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Memorable 2020releases helpedgamers escapePage 12

MILITARY

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NBA

Spurs’ Hammonbreaks coachingbarrier in lossPage 24

Jobless claims down 19,000, still 4 times pre-pandemic level ›› Page 7

KABUL, Afghanistan — Ten

American service members died

in Afghanistan in 2020, including

four who were killed in action,

making for the lowest number of

U.S. combat deaths in the country

in a full calendar year since the

war began in October 2001.

All four combat deaths oc-

curred before Feb. 29, when the

Taliban agreed under a deal

signed with the U.S. not to attack

international troops and the

Americans pledged to fully with-

draw from the country by May,

provided certain conditions were

met.

U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan

are expected to fall to around

2,500 by mid-January, the lowest

they’ve been since the war started

more than 19 years ago. The steep

reduction in troop numbers,

which were at around 13,000 be-

fore the deal was signed, is seen as

an attempt by President Donald

Trump to fulfill a 2016 campaign

promise to extract the U.S. from

“endless wars.”

More than 2,300 American ser-

vice members have been killed in

Afghanistan and over 20,000 have

been wounded since the conflict

began.

Rememberingthe US troopswho died inthe year 2020

BY PHILLIP WALTER

WELLMAN

Stars and Stripes

10The number of American service

members who died in Afghanistan in

2020. The U.S. saw 4 combat deaths

in the country — the lowest in a full

calendar year since the war began in

October 2001.

SEE AFGHANISTAN ON PAGE 4

KABUL, Afghanistan — The

Trump administration is working

to verify intelligence that shows

China offered to pay militants in

Afghanistan to kill American

troops, a U.S. news website has re-

ported, citing anonymous high-

level sources.

“Administration officials across

multiple agencies are currently

working to corroborate the initial

intelligence reports,” which is in

the process of being declassified,

the Axios news website, which

broke the story, reported Wednes-

day.

National security advisor Rob-

ert O’Brien briefed President Do-

nald Trump on the reports earlier

this month, Axios reported.

But the intelligence the admin-

istration claims to have was “thin-

ner even than reports that Russia

offered payments to the Taliban to

target U.S. and coalition troops,

which were never corroborated,”

another news website said, citing

an unnamed government official.

A report in The New York

Times in June claimed a Russian

military spy unit offered bounties

to Taliban-linked militants to at-

tack coalition forces in Afghanis-

tan, including U.S. and British

troops.

Days after that report was re-

leased, Trump dismissed it as

“possibly another fabricated Rus-

sia Hoax” and said the informa-

tion wasn't credible. In July, De-

fense Secretary Mark Esper told

House lawmakers that Pentagon

intelligence agencies had not cor-

SEAN BERRY/U.S. Marine Corps

A U.S. Marine with Task Force Southwest moves through a village during a patrol near Bost Kalay, Afghanistan, in June 2018.

Bounties from Beijing?Report: Administration says it has intel that China offered to pay militants to kill US troops

BY PHILLIP WALTER

WELLMAN

Stars and Stripes

AFGHANISTAN

SEE BOUNTIES ON PAGE 3

BUSINESS/WEATHER

NEW YORK — Ticketmaster

agreed on Wednesday to pay a $10

million fine to escape prosecution

over criminal charges accusing

the company of hacking into the

computer system of a startup ri-

val.

A judge in federal court in New

York City signed off on the deal in

what’s been a long-running legal

battle that challenged Ticketmas-

ter’s dominance over ticket sales

for concerts by major music acts.

The Live Nation subsidiary had

been facing multiple charges of

conspiracy to commit hacking and

wire fraud targeting a Brooklyn-

based company called Songkick.

Ticketmaster had already paid

$110 million in 2018 to settle a civil

suit brought by Songkick.

Court papers accused Ticket-

master of trying to infiltrate sys-

tems created by Songkick for art-

ists that had hired the startup to

help sell up to 10% of seats for U.S.

tours directly through their fan

clubs. The arrangement was seen

as a way to reward loyal fans while

thwarting scalpers — and also

something that could cut into prof-

its for the Ticketmaster empire.

Ticketmaster employees “re-

peatedly — and illegally — ac-

cessed a competitor’s computers

without authorization using stolen

passwords to unlawfully collect

potential business intelligence,”

said Acting U.S. Attorney Seth Du-

Charme.

A statement from Ticketmaster

on Wednesday said that the con-

duct involved only two employees

who were fired in 2017.

Bahrain72/62

Baghdad70/47

Doha75/62

Kuwait City68/53

Riyadh67/46

Kandahar50/20

Kabul50/23

Djibouti81/70

SATURDAY IN THE MIDDLE EAST

Mildenhall/Lakenheath

37/28

Ramstein36/33

Stuttgart35/30

Lajes,Azores60/57

Rota54/37

Morón50/29 Sigonella

62/42

Naples56/46

Aviano/Vicenza44/39

Pápa47/38

Souda Bay63/53

Brussels40/32

Zagan35/31

DrawskoPomorskie 32/27

SATURDAY IN EUROPE

Misawa 30/15

Guam84/81

Tokyo45/23

Okinawa70/59

Sasebo48/37

Iwakuni45/27

Seoul31/13

Osan20/14

Busan40/28

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

2nd Weather Squadron at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb.

SUNDAY IN THE PACIFIC

WEATHER OUTLOOK

TODAYIN STRIPES

American Roundup ...... 11Comics ....................18-19Crossword ............. 18-19Movies .................... 14-15Opinion ........................ 17Sports ................... 20-24Video Games ...........12-13

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) .3767Britain (Pound) 1.3659Canada (Dollar) 1.2725China (Yuan) 6.5319Denmark (Krone) 6.0646Egypt (Pound) 15.7303Euro .8151Hong Kong (Dollar) 7.7539Hungary (Forint) 296.43Israel (Shekel) 3.2171Japan (Yen) 103.05Kuwait (Dinar) .3042

Norway (Krone) 8.5329

Philippines (Peso) 48.01Poland (Zloty) 3.72Saudi Arab (Riyal) 3.7516Singapore (Dollar) 1.3207

So. Korea (Won) 1,089.32Switzerland (Franc) .8806Thailand (Baht) 29.96Turkey (New Lira) 7.4243

(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 0.0830year bond 1.66

EXCHANGE RATESTicketmaster to pay $10M over hacking chargesAssociated Press

PAGE 2 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Saturday, January 2, 2021

Saturday, January 2, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 3

roborated the reports.

But now that Beijing faces the

same accusations as Moscow did

six months ago, the outgoing ad-

ministration is handling the alle-

gations “very differently,” wrote

Politico reporter Lara Seligman.

In addition to briefing the presi-

dent, O’Brien convened a National

Security Council Policy Coordina-

tion Committee to discuss it on

Dec. 22, Seligman wrote, citing an

unnamed administration official.

“The U.S. ‘treats this intelli-

gence with caution, but any intelli-

gence or reports relating to the

safety of U.S. forces is something

we take very seriously,’” the offi-

cial was quoted as saying.

The allegations, which were

made just three weeks before

Trump leaves office, were out-of-

character for China, which “has

long played a quiet diplomatic role

in Afghanistan,” Axios reporters

Jonathan Swan and Bethany Al-

len-Ebrahimian said.

“If this intelligence were to be

confirmed, it would represent a

dramatic strategic shift for China,

and sharply escalate tensions be-

tween China and the U.S.,” they

wrote. “If the intelligence does not

prove accurate, it raises questions

about the motivations of the sourc-

es behind it as well as the decision

to declassify it.”

Beijing made the alleged offer

to pay bounties for attacks on U.S.

troops “some time after late Feb-

ruary when the U.S. struck its deal

with the Taliban,” Axios cited a se-

nior U.S. official as saying.

There have been no U.S. combat

deaths in Afghanistan since the

Feb. 29 deal was signed.

JASMINE L. FLOWERS/U.S. Army

Soldiers from Task Force Stalwart, which is compromised of soldiers from 1st Battalion, 41st InfantryRegiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, pose for a group photo on March 28, 2018,in a post in the outskirts of Afghanistan.

Bounties: US taking China intel‘seriously’ while expressing cautionFROM PAGE 1

wellman.phillip@stripes.comTwitter: @pwwellman

MILITARY

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates

— Sailors involved in transferring

fuel oil from an Iraqi tanker in the

Persian Gulf to another vessel

owned by a shipping company

traded in the United Statesdiscov-

ered a “suspicious object” they

fear could be a mine, authorities

said Thursday.

The discovery comes amid

heightened tensions between Iran

and the U.S. in the waning days of

President Donald Trump’s ad-

ministration.

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 one-year

anniversary of the U.S. drones

strike in Baghdad that killed a top

Iranian general.

Two private security firms said

sailors feared they found a limpet

mine on the MT Pola, a Liberian-

flagged tanker that was receiving

assistance Thursday in the Per-

sian Gulf off Basra. A limpet mine

is a type of naval mine that attach-

es to the side of a ship, usually by a

diver-member of special forces. It

later explodes, and can signifi-

cantly damage a vessel.

The two firms, Ambrey Intelli-

gence and Dryad Global, say in-

vestigations are ongoing.

The United Kingdom Marine

Trade Operations, an organiza-

tion under Britain’s royal navy,

said on its website that an “un-

known object” had been attached

to a ship’s hull in the vicinity of

Iraq’s Khor Al-Zubair Port, with-

out providing further information.

The U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet,

which patrols the Mideast, was

monitoring the incident, said spo-

keswoman Cmdr. Rebecca Re-

barich. Iraqi officials did not im-

mediately comment on the inci-

dent.

The Pola, along with another

tanker, serves as floating fuel oil

storage of Iraq’s State Organiza-

tion of Marketing of Oil, said Sud-

harsan Sarathy, a senior oil ana-

lyst at the data-analysis firm Re-

finitiv. Smaller vessels carry the

fuel oil to the ship, which then con-

ducts ship-to-ship transfers in the

Persian Gulf to clients.

Sarathy said the Pola was con-

ducting a ship-to-ship transfer

with the MT Nordic Freedom, a

Bermuda-flagged tanker. Dryad

Global posted a satellite photo that

it said showed the Pola and the

Nordic Freedom.

The owners of the Nordic Free-

dom, the company Nordic Amer-

ican Tankers, could not be imme-

diately reached. Stock in the firm

traded slightly down early Thurs-

day on the New York Stock Ex-

change at just under $3 a share.

Security firms saysuspicious objecton tanker off Iraq

BY JON GAMBRELL

Associated Press

Turkey’s army will lead NA-

TO’s quick reaction force in 2021,

placing Turkish troops at the core

of a multinational unit that would

deploy quickly to wherever it’s

needed to defend the alliance in a

crisis, the U.S.-led military pact

said.

NATO touted the Turkish mil-

itary’s ability to carry out the mis-

sion despite Ankara being at odds

with members of the alliance, in-

cluding the United States, over its

close ties to Russia.

“Turkey has made substantial

investments into the unit —

amongst the most mobile in NA-

TO — particularly in its logistics

and ammunition requirements

planning,” the alliance said in a

statement.

The quick reaction force, for-

mally known as NATO’s Very

High Readiness Joint Task Force,

was created in 2014 in response to

a more aggressive Russia. Turkey

takes over leadership of the mis-

sion from Poland, which led the

force in 2020.

The U.S. and other NATO mem-

bers have been at odds with Tur-

key on several issues, including

Turkey’s role in Syria and its pur-

chase of an advanced Russian air

defense system.

The U.S. has said the Russian-

made S-400 is incompatible with

other alliance air defense net-

works and could be used to gather

intelligence on allied weapons

systems. It kicked Turkey out of

the F-35 fighter program and, in

mid-December, the Trump ad-

ministration imposed sanctions

on Turkey’s main military weap-

ons procurement agency after

Ankara went ahead with the pur-

chase.

Despite these disagreements,

Turkey’s 66th mechanized infan-

try brigade of 4,200 troops will

serve as the main element of NA-

TO’s quick reaction force during

2021. About 2,000 troops from 10

other NATO countries will play a

supporting role, NATO said.

The quick reaction force is a

spearhead element within NA-

TO’s larger Response Force,

which has gained in strategic sig-

nificance since Russia’s interven-

tion in Ukraine six years ago.

Some security analysts, howev-

er, have questioned its usefulness

in a crisis. One problem is that de-

ploying the force on short notice

requires consensus among all NA-

TO member states, which could

be difficult to achieve on short no-

tice. A member state leading the

quick reaction force could also re-

fuse to deploy its forces.

Turkey, which blocked a NATO

defense plan for the Baltic states

and Poland over a dispute with

other members over Syria in

early 2020, has a track record of

complicating allied efforts at

achieving consensus.

Turkey takes command ofNATO crisis response force

BY JOHN VANDIVER

Stars and Stripes

vandiver.john@stripes.comTwitter: @john_vandiver

NATO

The flags of the nation of Turkey,left, and the North Atlantic TreatyOrganization.

An airman with the 15th Mainte-

nance Group at Joint Base Pearl

Harbor-Hickam died Tuesday,

according to an Air Force news re-

lease.

The airman’s identification was

withheld pending next of kin noti-

fication, according to the 15th

Wing on Wednesday. The release

provided no further information.

The death was not a suicide, ac-

cording to a report Thursday in

The Honolulu Star-Advertiser

that cited the wing.

The airman was declared dead

at Tripler Army Medical Center,

according to the wing.

15th Wingairmanfound deadin Hawaii

Stars and Stripes

news@stripes.com

PAGE 4 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Saturday, January 2, 2021

Ian P. McLaughlinArmy Staff Sgt. Ian P.

McLaughlin, 29, died on Jan. 11,

2020, when his vehicle hit a road-

side bomb in Kandahar province.

He was on his first combat deploy-

ment and was

killed alongside

Army Pfc. Mi-

guel A. Villalon.

McLaughlin,

of Newport

News, Va., was

assigned to the

307th Brigade

Engineer Battal-

ion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team,

82nd Airborne Division out of Fort

Bragg, N.C.

He joined the Army in 2012 as a

horizontal construction engineer,

before being reassigned four

years later to the 82nd Airborne Di-

vision, where he became a squad

leader.

“He wanted to serve,” said his

cousin, Rachel Mathes.

“He died doing what he wanted

to do.”

McLaughlin’s awards and deco-

rations include the Purple Heart

and Bronze Star Medal.

He is survived by his wife and

four children.

Miguel A. VillalonArmy Pfc. Miguel A. Villalon,

21, was killed on Jan. 11, 2020,

when his vehicle struck a roadside

bomb that also took the life of Ar-

my Staff Sgt. Ian P. McLaughlin

and injured two

other soldiers.

The Taliban

claimed respon-

sibility for the

blast.

Villalon was

assigned to the

307th Brigade

Engineer Battal-

ion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team,

82nd Airborne Division out of Fort

Bragg, N.C.

An Illinois native, he joined the

Army in 2018 to become a combat

engineer.

He was on his first combat mis-

sion when he was killed.

“Miguel was a young soldier

with dreams for the future and a

desire to make a difference in the

world today,” said Richard C. Ir-

vin, the mayor of Aurora, Ill.,

where Villalon went to high

school.

Villalon’s awards and decora-

tions include the Purple Heart and

Bronze Star Medal.

He is survived by his mother,

who lives in Chicago, and his fa-

ther, who lives in Brownsville,

Texas.

Paul K. VossAir Force Lt. Col. Paul K. Voss,

46, died on Jan. 27, 2020, when the

Bombardier E-11A he was piloting

crashed in Ghazni province.

Air Force Capt. Ryan S. Pha-

neuf was also killed.

The crash was a noncombat in-

cident that was not caused by ene-

my fire, the military said.

Voss, who grew up on Guam,

was assigned to Air Combat Com-

mand headquarters at Joint Base

Langley-Eustis in Virginia.

A grass-to-brass officer, he

served 25 years in active duty with

the Air Force and was on a volun-

tary deployment supporting the

455th Air Expeditionary Wing at

the time of his death.

“Paul Voss was one of those rare

mission commanders that enlisted

service members would love to fly

with,” Jimmy Santos, who de-

ployed with Voss to Bagram Air-

field in 2010, said on Facebook.

Voss’s decorations include the

Meritorious Service Medal and

the Aerial Achievement Medal.

He is survived by his wife,

Shannon, and their three daugh-

ters.

Ryan S. PhaneufAir Force Capt. Ryan S. Pha-

neuf, 30, was killed in a plane

crash in central Ghazni province

on Jan. 27, 2020, alongside Air

Force Lt. Col. Paul K. Voss.

The crash was a noncombat in-

cident that was not caused by ene-

my fire, the military said.

Phaneuf was assigned to the 37th

Bomb Squadron at Ellsworth Air

Force Base, S.D., and was flying in

support of Operation Freedom’s

Sentinel at the time of his death.

The Hudson, N.H., native en-

tered active duty in June 2012 af-

ter being commissioned through

ROTC.

He dreamed of becoming an Air

Force pilot and wrote about it in

his high school yearbook, ABC af-

filiate WMUR in Manchester,

N.H., reported.

Phaneuf’s awards and decora-

tions include the Air Force Com-

mendation Medal.

He is survived by his wife,

Megan Murat Phaneuf.

Javier J. GutierrezArmy Sgt. 1st Class Javier J. Gu-

tierrez, 28, died on Feb. 8, 2020, in

an insider attack in Nangarhar

province. Army Sgt. 1st Class Anto-

nio R. Rodriguez was also killed in

the attack.

Gutierrez was assigned to 3rd

Battalion, 7th Special Forces

Group, out of Eglin Air Force

Base, Fla.

He was born in Jacksonville,

N.C., but grew up in Texas.

He enlisted in the Army in 2009

and, in 2015, graduated as a Spe-

cial Forces communications ser-

geant and reported to 7th Group.

He had deployed once to Iraq as

a paratrooper and was on his first

deployment to Afghanistan when

he died.

“Sgt. 1st Class Gutierrez was a

warrior that exemplified selfless

service and a commitment to the

mission, both values that we em-

body here in the 7th Special Forces

Group,” Col. John W. Sannes, 7th

Group commander said in a state-

ment.

Gutierrez was posthumously

promoted to sergeant first class

and awarded the Purple Heart

and Bronze Star Medal.

He is survived by his parents,

his wife, Gabriela Elena, and their

four children.

Antonio R. RodriguezArmy Sgt. 1st Class Antonio R.

Rodriguez, 28, was killed in an in-

sider attack in eastern Nangarhar

province on Feb. 8, 2020, along-

side Army Sgt. 1st Class Javier J.

Gutierrez.

Rodriguez was assigned to 3rd

Battalion, 7th Special Forces

Group, out of Eglin Air Force

Base, Fla.

Born in Las Cruces, N.M., Ro-

driguez enlisted in the Army in

October 2009 after graduating

from high school that spring.

He was first assigned to 3rd Bat-

talion, 75th Ranger Regiment, out

of Fort Benning, Ga., and de-

ployed eight times as a Ranger.

In 2018, he reclassified as a

cryptologic linguist with Spanish

as his chosen language.

He deployed twice with 7th

Group.

“Sgt. 1st Class Rodriguez was

selfless and served honorably; he

was certainly among the best in

our unit,” 7th Group commander

Col. John W. Sannes said in a

statement.

Rodriguez is survived by his

parents and his wife, Ronaleen.

Branden T. KimballArmy Spc. Branden T. Kimball,

21, died in a noncombat incident at

Bagram Airfield on Feb. 12, 2020.

Kimball was assigned to 3rd Bat-

talion, 10th Aviation Regiment, 10th

Combat Aviation Brigade, out of

Fort Drum, N.Y.

A native of

Central Point,

Ore., Kimball

joined the Army

in 2016 and

served as an air-

craft structural

repairer.

He was on his

second deploy-

ment at the time of his death.

His awards and decorations in-

clude the Afghanistan Campaign

Medal with Campaign Star.

“He will be missed from our for-

mations,” said Lt. Col. Kamil

Sztalkoper, spokesman for the

10th Mountain Division, which the

10th Aviation Regiment is part of.

Kimball is survived by his

mother and three brothers.

Trevarius R. BowmanArmy 1st Lt. Trevarius R. Bow-

man, 25, died on May 19, 2020, in a

noncombat incident at Bagram

Airfield.

Originally from Spartanburg,

S.C., Bowman was assigned to

Company B, 198th Signal Battalion,

261st Signal Brigade, out of New-

berry, S.C.

The unit is attached to the 228th

Theater Tactical Signal Brigade

with the South Carolina National

Guard.

He earned a bachelor’s degree

in information management sys-

tems from the

University of

South Carolina

Upstate and

joined the uni-

versity’s Palmet-

to College cam-

pus as an IT spe-

cialist in 2018,

according to the

USC website.

Bowman’s awards and decora-

tions include the Army Reserve

Component Achievement Medal,

the Army Commendation Medal

and the Afghan Campaign Medal.

Kierra Bowman, Bowman's sis-

ter, said on Facebook that his

death had taken his family by sur-

prise.

A fellow soldier with the Face-

book name Stubaby Rogers said

Bowman had “inspired me to con-

tinue to reach for new heights in

the military.”

Vincent S. IbarriaArmy Spc. Vincent S. Ibarria,

21, died on July 3, 2020, in a vehi-

cle rollover accident in western

Farah province.

Ibarria was assigned to 2nd Bat-

talion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st

Infantry Brigade Combat Team,

10th Mountain Division, out of Fort

Drum, N.Y.

He was originally from San An-

tonio, and was deployed to Af-

ghanistan to sup-

port Operation

Freedom’s Sen-

tinel.

In online trib-

utes, friends re-

membered Ibar-

ria as loyal, kind

and positive.

“I’m lost for

words right now

I can’t believe you are gone,” said

Trey Davis, who said Ibarria was

his best friend, in a Facebook post.

“You will never be forgotten bro I

love and miss you so much bro. I

hope you’re looking down and

smiling at the boys.”

Joseph T. AllbaughArmy 1st Lt. Joseph T. Allbaugh,

24, died in a noncombat incident in

Kandahar province on July, 12,

2020.

He was serving as an engage-

ment operations cell battle cap-

tain at the time of his death.

Allbaugh was assigned to 2nd

Battalion, 44th Air Defense Artil-

lery regiment, 108th ADA Brigade,

out of Fort Campbell, Ky.

He was raised in Folsom, Calif.,

and graduated from Vanguard

University in 2018 with a psychol-

ogy degree.

He was com-

missioned

through the

ROTC as an Ar-

my air defense

artillery officer.

“The loss of 1st

Lt. Joseph All-

baugh is devas-

tating for every-

one,” Col. Charles Matallana, the

108th Air Defense Artillery Bri-

gade commander, said in a state-

ment.

Allbaugh’s awards include the

Afghanistan Campaign Medal,

National Defense Service Medal,

Global War on Terrorism Service

Medal and the Army Service Rib-

bon.

He is survived by his wife Ash-

ley.

Afghanistan: 10 fallen US troops united by desire to serveFROM PAGE 1

McLaughlin

Villalon

Kimball

Bowman

Ibarria

Allbaugh

Left: Gutierrez, right: Rodriguez

wellman.phillip@stripes.comTwitter: @pwwellman

Left: Voss, right: Phaneuf

MILITARY

Saturday, January 2, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 5

PACIFIC

TOKYO — More than 1,300 people tested

positive for the coronavirus Thursday in Ja-

pan’s capital city, setting a new one-day re-

cord as 2020 slid into history, according to

public broadcaster NHK.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government re-

ported 1,337 newly infected people on New

Year's Eve, according to NHK. The pan-

demic has set and crushed daily new-case

records in Tokyo in December: 678 on Dec.

16, then 821 the following day and 949 the

day after Christmas.

Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike at news confer-

ence Wednesday said a “third wave of un-

precedented size” is attacking the metro ar-

ea, according to NHK. New Year’s festivi-

ties, she said, will not curb the virus’s

spread. Koike urged metro residents to

spend the night quietly at home and not with

others at dinner or parties, NHK reported.

The metro government counted 106

deaths due to coronavirus complications in

December and 622 during the pandemic, as

of Wednesday.

Koike said “that unless we can curb in-

fections now, we will have no choice” but to

ask the national government to declare a

state of emergency, according to the Jiji

Press.

Japan reported 3,856 new cases on

Wednesday and 47 deaths, according to the

Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resources

Center.

The U.S. military in Japan and South Ko-

rea reported 25 new viral patients as of 6

p.m. Thursday, the majority of them at Ma-

rine Corps bases.

Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, 500

miles west of Tokyo, reported 13 new pa-

tients, all of them already quarantined.

Nine were isolated as close contacts and

tested during a “large-scale” initiative, ac-

cording to an air base Facebook post.

“MCAS Iwakuni is conducting aggres-

sive contact tracing and will contact, quar-

antine, and test all close contacts,” accord-

ing to the post. More cases may result, it

stated.

Iwakuni over the previous two days re-

ported 12 new cases, though it did not spec-

ify how those people acquired the virus.

Marine bases on Okinawa reported 10

newly infected people: four at Camp Kin-

ser, three at Camp Foster, two at Camp

Hansen and one at Marine Corps Air Sta-

tion Futenma, according to a Facebook post

by Marine Corps Installations Pacific.

South Korea

South Korea, experiencing its own third

wave, reported 967 newly infected patients

Thursday, according to the country’s Cen-

tral Disease Control Headquarters. The na-

tion has reported a pandemic total of 60,740.

“On New Year’s Eve, we are facing the fi-

nal stage of our greatest challenge in our

fight against COVID-19,” Prime Minister

Chung Sye-kyun said during a meeting in

Seoul, referring to the respiratory disease

caused by the coronavirus.

The South Korean government is nego-

tiating with Moderna Inc. to acquire 40 mil-

lion or more doses of the same vaccine sup-

plied to U.S. troops in the Pacific, according

to Reuters news service Wednesday.

A U.S. military retiree and his spouse

tested positive for the virus on Wednesday,

according to U.S. Forces Korea. The two,

who live in Hwaseo-myeon, last visited

Camp Humphreys on Dec. 18 and are now

quarantined at the Army base south of Se-

oul, according to a USFK press release

Wednesday.

Students at Defense Department schools

at U.S. bases in South Korea will move to re-

mote learning when classes resume

Wednesday after winter break, according

to the school district superintendent.

USFK increased the risk level associated

with the coronavirus on Dec. 19. That coin-

cided with the start of winter break for

schools in the Pacific West District of the

Department of Defense Education Activity.

The move by USFK to Health Protection

Condition-Charlie meant DODEA schools

must switch from in-person classroom ses-

sions to remote learning for all students

when school resumes. A relatively small

number of students opted for full-time vir-

tual learning when the school year started

in August.

Students and teachers will prepare for re-

mote learning on Monday and Tuesday, ac-

cording to a letter from Superintendent Jeff

Arrington to staff and families on Wednes-

day.

He said school principals would supply

families with more information, including

plans for distributing computers for home

use.

Tokyo reports 1,000-plus virus cases New Year’s EveBY JOSEPH DITZLER

Stars and Stripes

ditzler.joseph@stripes.comTwitter: @JosephDitzler

BETTY R. CHEVALIER/U.S. Air Force

Senior Airman Shaneshia Lindsey unpacks coronavirus vaccines at Osan Air Base, SouthKorea, on Monday. 

YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE,

Japan — The guided-missile de-

stroyers USS John S. McCain and

USS Curtis Wilbur closed out 2020

with a transit of the Taiwan Strait

on Thursday, 7th Fleet spokesman

Lt. Joe Keiley said.

The ships steamed through the

contested, 110-mile-wide water-

way separating Taiwan from

mainland China to demonstrate

“the U.S. commitment to a free

and open Indo-Pacific,” Keiley

said by email.

“The United States military will

continue to fly, sail and operate

wherever international law al-

lows,” he said.

The transit was the Navy’s 13th

this year, passing its previous re-

cord of 12 set in 2016. It made nine

such trips last year, three in 2018

and five in 2017. The Navy last

sent a warship, the guided-missile

destroyer USS Mustin, through

the strait on Dec. 18.

The number of Navy trips

through the strait has increased

along with tensions between the

United States and China in the

South and East China seas. Strain

with China over Taiwan increased

after the U.S. last month approved

a $280 million sale of advanced

military communications equip-

ment to Taiwan.

The transit came as the Chinese

military conducts exercises in the

waters around Hainan Island,

about 760 miles west of Taiwan,

according to China’s Ministry of

Defense. China’s Sanya Maritime

Safety Administration announced

the exercises on Monday, direct-

ing all other vessels to avoid the

area during the exercises Dec. 29-

Jan. 7.

The McCain made the trip fol-

lowing back-to-back freedom-of-

navigation operations in the South

China Sea.

On Dec. 22, the destroyer

steamed past Spratly Islands, a

disputed chain east of Taiwan. On

Dec. 24, the McCain challenged

Vietnamese maritime claims

around the Con Daos Islands,

about 150 miles south of Ho Chi

Minh City.

McCain, Wilbur make Taiwan Strait transitBY CAITLIN DOORNBOS

Stars and Stripes

doornbos.caitlin@stripes.comTwitter:@CaitlinDoornbos

MARKUS CASTANEDA/U.S. Navy

Petty Officer 3rd Class Jonni Melo, left, from Bronx, N.Y., and Petty Officer 3rd Class Nicole Zapata, fromTampa, Fla., stand watch in the pilot house aboard USS John S. McCain in the Taiwan Strait onWednesday. 

PAGE 6 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Saturday, January 2, 2021

MILITARY

WASHINGTON — All but three

Navy bases have reinstated their

travel restrictions due to the coro-

navirus pandemic, the Pentagon

announced Wednesday as military

infections surpass 105,000.

As of Monday, 59 out of 62 naval

bases had travel restrictions rein-

stated, according to a Pentagon

document released Wednesday.

The only U.S. naval bases that

have lifted their travel restrictions

are located overseas: Naval Sta-

tion Rota in Spain, Naval Station

Guantanamo Bay in Cuba and Na-

val Support Activity Bahrain.

Travel restrictions were first

put into place in March to try to

prevent the spread of the virus

within the Defense Department.

Then-Defense Secretary Mark

Esper signed a memorandum May

22 that laid out the conditions

needed for locations to allow for

travel to and from bases. The re-

strictions have impacted the mili-

tary moves of service members

and their families during the past

several months, causing backlogs

during the busiest moving season

for the military.

As of Monday, 91 of 231 U.S. mil-

itary installations around the

world, or 39%, had lifted their trav-

el restrictions for personnel, ac-

cording to the document. The last

time there was that few bases open

for travel was July 13.

The military reached the most

open bases on Nov. 4 at 153 out of

231, or 66%, according to the Pen-

tagon. Since then, more installa-

tions have had to reinstate travel

restrictions as coronavirus cases

have risen during the holiday sea-

son and cooler weather.

The other services have differ-

ent proportions of their installa-

tions restricted or open to travel.

Of the Air Force’s 80 installations,

45 have lifted restrictions as of

Monday, according to the Penta-

gon. The Army currently has only

28 of its 68 installations open. The

Marine Corps has lifted restric-

tions at 14 of its 17 installations. Of

the four remaining Defense De-

partment installations — three fi-

nance centers and the Pentagon —

only the Pentagon has lifted travel

restrictions.

As of Wednesday, the Pentagon

reported that a total of 105,871 ser-

vice members have tested positive

for the coronavirus, 931 have been

hospitalized, 68,049 have reco-

vered and 14 have died.

The Army still has the largest

share of those cases with 37,736

soldiers infected, according to the

Pentagon. The Navy has had

22,225 cases, the Air Force has had

19,520 and the Marine Corps has

had 12,763 cases. The National

Guard has reported 12,897 cases

among its service members.

The United States has surpassed

19.6 million cases of the virus as of

Wednesday, the most reported

cases of any country, according to

Johns Hopkins University. Behind

the U.S. is India, which has report-

ed 10.2 million cases, and Brazil

with 7.5 million cases. The U.S. al-

so has the highest number of peo-

ple to die from the coronavirus at

340,956 as of Wednesday. Brazil

has lost 192,681 people to the virus

and India has lost 148,429 people.

Navy restricts travel to all but 3 installationsBY CAITLIN M. KENNEY

Stars and Stripes

kenney.caitlin@stripes.comTwitter: @caitlinmkenney

JAY PUGH/U.S. Pacific Fleet

U.S. Pacific Fleet Fleet Master Chief James Honea receives the coronavirus vaccine at Joint Base PearlHarborHickam in Hawaii on Tuesday from Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Philip Sayma, assigned to NavyEnvironmental and Preventative Unit 6.

A contract to oversee up to $12

billion in Space Force technology

funds is being held up while the

nascent military service eval-

uates fraud findings from an ob-

scure Texas business dispute,

casting fresh scrutiny on an

emerging industry of nonprofit

companies that handle acquisi-

tions on the government’s behalf.

In early December, the Space

and Missile Systems Center, a Los

Angeles-based unit of the Space

Force, announced it had selected

a nonprofit called NSTXL to over-

see billions of dollars in contracts

over a 10-year period. Its role ma-

naging the consortium is similar

to an outsourced procurement of-

fice, carrying out work that would

otherwise be handled by seasoned

bureaucrats while other compa-

nies receive the contracts them-

selves.

Such consortium managers

have largely escaped the public

eye despite their increasing pow-

er in military procurement. But

the fraud findings are likely to

start a more serious conversation

regarding their role, and the case

has already complicated NSTXL’s

relationship with the military.

The Space Force was not aware

of the long-running litigation that

uncovered the fraud when it eval-

uated bids, said Space and Missile

Systems Center spokeswoman

Capt. Caitlin Toner. The agency

now plans to delay the contract

award so it can “further evaluate”

the litigation, Toner said.

The agency “was not made

aware of the [Harris County] liti-

gation during our source selection

evaluations which were complet-

ed prior to the court ruling; how-

ever, the SMC team is further as-

sessing the matter,” Toner said in

an email.

NSTXL spokeswoman Shelley

Tweedy said the organization

plans to appeal. She said the rul-

ing has no bearing on NSTXL’s

work with the government.

“This preliminary ruling and

any judgment that may be entered

will not impact NSTXL’s ability to

provide its full suite of services in

support of the government, its

members and most importantly,

the warfighter,” Tweedy said.

The allegations stem from a

partnership NSTXL had with an

events-management firm in rela-

tion to an earlier Navy contract.

According to a Nov. 24 civil ruling

in the district court for Harris

County, Tex., NSTXL sought to

sever its relationship with the

events firm after it allegedly

failed to perform its responsibil-

ities.

NSTXL then resorted to what

judge Steven Kirkland called “il-

legitimate use of the corporate

form” to cut the events firm out of

its work with the government, a

course of action he repeatedly de-

scribed as fraudulent.

According to the ruling, the

work that was supposed to be per-

formed by the events company in-

stead went to NSTXL-NC, a sep-

arate organization that had no em-

ployees and a weeks-old bank ac-

count with $250 in it. At the time,

NSTXL-NC had no directors other

than NSTXL president Tim

Greeff, leading the court to de-

scribe it as little more than a pass-

through for NSTXL itself.

Kirkland also stated in the rul-

ing that the two organizations had

“engaged in a series of activities

to attempt to cover-up and hide

their misdeeds,” which included

submitting false statements to the

court in an attempt to dismiss the

litigation, according to the ruling.

Tweedy, the NSTXL spokeswo-

man, emphasized that the Harris

County litigation “is not and has

never been a fraud case,” arguing

that the judge’s use of the word

“fraud” to describe NSTXL’s ac-

tivities “was outside the bounds of

the matters presented and not

germane to the ruling.” She added

that the decision to “use the cor-

porate form” for the Navy con-

tract came at the request of the

Defense Department.

Space Force delays deal to evaluate contractor who acted fraudulentlyBY AARON GREGG

The Washington Post

President-elect Joe Biden will

nominate former Pentagon offi-

cial Kathleen Hicks to serve as the

first female deputy defense secre-

tary, saying he wanted someone

who knows the department “in-

side and out” to help restore order

to an agency he says was cast into

disarray by President Donald

Trump.

Colin Kahl, who served as Bi-

den’s national security adviser

when he was vice president, will

be nominated for undersecretary

of defense for policy.

The new additions to Biden’s na-

tional security team, announced

Wednesday, signal a return to ex-

perienced hands as Trump has

run through a number of defense

leaders, including two confirmed

secretaries and three acting secre-

taries of defense. Biden com-

plained Monday that critical na-

tional security posts have been

“hollowed out” in personnel, ca-

pacity and morale.

Hicks and Kahl would report to

Lloyd Austin, the retired four-star

Army general and Raytheon

Technologies Corp. board mem-

ber who Biden has tapped to be

Secretary of Defense.

Austin’s nomination faces an

additional hurdle in that both

chambers of Congress would have

to approve a waiver to a law pro-

hibiting recently retired military

officers to fill the top civilian job at

the department. Neither Hicks nor

Kahl have served in the military.

Hicks, who heads Biden’s Pen-

tagon transition team, is a think-

tank expert on national security at

the Center for Strategic and Inter-

national Studies and is on the

board of Aerospace Corp. She

served as deputy undersecretary

of defense for strategy, plans and

forces from 2009-12 and as princi-

pal deputy undersecretary of De-

fense for policy from 2012-13.

She would serve in the No. 2 job

at the Pentagon, which directs

day-to-day management of the

largest federal bureaucracy. Bi-

den has also said he wants the de-

partment to take on bigger roles in

vaccine distribution and climate

policy under his administration.

Kahl, a professor at Stanford

University, has served in a num-

ber of Pentagon roles, most re-

cently as deputy assistant secreta-

ry of defense for the Middle East at

the beginning of the Obama ad-

ministration.

Kelly Magsamen, a former Na-

tional Security Council and Penta-

gon staffer now at the Center for

American Progress, will serve as

chief of staff to the secretary of de-

fense, according to a person famil-

iar with the decision.

Biden picks 1st woman to serve as deputy defense secretaryBloomberg

Saturday, January 2, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 7

VIRUS OUTBREAK

WASHINGTON — The number

of Americans seeking unemploy-

ment benefits fell by 19,000 last

week to still historically high

787,000 as a resurgent coronavi-

rus grips the U.S. economy.

While at the lowest level in four

weeks, the new figures released

Thursday by the Labor Depart-

ment are nearly four times higher

than last year at this point before

the coronavirus struck. Employ-

ers continue to cut jobs as rising

coronavirus infections keep many

people at home and state and local

governments re-impose restric-

tions.

Jobless claims were running

around 225,000 a week before the

pandemic struck with force last

March, causing weekly jobless

claims to surge to a high of 6.9 mil-

lion in late March as efforts to con-

tain the virus sent the economy in-

to a deep recession.

The government said that the

total number of people receiving

traditional unemployment bene-

fits fell by 103,000 to 5.2 million for

the week ending Dec. 19, com-

pared with the previous week.

The four-week average for

claims, which smooths out weekly

variations, rose last week to

836,750, an increase of 17,750

from the previous week.

Economists believe that the ho-

lidays, in addition to broad confu-

sion over the status of a COVID-19

relief package, suppressed appli-

cations for benefits last week.

Congress finally passed a $900

billion relief bill that would boost

benefit payments and extend two

unemployment assistance pro-

grams tied to job losses from the

pandemic. However, President

Donald Trump called the measure

a “disgrace” because in his view it

did not provide enough in direct

payments to individuals.

Trump eventually signed the

measure on Sunday but sought to

pressure Congress to boost the

stimulus payments to individuals

from the $600 in the bill to $2,000.

The Democratic-controlled

House quickly passed legislation

to meet Trump's demand, but the

Republican-led Senate checked

that momentum.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch

McConnell said Wednesday that

the proposal to boost payments to

$2,000 has “no realistic path to

quickly pass the Senate.”

Meanwhile, the government

has begun sending out the smaller

payments to millions of Ameri-

cans. The $600 payment is going to

individuals with incomes up to

$75,000.

Analysts believe the $900 billion

package as it now stands will give

the economy a boost, but only as

long there are no major problems

with the rollout of COVID-19 vac-

cinations.

Early in December, Trump ad-

ministration officials said they

planned to have 20 million doses

of the vaccine distributed by the

end of the year. But according to

data provided by the Centers for

Disease Control, just over 11.4 mil-

lion doses have been distributed

and only 2.1 million people have

received their first dose.

Trump deflected criticism

about the pace of the vaccine pro-

gram, saying that it's “up to the

states to distribute the vaccines.”

Most economists believe the

U.S. economy will rebound at

some point next year.

“While prospects for the econo-

my later in 2021 are upbeat, the

economy and labor market will

have to navigate some difficult

terrain between now and then and

we expect (jobless) claims to re-

main elevated,” said Nancy Van-

den Houten, lead U.S. economist

at Oxford Economics.

Jobless claimsdown 19K, stillat historic high

Associated Press

CHARLES KRUPA / AP

A "Now Hiring" sign hangs on the front wall of a Harbor Freight Tools store, Dec. 10, in Manchester, N.H.

WASHINGTON — More than 2 million

Americans have received their first doses

of coronavirus vaccines, but officials ac-

knowledged Wednesday that the number

fell short of expectations.

“We agree that number is lower than

what we hoped for,” said Dr. Moncef Slaoui,

chief adviser to Operation Warp Speed, a

public-private partnership to accelerate a

vaccine in the country. “We know it should

be better, and we’re working to make it bet-

ter.”

The U.S. ended the year Thursday with

20 million doses of the Moderna and Pfizer

vaccines having reached their final destina-

tions — 10,800 locations — according to Ar-

my Gen. Gustave Perna, chief operating of-

ficer of Operation Warp Speed.

Perna said it was a “remarkable feat.”

However, it didn’t meet expectations. Offi-

cials said earlier in the year that they

planned to have 20 million people vaccinat-

ed and 100 million doses distributed by the

end of 2020. The pace has drawn criticism

from President-elect Joe Biden, who said

Tuesday the distribution “is not progress-

ing as it should.”

Slaoui on Wednesday called on anybody

with logistical solutions to help.

“As we have always done, we would like

to invite anybody who has energy to partici-

pate and help us further improve adminis-

tration of the vaccine,” Slaoui said. “Come

to the table, roll your sleeves up and help

us.”

Despite the hurdles, Slaoui was hesitant

to say Wednesday whether Operation Warp

Speed would alter its estimate that vaccines

would become available to the broader pop-

ulation by spring 2021.

U.K. regulators authorized use Wednes-

day of a third vaccine developed by Oxford

University and AstraZeneca. Slaoui said the

U.S. wants more data about its effectiveness

on the elderly population before autho-

rizing it.

Slaoui also called on more adolescents,

those ages 12 to 18, to volunteer for clinical

trials of the Moderna vaccine in order for it

to become approved for a younger popula-

tion. As of now, only the Pfizer vaccine can

be used for Americans ages 16 and 17, and

no vaccine has been approved for those

younger than 16.

“It’s a highly effective and safe vaccine,”

Slaoui said. “By participating, we can accel-

erate approval of this vaccine next to the

Pfizer vaccine for use in the younger pop-

ulation.”

Six Department of Defense locations are

participating in Phase 3 clinical trials of

coronavirus vaccines. On Tuesday, Wo-

mack Army Medical Center in Fort Bragg,

N.C., joined the list by being selected to host

a trial of the Novavax vaccine. Five other lo-

cations are participating in clinical trials of

the AstraZeneca vaccine.

It was unclear Wednesday how many De-

fense Department personnel had received

their first dose of vaccinations. Military

communities in Washington, San Diego and

San Antonio, Texas, were among the first to

get vaccinated earlier this month. The mil-

itary also began this week vaccinating ser-

vice members stationed in South Korea and

Japan.

The Department of Veterans Affairs re-

ported Wednesday that it had administered

55,000 vaccinations — 50,000 to health care

workers and 5,000 to patients in VA Com-

munity Living Centers and Spinal Cord In-

jury and Disorder Centers.

US provided only 2M shots;officials acknowledge lag

BY NIKKI WENTLING

Stars and Stripes

C.B. SCHMELTER, CHATTANOOGA (TENN.) TIMES FREEPRESS / AP

Hamilton County Health Departmentworkers dispense doses of the COVID19vaccine on Wednesday, in Chattanooga,Tenn. The U.S. has acknowledged a slowpace with only 2 million vaccines given.

Wentling.nikki@stripes.comTwitter: @nikkiwentling 

GRAFTON, Wis. — Police and federal

authorities are investigating after a Wis-

consin health system said an employee ad-

mitted to deliberately spoiling 500 doses of

coronavirus vaccine.

Aurora Medical Center first reported

that the doses had been spoiled on Satur-

day, saying they had been accidentally left

out unrefrigerated overnight by an employ-

ee at Aurora Medical Center in Grafton.

The health system said Wednesday that the

doses of vaccine now appear to have been

deliberately spoiled.

Police in Grafton, about 20 miles north of

Milwaukee, said in a statement that the de-

partment, FBI and Food and Drug Admin-

istration are “actively” investigating the

case. Police said they were notified of the

alleged tampering Wednesday night. Po-

lice said Thursday morning that no other

information would be immediately re-

leased, and declined to say if any arrests

have been made.

In a statement late Wednesday, Aurora

said the employee involved “acknowledged

that they intentionally removed the vaccine

from refrigeration.”

Aurora said it has fired the employee and

referred the matter to the authorities. The

statement said nothing about a possible mo-

tive for the action.

Police probe 500vaccine dosespurposely ruined

Associated Press

PAGE 8 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Saturday, January 2, 2021

VIRUS OUTBREAK

LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles

County surpassed 10,000 deaths

from the coronavirus Wednesday

as California also hit a record

high number of fatalities. The

governor also announced the first

detected case of the new and ap-

parently more contagious variant

of the coronavirus in a San Diego

man.

LA County Health Director Dr.

Barbara Ferrer called the 10,056

deaths there a “terrible mile-

stone.” She noted that more than

7,400 people remain hospitalized

with coronavirus in the county,

with 20% of them in intensive

care units.

“Most heartbreaking is that if

we had done a better job of reduc-

ing transmission of the virus,

many of these deaths would not

have happened,” Ferrer said.

The milestone came the same

day Gov. Gavin Newsom an-

nounced an “unprecedented”

high of 432 reported deaths, a fig-

ure that was likely elevated due to

a lag in reporting over the holi-

days. He said during a briefing

with Dr. Anthony Fauci, the na-

tion’s leading infectious disease

expert, that he had just learned

that the new strain of the virus

had been detected, the second re-

ported case in the nation.

“I don’t think Californians

should think that this is odd; it’s to

be expected,” Fauci said of the vi-

rus variant.

San Diego County officials said

the infected man is a 30-year-old

with no history of travel.

“The patient became symptom-

atic on the 27th. He was tested

yesterday and the new strain was

detected early (Wednesday),”

said Eric McDonald, the county’s

medical director for epidemiolo-

gy. Another person in the man’s

household was being tested, he

said.

The Colorado and California

cases have triggered a host of

questions about how the variant

circulating in England arrived in

the U.S. and whether it is too late

to stop it now, with top experts

saying it is probably already

spreading elsewhere in the Unit-

ed States. One San Diego super-

visor said the detection means it

is already circulating there.

Hours after the new variant

was detected, San Diego Mayor

Todd Gloria signed an executive

order directing stricter enforce-

ment of state and local public

health rules. He said he’s asked

police and the city attorney to

pursue fines “and potentially oth-

er enforcement actions” against

those who are “blatantly and

egregiously” defying health or-

ders.

Gloria praised residents who

follow the rules, stay home as

much as possible and wear masks

when outside.

“Many have sacrificed their so-

cial lives for the greater good.

Others have treated this with a

sickening level of apathy as their

neighbors died,” he said.

Hospitals are increasingly

stretched by soaring infections

that are expected to grow in the

coming weeks. Southern Califor-

nia and the agricultural San Joa-

quin Valley have what is consid-

ered no intensive care capacity to

treat patients suffering from the

coronavirus. And state health offi-

cials remain worried about gath-

erings tied to New Year’s Eve.

But hope is on the horizon as

vaccines roll out.

The statewide transmission

rate has also fallen to the point

where one infected person is in

turn infecting just one other indi-

vidual, a development that News-

om called encouraging while

warning that rates in central and

Southern California remain much

higher and the trend could re-

verse from holiday gatherings.

Calif. sees record deaths, new variantAssociated Press

OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR/ AP

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, left, and Dr. Anthony Fauci during a video conference Wednesday.

TORONTO — In a video posted

on Twitter on Christmas Eve, the

finance minister of Canada’s most

populous province was shown sit-

ting by a fireplace in a sweater

with a gingerbread house and a lit-

tle Christmas tree, drinking egg-

nog.

“I want to thank every one of

you for what we are doing to pro-

tect our most vulnerable,” Rod

Phillips said about Ontarians stay-

ing home and avoiding nonessen-

tial travel because of the pandem-

ic over the Christmas holidays.

But Phillips himself had been

enjoying a Caribbean vacation

since Dec. 13 on the French island

of St. Barts, a popular spot for the

rich and famous, even as his Twit-

ter account had suggested he was

in snowbound Ontario.

Now that word of his where-

abouts has broken in public, he’s

been summoned back home by

Premier Doug Ford, who prom-

ised a “very tough conversation”

with Phillips. Opposition parties

and the health officials are calling

for Phillips to be fired from Cabi-

net.

Phillips arrived at Pearson In-

ternational Airport in Toronto on

Thursday and spoke to waiting re-

porters before starting a mandato-

ry 14-day quarantine.

“It was a dumb dumb mistake,”

Phillips said. “Later on today I’ll

be speaking to Premier Ford. I

know that people are understan-

dably angry about the situation. I

do hope to be able to regain their

confidence in the days and weeks

ahead.”

He said it will be up to the pre-

mier on whether he continues in

Cabinet.

“I hope people appreciate that I

disappointed no one more than

myself,” Phillips said.

Ontario official called back fromSt. Barts vacation amid pandemic

Associated Press

NATHAN DENETTE, THE CANADIAN PRESS / AP

Ontario Finance Minister Rod Phillips speaks at a Nov. 3 pressconference at Queen's Park in Toronto, Canada, on Nov. 3.

As if 2020 needed any more

alarming headlines, each day

brings news about the new “muta-

nt” strain of the coronavirus iden-

tified in Great Britain, where

health officials have proclaimed

that it spreads far more readily

than the microbe that has been

crisscrossing the globe for

months.

Well, maybe.

Scientists who study the biology

of viruses say that so far, there is

no proof that this new strain is

more transmissible, only what

amounts to circumstantial evi-

dence. And even if the new strain

turns out to spread more easily,

there is no indication that it makes

people more sick, or that it has

changed anywhere near enough

that the vaccines will not work.

We spoke with three research-

ers for a crash course in Viral Mu-

tation 101: Susan R. Weiss at the

University of Pennsylvania, Za-

chary Klase of Drexel University,

and Glenn F. Rall at Fox Chase

Cancer Center.

The bottom line: Are you wear-

ing masks and limiting the amount

of time spent in crowded, indoor

spaces? Good, Weiss said. Keep it

up.

Question: What causes muta-

tions?

Answer: The genetic code of the

coronavirus is close to 30,000 let-

ters long. Every time it penetrates

a human cell, using that code to

make thousands of copies of itself,

a few mistakes are made — on av-

erage two or three with each new

copy. Some of these random er-

rors may hamper the microbe’s

ability to get passed on to other

cells, and ultimately to other peo-

ple. Many of the mistakes will

have no effect at all. A very few

might enable it to spread more

easily.

Q: How’d they find the new

strain?

A: In early December, the num-

ber of people with COVID surged

in Kent, in southeastern England.

The cases were identified in the

usual way, with nasal swabs and a

test abbreviated as PCR. That test

identifies the presence or absence

of three telltale regions of the viral

genetic code.

But to get a better idea of what

was happening in Kent, British

scientists sequenced the entire

30,000-letter code for a sample of

the patients. It turned out the virus

had acquired a set of 23 mutations,

including some misspellings and

two short sections that were sim-

ply deleted.

Q: Why the doubt about wheth-

er the virus is more transmissi-

ble?

A: The new strain seems to have

spread rapidly, but that might not

be the result of the virus itself. It

could simply be that someone who

was infected with that strain en-

gaged in unwise “super-spreader”

behavior, perhaps spending hours

at a British pub with dozens of oth-

ers nearby.

No proof yet that new strain spreads fasterFrom wire reports

Saturday, January 2, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 9

NATION

Responses to the coronavirus

pandemic and police brutality

dominated legislative sessions in

2020, leading to scores of new laws

that will take effect in the new

year.

Virus-related laws include

those offering help to essential

workers, boosting unemployment

benefits and requiring time off for

sick employees. A resolution in

Alabama formally encouraged

fist-bumping over handshakes.

Legislatures also addressed po-

lice use of force against Black peo-

ple and others of color after the

killing of George Floyd in Minnea-

polis led to widespread protests

against police brutality. Among

other things, new laws will man-

date oversight and reporting, cre-

ate civilian review panels and re-

quire more disclosures about

problem officers.

States including California, De-

laware, Iowa, New York, Oregon

and Utah passed bans on police

chokeholds. Floyd, who was

Black, died after a white officer

pressed a knee into his neck for

several minutes while being re-

corded on video, even as Floyd

pleaded for air.

New York state Assemblyman

Walter T. Mosley noted the hun-

dreds of Black men and women

killed at the hands of police be-

tween the cries of “I can’t breathe”

by Eric Garner, who died after be-

ing put in a chokehold by New

York City police in 2014, and those

of Floyd in May.

Mosley, a Brooklyn Democrat

who is Black, said the Eric Garner

Anti-Chokehold Act was “an im-

portant step forward, but it will not

be the last.”

Despite reforms in some states,

the response to Floyd’s death was

not uniform. Similar use-of-force

or disciplinary proposals in sever-

al other states failed, and some

even moved in the opposite direc-

tion.

Georgia created a new crime be-

ginning Jan. 1 defined as bias-mo-

tivated intimidation, which would

apply to the death or serious bodily

injury of police, firefighters and

emergency personnel. It also ex-

tends to cases involving more than

$500 worth of damage to their

property because of “actual or

perceived employment as a first

responder.” Violations are puni-

shable by one to five years in pris-

on and a fine of as much as $5,000.

The law was passed by Repub-

licans over the objections of Dem-

ocrats and civil liberties groups,

who said police already have

enough protections. Republicans

insisted on the law as part of a deal

to pass a new hate crimes law in

Georgia that drew bipartisan sup-

port.

While legislatures tackled some

elements of the coronavirus out-

break this year, most sessions had

ended before the current wave of

cases, deaths and renewed stay-

at-home orders. Lawmakers of

both major parties have vowed to

make the pandemic response a

centerpiece of their 2021 sessions,

addressing issues ranging from

school reopenings to governors’

emergency powers.

The virus also refocused atten-

tion on the nation’s uneven and ex-

pensive heath care system. Tack-

ling issues of coverage and costs

were common themes in 2020.

AWashington measure caps the

monthly out-of-pocket cost of in-

sulin at $100 until Jan. 1, 2023, and

requires the state Health Care Au-

thority to monitor the price of in-

sulin. A new Connecticut law re-

quires pharmacists to dispense a

30-day emergency supply of dia-

betes-related drugs and devices,

with a price cap, for diabetics who

have less than a week’s supply.

Both laws take effect Jan. 1.

“It’s unconscionable that any-

one should have to limit or go with-

out a common and widely-availa-

ble life-saving drug on an emer-

gency basis in America in 2021,”

Connecticut state Sen. Derek Slap,

aWest Hartford Democrat, said in

a statement.

A much-anticipated Medicaid

expansion is coming to Oklahoma

in the new year after years of re-

sistance from Republicans in the

Legislature and governor’s office.

Voters narrowly approved a con-

stitutional amendment expanding

the federal-state insurance pro-

gram to an additional estimated

215,000 low-income residents. It

takes effect in July.

Lawmakers must determine

how to cover the projected $164

million state share during their

2021 session. The cost could be

considerably higher, given the

number of Oklahomans who have

lost their jobs and work-related

health insurance because of the

pandemic.

Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt had

urged voters to reject the plan. He

said the state would have to “either

raise taxes or cut services some-

where else like education, first re-

sponders, or roads and bridges” to

pay for the expansion.

A new law in Georgia aims to

limit consumers from getting

stuck with surprise medical bills

by requiring insurers in many

cases to pay for care by a doctor or

at a hospital not within their net-

work of providers. The law pro-

tects patients from financial re-

sponsibility beyond what they

would normally have to pay. In-

stead, insurers and providers can

take disputes to the state insur-

ance commissioner. Minnesota al-

so has what’s being called a conti-

nuity of care law, going into effect

Jan. 1.

Virus aid, policereform lead newUS laws for 2021

BY JULIE CARR SMYTH

Associated Press

JOHN MINCHILLO/AP

A protester holds a sign that reads “Defund Police” during a rally for the late George Floyd outsideBarclays Center in New York in October. Demonstrators gathered on what would have been Floyd’s 47thbirthday to call for action in correcting systemic racism in policing and for criminal justice reform.

The Census Bureau will miss a

year-end deadline for handing in

numbers used for divvying up

congressional seats, a delay that

could undermine President Do-

nald Trump’s efforts to exclude

people in the country illegally

from the count if the figures aren’t

submitted before President-elect

Joe Biden takes office.

The Census Bureau plans to de-

liver a population count of each

state in early 2021, as close to the

missed deadline as possible, the

statistical agency said in a state-

ment late Wednesday.

“As issues that could affect the

accuracy of the data are detected,

they are corrected,” the statement

said. “The schedule for reporting

this data is not static. Projected

dates are fluid.”

It will be the first time that the

Dec. 31 target date is missed since

the deadline was implemented

more than four decades ago by

Congress.

Internal documents obtained

earlier this month by the House

Committee on Oversight and Re-

form show that Census Bureau of-

ficials don’t expect the apportion-

ment numbers to be ready until

days after Biden is inaugurated on

Jan. 20.

Once in office, Biden could re-

scind Trump’s presidential mem-

orandum directing the Census Bu-

reau to exclude people in the

country illegally from numbers

used for divvying up congression-

al seats among the states. An influ-

ential GOP adviser had advocated

excluding them from the appor-

tionment process in order to favor

Republicans and non-Hispanic

whites.

“The delay suggests that the

census bureau needs more time to

ensure the accuracy of census

numbers for all states,” said Terri

Ann Lowenthal, a former congres-

sional staffer who specializes in

census issues.

By law the Commerce Depart-

ment must present the president

by year’s end with population fig-

ures from the 2020 census, data

then used to determine how many

seats in Congress each state gets.

The president is then required to

submit the numbers to Congress

in early January. The Commerce

Department oversees the Census

Bureau, which conducts the once-

a-decade head count of every U.S.

resident.

There are no penalties for mis-

sing the deadline, however.

“For the Census Bureau, goals

No. 1 , 2 and 3 are completeness,

accuracy and usefulness. They

like to maintain the schedule, but

that can’t be a priority for them,”

said Kenneth Prewitt, a former

Census Bureau director during

President Bill Clinton’s adminis-

tration.

Even top Census Bureau offi-

cials internally questioned being

able to meet the Dec. 31 deadline,

with associate director Tim Olson

telling colleagues in an email that

anyone who thought the census

numbers could be crunched by

year’s end “has either a mental de-

ficiency or a political motivation.”

The email was disclosed in the liti-

gation.

Former Census Bureau director

John Thompson said the quality of

the data is “the overarching issue”

facing the Census Bureau.

“If these are not addressed, then

it is very possible that stakehold-

ers including the Congress may

not accept the results for various

purposes including apportion-

ment,” said Thompson, who over-

saw 2020 census preparation as

the agency’s leader during the

Obama administration.

He said in an email that missing

the Dec. 31 target date “means

that the Census Bureau is choos-

ing to remove known errors from

the 2020 Census instead of meet-

ing the legal deadline.”

Census Bureau to miss deadline, jeopardizing Trump planBY MIKE SCHNEIDER

Associated Press

PAGE 10 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Saturday, January 2, 2021

WORLD

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina —

Argentina on Wednesday became

the largest nation in Latin Amer-

ica to legalize elective abortion, a

triumph for a feminist movement

that overcame a last-minute ap-

peal by Pope Francis to his com-

patriots and could pave the way

for similar actions across the so-

cially conservative, heavily Ro-

man Catholic region.

After a marathon 12-hour ses-

sion, the country’s Senate passed

the law after midnight by a com-

fortable 38-29 margin just two

years after a similar initiative fell

short in a cliffhanger vote.

The legislation, which Presi-

dent Alberto Fernández has

vowed to sign into law in the com-

ing days, guarantees abortion up

to the 14th week of pregnancy and

beyond that in cases of rape or

when a woman’s health is at risk.

“Safe, legal and free abortion is

now the law,” Fernández tweeted

after the vote, noting that it had

been an election pledge.

“Today, we are a better society

that expands women’s rights and

guarantees public health,” he add-

ed.

While abortion is already al-

lowed in some other parts of Latin

America — such as in Uruguay,

Cuba and Mexico City — its legal-

ization in Argentina is expected to

reverberate across the region,

where dangerous clandestine pro-

cedures remain the norm a half-

century after a woman’s right to

choose was guaranteed in the U.S.

In Mexico, President Andrés

Manuel López Obrador’s party led

a chorus of mostly leftist politic-

ians across the region who cele-

brated the decision.

“We congratulate Argentina’s

lawmakers for listening in an ex-

emplary way to the clamor of the

people and their attention to the

popular will,” the executive com-

mittee of the National Regenera-

tion Movement said in a statement

on social media.”

Not all the reaction in the region

was positive.

Brazilian President Jair Bolso-

naro tweeted: “I deeply regret for

the lives of Argentinian children,

now subject to being ended in the

bellies of their mothers with the

State’s agreement. If it depends on

me and my administration, abor-

tion will never be approved on our

soil.”

Outside Argentina’s Senate,

pro- and anti-abortion rights ac-

tivists gathered, with the bill’s

mostly female supporters wearing

the color green that has character-

ized their combative movement.

The crowd of a few thousand

burst into raucous cheers and

tear-filled hugs as Vice President

Cristina Fernández de Kirchner,

who presided over the debate, an-

nounced the result, shouting “le-

gal abortion in the hospital!” as the

measure was passed.

Abortion set tobe legal in pope'snative Argentina

Associated Press

VICTOR CAIVANO/AP

Abortionrights activists hold hangers, which symbolize illegal abortions, and signs reading in Spanish"Goodbye," after lawmakers in Argentina approved a bill that legalizes abortion, outside Congress inBuenos Aires on Wednesday.

HELSINKI — Rescue workers

in Norway on Thursday contin-

ued searching for 10 people, in-

cluding children, who are mis-

sing a day after a massive land-

slide struck a residential area

near the capital.

Time was running out to find

survivors in destroyed buildings

amid wintry weather conditions.

Authorities said it was too dan-

gerous to send ground rescue pa-

trols to the ravaged area in the

village of Ask in the municipality

of Gjerdrum, some 16 miles

northeast of Oslo. Instead, the

search was carried out with the

help of helicopters, drones and

heat cameras.

“We still have hope of finding

people and saving lives,” police

spokesman Dag Andre Sylju told

the Norwegian public broadcast-

er NRK.

There were no reports of casu-

alties, but some 10 people were

injured, one of them seriously, in

what Prime Minister Erna Sol-

berg called “probably one of the

biggest landslides we have had.”

Officials said at least nine

buildings with some 30 apart-

ments were destroyed in the

early Wednesday landslide.

Over 1,000 people have been

evacuated, and officials said up to

1,500 people may be moved from

the area amid fears of further

landslides.

The landslide cut across a road

through Ask, home to some 5,000

people, leaving a deep, crater-like

ravine that cars could not pass.

Search continues forsurvivors after majorlandslide in Norway

Associated Press

FREDRIK HAGEN, NTB/AP

Emergency services near the site of a landslide in Ask, northeast ofOslo, on Thursday.

MOSCOW — A well-preserved Ice Age wool-

ly rhino with many of its internal organs still in-

tact has been recovered from permafrost in

Russia’s extreme north.

Russian media reported Wednesday that the

carcass was revealed by melting permafrost in

Yakutia in August. Scientists are waiting for ice

roads in the Arctic region to become passable to

deliver it to a lab for studies next month.

It’s among the best-preserved specimens of

the Ice Age animal found to date. The carcass

has most of its soft tissues still intact, including

part of the intestines, thick hair and a lump of

fat. Its horn was found next to it.

Yakutia 24 TV quoted Valery Plotnikov, a pa-

leontologist with the regional branch of the Rus-

sian Academy of Sciences, as saying the woolly

rhino was likely 3 or 4 years old when it died.

Plotnikov said the young rhino likely drowned.

Scientists dated the carcass as anywhere

from 20,000 to 50,000 years old. More precise

dating will be possible once it is delivered to a

lab for radiocarbon studies.

The carcass was found on the bank of the

Tirekhtyakh river in the Abyisk district, close to

the area where another young woolly rhino was

recovered in 2014.

Well-preserved Ice Age woolly rhino found

VALERY PLOTNIKOV, MAMMOTH FAUNA STUDY DEPARTMENT ATTHE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF YAKUTIA/AP

The carcass of a woolly rhino, taken inYakutia, in August. 

Associated Press

HONG KONG — Hong Kong’s

highest court on Thursday re-

voked media tycoon Jimmy Lai’s

bail after prosecutors succeeded

in asking the judges to send him

back to detention.

Lai had been granted bail on

Dec. 23 after three weeks in custo-

dy on charges of fraud and endan-

gering national security. His ap-

peal hearing is slated for Feb. 1.

The court said Thursday that it

was “reasonably arguable” that

the previous judge’s decision was

erroneous and that the order of

granting bail was invalid.

Lai is among a string of pro-de-

mocracy activists and supporters

arrested by Hong Kong police in

recent months as authorities step

up their crackdown on dissent in

the semi-autonomous Chinese ter-

ritory.

He was charged with fraud on

Dec. 3 for allegedly violating the

lease terms for office space for the

Next Digital, the media company

he founded. He was later charged

again on Dec. 12 under the sweep-

ing national security law imposed

by Beijing on suspicion of collud-

ing with foreign forces and endan-

gering national security.

Hong Kongmedia moguljailed afterbail revoked

Associated Press

Saturday, January 2, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 11

AMERICAN ROUNDUP

Prisoner accused ofharassing victim’s widow

TN NASHVILLE — A Ten-nessee prisoner was ac-cused in a criminal complaint of

sending harassing letters to the

widow of the man he murdered.

Hank Wise sent numerous com-

munications over several years to

his victim’s wife, according to the

complaint unsealed on Tues-

day.They included holiday cards in

which Wise professed his love for

the woman and told her that he

thinks about her every day, accord-

ing to a news release from the U.S.

Attorney’s Office in Nashville.

Wise is serving a 23-year sen-

tence for shooting and killing a man

identified in the complaint as

“B.G.” in front of his wife in Nash-

ville in 2009.

Wise has now been charged with

mail stalking. If convicted, he faces

up to five years in federal prison.

Program seeks to help pairveterans with pets

NE LINCOLN — A new pro-gram seeks to help Ne-braska veterans adopt pets.

The Lincoln Journal Starreport-

ed that the Nebraska Department

of Veterans’ Affairs is launching its

“Vets Get Pets” program on New

Year’s Day to help pay animal

adoption fees for veterans through

the sale of special license plates.

The new license plate design is

available for all Nebraska drivers

to purchase. The $5 cost for the al-

phanumeric version or $40 cost for

custom message plates will fund an

adoption fee reimbursement pro-

gram for veterans expected to be-

gin in July.

Veterans Affairs Director John

Hilgert said in a news release that

animal companions can help veter-

ans deal with post-traumatic stress

disorder.

Robots with rhythm:Dancing androids a hit

MA WALTHAM — Theserobots have rhythm.Boston Dynamics released a

video on Tuesday showing four of

its robots dancing to the 1962 hit

“Do You Love Me?” by The Con-

tours, and it caught fire online.

Two of the company’s humanoid

Atlas models do the twist, the

mashed potato and other classic

moves, joined by Spot, a doglike ro-

bot, and Handle, a wheeled robot

designed for warehouse work.

Boston Dynamics is infamous

for its scary robot videos, but this

one is clearly a playful attempt to

close the books on 2020.

“Our whole crew got together to

celebrate the start of what we hope

will be a happier year,” the Walth-

am company says in the caption.

Traffic stop triggers 4arrests, drug seizure

ME GRAY — A routinetraffic stop in Maineled to the seizure of cash, guns and

500 grams of fentanyl, law enforce-

ment officials said.

Three people were arrested fol-

lowing a traffic stop Sunday in

Gray, and a fourth was arrested

when police searched a motel room

in Naples. Fentanyl is a synthetic

opioid that is 80 to 100 times stron-

ger than morphine.

Capt. Donald Foss of the Cum-

berland County Sheriff’s Depart-

ment said the arrests reflect “the

extent of the drug problem in the

Sebago Lake area.”

“We do anticipate that the im-

pact of this seizure will prevent

several overdoses and overdose-

related deaths in the coming days

and weeks. Unfortunately, we also

know that this relief is temporary

and a new flow of drugs will soon

follow,” he said.

Officials: Inmates lockedup guard, didn’