the U.S. military in Iraqand Afghanistan as fixers and translatorsto immigrate to the United States.
Mohammad F., an interpreter who
worked for U.S. forces in Afghanistan, has a
message for the incoming American presi-
dent after waiting some four years for the
outgoing one to help him resettle in the Unit-
ed States.
“Mr. President-elect Joe Biden; We
helped you achieve your mission, now you
help us we get to safty,” he wrote in broken
English from Afghanistan. “Thank you very
much.”
Mohammad signed off with “Best Re-
gards” and his full name, along with his visa
application case number, details that could
put him at additional risk of retribution
from the Taliban. The Washington Post is
using his first name and last initial for his
Pinning their hopes on BidenAfghans and Iraqis, under threat for helping Americans,counting on new administration’s help resettling in US
BY ANNE GEARANThe Washington Post
PHOTOS BY MATT MCCLAIN/The Washington Post
Janis Shinwari worked with U.S. forces as a translator in Afghanistan and became a U.S. citizen in June. Shinwari's advocacy group,No One Left Behind, organized a petition of more than 1,000 Iraqi and Afghan interpreters seeking visas to the United States.
INSIDE
Congresssworn into officePage 9
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WAR ON TERRORISM
Baghdad protests onanniversary of US strikeon top Iranian generalPage 5
MILITARY
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Twelve service members died on over-
seas deployments to designated combat
zones in Africa, Kosovo and the Arabian
peninsula region, including waterways, in
2020.
One other soldier was killed in a terrorist
attack in Kenya, which is not a designated
combat zone.
The most deadly of the incidents was a
helicopter crash in the Sinai Peninsula in
Egypt in November, in which five Ameri-
can troops died and one was injured. The
Americans were part of an international
peacekeeping force that monitors compli-
ance with the 1979 Israeli-Egyptian peace
accord.
Henry J. Mayfield Jr.Army Spc. Henry J. Mayfield Jr, 23, died
Jan. 5 when insurgents connected to the So-
malia-based al-Shabab
militant group attacked
Manda Bay Airfield in
southwest Kenya.
He joined the Army in
August 2017 and served
with the 164th Theater
Airfield Operations
Group of the Army’s 1st
Battalion, 58th Aviation
Regiment. Prior to de-
ploying to Kenya, he was stationed at Fort
Rucker, Ala.
His death “makes us recognize that we
have young men and young women out
there sacrificing their lives for the freedom
that we enjoy every day,” Vernard Alsber-
ry, mayor of Mayfield’s hometown of Hazel
Crest, Ill., said at a memorial event.
Defense Department contractors Dustin
Harrison, 47, and Bruce Triplett, 64, were
also killed in the attack on the airfield.
Walter LewarkArmy Spc. Walter Lewark, 26, of Moun-
tainair, N.M., died Feb. 13 in a noncombat-
related incident at Camp Lemonnier, Dji-
bouti.
Honoring thememory oftroops killed incombat zones
BY SLOBODAN LEKIC, JOHNVANDIVER AND KARIN ZEITVOGEL
Stars and Stripes
Mayfield Jr.
SEE MEMORY ON PAGE 3
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PAGE 2 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Monday, January 4, 2021
BUSINESS/WEATHER
The New York Stock Exchange
said it will delist three Chinese cor-
porations to comply with a U.S. ex-
ecutive order that imposed restric-
tions on companies which identi-
fied as affiliated with the Chinese
military.
China Mobile Ltd., China Tele-
com Corp Ltd., China Unicom
Hong Kong Ltd. will be suspended
from trading between Jan. 7 and
Jan. 11, and proceedings to delist
them have started, according to a
statement by the exchange.
In response, China’s Ministry of
Commerce said on Jan. 2 that the
country will adopt necessary ac-
tions to protect the rights of Chi-
nese companies and hopes the two
countries can work together to cre-
ate a fair, predicable environment
for businesses and investors.
Quantitative hedge fund manag-
ers including Renaissance Tech-
nologies, Dimensional Fund Advi-
sors and Two Sigma Investments
were among the largest holders in
these U.S. listings, but the stakes
they held at the end of September
were small, 13F filings show.
The three Chinese companies
have separate listings in Hong
Kong. All of them generate the en-
tirety of their revenue in China and
have no meaningful presence in
the United States except for their
listings there. Their shares are al-
so thinly traded on the New York
Stock Exchange compared to their
primary listings in Hong Kong,
making this NYSE delisting more
of a symbolic blow amid height-
ened geopolitical friction between
the U.S. and China.
NYSE to delist Chinese telco giants on US orderBloomberg
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DrawskoPomorskie 32/29
MONDAY IN EUROPE
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Tokyo44/30
Okinawa71/68
Sasebo48/42
Iwakuni47/43
Seoul21/14
Osan23/19
Busan38/34
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2nd Weather Squadron at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb.
TUESDAY IN THE PACIFIC
WEATHER OUTLOOK
TODAYIN STRIPES
American Roundup ...... 11Classified .................... 13Comics .........................16Crossword ................... 16Faces .......................... 18Opinion ........................ 14Sports ................... 20-24
Military rates
Euro costs (Jan. 4) $1.20Dollar buys (Jan. 4) 0.7924British pound (Jan. 4) $1.33Japanese yen (Jan. 4) 101.00South Korean won (Jan. 4) 1,062.00
Commercial rates
Bahrain (Dinar) .3770Britain (Pound) 1.3673Canada (Dollar) 1.2722China (Yuan) 6.5330Denmark (Krone) 6.0929Egypt (Pound) 15.7396Euro .8240Hong Kong (Dollar) 7.7529Hungary (Forint) 297.00Israel (Shekel) 3.2226Japan (Yen) 103.25Kuwait (Dinar) .3041
Norway (Krone) 8.6305
Philippines (Peso) 48.34Poland (Zloty) 3.74Saudi Arab (Riyal) 3.7514Singapore (Dollar) 1.3221
So. Korea (Won) 1,089.92Switzerland (Franc) .8897Thailand (Baht) 29.97Turkey (New Lira) 7.4392
(Military exchange rates are those availableto customers at military banking facilities in thecountry of issuance for Japan, South Korea, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.For nonlocal currency exchange rates (i.e., purchasing British pounds in Germany), check withyour local military banking facility. Commercialrates are interbank rates provided for referencewhen buying currency. All figures are foreigncurrencies to one dollar, except for the Britishpound, which is represented in dollarstopound, and the euro, which is dollarstoeuro.)
INTEREST RATES
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Monday, January 4, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 3
MILITARY
A Dec. 21 story about a
transit of the Taiwan Strait
by the guided-missile de-
stroyer USS Mustin should
have said the mission was
the 12th by a U.S. Navy ship
through the strait that year.
Correction
He was serving with the 1st Bat-
talion, 200th Infantry Regiment,
93rd Troop Command of the New
Mexico Army National Guard, in
support of Oper-
ation Enduring
Freedom-Horn
of Africa.
Lewark was
also a member of
the Mountainair
Police Depart-
ment and a vol-
unteer firefight-
er.
“You filled me with hope that
our younger generations had a
peer role model of an authentic
man and an authentic American,”
his friend Dennis Fulfer said on
Facebook.
Lewark was promoted to spe-
cialist from private first class after
his death by the National Guard.
Nick Bravo-RegulesArmy Spc. Nick Bravo-Regules,
20, of Largo, Fla., died June 23 in
Jordan of injuries suffered in a
noncombat-re-
lated incident.
He was as-
signed to the 2nd
Battalion, 43rd
Air Defense Ar-
tillery Regiment
out of Fort Bliss,
Texas, which
operates defen-
sive Patriot surface-to-air missile
launchers that protect against in-
coming missiles or airborne
threats.
He enlisted in the Army in May
2017 and worked on communica-
tions networks for the unit.
Bravo-Regules was on his first
deployment, in support of Oper-
ation Inherent Resolve, fighting
the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
Alexander Blake KlassArmy Pfc. Alexander Blake
Klass, 20, of Willamina, Ore., died
July 4 in Kosovo in a noncombat-
related incident.
Klass joined the Oregon Army
National Guard in Jan. 2019 and
was assigned to 2nd Battalion,
162nd Infantry Regiment, 41st In-
fantry Brigade Combat Team,
based out of Springfield, Ore.
He was serving with the Oper-
ation Joint Guardian NATO pea-
cekeeping mission in Kosovo and
was due to return home in Novem-
ber.
“This is a tragic situation and
our primary fo-
cus is supporting
the family dur-
ing this difficult
time,” Brig. Gen.
William J. Pren-
dergast IV, land
component com-
mander of the
Oregon National
Guard, said in a statement at the
time.
Ian McKnightNavy Petty Officer 2nd Class
Ian McKnight, 29, went overboard
from the USS Nimitz as it operated
in the North Arabian Sea on Sept.
6.
Efforts to locate him were con-
cluded two days later, the Navy
said, and he was
presumed dead.
McKnight, of
North Carolina,
enlisted in the
Navy in Febru-
ary 2018 and was
assigned to the
Nimitz the fol-
lowing year. He
had been promoted to E-5 in Au-
gust 2020.
“The strike group team sends
our thoughts and prayers to the
family of Petty Officer
McKnight,” said Rear Adm. Jim
Kirk, the strike group’s command-
er, when he went missing. “I offer
my thanks to all the sailors and air-
men who were involved in the
search for our shipmate.”
Jason Khai PhanSenior Airman Jason Khai
Phan, 26, was killed in a single-ve-
hicle crash on Sept. 12 while pa-
trolling the perimeter of the Ali Al
Salem Air Base
in Kuwait.
Assigned to
the 66th Security
Forces Squad-
ron out of Han-
scom Air Force
Base, Mass.,
Phan had been
accepted as a
military working dog handler but
deployed to the 386th Air Expedi-
tionary Wing’s Security Forces
Squadron in Kuwait before he
could train. He was awarded his
K9 certification posthumously,
said Hien Dom, executive director
of the Vietnamese American Uni-
formed Services Association.
Phan and his family moved to
the U.S. from Vietnam when he
was 16 and settled in southern Cal-
ifornia, news reports said. He
joined the Air Force after getting a
degree in computer science at Or-
ange Coast College in California.
“He came to this country with
big dreams and aspirations and
truly worked to obtain all of his
goals,” said Tech. Sgt. Kenneth
Souheaver of the 66th SFS, who
served with Phan.
Ronald J. OuelletteAir Force Staff Sgt. Ronald J.
Ouellette, 23, died two days after
Phan in an all-
terrain vehicle
wreck at Ali Al
Salem Air Base
in central Ku-
wait.
An Air Force
reservist, Ouel-
lette was a mem-
ber of the 42nd
Aerial Port Squadron stationed at
Westover Air Reserve Base, Mass.
From Merrimack, N.H., he
worked as an air transportation
specialist.
He served nearly six years in
the Air Force Reserves, earning
military awards including an Air
Force Achievement Medal, an Air
Force Meritorious Service Medal,
the Small Arms Expert (Rifle)
Ribbon and the Global War on
Terrorism Service Medal, his Air
Force biography says.
Seth Vernon Vande KampArmy Capt. Seth Vernon Vande
Kamp, 31, was one of five Amer-
ican service members who died in
a Nov. 12 helicopter crash in the
Sinai Peninsula in Egypt, while
serving with the Multinational
Force and Observers peacekeep-
ing contingent. A French officer
and Czech soldier were also killed,
and a sixth American was injured.
Born and raised in Missouri,
Vande Kamp joined the Army af-
ter graduating from A.T. Still Uni-
versity’s Kirksville College of Os-
teopathic Medicine in Arizona in
2017, his obituary says. He com-
pleted his medical residency at
Martin Army Community Hospi-
tal in Fort Benning, Ga., in June
2020.
“He loved science, and he loved
to help people,” said his brother-
in-law David Roth, an associate
professor at Dordt University in
Sioux City, Iowa, where Vande
Kamp earned his bachelor’s de-
gree in biology.
Vande Kamp arrived in Egypt
in October. It was his first over-
seas assignment.
Dallas Gerald Garza Chief Warrant Officer 3 Dallas
Gerald Garza, 34, also died in the
crash. He was a Black Hawk pilot
who enlisted in the Army in 2005
and commissioned in 2010.
“He loved to fly,” his uncle Da-
vid Ramirez, said in a report pub-
lished on the website of KSAT-TV,
the ABC affiliate in San Antonio,
Texas, where Garza’s family is
from. “Even when he was a boy ...
when everyone was playing Play-
Station and stuff like that, Dallas
was in front of a PC learning the
controls of aviation.”
Garza arrived in Egypt in Janu-
ary 2020. He had previously
served in Iraq and Afghanistan.
His military awards include the
Meritorious Service Medal, Air
Medal with two oak leaf clusters,
Army Commendation Medal with
two oak leaf clusters, and a Joint
Meritorious Service Medal.
Marwan Sameh GhabourChief Warrant Officer 2 Mar-
wan Sameh Ghabour, 27, from Ar-
lington, Mass., left what his
younger brother Muhaned de-
scribed as a promising career in
architecture to join the Army.
“He loved helping people and
always wanted to be part of some-
thing bigger than himself,” Mu-
haned Ghabour said in an inter-
view published in the Boston Her-
ald newspaper days after his
brother died in the crash in Egypt.
“He also loved this country,” his
brother said.
Marwan Ghabour commis-
sioned as a warrant officer in 2018
and arrived in Egypt in January
2020 on his first overseas assign-
ment. Like Garza, he was a pilot.
Kyle Robert McKee Staff Sgt. Kyle Robert McKee,
35, was a helicopter repairer who
enlisted in the Army in 2003.
The native of Painesville, Ohio,
who had previously served in
South Korea, Afghanistan and
Iraq, arrived in Egypt in July.
His father, Steve McKee, re-
called in an interview with ABC
affiliate News 5 Cleveland that his
son had wanted, from an early age,
to “go into the military.”
His long list of awards includes
a Combat Action Badge, an Air
Medal and Army Commendation
Medal.
Jeremy Cain Sherman Sgt. Jeremy Cain Sherman, 23,
was the youngest of the American
service members who died in the
Sinai Peninsula crash.
A crew chief, he enlisted in 2015
and arrived in Egypt in October
2020.
He was from Watseka, Ill.,
about 90 miles south of Chicago.
He had previously served in
South Korea and Afghanistan and
his awards include an Army Com-
mendation Medal and Army
Achievement Medal.
“I join all Americans in honor-
ing their sacrifice, as I keep their
loved ones in my prayers,” Presi-
dent-elect Joe Biden said of those
who died in the crash, which MFO
said appeared to have been
caused by a mechanical failure.
Kelliann LeliAir Force Capt. Kelliann Leli,
30, died in a noncombat vehicle
accident in the United Arab Emir-
ates on Nov. 27.
Amedical doc-
tor with the 60th
Healthcare Op-
erations Squad-
ron at Travis Air
Force Base, Cal-
if., she was as-
signed to the
380th Air Expe-
ditionary Wing
while deployed.
“She was an exceptional medic,
officer and teammate … her in-
credible presence will be deeply
missed,” Brig. Gen. Larry Broad-
well, 380th Air Expeditionary
Wing Commander, said in a state-
ment.
Leli earned her commission
from the U.S. Air Force Academy
in Colorado Springs, Colo., in 2012
and her medical degree from
Rutgers University School of
Medicine in 2016. She completed
her family medicine residency at
Travis, where she and her hus-
band, Capt. Jimmy Leli, were
based.
Memory: US service memberskilled abroad are rememberedFROM PAGE 1
Lewark
BravoRegules
Klass
McKnight
Phan
Ouellette
Leli
U.S. ARMY
Top row from left, Capt. Seth Vernon Vande Kamp, Chief WarrantOfficer 3 Dallas Gerald Garza, Staff Sgt. Kyle Robert McKee. Bottomrow from left: Chief Warrant Officer 2 Marwan Sameh Ghabour andSgt. Jeremy Cain Sherman.
[email protected]@stripes.com Twitter: @john_vandiver [email protected] Twitter: @StripesZeit
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PAGE 4 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Monday, January 4, 2021
MILITARY
WASHINGTON — Evan Liber-
ty was reading in the top bunk of
his cell one evening late last
month when a prison supervisor
delivered news he had hoped for.
“He says, ‘Are you ready for
this?’” Liberty recalled. “I said,
‘Uh, I’m not sure. What is going
on?’ He said, ‘Presidential pardon.
Pack your stuff.’”
Liberty is one of four former
Blackwater contractors pardoned
by President Donald Trump in
one of Trump’s final acts in office,
freeing them from prison after a
2007 shooting rampage in Bagh-
dad that killed more than a dozen
Iraqi civilians. Even for a presi-
dent who has repeatedly exer-
cised his pardon power on person-
al associates and political support-
ers, Trump’s clemency for the
contractors was met with espe-
cially intense condemnation, both
in the United States and the Mid-
dle East.
Historically, presidential par-
dons have been reserved for non-
violent crimes, not manslaughter
or murder, and the traditional
process led by the Justice Depart-
ment values acceptance of re-
sponsibility and remorse from
those convicted of crimes. The
Blackwater contractors meet
none of that criteria. They were
convicted in the killings of un-
armed Iraqi women and children
and have long been defiant in their
assertions of innocence.
In an interview with The Asso-
ciated Press, his first since being
released from prison, Liberty, 38,
again expressed little remorse for
actions he says were defensible
given the context.
“I feel like I acted correctly,” he
said of his conduct in 2007. “I re-
gret any innocent loss of life, but
I’m just confident in how I acted
and I can basically feel peace with
that.”
The Blackwater rampage
marked one of the darkest chap-
ters of the Iraq war, staining the
U.S. government reputation and
prompting an international outcry
about the role of contractors in
military zones. The guards have
long maintained they were target-
ed by insurgent gunfire at the traf-
fic circle where the shooting oc-
curred. Prosecutors argued there
was no evidence to support that
claim, noting that many victims
were shot while in their cars or
while taking shelter or trying to
flee.
After a month-
slong trial in
2014, a jury con-
victed the men in
the deaths of 14
civilians and of
injuring even
more. A judge
called the shoot-
ings an “overall
wild thing” that cannot be con-
doned.
Liberty said he understands
many may view him undeserving
of clemency but attributes it to
what he insists is a misguided nar-
rative of the shooting. In the inter-
view, he maintained that he did
not shoot in the direction of any of
the victims. “I didn’t shoot at any-
body that wasn’t shooting at me,”
he said.
Trump’s approach to pardons
has been heavily influenced by
personal appeals from allies.
Throughout his presidency, in-
cluding in his most recent round of
pardons, he’s wiped away puni-
shments for political backers, in-
cluding former campaign chair-
man Paul Manafort and a pair of
Republican congressmen who
were early supporters of his 2016
campaign.
The New Hampshire native and
Marine veteran said he is uncer-
tain of future plans, though he’s
passionate about physical fitness
and interested in assisting veter-
ans’ organizations. He says he’s
grateful to his supporters and to
Trump for what he calls a “second
chance at life.”
Pardoned guardin Blackwaterdefends actions
Associated Press
Liberty
Preservation Officer.
The agreement is set to expire
in five years.
The agreement will require all
incoming Department of Defense
military and civilians, their fam-
ilies, contractors and visiting for-
eign military members to undergo
HAGATNA, Guam — The gov-
ernor of Guam, a military official
and the island’s historic preserva-
tion officer have signed off on a
new agreement that outlines how
to mitigate damage to historic and
culturally significant sites on the
island during military training.
The Programmatic Agreement
for Training and Testing was
signed Tuesday by Gov. Lou Leon
Guerrero, Rear Adm. John Meno-
ni, Commander, Joint Region
Marianas and Carlotta Leon Guer-
rero, the Guam State Historic
cultural sensitivity training in
partnership with the island’s his-
toric preservation office, the Pa-
cific Daily News reported.
The deal also includes a detailed
outline of planned military train-
ing events, their location and the
type of archaeological report that
will be generated after each event.
The data will be used to monitor
the effects of the training exercis-
es on historic sites on the island.
The agreement replaces the
Mariana Island Range Complex
Programmatic Agreement from
2009.
Guam, US military agree to rules to prevent site damageAssociated Press
WASHINGTON — Soldiers will
find out in January what hairstyle
and grooming changes the Army
has approved from a review pan-
el’s recommendations, according
to the service.
“The Army routinely examines
our policies to ensure they meet
the needs of the force. This is an-
other way we are working to im-
prove the lives of our force by put-
ting people first. We expect to an-
nounce the approved changes in
January,” Lt. Col. Junel Jeffrey, an
Army spokeswoman, said in a
statement issued Thursday.
The changes follow a Pentagon
directive in July for the military
services to review their grooming
and hairstyle policies “to ensure a
standard of equity,” Jeffrey said.
The directive came after wide-
spread protests across the United
States calling for an end to police
brutality and systemic racism. The
panel that met and reviewed the
policies was comprised of people of
various ranks, units, ages, cultural
backgrounds, races and genders,
according to the Army statement.
“In addition to reviewing groom-
ing policies to identify and resolve
issues of racial inequality, the pan-
el conducted a wider assessment to
consider input submitted from sol-
diers across the force,” Jeffrey
said.
Their recommendations have
now been sent to the Army’s senior
leadership and are awaiting ap-
proval.
Sgt. Major of the Army Michael
Grinston tweeted last Tuesday that
“hair is absolutely something the
Project Inclusion team is actively
working. We’ll have an update in
the next month.”
Project Inclusion is a new Army
initiative “to improve diversity, eq-
uity and inclusion across the force
and build cohesive teams,” accord-
ing to a service news release.
The recommendations that the
panel submitted on hairstyles
would allow women to have more
versatility when they are in uni-
form and also address concerns
about their hair that are now being
unmet such as hair loss due to alo-
pecia or traction alopecia caused
by tight hairstyles such as buns, ac-
cording to presentation slides
about the recommendations pub-
lished by the online publication
Task & Purpose.
Women can now wear ponytails
when they are doing physical train-
ing, but otherwise their hair needs
to be in a bun. The panel has rec-
ommended women can wear a po-
nytail in any uniform as long as it
does not fall past the top of the
shoulder blades, according to the
slides.
The panel also recommended
Army regulations no longer speci-
fy a minimum hair length for wom-
en. Now, women cannot have hair
shorter than a quarter of an inch
from the scalp. A slide states wom-
en who have to shave their hair for
Ranger School or Special Forces
selection are actually out of regu-
lation.
“Additionally, it should be a
woman’s choice if she wants to
have hair or not. This will also help
to alleviate the stress and embar-
rassment of female soldiers who
suffer from alopecia or other med-
ical conditions that causes hair loss
or prevents growth. This will help
to increase health and wellness,”
according to one of the slides.
Women also might soon be per-
mitted to wear their locs or twists
in a braid if Army leadership ac-
cepts the panel’s recommendation.
Women can only wear one hair-
style at a time, according to current
regulations. The panel also recom-
mended women be able to wear a
side twist or braid as long as it
doesn’t interfere with headgear
and protective equipment such as a
helmet, according to the slide.
Earrings were another appear-
ance item that the panel consid-
ered for a regulation change. It rec-
ommended allowing women to
wear earrings while they are in
their Army combat uniform, but
only while they are in garrison, not
on deployment or in the field, ac-
cording to a slide.
Women can only wear earrings
now when they are in their dress
uniforms.
LISA BISHOP / U.S. Army Garrison Wiesbaden
Pfc. Katelyn McCurrie, information technology specialist, Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion, U.S.Army Europe, performs motor pool inspection duties.
Army looks to update hairstyle,grooming standards this month
BY CAITLIN M. KENNEY
Stars and Stripes
[email protected] Twitter: @caitlinmkenney
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Monday, January 4, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 5
WAR ON TERRORISM
BAGHDAD — Chanting anti-
American slogans, thousands of
Iraqis converged on a landmark
square in central Baghdad on Sun-
day to commemorate the anniver-
sary of the killing of a powerful
Iranian general and a top Iraqi mi-
litia leader in a U.S. drone strike.
Roads leading to Tahrir Square
were closed off and security was
tight as the crowds gathered in re-
sponse to a call by powerful Iran-
backed militias for a rally marking
the occasion and demanding the
expulsion of U.S. troops from Iraq.
“No, no to America!” shouted
some in the largely maskless
crowd. “You killed our guest.
There is no place here for your
embassy,” read some of the ban-
ners.
Protesters at one point set fire to
a large U.S. flag, drawing cheers
from the crowd.
The killing of Gen. Qassem So-
leimani and Abu Mahdi al-Mu-
handis at Baghdad’s airport
pushed Tehran and Washington
perilously close to all-out conflict
and sparked outrage in Iraq, lead-
ing parliament to pass a non-bind-
ing resolution days later calling
for the expulsion of all foreign
troops from Iraq.
Sunday’s rally was being held
amid heightened tensions be-
tween Iran and the United States
in the final days of President Do-
nald Trump’s administration.
America has already conducted
B-52 bomber flyovers and sent a
nuclear submarine into the Per-
sian Gulf over what Trump offi-
cials describe as the possibility of
an Iranian attack on the anniver-
sary of the strike that killed Solei-
mani and al-Muhandis.
Carrying Iraqi and militia flags
and posters of the two men, thou-
sands of Iraqis marched toward
Tahrir Square for the rally Sun-
day, demanding the withdrawal of
U.S. troops in implementation of
the parliamentary resolution.
Abbas Ali, a 27-year-old protes-
ter carrying a poster of Soleimani,
said he was there because it was a
day “to remember those who sac-
rificed their souls for Iraq.”
Saturday night, thousands of
people took part in a commemora-
tion ceremony held at Baghdad’s
airport where the strike took place
a year ago. The scene of the bomb-
ing was turned into a shrine-like
area sealed off by red ropes, with a
photo of Soleimani and al-Muhan-
dis in the middle, as mourners lit
candles.
Iraq marks year since deadly US drone strikeAssociated Press
KHALID MOHAMMED/AP
A protest Sunday in Tahrir Square, Iraq, marked one year since the deaths of deputy commander of thePopular Mobilization Forces Abu Mahdi alMuhandis, in front on the poster, and Gen. Qassem Soleimani,head of Iran’s Quds force.
safety.
President-elect Joe Biden will
inherit a backlog of tens of thou-
sands of such cases from the wars
in Iraq and Afghanistan — and a
bureaucratic tangle that refugee
advocates have said that Presi-
dent Donald Trump ignored or
made worse.
“We have a moral obligation to
those who served shoulder to
shoulder with our men and wom-
en on the ground and who put their
security and the security of their
family members at risk,” said re-
tired Gen. David Petraeus, who
commanded U.S. forces in both
Iraq and Afghanistan.
The backlog includes about
17,000 Afghan translators and oth-
ers who helped U.S. forces or dip-
lomats and who are seeking spe-
cial visas to resettle in the United
States. With immediate family
members who would come too,
those applications represent an
estimated 70,000 Afghans. The
number for Iraqis is estimated at
about 100,000.
Many claim harassment or
death threats, and the danger may
increase as Trump plans to with-
draw additional U.S. forces from
war zones where Americans have
been deployed for nearly 20 years.
“I am so scared cant go any
where even when i am going to my
work place i feel today is my last
day because every day target kill-
ing is going on,” wrote Khaliqdad
H., also in Afghanistan. “help me
please go get out of this place. help
me please.”
“I was sufferd to much from be-
ing Interputer with the US army (
and my family ),” wrote Abdullah
A., in Iraq.
The interpreters are among
more than 1,000 Iraqi and Afghan
applicants who signed a petition to
Biden and Vice President-elect
Kamala D. Harris last month.
“Many of them risked every-
thing to work with U.S. Armed
Forces in our countries (Afghanis-
tan and Iraq) because we believe
in America and its values. Be-
cause of this, we have been threat-
ened and targeted” by the Taliban,
the Islamic State and other armed
groups that consider them trai-
tors, the current and former inter-
preters wrote. The petition does
not blame Trump or even mention
him. Advocates for the interpret-
ers said that delays mounted over
the past four years are due in part
to new security and bureaucratic
requirements, while denials for
seemingly qualified applicants in-
creased.
“Even people who applied at the
end of Obama’s time are still wait-
ing, or their visa was denied for no
reason during the Trump admin-
istration,” said Janis Shinwari, a
former Afghan interpreter who
came to the U.S. under the special
visa program seven years ago.
“It didn’t happen before the
Trump administration that visas
were getting denied for no reason.
Now I know hundreds of them,”
said Shinwari, a founder of the ad-
vocacy group No One Left Behind,
which organized the petition.
Bureaucratic paralysis and con-
fusing requirements predate the
Trump administration, but wors-
ened over the past four years with
inexplicable or impossible de-
mands of applicants that advo-
cates claim are rooted in Trump’s
larger efforts to stem both illegal
and legal immigration.
“From everything I know, they
intentionally sabotaged it,” said
Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., a for-
mer Marine Corps officer in Iraq.
“I don’t have direct evidence of
that, but just listen to what they
say,” said Moulton, who helped
one of his translators come to the
U.S. “They said from Day One,
they are going to target immigra-
tion and target people who don’t
look like white Americans.”
The Trump administration has
far overshot the congressional
mandate of nine months to proc-
ess each case, with the average
wait time now topping three years.
Wait times also exceeded the nine-
month window during the Obama
administration, with officials from
both administrations blaming the
demands of performing rigorous
background checks.
But amid massive cuts in the
numbers of refugees admitted to
the U.S. overall, the Trump ad-
ministration worked with Con-
gress to expand the number of visa
slots available to interpreters and
others who worked on behalf of
U.S. forces or diplomats.
Criticism of the visa system is
bipartisan.
“The difficult thing over both
the Obama and Trump adminis-
trations is just how slow the proc-
ess is, how backlogged,” said Rep.
Michael Waltz, R-Fla., a former
Green Beret in Afghanistan and a
Trump ally. One of his interpret-
ers, a trilingual whiz kid nick-
named Spartacus, was beheaded
in 2008 along with male members
of his family while awaiting asy-
lum in the United States.
Lawyers for would-be refugees
say applications are frequently
denied for reasons caused by the
yearslong delays between appli-
cation and various stages of re-
view, meaning applicants are be-
ing punished for the system’s fail-
ures.
Hopes: 170K Iraqi, Afghan refugees estimated to still be waiting on US visasFROM PAGE 1
At least three members of the
Somalia-based al-Shabab extre-
mist group were killed and half a
dozen buildings used by the mili-
tants were destroyed in U.S. air-
strikes on New Year’s Day, U.S.
Africa Command said.
The twin airstrikes launched in
coordination with the Somali gov-
ernment targeted al-Shabab com-
pounds near the town of Qunyo
Barrow, AFRICOM said in a state-
ment released Saturday.
“Current assessments indicate
the strikes killed three and
wounded one al-Shabaab mem-
bers and destroyed six and dam-
aged one al-Shabaab compound
buildings,” the statement said.
No civilians were killed or in-
jured in the strikes, an initial as-
sessment found.
The first U.S. strikes of the year
against al-Shabab were carried
out as American troops withdraw
from Somalia, following a Dec. 4
Defense Department directive.
Most of them will be relocated to
countries elsewhere in East Afri-
ca, from where they can rapidly
move in and out of Somalia, AFRI-
COM has said. The pullout is ex-
pected to be completed before
President-elect Joe Biden takes
office on Jan. 20.
But the departure of American
ground forces doesn’t mean an
end to operations in Somalia, offi-
cials have said.
A U.S. drone site in neighboring
Djibouti is capable of launching
attacks against al-Shabab, which
for years has sought to overthrow
the U.S.-backed government in
Mogadishu. Last year, the U.S.
conducted around 50 airstrikes
against the extremist group,
which has ties to al-Qaida.
A day after the airstrikes, a sui-
cide bombing in the Somali capi-
tal, Mogadishu, killed five people,
including two Turks, officials said.
Al-Shabab has claimed responsib-
ility for the deadly attack.
AFRICOM: New Year’s Day airstrikes in Somalia kills 3 militantsStars and Stripes
-
PAGE 6 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Monday, January 4, 2021
VIRUS OUTBREAK
The U.S. ramped up COVID-19
vaccinations in the past few days
after a slower-than-expected
start, bringing to 4 million the
number of Americans who have
received shots, Dr. Anthony Fau-
ci said Sunday.
The government’s top infec-
tious-disease expert also said on
ABC’s “This Week” that Presi-
dent-elect Joe Biden’s pledge to
administer 100 million shots of
the vaccine within his first 100
days in office is achievable.
And he rejected President Do-
nald Trump’s false claim on Twit-
ter that coronavirus deaths and
cases in the U.S. have been great-
ly exaggerated.
“All you need to do ... is go into
the trenches, go into the hospitals,
go into the intensive care units
and see what is happening. Those
are real numbers, real people and
real deaths,” Fauci said on NBC’s
“Meet the Press.”
The U.S. death toll has climbed
past 350,000, the most of any
country, according to data com-
piled by Johns Hopkins Universi-
ty, while more than 20 million
people nationwide have been in-
fected. States have reported re-
cord numbers of cases over the
past few days, and funeral homes
in Southern California are being
inundated with bodies.
Experts believe the real num-
bers of deaths and infections are
much higher and that many cases
were overlooked, in part because
of insufficient testing.
Fauci said he has seen “some
little glimmer of hope” after 1.5
million doses were administered
in the previous 72 hours, a strong
increase in vaccinations. He said
that brings the total to about 4
million.
But he acknowledged the U.S.
is well short of its goal of having
20 million people vaccinated by
the end of 2020. He said about 13
million doses have been distrib-
uted to clinics, hospitals and oth-
er places where they will be ad-
ministered.
“There have been a couple of
glitches. That’s understandable,”
Fauci said. “We are not where we
want to be, there’s no doubt about
that.”
He expressed optimism that
the momentum will pick up by
mid-January and that ultimately
the U.S. will be vaccinating 1 mil-
lion people a day, as Biden has
vowed.
“The goal of vaccinating 100
million people in the first 100
days is a realistic goal,” he said.
On Sunday morning, Trump
falsely tweeted that the outbreak
has been “far exaggerated” be-
cause of the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention’s “ridicu-
lous” methodology. He com-
plained too that Fauci has been
credited by the media with doing
“an incredible job” when Fauci
“works for me and the Trump ad-
ministration, and I am in no way
given any credit for my work.”
Fauci and others are warning
that an additional surge is likely
because of holiday gatherings
and the cold weather keeping
people indoors.
“It could and likely will get
worse in the next couple of
weeks, or at least maintain this
very terribly high level of infec-
tions and deaths that we’re see-
ing,” Fauci said.
The worries extend overseas,
where British Prime Minister Bo-
ris Johnson said more onerous
lockdown restrictions in England
are likely as a variant of the coro-
navirus has pushed up infection
rates to their highest levels on re-
cord. More than 50,000 new in-
fections have been reported daily
over the past six days.
Scientists have said the variant
is up to 70% more contagious.
While Fauci said while the U.S.
needs to do its own study, he
sought to reassure viewers that
British researchers have found
that the mutated version “doesn’t
make people more ill or cause
more death” and that vaccines
are effective against it.
Vaccinations rampup providing Fauci‘glimmer of hope’
Associated Press
JOE CAVARETTA / AP
COVID19 vaccines are administered to a senior in a car Sunday at Tradewinds Park in Coconut Creek, Fla.
LOS ANGELES — As commu-
nities across the country feel the
pain of a surge in coronavirus
cases, funeral homes in the hot
spot of Southern California say
they must turn away grieving fam-
ilies as they run out of space for
the bodies piling up.
The head of the state funeral di-
rectors association says mortuar-
ies are being inundated as the
United States reaches a grim tally
of 350,000 COVID-19 deaths.
More than 20 million people in the
country have been infected, ac-
cording to data compiled by Johns
Hopkins University.
“I’ve been in the funeral indus-
try for 40 years and never in my
life did I think that this could hap-
pen, that I’d have to tell a family,
‘No, we can’t take your family
member,’” said Magda Maldona-
do, owner of Continental Funeral
Home in Los Angeles.
Continental is averaging about
30 body removals a day — six
times its normal rate.
Mortuary owners are calling
one another to see whether any-
one can handle overflow, and the
answer is always the same:
They’re full, too.
In order to keep up with the
flood of bodies, Maldonado has
rented extra 50-foot refrigerators
for two of the four facilities she
runs in LA and surrounding coun-
ties.
Continental has also been delay-
ing pickups at hospitals for a day
or two while they deal with resi-
dential clients.
Bob Achermann, executive di-
rector of the California Funeral
Directors Association, said that
the whole process of burying and
cremating bodies has slowed
down, including embalming bod-
ies and obtaining death certifi-
cates. During normal times, cre-
mation might happen within a day
or two; now it takes at least a week
or longer.
Achermann said that in the
southern part of the state, “every
funeral home I talk to says, ‘We’re
paddling as fast as we can.’”
“The volume is just incredible
and they fear that they won’t be
able to keep up,” he said. “And the
worst of the surge could still be
ahead of us.”
Los Angeles County, the epicen-
ter of the crisis in California, has
surpassed 10,000 COVID-19
deaths alone.
Hospitals in the area are over-
whelmed, and are struggling to
keep up with basics such as ox-
ygen as they treat an unpreceden-
ted number of patients with respi-
ratory issues. On Saturday, U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers crews
arrived to update some hospital’s
oxygen delivery systems.
It’s feared that holiday gather-
ings could fuel yet another rise in
cases.
Arkansas officials reported a re-
cord of more than 4,300 new CO-
VID-19 cases Friday. Gov. Asa
Hutchinson tweeted that the state
is “certainly in the surge after
Christmas travel and gatherings”
and added, “As we enter this new
year, our first resolution should be
to follow guidelines.”
North Carolina officials also re-
ported a record 9,527 confirmed
cases New Year’s Day. That’s
more than 1,000 cases above the
previous daily high.
In Texas, state officials say they
have only 580 intensive care beds
available as staff treat more than
12,480 hospitalized coronavirus
patients, a number that has risen
steadily since September and has
set record highs this past week.
In Window Rock, Ariz., the Na-
vajo Nation remained in the midst
of a weekend lockdown to try to
slow the rate of infection.
The tribe late Friday reported
another seven deaths, bringing its
totals since the pandemic began to
23,429 cases and 813 deaths. The
reservation includes parts of Ari-
zona, New Mexico and Utah.
Arizona on Saturday reported
18,943 new cases Friday and Sat-
urday, a record for the state in any
two-day period. It also reported 46
new deaths Saturday.
California funeral homes run out of space as virus ragesAssociated Press
MAGDA MALDONADO / AP
Magda Maldonado, owner of Continental Funeral Home in LosAngeles, in her mortuary last week. Southern California funeralhomes are turning away families because they're running out of spacefor all the bodies during an unrelenting coronavirus surge.
-
Monday, January 4, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 7
VIRUS OUTBREAK ROUNDUP
NEW YORK — New York state
has recorded more than 1 million
positive COVID-19 cases since
the pandemic began, according to
figures released by Gov. Andrew
Cuomo on Saturday.
The roughly 15,000 new posi-
tive tests reported statewide on
Friday bring the total number of
cases over 1 million, according to
the state’s data. Experts have said
that the official number of coro-
navirus cases represents a signif-
icant undercount, since many
people in the New York City area
were infected with the coronavi-
rus last spring when testing was
largely unavailable.
New York is the fourth state to
report more than 1 million posi-
tive COVID-19 tests after Califor-
nia, Texas and Florida. New York
reported 128 COVID-19 deaths on
Friday.
Alabama BIRMINGHAM — A veteran
Alabama lawman who led the
state’s department of public safe-
ty and Birmingham Police De-
partment has died from compli-
cations linked to COVID-19.
Chief William Michael “Mike”
Coppage had been fighting the
coronavirus for several weeks be-
fore succumbing on Friday, AL-
.com reported. He was 71.
Coppage formerly served as
chief of the Birmingham Police
Department, director of the Ala-
bama Department of Public Safe-
ty, director of Public Safety and
Emergency Management at Sam-
ford University and as an Iron-
dale city councilman.
“Mike was not just a great lead-
er, but was an amazing public
servant. During my tenure as
chief, he was extremely support-
ive and was quick to offer a word
of encouragement,” said former
Birmingham Police Chief A.C.
Roper. “He understood the man-
tle of leadership, and his legacy
will live on throughout the metro-
politan area.”
Florida FORT LAUDERDALE —
Health officials in Florida report-
ed a two-day total 30,767 new
cases of the coronavirus and 217
new deaths on Saturday.
Florida’s Department of Health
did not release numbers on New
Year’s Day. The state has also
chosen not to report COVID-19
cases on two other holidays —
Thanksgiving and Christmas.
The two-day total brings the
overall number of confirmed CO-
VID-19 cases in Florida to
1,354,833. The agency posted that
21,015 cases were reported on
Friday and 9,752 reported on Sat-
urday. The state’s death toll dur-
ing the coronavirus pandemic
stands at 22,074.
On New Year’s Eve, the state
reported the highest daily jump in
COVID-19 cases ever detected in
Florida, with 17,192 new cases.
Indiana INDIANAPOLIS — The state
health department reported 39
additional COVID-19 deaths Sat-
urday in Indiana, raising the con-
firmed total to 8,055.
Another 355 probable deaths
have been reported based on di-
agnoses, although no positive
tests were recorded. The health
department also reported 5,429
new virus cases.
On Thursday, a bell tolled 121
times at St. Andrew Episcopal
Church in Kokomo for each Ho-
ward County resident who has
died from COVID-19.
“As you can imagine, it’s not
joyful, but it’s important. It’s
about healing, and that’s some-
thing we felt like we needed to ex-
press,” church member Greg
Wall told the Kokomo Tribune.
Louisiana MONROE — Louisiana Con-
gressman-elect Luke Letlow, who
recently died from COVID-19
complications, was remembered
Saturday as a man who loved peo-
ple and felt called to serve others.
“This is a gentleman who cared
about nothing but others,” said
former Republican U.S. Rep.
Ralph Abraham, who hired Let-
low as chief of staff during his
tenure in Washington and later
backed Letlow’s bid for Congress.
“He was a true servant’s servant.
We never want to forget what he’s
done for our state, what he’s done
for me and my family.”
Letlow, an incoming Republi-
can member of the U.S. House,
died Tuesday at 41. Gov. John Bel
Edwards ordered flags flown at
half-staff on Saturday for Letlow,
who is survived by his wife, Julia
Letlow, and their children, Jere-
miah, 3, and Jacqueline, 1.
More than 200 people gathered
at North Monroe Baptist Church
for the memorial. Abraham ac-
knowledged the presence of other
members of the state’s congres-
sional delegation in attendance,
including U.S. Reps. Clay Higgins
and Garret Graves.
Michigan LANSING — Michigan aver-
aged about 3,000 new coronavirus
cases a day from Thursday
through Saturday, the state health
department said.
The state also reported 265 ad-
ditional deaths from COVID-19,
including 211 from days or weeks
ago that were confirmed through
a records check. Michigan is
close to 12,600 deaths since last
March.
More than 71,000 people in the
state have received a COVID-19
vaccine and nearly 500 clinics are
scheduled in upcoming weeks,
said Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, the
state’s chief medical executive.
“We do expect our case num-
bers and deaths to come down as
the vaccine is distributed to the
most vulnerable, those in health
care facilities,” Khaldun said.
Missouri ST. LOUIS — Missouri is ap-
proaching 400,000 cases of the
coronavirus as hospitalizations
continue on the high plateau the
state has seen since mid-Novem-
ber.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch re-
ported that the addition of 2,157
new cases Saturday brought the
state’s total to 399,456.
Missouri’s seven-day average
of daily new case numbers has
generally declined from a peak of
4,723 on Nov. 20, though it is still
far higher than any level seen in
the spring or summer.
It rose slightly over the past
few days to 2,688 on Saturday
compared with 2,183 on Wednes-
day.
South CarolinaCOLUMBIA — South Carolina
could prevent 450 deaths over the
next three months if everyone
wears masks, a state health offi-
cial said Saturday.
During a Saturday news con-
ference, Department of Health
and Environmental Control inter-
im public health director Dr.
Brannon Traxler emphasized the
importance of wearing masks to
slow down the virus, even as vac-
cines for COVID-19 have begun to
make their way into the state.
She said an Institute for Health
Metrics and Evaluation model
has shown that statewide mask-
wearing could reduce the number
of deaths by 450 people between
now and April 1.
More than 4,200 cases of CO-
VID-19 were reported Saturday,
bringing the statewide total to
287,776.
Texas DALLAS — Coronavirus hospi-
talizations fell slightly in Texas on
Saturday but remained near their
record high, as health officials
said there were about 600 inten-
sive-care beds available across
the state of nearly 29 million peo-
ple.
Texas reported 12,319 CO-
VID-19 patients in hospitals Sat-
urday, ending five consecutive
days of record-breaking hospital-
izations. But even with the de-
crease of more than 160 patients
from Friday, the virus continued
to strain medical resources.
Intensive care units in several
parts of Texas were full or nearly
full, with 626 ICU beds available
statewide Saturday, according to
the Texas Department of State
Health Services.
The department reported 96
new fatalities, as well as 3,995
new, confirmed cases of CO-
VID-19 and 487 probable cases.
Over the last seven days, nearly
one in five coronavirus tests in
Texas has come back positive, ac-
cording to data from Johns Hop-
kins University.
NY exceeds 1Mpositive tests
Associated Press
RYAN BERRY, THE BILLINGS (MONT.) GAZETTE/AP
A couple watches the Cold Moon while standing amongst "The Lighting of the Teepees: A Symbol of Hope"at Swords Park last Tuesday in Billings, Mont.
-
PAGE 8 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Monday, January 4, 2021
VIRUS OUTBREAK
LONDON— British Prime Min-
ister Boris Johnson warned Sun-
day that more onerous lockdown
restrictions in England are likely
as the country reels from a new
coronavirus variant that has
pushed infection rates to their
highest recorded levels.
Johnson, though, insisted he has
“no doubt” that schools are safe
and urged parents to send their
children back into the classroom in
areas of England where they can.
Unions representing teachers
have called for schools to turn to re-
mote learning for at least a couple
of weeks more due to the new vari-
ant, which scientists have said is up
to 70% more contagious.
“We are entirely reconciled to
do what it takes to get the virus un-
der control, that may involve
tougher measures in the weeks
ahead,” Johnson said in an inter-
view with the BBC. “Obviously
there are a range of tougher mea-
sures that we would have to consid-
er.”
Johnson conceded that school
closures, curfews and the total
banning of household mixing
could be on the agenda for areas
under the most stress.
Johnson’s government is using a
tiered coronavirus restrictions
system. Most of England is already
at the highest Tier 4 level, which in-
volves the closure of shops selling
nonessential items and places like
gyms and recreation centers as
well as a stay-at-home instruction.
“What we are using now is the
tiering system, which is a very
tough system, and alas probably
about to get tougher to keep things
under control,” he said. “We’ll re-
view it and we have the prospect of
vaccines coming down the tracks
in their tens of millions, offering
people literally life and hope.”
The U.K. has moved quickly on
the vaccination front. It was the
first to begin vaccinating people
over 80 and health care workers on
Dec. 8 with the Pfizer-BioNTech
coronavirus vaccine. Last week,
regulators approved another vac-
cine made by Oxford University
and pharmaceutical giant Astra-
Zeneca that is cheaper and easier
to use than the Pfizer vaccine.
Hundreds of new vaccination
sites are due to be up and running
this week as the National Health
Service ramps up its immuniza-
tion program with the Oxford-As-
traZeneca jab. Officials say around
530,000 doses of the new vaccine
will be in place Monday as the
country moves toward its goal of
vaccinating 2 million people a
week as soon as possible.
“We do hope that we will be able
to do tens of millions in the course
of the next three months,” Johnson
said.
In a shift from practices in the
U.S. and elsewhere, Britain plans
to give people second doses of both
vaccines within 12 weeks of the
first shot rather than within 21
days, to accelerate immunizations
across as many people as quickly
as possible.
Stricter lockdown possible in UK as virus soarsAssociated Press
MUTARE, Zimbabwe — In re-
sponse to rising COVID-19 num-
bers, Zimbabwe has reintroduced
a night curfew, banned public
gatherings, and indefinitely sus-
pended the opening of schools.
“We are being overwhelmed
and overrun,” Information Minis-
ter Nick Mangwana warned, say-
ing the country’s hospitals are
rapidly reaching capacity with
COVID-19 patients.
Zimbabwe recorded 1,342 cases
and 29 deaths in the past week,
“the highest number recorded so
far,” Vice President Constantino
Chiwenga said, announcing the
strict measures.
Funerals are now limited to 30
people while other gatherings
such as weddings and church ser-
vices are banned for 30 days. Res-
taurants and beer taverns have al-
so been closed.
The government has postponed
indefinitely the opening of schools
for a new term that was supposed
to start on Monday.
Airports will remain open to
travelers who produce recent cer-
tificates showing they are free of
COVID-19. Travel between Zim-
babwe’s cities is restricted to “es-
sential services” while land bor-
ders are open for commercial car-
go and vehicles transiting to other
countries only.
But the new measures seem to
have done little to reduce the
country’s general atmosphere of
complacency.
Despite warnings, people gath-
ered in large numbers for New
Year’s Eve revelries.
On Sunday, ignoring reports of
the deaths of some high profile
business leaders and political fig-
ures, many Zimbabweans moved
around without wearing masks.
In the eastern city of Mutare,
hundreds of people gathered close
together under trees to attend
church services without masks or
social distancing.
In the city’s Chikanga area, a
group of men playing social soccer
seemed undeterred by the renew-
ed threat of COVID-19.
“It’s the same alarm they raised
in March (when the government
first introduced a strict lockdown)
but no one I know died or caught
COVID. Life goes on,” said Felix
Matari, on the sidelines of the soc-
cer match.
Zimbabwe returns to tighter restrictions amid rise in virus cases
TSVANGIRAYI MUKWAZHI / AP
Zimbabwean police round up people defying a curfew Friday on thestreets of Harare, Zimbabwe.
Associated Press
SYDNEY — More Australian
states and territories are reimpos-
ing travel restrictions to prevent
the spreading of the coronavirus
from new outbreaks in New South
Wales and Victoria states.
The Australian Capital Territo-
ry has shut out non-residents who
have been on the northern beach-
es of Sydney, where the outbreaks
are most concentrated, Greater
Sydney and other smaller centers,
unless they have an exemption.
The island state of Tasmania
has barred anyone directly linked
to the latest Victorian cases, list-
ing exposure sites where con-
firmed cases are known to have
been. The move followed Tasma-
nia’s declaration of Greater Syd-
ney and the Wollongong area
south of Sydney as medium-risk
zones, requiring travelers to quar-
antine for 14 days on arrival, while
those from Sydney’s northern
beaches are barred from entering.
Victoria reported three new
cases of community transmission
on Sunday, down from Saturday’s
10. In total, there have been 21 lo-
cally acquired Victorian cases
over recent days, all linked to the
New South Wales outbreak.
On Sunday, New South Wales
recorded eight new local cases.
There are 161 active cases in the
state, most of them in the northern
beaches of Sydney, and 13 ema-
nating from a liquor store that are
not connected to the beaches clus-
ter.
The news that the state is bat-
tling two separate outbreaks in
Sydney comes on the first day of
mandatory mask restrictions
across Greater Sydney, with en-
forcement to begin at midnight
Sunday.
Masks will be mandatory in
shopping centers, on public trans-
port, in places of worship, hair and
beauty premises and entertain-
ment venues such as cinemas. All
hospitality staff are also required
to wear one.
Curbs on travel returnto parts of Australia
Associated Press
NEW DELHI — India autho-
rized two COVID-19 vaccines on
Sunday, paving the way for a huge
inoculation program to stem the
coronavirus pandemic in the
world’s second most populous
country.
The country’s drugs regulator
gave emergency authorization for
the vaccine developed by Oxford
University and U.K.-based drug-
maker AstraZeneca, and another
developed by the Indian company
Bharat Biotech.
Drugs Controller General Dr.
Venugopal G. Somani said that
both vaccines would be adminis-
tered in two dosages. He said the
decision to approve the vaccines
was made after “careful examin-
ation” by the Central Drugs Stan-
dard Control Organization, India’s
pharmaceutical regulator.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
called the vaccine approval a “de-
cisive turning point to strengthen
a spirited fight.”
“It would make every Indian
proud that the two vaccines that
have been given emergency use
approval are made in India!” Mo-
di tweeted.
AstraZeneca has contracted Se-
rum Institute of India, the world’s
largest vaccine manufacturer, to
make 1 billion doses of its vaccine
for developing nations, including
India. On Wednesday, Britain be-
came the first country to approve
the shot.
The country’s initial immuniza-
tion plan aims to vaccinate 300
million people — health care
workers, front-line staff including
police, and those considered vul-
nerable due to their age or other
diseases — by August 2021. For ef-
fective distribution, over 20,000
health workers have been trained
so far to administer the vaccine,
the Health Ministry said.
India OKs2 vaccines
Associated Press
MAHESH KUMAR A / AP
A health worker takes a nasal swab sample at a COVID19 testingcenter Saturday in Hyderabad, India.
-
Monday, January 4, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 9
NATION
WASHINGTON — Congress
convened Sunday for the start of a
new session, swearing in lawmak-
ers during a tumultuous period as
a growing number of Republicans
work to overturn Joe Biden's vic-
tory over President Donald
Trump and the coronavirus surg-
es.
Democrat Nancy Pelosi was set
to be reelected as House speaker
by her party, which retains the
majority in the House but with the
slimmest margin in 20 years after
a November election wipeout.
Opening the Senate could be
among Mitch McConnell’s final
acts as majority leader. Republi-
can control is in question until
Tuesday’s runoff elections for two
Senate seats in Georgia. The out-
come will determine which party
holds the chamber.
The House and Senate opened
at noon, as required by law, with
strict COVID protocols.
It’s often said that divided gov-
ernment can be a time for legisla-
tive compromises, but lawmakers
are charging into the 117th Con-
gress with the nation more torn
than ever, disputing even basic
facts including that Biden won the
presidential election.
Fraud did not spoil the 2020
presidential election, a fact con-
firmed by election officials across
the country. Before stepping down
last month, Attorney General Wil-
liam Barr, a Republican appoint-
ed by Trump, said fraud did not af-
fect the election’s outcome. Arizo-
na’s and Georgia’s Republican
governors, whose states were cru-
cial to Biden’s victory, have also
stated that their election results
were accurate.
Nevertheless, a dozen Republi-
cans bound for the new Senate, led
by Sens. Josh Hawley and Ted
Cruz, and even more in the House
have pledged to become a resist-
ance force to Biden’s White
House, starting with efforts to sub-
vert the will of American voters.
These GOP lawmakers plan to
object to the election results when
Congress meets on Wednesday to
tally his 306-232 Electoral College
victory over Trump.
Vice President Mike Pence,
who as president of the Senate,
presides over the session and de-
clares the winner, is facing grow-
ing pressure from Trump’s allies
over that ceremonial role.
Democrats, meanwhile, are
pushing ahead, eager to partner
with Biden on shared priorities,
starting with efforts to stem the
pandemic and economic crisis.
They plan to revisit the failed ef-
fort to boost pandemic aid to
$2,000 for most people.
Several lawmakers have been
sickened by the virus and some
were expected to be absent Sun-
day.
Congress’ newsession to focuson Biden, virus
BY LISA MASCARO
Associated Press
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Vandals
lashed out at the leaders of the
U.S. House and Senate over the
holiday weekend, blighting their
homes with graffiti and in one case
a pig’s head as Congress failed to
approve an increase in the amount
of money being sent to individuals
to help cope with the coronavirus
pandemic.
Spray paint on Senate Majority
Leader Mitch McConnell’s door in
Kentucky on Saturday read,
“WERES MY MONEY.” “MITCH
KILLS THE POOR“ was scrawled
over a window. A profanity direct-
ed at the Republican senator was
painted under the mailbox.
At House Speaker Nancy Pelo-
si’s home in San Francisco, some-
one spray-painted graffiti and left
apig’s head and fake blood on New
Year’s Day, police said. The van-
dalism was reported around 2 a.m.
Friday, a police statement said,
and a special investigations unit is
trying to determine who did it.
KGO-TV reported that graffiti
found on the garage door of the
Democratic leader’s home includ-
ed the phrases “$2K,” “Cancel
rent!” and “We want everything,”
apparently referencing Demo-
cratic lawmakers’ failed efforts to
increase the coronavirus relief
checks from $600 to $2,000.
The news station says security
cameras surround the three-story
brick home in the tony Pacific
Heights neighborhood.
McConnell released a state-
ment on Saturday condemning the
vandalism at his home in Louis-
ville.
“I’ve spent my career fighting
for the First Amendment and de-
fending peaceful protest,” he
stated. “I appreciate every Ken-
tuckian who has engaged in the
democratic process whether they
agree with me or not. This is dif-
ferent. Vandalism and the politics
of fear have no place in our socie-
ty.”
McConnell said he and his wife
are not intimidated by the vandal-
ism. “We just hope our neighbors
in Louisville aren’t too inconve-
nienced by this radical tantrum.”
Louisville police are investigat-
ing the incident at McConnell’s
home, which occurred around 5
a.m. Saturday. There currently
are no suspects, police spokesper-
son Dwight Mitchell said in an
email.
On New Year’s Day, Senate Re-
publicans refused to allow debate
over a bill to increase the amount
of COVID-19 relief. The increase,
supported by President Donald
Trump, passed the Democratic-
led House but was blocked by
McConnell.
The government has begun
sending out the smaller payments
to millions of Americans. The
$600 payment is going to individu-
als with incomes up to $75,000.
Congress approved the payment
in late December.
TIMOTHY D. EASLEY / AP
Graffiti reading, "Where's my money" is seen on a door of the home ofSenate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, RKy., in Louisville, Ky., onSaturday.
McConnell, Pelosi homes vandalized after $2K relief failsAssociated Press
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Pe-
dro Pierluisi vowed to achieve
statehood for Puerto Rico and
fight against poverty, corruption
and COVID-19 after he was sworn
in Saturday as the U.S. territory’s
new governor.
Pierluisi, a Democrat who pre-
viously served as Puerto Rico’s
representative in Congress for
eight years, also promised to pri-
oritize education, lift the govern-
ment out of bankruptcy and alle-
viate a deep economic crisis as
leader of the pro-statehood New
Progressive Party.
“I have listened to our people
and acknowledged the needs for
better governance,” he said in a bi-
lingual speech with a strong con-
ciliatory tone. “I need everyone to
battle our common enemies.”
Saturday’s ceremony marked
the end of a chaotic four-year peri-
od in which Puerto Rico had three
governors, including Pierluisi
himself briefly after former Gov.
Ricardo Rosselló stepped down
last year following huge street
protests.
Pierluisi, 61, inherits a stagnant
economy, a divided legislature, a
billion-dollar public debt restruc-
turing and a politically fractured
U.S. territory hit hard by the pan-
demic as it still struggles to recov-
er from hurricanes and earth-
quakes.
“Some very difficult years await
him and the island,” said political
analyst Mario Negrón. “The econ-
omy is in critical condition, and
even though federal funds are on
their way, people forget that the
debt will have to be paid starting
in February.”
Pierluisi, who is known for his
conciliatory nature, will be lead-
ing a disgruntled and exhausted
population after obtaining the
lowest number of votes of any gov-
ernor in Puerto Rico’s history. He
received nearly 33% of votes com-
pared with nearly 32% obtained
by Carlos Delgado of the Popular
Democratic Party, marking the
first time either party failed to re-
ach 40% of votes.
New and longtime minority po-
litical parties gained ground dur-
ing November’s election, with no
clear majority emerging in the is-
land’s legislature, meaning Pier-
luisi will have to seek consensus
with members of four other par-
ties, Negrón said.
“I’d like to think that people will
grow during this moment of politi-
cal crisis,” he said. “Experience
has taught me all the contrary.”
A new legislature also was
sworn in on Saturday, marking the
first time that the majority of
Puerto Rico’s Senate is female.
CARLOS GIUSTI / AP
Pedro Pierluisi, center, with the New Progressive Party, was sworn in Saturday as the new governor ofPuerto Rico.
New governor sworn in as waryPuerto Rico demands changes
Associated Press
-
PAGE 10 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Monday, January 4, 2021
NATION
Spending her life in Los Angeles, Morgan
Andersen knows natural disasters all too
well. In college, an earthquake shook her
home hard. Her grandfather was affected
by recent wildfires in neighboring Orange
County.
“It’s just that constant reminder, ‘Oh
yeah, we live somewhere where there’s nat-
ural disasters and they can strike at any
time,’” said the 29-year-old marketing ex-
ecutive.
The Federal Emergency Management
Agency has calculated the risk for every
county in America for 18 types of natural di-
sasters, such as earthquakes, hurricanes,
tornadoes, floods, volcanoes and even tsu-
namis. And of the more than 3,000 counties,
Los Angeles County has the highest ranking
in the National Risk Index.
The way FEMA calculates the index spot-
lights places long known as danger spots,
like Los Angeles, but some other places
highlighted run counter to what most peo-
ple would think. For instance, eastern cities
such as New York and Philadelphia rank far
higher on the risk for tornadoes than torna-
do alley stalwarts Oklahoma and Kansas.
And the county with the biggest coastal
flood risk is one in Washington state that’s
not on the ocean, although its river is tidal.
Those seeming oddities occur because
FEMA’s index scores how often disasters
strike, how many people and how much
property are in harm’s way, how vulnerable
the population is socially and how well the
area is able to bounce back. And that results
in a high-risk assessment for big cities with
lots of poor people and expensive property
that are ill-prepared to be hit by once-in-a-
generation disasters.
While the rankings may seem “counter-
intuitive,” the degree of risk isn’t just how
often a type of natural disaster strikes a
place, but how bad the toll would be, accord-
ing to FEMA’s Mike Grimm.
Take tornadoes. Two New York City
counties, Philadelphia, St. Louis and Hud-
son County, N.J., are FEMA’s top five risk-
iest counties for tornadoes. Oklahoma
County, Okla. — with more than 120 torna-
does since 1950, including one that killed 36
people in 1999 — ranks 120th.
“They (the top five) are a low frequency,
potentially high-consequence event be-
cause there’s a lot of property exposure in
that area,” said University of South Caroli-
na Hazards & Vulnerability Research Insti-
tute Director Susan Cutter, whose work
much of the FEMA calculations are based
on. “Therefore, a small tornado can create a
large dollar loss.”
In New York, people are far less aware of
the risk and less prepared — and that’s a
problem, Grimm said. The day before he
said that, New York had a tornado watch.
Days later, the National Weather Service
tweeted that in 2020 several cities, mostly
along the East Coast, had more tornadoes
than Wichita, Kan.
In general, Oklahoma is twice as likely to
get tornadoes as New York City, but the
damage potential is much higher in New
York because there are 20 times the people
and nearly 20 times the property value at
risk, FEMA officials said.
“It’s that risk perception that it won’t hap-
pen to me,” Grimm said. “Just because I
haven’t seen it in my lifetime doesn’t mean
it won’t happen.”
That sort of denial is especially true with
frequent and costly flooding, he said, and is
the reason only 4% of the population has
federal flood insurance when about one-
third may need it.
Disaster experts say people have to think
about the big disaster that happens only a
few times a lifetime at most, but is devas-
tating when it hits — Hurricane Katrina,
Superstorm Sandy, the 2011 super outbreak
of tornadoes, the 1906 San Francisco earth-
quake or a pandemic.
“We’re bad at taking seriously risks that
happen only infrequently,” said David
Ropeik, a retired Harvard risk communica-
tions lecturer and author of “How Risky Is
It, Really?” “We simply don’t fear them as
much as we fear things that are more pre-
sent in our consciousness, more common.
That’s practically disastrous with natural
disasters.”
Something like FEMA’s new index
“opens our eyes to the gaps between what
we feel and what is,” Ropeik said.
FEMA’s top 10 riskiest places, in addition
to Los Angeles, are three counties in the
New York City area — Bronx, New York
County (Manhattan) and Kings County
(Brooklyn) — along with Miami, Philadel-
phia, Dallas, St. Louis and Riverside and
San Bernardino counties in California.
By the same measurement, Loudoun
County, a Washington, D.C. outer suburb,
has the lowest risk of any county, according
to FEMA. Three other Washington subur-
ban counties rank among the lowest risks
for larger counties, along with suburban
Boston, Long Island, suburban Detroit and
Pittsburgh.
Some of FEMA’s risk rankings by disas-
ter type seem obvious. Miami has the high-
est risk for hurricanes, lightning, and river
flooding. Hawaii County is tops in volcano
risk and Honolulu County for tsunamis,
Dallas for hail, Philadelphia for heat waves
and California’s Riverside County for wild-
fires.
Outside risk expert Himanshu Grover at
the University of Washington called FE-
MA’s effort “a good tool, a good start,” but
one with flaws, such as final scores that
seem to downplay disaster frequency.
Risks are changing because of climate
change and this index doesn’t seem to ad-
dress that, Ropeik said. FEMA officials said
climate change shows up in flooding calcu-
lations and will probably be incorporated in
future updates.
This new tool, based on calculations by 80
experts over six years, is about “educating
homeowners and renters and communities
to be more resilient,” FEMA’s Grimm said,
adding that people shouldn’t move into or
out of a county because of the risk rating.
FEMA calculates US’ riskiest, safest placesBY SETH BORENSTEIN
Associated Press
DAMIAN DOVARGANES / AP
Michael Osborne, a film director, documents the damage, Jan. 18, 2019, after being able to open the door to his home, left, after amudslide broke through the earth under a house next to his home in Los Angeles.
KATHY WILLENS / AP
Denny Fallon pauses while cleaning up debris following a possible tornado, Sept. 8,2012, that tore the roof off his family's cabana at the Breezy Point Surf Club in theQueens borough of New York.
JOHN MINCHILLO / AP
Seawater floods the Brooklyn BatteryTunnel during Superstorm Sandy, Oct.29, 2012, in New York.
-
Monday, January 4, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 11
AMERICAN ROUNDUP
Court sides with baseballteam over foul ball injury
NC RALEIGH — A NorthCarolina appeals courtruled in favor of a baseball team
that was sued after a foul ball
struck an 11-year-old girl in the
face.
The Raleigh News & Observer
reported that the North Carolina
Court of Appeals sided with the
Durham Bulls because of a long-
held legal precedent known as the
“baseball rule.”
The rule holds that teams are
not liable for injuries if they have
offered some protected seating to
fans. At Durham Bulls Athletic
Park, the seats closest to home
plate are guarded by a net.
In 2015, Angelina DeBlasio was
sitting on a picnic bench when a
foul ball struck her. She had sur-
gery to correct several dislocated
teeth and broken bones in and
around her jaw.
Drugs seized from jailover 200 times in 4years
NY EAST MEADOW —Officials at the NassauCounty jail on Long Island seized
drugs or drug paraphernalia from
inmates 237 times over a period of
less than four years, a Newsday
analysis of state records found.
The drugs confiscated from in-
mates at the 1,540-bed jail be-
tween 2016 and the summer of
2019 included marijuana, pre-
scription pills, heroin, cocaine and
other banned substances. News-
day obtained the reports on con-
traband seizures from the New
York State Commission of Correc-
tion through a freedom of infor-
mation law request.
Steve Martin, a lawyer who is a
court-appointed monitor of New
York City’s Rikers Island jail com-
plex, said the data on drug sei-
zures are fairly typical for a cor-
rectional facility of the Nassau
jail’s size and location. “It’s just a
part of doing business with
locked-up people,” Martin said.
“It is a very significant, ever-pre-
sent problem because it’s related
oftentimes to violence.”
Police seize fireworks,report related injuries
HI HONOLULU — A Kauairesident died following afireworks explosion on New
Year’s Eve in Hawaii as many oth-
ers were injured across the state
in fireworks-related incidents, au-
thorities said.
The Kauai Police Department
said Kappa resident Dexter
Ibaan, 34, was attempting to light
a firework when it apparently
malfunctioned and exploded in
his hand, Hawaii News Now
reported.
Firefighters and paramedics at-
tempted lifesaving efforts while
Ibaan was being transported to
Wilcox Medical Center where he
was later pronounced dead. The
nature his injuries was not dis-
closed.
On Oahu, authorities said at
least six people were adminis-
tered medical treatment following
fireworks-related incidents, in-
cluding three children who suf-
fered serious injuries.
Owner, disabled dogreunited after 10 months
IL EAST ST. LOUIS — A dogthat disappeared from ayard in rural Missouri 10 months
ago was reunited with her owner
on New Year’s Day.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch
reported that Athena was reco-
vering from amputation surgery
when she w