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

SEE HOPES ON PAGE 5

Volume 79 Edition 184 ©SS 2021 MONDAY, JANUARY 4, 2021 50¢/Free to Deployed Areas

stripes.com

WAR ON TERRORISM

Baghdad protests onanniversary of US strikeon top Iranian generalPage 5

MILITARY

Army updatinghair, groomingstandardsPage 4

FACES

Future Deadguitarist Garciapoor fit for militaryPage 18

Next generation of star athletes get chance to shine in 2021 ›› Page 24

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

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

Bahrain67/64

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Doha71/59

Kuwait City67/57

Riyadh71/54

Kandahar51/26

Kabul40/19

Djibouti82/66

MONDAY IN THE MIDDLE EAST

Mildenhall/Lakenheath

39/35

Ramstein32/29

Stuttgart32/25

Lajes,Azores61/58

Rota53/44

Morón51/34 Sigonella

53/39

Naples51/45

Aviano/Vicenza37/32

Pápa42/38

Souda Bay63/57

Brussels35/32

Zagan35/32

DrawskoPomorskie 32/29

MONDAY IN EUROPE

Misawa28/23

Guam83/80

Tokyo44/30

Okinawa71/68

Sasebo48/42

Iwakuni47/43

Seoul21/14

Osan23/19

Busan38/34

The weather is provided by the American Forces Network Weather Center,

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

Prime rate 3.25Interest Rates Discount rate 0.25Federal funds market rate  0.093month bill 0.0930year bond 1.64

EXCHANGE RATES

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.

lekic.slobodan@stripes.comvandiver.john@stripes.com Twitter: @john_vandiver zeitvogel.karin@stripes.com Twitter: @StripesZeit

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

Kenney.Caitlin@stripes.com Twitter: @caitlinmkenney

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