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Volume 79 Edition 163 ©SS 2020 WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2020 50¢/Free to Deployed Areas
stripes.com
FACES
Bad Bunny has big year on SpotifyPage 18
MILITARY
Flu vaccine trickles into USbases in EuropePage 3
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Army uniforms for meetingwith Navy are inspired byWolfhounds of Korean War Page 21
After incidents, Camp Lejeune begins random testing for LSD ›› Page 5
WASHINGTON — A govern-
ment watchdog has found that the
Labor Department’s widely
watched weekly unemployment
benefits data are providing an in-
accurate reading on the number
of newly laid off workers because
of flaws in the government’s data
collection.
The Government Accountabil-
ity Office said in a report Monday
that the Labor Department’s
weekly report of the number of
people filing new applications for
unemployment benefits and
those receiving continuing claims
contained a number of inaccura-
cies.
The GAO said the problems in
data collection and reporting
were making it hard for policy-
makers to get a reliable picture of
what unemployment was doing
during the pandemic. The report
said the weekly data included
overestimates and at other times
underestimates of the number of
people filing for unemployment
benefits.
GAO: Weeklyunemploymentreport flawed
BY MARTIN CRUTSINGER
Associated Press
PATRICK SEMANSKY/AP
The Labor Department’s weeklyunemployment benefits data areproviding an inaccurate readingon the number of newly laid offworkers because of flaws in thegovernment’s data collection,according to the GovernmentAccountability Office.
SEE GAO ON PAGE 9
WASHINGTON — The USS
Bonhomme Richard will not re-
turn to sea after the Navy deter-
mined that the damage it sus-
tained from a fire in July was too
extensive and restoration deemed
too expensive, the service an-
nounced Monday.
“We did not come to this deci-
sion lightly,” Navy Secretary Ken-
neth Braithwaite said in a pre-
pared statement. “Following an
extensive material assessment in
which various courses of action
were considered and evaluated,
we came to the conclusion that it is
not fiscally responsible to restore
her.”
The 22-year-old Bonhomme Ri-
chard, a Wasp-class amphibious
assault ship, was undergoing
maintenance at Naval Base San
Diego when the fire started July
12. The fire burned through 11 of
its 14 decks, destroying the ship’s
forward mast, and damaging its
superstructure before it was ex-
tinguished July 16. About 40 sail-
ors and 23 civilians were treated
for minor injuries, such as heat ex-
haustion and smoke inhalation.
How the fire started is still un-
known, however Navy officials at
the time believed it began in the
cargo hold where supplies for the
maintenance work being conduct-
ed on the ship were stored.
“This fire probably couldn’t
have been in a worse point on the
ship in terms of its source that al-
lowed it to spread up elevator
shafts as an example, up exhaust
stacks as an example, to take that
fire up into the superstructure and
then forward,” Adm. Mike Gilday,
the chief of naval oper-
JASON WAITE/U.S. Navy
The amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard sits pier side at Naval Base San Diego on July 16. It is still unkown what caused a fire onJuly 12 that burned through 11 of the ship’s 14 decks before it was extinguished.
Ship to be scrappedNavy says rebuilding Bonhomme Richard after fire would be too expensive
BY CAITLIN M. KENNEY
Stars and Stripes “We did notcome to thisdecision lightly.”
Navy Secretary
Kenneth Braithwaite
SEE SCRAPPED ON PAGE 4
PAGE 2 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Wednesday, December 2, 2020
BUSINESS/WEATHER
NEW YORK — The viral pan-
demic is accelerating a transfor-
mation of America’s holiday shop-
ping season.
Few people showed up at the
mall this weekend, with millions
of pandemic-wary shoppers stay-
ing home to shop online.
The result? Overall holiday
sales are projected to rise a slight
0.9% in November and December
— and even that modest gain will
be due to an explosion in online
shopping, according to the re-
search firm eMarketer. It expects
online sales to jump nearly 36%,
while sales at physical stores fall
4.7%.
The online rush was on full dis-
play Monday, known as Cyber
Monday, a day of sales promoted
by retailers back in 2005. Once the
final numbers are tallied up, this
year’s Cyber Monday is projected
to become the biggest online shop-
ping day in American history.
Meanwhile, Black Friday, typi-
cally the frenzied kick-off of the
holiday shopping season, was ee-
rily quiet this year. Health offi-
cials had warned shoppers to stay
home, and stores followed suit by
putting their best deals online to
discourage crowds.
Half as many people shopped
inside stores this Black Friday
than last year, according to retail
data company Sensormatic Solu-
tions.
Online, sales hit a record $9 bil-
lion on Black Friday — up a sharp
22% from last year, according to
Adobe Analytics, which tracks on-
line shopping.
This holiday, everyone is shopping from homeAssociated Press
Bahrain77/73
Baghdad68/50
Doha79/68
Kuwait City70/62
Riyadh77/60
Kandahar73/33
Kabul55/33
Djibouti84/75
WEDNESDAY IN THE MIDDLE EAST
Mildenhall/Lakenheath
42/33
Ramstein35/31
Stuttgart36/32
Lajes,Azores64/60
Rota59/53
Morón60/47 Sigonella
59/44
Naples58/52
Aviano/Vicenza36/31
Pápa33/28
Souda Bay62/58
Brussels42/39
Zagan33/26
DrawskoPomorskie 32/28
WEDNESDAY IN EUROPE
Misawa38/33
Guam84/80
Tokyo52/54
Okinawa74/70
Sasebo55/51
Iwakuni55/50
Seoul35/29
Osan36/29
Busan45/35
The weather is provided by the American Forces Network Weather Center,
2nd Weather Squadron at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb.
THURSDAY IN THE PACIFIC
WEATHER OUTLOOK
TODAYIN STRIPES
American Roundup ...... 11Classified .................... 13Comics .........................16Crossword ................... 16Faces .......................... 18Opinion ........................ 14Sports ................... 20-24
Military rates
Euro costs (Dec. 2) $1.17Dollar buys (Dec. 2) 0.813British pound (Dec. 2) $1.30Japanese yen (Dec. 2) 101.00South Korean won (Dec. 2) 1,080.00
Commercial ratesBahrain (Dinar) 0.3771Britain (Pound) 1.3349Canada (Dollar) 1.2969China (Yuan) 6.5712Denmark (Krone) 6.2061Egypt (Pound) 15.6743Euro 0.8337Hong Kong (Dollar) 7.7524Hungary (Forint) 296.74Israel (Shekel) 3.2981Japan (Yen) 104.48Kuwait (Dinar) 0.3050Norway (Krone) 8.8503
Philppines (Peso) 48.11Poland (Zloty) 3.72Saudi Arab (Riyal) 3.7505Singapore (Dollar) 1.3400So. Korea (Won) 1,108.65Switzerland (Franc) 0.9035Thailand (Baht) 30.26Turkey (Lira) 7.8524 �(Military exchange rates are those available to customers at military banking facilities in the country of issuance for Japan,South Korea, Germany, the Netherlandsand the United Kingdom. For nonlocal currency exchange rates (i.e., purchasing British pounds in Germany), check with your local military banking facility. Commercialrates are interbank rates provided for reference when buying currency. All figures areforeign currencies to one dollar, except forthe British pound, which is represented indollarstopound, and the euro, which isdollarstoeuro.)
EXCHANGE RATES
Wednesday, December 2, 2020 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 3
MILITARY
Many Americans affiliated with
the U.S. military in Europe
haven’t been able to get flu shots
this year, due to delays in deliver-
ing the vaccine that officials are
struggling to explain.
Military and health officials
have said the inoculations are par-
ticularly important this year, as
they would help reduce the impact
of contagious respiratory illnesses
on the broader population and
ease the burden on the health care
system during the overlapping flu
season and coronavirus pandemic.
But even as some U.S. bases in
Japan wrapped up their flu vacci-
nation drives in October and oth-
ers are in the process of complet-
ing them, many Americans in Eu-
rope are waiting to be inoculated.
U.S. Naval Hospital Naples in
Italy is a rare exception in Europe.
It has “enough influenza vaccine
on hand to inoculate all eligible
beneficiaries,” a spokeswoman
said last week.
But many European bases ran
out of doses after immunizing
health care workers and military
members this fall.
More vaccine arrived Monday
and was expected to be distributed
to Army medical clinics this week,
said Gino Mattorano, a spokesman
for Regional Health Command
Europe. Bases were expected to
announce further vaccination
dates soon, he said.
But the command is still waiting
for about 40% of its total allotment,
which would allow it to vaccinate
“the rest of our beneficiaries,”
Mattorano said Tuesday.
He was unable to give a precise
date for when the remaining vac-
cine doses would arrive, saying on-
ly that officials “hope to get more ...
in the next week or two.”
The Ramstein Air Base clinic,
which inoculated 4,000 airmen in
October, received an additional
3,500 doses this week, and the 86th
Medical Group is preparing for an-
other two-day vaccination cam-
paign, one of which will be open to
all beneficiaries, said Lt. Col. Will
Powell, 86th Airlift Wing spokes-
man, on Tuesday.
But “this week’s shipments will
not be enough to vaccinate our
nearly 18,000 beneficiaries and we
expect to run out relatively quick-
ly,” he said. “Ramstein will need
more doses, but we have no further
information regarding timing of
subsequent shipments.”
There haven't been any docu-
mented cases of the flu on Ram-
stein Air Base so far this season,
Powell said. The European Center
for Disease Prevention and Con-
trol has documented only 12 posi-
tive cases among more than 14,000
tests so far.
“For the Region as a whole, in-
fluenza activity has been at base-
line level since the start of the sea-
son," the health agency said in its
most recent report.
The U.S. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention says flu
activity usually peaks between De-
cember and February and dimin-
ishes by May. Though the effec-
tiveness of the flu vaccine varies
from year to year, the vaccination
is still recommended as it may
make the illness milder and pre-
vent hospitalization if the flu is
contracted, Regional Health Com-
mand Europe said in a statement.
In years past, flu shot drives in
Europe have typically begun in
early October and finished by late
November.
Several bases had to cancel
planned community inoculation
clinics last month because they
didn't have any vaccine.
Some of the delay in getting the
vaccine could be due to the fact
many Army medical facilities in
Europe ordered pre-filled syring-
es for at least part of their vaccine
allotment, Mattorano said, al-
though they have done that every
year and it has never been an is-
sue. Vaccine doses in vials, which
medical personnel then have to
add to syringes, have already ar-
rived and been used to inoculate
members of the community, he
said.
The Navy in Naples did not im-
mediately respond to a question
about whether it had ordered pre-
filled syringes or vials.
Another possible explanation
for the delayed delivery is that the
coronavirus has “impacted global
industry,” including commercial
transportation, said Col. Ryan Mi-
hata, 86th Medical Group com-
mander at Ramstein.
More flu drives in the Kaiser-
slautern area were announced
Tuesday, at Landstuhl Regional
Medical Center, Kleber and
Baumholder, although some came
with caveats.
Baumholder said it would hold
seven vaccination campaigns be-
tween Dec. 7 and Jan. 6, open to all
DOD ID cardholders aged 6
months and older, but warned,
“Dates may change pending vac-
cine availability.”
KARINA LOPEZMATA/U.S. Marine Corps
A U.S. Navy corpsman at Marine Corps Air Station New River, N.C.,gives a Marine a flu shot. Many U.S. military bases in Europe are stillwaiting to receive their full allotment of the influenza vaccine.
Flu vaccine trickles in to US bases in EuropeBY JENNIFER H. SVAN
Stars and Stripes
[email protected]: @stripesktown �
STUTTGART, Germany — NA-
TO needs an updated strategy to
meet challenges posed by a rising
China, which until now hasn’t
been a major focus for the 30-na-
tion Atlantic security pact, a new
report commissioned by the alli-
ance’s top official said.
NATO foreign ministers Tues-
day discussed how the alliance
should transform in the decade
ahead. The 2030 plan, which was
crafted by experts appointed by
NATO Secretary-General Jens
Stoltenberg, lays out 138 recom-
mendations.
“NATO must devote much more
time, political resources, and ac-
tion to the security challenges
posed by China — based on an as-
sessment of its national capabili-
ties, economic heft, and the stated
ideological goals of its leaders,”
the report said.
Allies should set up a new “con-
sultative body” to discuss all as-
pects of security related to China,
including Beijing’s technological
development, and monitor and de-
fend against any Chinese activ-
ities, it said.
Getting NATO focused on China
has been a priority of the Trump
administration, which has pres-
sured allies to make it a larger alli-
ance focus. NATO also could form
closer partnerships with Pacific
countries, including Australia, Ja-
pan and South Korea, as a counter-
balance to Beijing, the report said.
The report comes one year after
French President Emmanuel Ma-
cron rattled allies when he said
NATO was suffering from “brain
death” because of a lack of coordi-
nation on key security issues.
Stoltenberg responded by as-
sembling a panel of experts to
delve into how NATO should adapt
to the changing security environ-
ment.
Early next year, NATO is ex-
pected to take action on at least
some of the recommendations de-
tailed in the report, when allied
heads of state meet for a leader
summit in Brussels. Stoltenberg
has already invited President-
elect Joe Biden to the talks.
The report credits NATO with
responding effectively to Russia’s
2014 intervention in Ukraine. NA-
TO expanded its mission along its
eastern flank, added multinational
battlegroups to the Baltics and
granted NATO’s supreme allied
commander with broader com-
mand and control capabilities.
But NATO’s official strategic
concept — last updated in 2010 —
doesn’t account for Russia’s ag-
gressive moves in Ukraine or the
challenges posed by China.
The panel of experts, chaired by
U.S. diplomat Wes Mitchell, says
steps are needed to speed up deci-
sion-making inside NATO to en-
sure that disputes within the con-
sensus-driven organization are re-
solved faster.
“Political divergences within
NATO are dangerous because
they enable external actors, and in
particular Russia and China, to ex-
ploit intra-Alliance differences
and take advantage of individual
Allies in ways that endanger their
collective interests and security,”
the report said.
On Monday, Stoltenberg said he
doesn’t view China as an adver-
sary. But the NATO chief noted
that China is “investing massively
in new weapons. It is coming clos-
er to us, from the Arctic to Africa.”
“China does not share our val-
ues,” Stoltenberg said.
NATO high-level panel urges‘much more’ focus on China
BY JOHN VANDIVER
Stars and Stripes
[email protected]: @john_vandiver
The White House is expected to
name Adm. John Aquilino, com-
mander of the Navy’s Pacific
Fleet, to lead Indo-Pacific Com-
mand, The Wall Street Journal re-
ported Tuesday.
Aquilino would replace Adm.
Philip Davidson,
who since May
2018 has over-
seen the geo-
graphic combat-
ant command
that spans an ar-
ea from the Unit-
ed States to In-
dia. Davidson is
expected to retire, according to
the Journal report, which cited
unnamed U.S. officials.
President Donald Trump,
whose term ends Jan. 20, is ex-
pected to nominate Aquilino to the
post, the report said, and the Sen-
ate could consider the nomination
“in the early winter,” according to
the report.
INDOPACOM did not immedi-
ately respond to an emailed re-
quest for commentTuesday.
The command covers 36 nations
in a region the Defense Depart-
ment deemed its “priority thea-
ter” and “the single-most conse-
quential region for America’s fu-
ture” in a June 2019 Indo-Pacific
strategy report issued amid sim-
mering tensions with China.
The region is “a vital driver of
the global economy and includes
the world's busiest international
sea lanes and nine of the 10 largest
ports,” according to the INDOPA-
COM website. It also is home to
seven of the world’s 10 largest
standing militaries and five nucle-
ar-armed nations.
Aquilino is a Naval Academy
graduate and naval aviator who
spent his early career flying the
F-14 Tomcat and the F-18 Hornet,
according to his Navy biography.
His résumé also includes time as
the Pacific Fleet’s director of mar-
itime operations, deputy chief of
naval operations for operations,
plans and strategy, and 5th Fleet
commander.
Davidson, also a Naval Acade-
my graduate, is a surface warfare
officer who previously served as
commander of the 6th Fleet and
Fleet Forces Command, accord-
ing to his biography. He spent his
early career in policy, strategy
and operations billets with the Pa-
cific Fleet, Navy and Joint staffs.
Aquilino expected to leadIndo-Pacific Command
BY CAITLIN DOORNBOS
Stars and Stripes
[email protected]: @CaitlinDoornbos
Aquilino
PAGE 4 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Wednesday, December 2, 2020
ations, said about the fire a day af-
ter it was put out.
In an email to senior naval lead-
ers soon after Gilday’s visit to the
ship, he wrote that sections of the
flight deck were warped and bulg-
ing and firefighters told him that
they had faced 1,200-degree heat,
zero visibility and multiple explo-
sions on the ship.
Wind from the bay and the ex-
plosions allowed the fire to spread
and become more intense, he
said.
Gilday praised the work of sail-
ors in his letter, some of whom
went aboard the ship eight times
to fight the fire.
“They had experienced the in-
tense, inferno-like heat, the dark
smoke that obscured view of
teammates by their side, and the
explosions — the latter had to be
like a mine field … unknown
when and where, and how severe,
those blasts might be. Some had
been knocked down by these
blasts — some, more than once —
but they got up, refocused and
reattacked.”
All investigations into the fire
are still ongoing, according to the
Navy’s statement Monday.
The Navy’s assessment of the
damage concluded it would cost
more than $3 billion to restore the
ship and five to seven years for
construction to be completed. The
service also considered rebuild-
ing the ship for other purposes but
again determined the $1 billion
cost, which could build a new hos-
pital ship or command and control
ship, was too much.
“Although it saddens me that it
is not cost effective to bring her
back, I know this ship’s legacy
will continue to live on through
the brave men and women who
fought so hard to save her, as well
as the sailors and Marines who
served aboard her during her 22-
year history,” Braithwaite said.
When the ship will be disman-
tled has not been decided, accord-
ing to the Navy. However before
that, the service plans to remove
systems and components from the
Bonhomme Richard to be used by
other ships.
The cost of decommissioning
the ship will be about $30 million
and will take up to a year, accord-
ing to Rear Adm. Eric Ver Hage in
a report by The San Diego Union-
Tribune.
Ver Hage is the commander of
Navy Regional Maintenance Cen-
ter.
Scrapped: Navy says restoration would cost more than $3BFROM PAGE 1
U.S. Navy
Port of San Diego Harbor Police Department boats combat a fire on board USS Bonhomme Richard at Naval Base San Diego on July 12.
[email protected]: @caitlinmkenney
MILITARY
WASHINGTON — The Air
Force will need some of its active-
duty troops to transfer early to Re-
serve or National Guard duty or
change specialties amid the high-
est retention rate that the service
has seen nearly two decades, a top
general said Tuesday.
The Air Force now boasts some
334,600 airmen on active-duty,
about 900 more than the service’s
congressionally determined tar-
get end strength for fiscal year
2021, said Lt. Gen. Brian Kelly, the
Air Force personnel chief. The
service has been overloaded as
airmen have sought to remain on
active-duty by recommitting or
delaying retirement plans amid
the coronavirus pandemic, which
has cut deeply into the U.S. civil-
ian job market.
In 2020, the Air Force has seen
its greatest retention of troops
since 2002, just after the 9/11 ter-
rorist attacks, Kelly said, calling
the unexpected boost “wel-
comed.” He said he believed it re-
flected the poor jobs market but
also an Air Force committed to im-
proving its airmen’s lives.
Nonetheless, the service is fac-
ing overmanning in certain jobs
and ranks that it must take steps to
address, he said.
“And so, as we go on in [fiscal
year 2021], you’ll be seeing us be-
gin to look at the various levers for
us to give people some opportuni-
ties to make some transitions in
different ways,” Kelly said. “Par-
ticularly if they wanted, for in-
stance, to transition to the Guard
or Reserve on an earlier timeline
then they normally would — we
have abilities and opportunities
for them to do that. Or if they want-
ed to move from an overmanned to
an undermanned career field …
we’ll have some opportunity for
them to do that as we go forward.”
The service is in the process of
examining its career fields to de-
termine precisely which ones are
overmanned and at what ranks
within those fields airmen might
need to be moved, Kelly said.
The service will provide further
information to the force soon, he
added.
The high retention rates could
also mean the end of some popular
incentive bonuses, including re-
enlistment bonuses in some spe-
cialties, Kelly said. He did not pro-
vide specifics Tuesday about
which retention bonuses could
end.
The service, however, will not
revert to involuntary measures to
address its force size, Kelly said.
The Air Force — like other mili-
tary services — were forced to in-
voluntarily separate thousands of
troops amid sequestration-man-
dated budget cuts from 2012 to
2018.
“[There is] no anticipation and
no outlook that we would use any
involuntary measures … like we
had had to do in the past when we
had sequestration,” Kelly said.
The Navy last month an-
nounced it would take similar
measures to reduce some over-
manned specialties, including of-
fering some enlisted sailors the
opportunity to switch careers,
transfer early to the reserves or
even separate from active-duty
before completing their enlist-
ment obligations. Like the Air
Force, the Navy vowed not to in-
voluntarily separate troops.
Since sequestration, the Air
Force has rebuilt its force, adding
some 23,000 airmen and making
up for a 4,000-troop shortfall in
critical aircraft maintenance spe-
cialties.
However, not all jobs have been
completely filled.
The service still faces a short-
age of some 1,900 to 2,000 pilots,
Kelly said. But the pilot issue has
recently improved. As airliners,
which compete heavily with the
service to attract experienced
flyers, have cut back positions
during the pandemic, the service
has seen some increase in reten-
tion of pilots, and he said he ex-
pected to see further increases in
the near term.
Pilot positions are well-manned
at higher ranks, major through
colonel. But the Air Force is un-
dermanned for pilots at the ranks
of captain and below, Kelly said.
The issue right now, he said, is the
ability to attract and produce new
pilots.
The Air Force, for now, does not
plan to make deep cuts to its
recruiting efforts to address its
overmanning, Kelly said. The ser-
vice in the past cut the number of
new officers and enlisted airmen
entering the service to help re-
duce its size, but it left the Air
Force with too few troops at some
ranks later, the general said.
The service will cut its recruit-
ing goal slightly for fiscal year
2021, he said, but it still will need
some airmen to agree to make
shifts in their careers.
By bringing fewer new troops
into the service, the Air Force
could accomplish its end-strength
reduction quickly, but it does not
want to repeat mistakes caused by
past recruiting reductions, Kelly
said.
“You’re going to find suddenly
that you’re short on staff sergeants
or you’re short … captains in dif-
ferent places because you re-
duced accessions,” he said. “We
want to have an overall compre-
hensive strategy that allows us to
manage the size and shape of the
force … not just using reduction
and accessions. We’re trying to
balance it.”
Air Force looking to transition some airmenBY COREY DICKSTEIN
Stars and Stripes
[email protected] Twitter: @CDicksteinDC
Wednesday, December 2, 2020 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 5
LSD has been added to the list of
drugs that are randomly tested for
at Camp Lejeune in North Caroli-
na amid suspicions that more and
more Marines and sailors at the
base are tripping, base officials
said.
“We have a drug problem in the
2d Marine Division,” said the
unit’s commanding general, Maj.
Gen. Francis L. Donovan, in a
statement Monday. “We are
changing the way in which we test
for illegal substances.”
A series of drug-related inci-
dents involving Marines and sail-
ors was behind the decision to test
for LSD in random screenings, the
Corps said.
In the past, Marines would typ-
ically only be screened for the hal-
lucinogenic drug if there was
probable cause.
But “all that changed following
recent incidents,” 2nd Marine Di-
vision said, without providing de-
tails.
Since LSD hasn’t traditionally
been tested by the Marine Corps,
the division is working with the
Armed Forces Medical Examiner
lab in Dover, Del., to conduct
“large-quantity random LSD test-
ing.”
Some 4,000 tests have been con-
ducted since the summer, when
random testing for the hallucino-
gen was launched, the Corps said.
“This testing led to numerous
positive results,” the division said,
without specifying an exact num-
ber. “Consequently, going for-
ward, 2d MARDIV plans to con-
duct random testing, locally and
on a more consistent basis.”
Marines who test positive for
LSD, or any other illegal drug,
could face nonjudicial puni-
shment, a dishonorable discharge
or time in confinement, the Corps
said.
“Zero tolerance is the Marine
Corps’ stance, and Marines need
to understand that there is no drug
that they can take without the
means for government detection,”
said Lt. Col. Christian Ruwe, the
staff judge advocate for the 2nd
Marine Division.
Several incidents involving
LSD, also known as acid, in the
past 15 months indicated that the
drug was becoming a problem at
the base and beyond.
In September 2019, a 23-year-
old Camp Lejeune Marine was
charged by the Onslow County
Sheriff’s Office with trafficking
LSD. And in June, the Naval Crim-
inal Investigative Service warned
that there had been numerous
cases involving Department of
Navy personnel who purchased
LSD over the internet’s so-called
“dark web” since the beginning of
2020.
A psychedelic drug that was
popular among hippies and musi-
cians in the 1960s, LSD has made a
comeback in recent years. The
drug modifies neural pathways,
causing the user to have hallucina-
tions and altering the perception
of things such as sound and time,
according to the American Addic-
tion Centers.
But some proponents say it
boosts creative problem solving. A
Marine major caused a minor stir
in 2019 when he wrote that mili-
tary intelligence and surveillance
analysts could benefit from micro-
doses of psychedelics like LSD
and psilocybin, or magic mush-
rooms.
In small amounts, the hallucino-
gens can help people “connect
seemingly unconnected pieces of
information and create revolu-
tionary new solutions,” Marine
Maj. Emre Albayrak wrote in the
Marine Corps Gazette in Febru-
ary last year.
Some medical studies have also
suggested that drugs like LSD and
magic mushrooms have potential
benefits for those who suffer from
post-traumatic stress disorder.
Camp Lejeune starts random LSD testingBY JOHN VANDIVER
Stars and Stripes
[email protected]: @john_vandiver
Drug Enforcement Administration
A blotter of lysergic acid diethylamide, better known asLSD or acid.
MILITARY
The first snowfall of the season
in Rheinland-Pfalz, Hesse and
other German states gave some
Americans an extra two hours in
the morning to get to school and
work on U.S. military bases in the
region.
With snow and freezing temper-
atures forecast overnight, U.S.
military installations and Defense
Department schools in Kaiser-
slautern, Wiesbaden, Baumhold-
er and Stuttgart announced on
Monday night a two-hour report-
ing delay Tuesday morning for
personnel, staff and students.
Shoveling duties fell on some
airmen at Ramstein Air Base.
They were out early clearing side-
walks and common areas at their
dormitories, including David Ca-
margo, an airman first class who
grew up near Phoenix, Ariz.
“It’s only about two inches,” he
said. “This is probably like my
third time seeing snow in my life.”
While the base had only a couple
of inches, more snow tends to ac-
cumulate in villages to the south of
Ramstein at higher elevations.
Some bus routes for DOD schools
on Ramstein, Baumholder and
Vogelweh were canceled due to
unsafe driving conditions. Stu-
dents affected were to be given an
excused absence, Ramstein offi-
cials said on Facebook.
Army bases in Grafenwoehr,
Vilseck and Hohenfels also saw
snow accumulate by Tuesday
morning; the Ansbach and Katter-
bach area received more than 4
inches, said Andreas Friedrich, a
German Meteorological Service
spokesman.
JENNIFER H. SVAN/Stars and Stripes
Airmen 1st Class David Camargo, 24, left, and Raylan Sherwood, 21, shovel snow outside their dormitoryat Ramstein Air Base, Germany, on Tuesday.
First snowfall of the seasonblankets US bases in Germany
Stars and Stripes
BRIAN FERGUSON/Stars and Stripes
Airman 1st Class Jonathan Pereboom finishes his snowman by theroundabout at Harmon Avenue and Lawn Avenue on Ramstein AirBase on Tuesday. Personnel and the schools had a twohour reporting delay due to the area's first snowfall of the winter season.
BRIAN FERGUSON/Stars and Stripes
Sadie Webb scrapes the snow and ice off the windshield of her Chrysler Pacifica before heading to the post office at Ramsteim AirBase on Tuesday.
PAGE 6 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Wednesday, December 2, 2020
VIRUS OUTBREAK
LONDON — British Prime Min-
ister Boris Johnson urged law-
makers to vote Tuesday for a new
set of coronavirus restrictions in
England, saying the country must
“hold our nerve” until vaccines
are approved and distributed.
England’s current four-week
national lockdown ends at mid-
night, and the government plans
to replace it starting Wednesday
with a three-tier regional system
based on the severity of the out-
break in different parts of the
country.
The change requires Parlia-
ment’s approval, and it faces op-
position from lawmakers — many
from Johnson’s own Conservative
Party — who say the measures
will devastate businesses, espe-
cially pubs, which face some of the
tightest restrictions. Most of the
country is being put into the upper
two tiers, where shops, hairdress-
ers, beauty salons and places of
worship can reopen. But pubs and
restaurants face strict limits in
Tier 2 and closure in Tier 3.
Johnson told the House of Com-
mons that a lockdown imposed on
Nov. 5 had succeeded in levelling
off the coronavirus infection rate
in England, but that there was “a
compelling necessity” for further
restrictions.
“What we cannot do is lift all of
the restrictions at once, or move
too quickly, in such a way that the
virus would begin to spread rapid-
ly again,” triggering a new lock-
down in January, he said.
The new measures are to be re-
viewed every two weeks and re-
strictions will be eased for five
days over Christmas so that fam-
ilies can get together. Other parts
of the United Kingdom — Scot-
land, Wales and Northern Ireland
— are all following their own local
restrictions to curb the spread of
the virus.
Britain has had Europe’s dead-
liest COVID-19 outbreak, with
more than 58,500 confirmed vi-
rus-related deaths.
PAUL ELLIS/AP
Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson holds a vial of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine COVID19 candidatevaccine, known as AZD1222, at Wockhardt's pharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Wales, on Monday.
UK leader touts local rules,but pubs are still in distress
Associated Press
UNITED NATIONS — The
head of the world’s largest human-
itarian network is urging govern-
ments and institutions to combat
“fake news” about COVID-19 vac-
cines which has become “a second
pandemic,” and start building
trust in communities around the
world about the critical impor-
tance of vaccinating people.
Francesco Rocca, president of
the International Federation of
Red Cross and Red Crescent So-
cieties, said in a virtual briefing to
the U.N. Correspondents Associ-
ation on Monday that “to beat this
pandemic, we also have to defeat
the parallel pandemic of distrust.”
He said there is “a growing hes-
itancy about vaccines in general,
and about a COVID vaccine in
particular” around the world,
pointing to a recent Johns Hop-
kins University study in 67 coun-
tries that found vaccine accept-
ance declined significantly in
most countries from July to Octo-
ber this year.
In a quarter of countries, Rocca
said, the study found the accept-
ance rate for a vaccine against the
virus was near or below 50%, with
Japan dropping from 70% to 50%
acceptance, and France dropping
from 51% to 38% acceptance.
Rocca stressed that the lack of
trust “is by no means a Western
phenomenon,” citing the federa-
tion’s research in recent months in
eight African countries — Congo,
Cameroon, Gabon, Zimbabwe,
Sierra Leone, Rwanda, Lesotho
and Kenya — which showed a
steady decline in the perceptions
of the risk of COVID-19 infection.
A growing number of people in-
dicated the virus doesn’t affect
young people or Africans, that the
disease doesn’t exist now but did
exist and the pandemic has ended,
Rocca said.
“In several African countries,
we have seen a common skepti-
cism toward vaccines in general,
with a common belief being that
foreigners use Africa as a medical
‘testing ground,’” Rocca said.
Surprisingly, Rocca said, some
typically vulnerable and margin-
alized groups aren’t even aware of
the pandemic, pointing to a feder-
ation survey in Pakistan which
found 10% of respondents didn’t
know about COVID-19.
“We believe the massive, coor-
dinated efforts that will be needed
to roll out the COVID vaccine in an
equitable manner need to be par-
alleled by equally massive efforts
to proactively build and maintain
trust,” Rocca said.
This will require the same kind
of sustained community engage-
ment that recently defeated Ebola
in Congo, he said.
The federation operates in 192
countries with almost 14 million
volunteers, and painstaking com-
munity outreach and engagement
at the heart of its COVID-19 re-
sponse, Rocca said.
So far, Red Cross and Red Cres-
cent Societies, with federation
support, have reached 243 million
people with COVID-19 activities
including responding to questions
and suggestions, tracking commu-
nity perceptions “and providing
accurate and timely information
in local languages through diverse
channels,” he said.
Rocca said he has watched with
concern in recent weeks “as the
imminent arrival of a possible
vaccine has, at least in some coun-
tries, washed away the commit-
ments that were made over the
summer to ensure an equitable
distribution of vaccines between
and within countries.”
He said “politicizing the vac-
cines is a huge mistake” and
strongly backed the international
initiative to distribute COVID-19
vaccines to countries worldwide
known as COVAX as “the correct
approach both for rich countries
and the rest of the world.”
Red Cross chief urges fight against ‘fake news’ regarding vaccinesBY EDITH M. LEDERER
Associated Press
Americans returning from
Thanksgiving break faced strict
new coronavirus measures
around the country Monday as
health officials brace for a disas-
trous worsening of the nation-
wide surge because of holiday
gatherings over the long week-
end.
Los Angeles County imposed a
stay-at-home order for its 10 mil-
lion residents, and Santa Clara
County, in the heart of Silicon
Valley, banned high school, col-
lege and professional sports and
decreed a quarantine for those
who have traveled more than 150
miles outside the county.
In Hawaii, the mayor of Ha-
waii County said trans-Pacific
travelers arriving without a nega-
tive COVID-19 test must quaran-
tine for 14 days, and even those
who have tested virus-free may
be randomly selected for another
test upon arrival. New Jersey is
suspending all youth sports.
“The red flags are flying in
terms of the trajectory in our pro-
jections of growth,” said Califor-
nia Gov. Gavin Newsom. “If these
trends continue, we’re going to
have to take much more dramat-
ic, arguably drastic, action.”
Health experts had pleaded
with Americans to stay home
over Thanksgiving and not gather
with anyone who didn’t live with
them. Nevertheless, almost 1.2
million people passed through
U.S. airports Sunday, the most
since the pandemic gripped the
country in March, and others
took to the highways to be with
family and friends.
Now they’re being urged to
watch for any signs of illness and
get tested right away if they ex-
perience symptoms.
A record 90,000 people were in
the hospital with the virus in the
United States as of Sunday, push-
ing many medical institutions to
the limit.
West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice
said hospitals across the state
will reduce elective surgeries to
ensure there is room for corona-
virus patients. The number of
people hospitalized with CO-
VID-19 jumped 29% in the past
week. In Kansas City, Kan., hos-
pital and nursing officials said
they fear there will not be enough
nurses to staff new hospital beds
in the metro area if COVID-19
cases continue unchecked.
Health officials on Monday add-
ed 4,425 confirmed infections
and 87 hospitalizations to the
state’s pandemic tally since Fri-
day.
Rhode Island’s hospitals reac-
hed their COVID-19 capacity on
Monday, the same day the state’s
two-week pause took effect. Un-
der restrictions announced by
Gov. Gina Raimondo, some busi-
nesses will be required to shut
down, while others are restricted.
Residents are also asked to limit
their social circles to people in
their household.
“This will not be easy, but I am
pleading with you to take it seri-
ously,” Raimondo said in a state-
ment.
Americans facingnew restrictionsafter Thanksgiving
Associated Press
Wednesday, December 2, 2020 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 7
VIRUS OUTBREAK
TOKYO — The U.S. military in
Japan reported 32 new coronavi-
rus cases as of 6 p.m. Tuesday,
mostly infections that popped up
at bases near the capital city over
the past week.
Yokota Air Base, the headquar-
ters in western Tokyo of U.S.
Forces Japan, announced that 21
people had tested positive be-
tween Nov. 25 and Monday. Fif-
teen were already in quarantine
due to contact with an infected
person.
Three others are new arrivals
who were tested by Japanese au-
thorities at Haneda International
Airport in Tokyo and went direct-
ly into the mandatory 14-day quar-
antine, according to a base Face-
book post.
The contacts of the remaining
three are being traced, according
to the post. The base has 30 virus
patients.
A cluster began at Yokota on
Nov. 13 with three infected indi-
viduals and peaked 10 days later at
43 cases, according to reports on
the base Facebook page.
Yokosuka Naval Base, south of
Tokyo, announced that 10 individ-
uals have tested positive for the vi-
rus since Friday.
Seven were already in the two-
week quarantine as recent arriv-
als to Japan, according to a base
Facebook post.
Of the remaining patients, two
tested positive during contact
tracing and one was discovered af-
ter developing symptoms of CO-
VID-19, the respiratory disease
caused by the coronavirus, ac-
cording to the base.
Public health officials are trac-
ing that person’s contacts, the
base said.
Yokosuka has 30 people under
care with the virus, according to
the post. The base reported 36 in-
fections during November, for a
pandemic total of at least 155.
Sasebo Naval Base, on the tip of
the southern island of Kyushu, re-
ported one new case, a person who
tested positive Monday while in a
14-day quarantine. That person is
the only active infection at the
base, according to an official Face-
book post.
The naval base reported four
cases in November and a total of at
least 15 during the pandemic, so
far.
US military reports 32 new virus cases in JapanBY JOSEPH DITZLER
Stars and Stripes
[email protected]: @JosephDitzler
HANOI, Vietnam — Vietname-
se authorities are conducting in-
tensive contact tracing after dis-
covering the country's first con-
firmed local transmission of the
coronavirus in 89 days.
State media said Tuesday that a
32-year-old man in Ho Chi Minh
City tested positive for the corona-
virus on Monday after visiting a
flight attendant who was undergo-
ing self-quarantine at his home
following his return from Japan
two weeks ago. The flight attend-
ant tested positive on Saturday,
the Tuoi Tre newspaper said.
Health authorities ordered 137
people who had been in close con-
tact with the man to stay in a cen-
tral quarantine facility and shut
down an English center where he
works as a teacher, the newspaper
said.
The new case ended Vietnam’s
streak of 89 days without any
known local transmission of the
virus. Earlier, it went 99 days
without local transmissions until a
cluster of cases broke out at a hos-
pital in Da Nang in central Viet-
nam in July.
Vietnam’s borders remain
closed in an attempt to keep out
the virus.
Only limited international
flights are operating to repatriate
Vietnamese nationals and trans-
port foreign diplomats and ex-
perts.
The country has reported 1,347
coronavirus cases, including 35
deaths. Nearly half of the con-
firmed cases were imported, ac-
cording to the Health Ministry.
In other developments in the
Asia-Pacific region, Hong Kong
leader Carrie Lam on Tuesday
urged residents to stay home as
the city grapples with a resur-
gence of the coronavirus, which
has infected over 500 people in the
past week. Lam asked citizens to
“refrain from social gatherings”
and said that people, in particular
the elderly, should remain at
home.
Vietnam reports 1st infection in 89 daysAssociated Press
KIN CHEUNG/AP
People wearing face masks to help curb the spread of the coronaviruswait outside a bakery in Hong Kong on Monday.
PAGE 8 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Wednesday, December 2, 2020
VIRUS OUTBREAK ROUNDUP
A disproportionately large
number of poor and minority stu-
dents were not in schools for as-
sessments this fall, complicating
efforts to measure the pandemic’s
effects on some of the most vulner-
able students, a not-for-profit
company that administers stan-
dardized testing said Tuesday.
Overall, NWEA’s fall assess-
ments showed elementary and
middle school students have fallen
measurably behind in math, while
most appear to be progressing at a
normal pace in reading since
schools were forced to abruptly
close in March and pickup online.
The analysis of data from nearly
4.4 million U.S. students in grades
3-8 represents one of the first sig-
nificant measures of the pandem-
ic’s impacts on learning.
But researchers at NWEA,
whose MAP Growth assessments
are meant to measure student pro-
ficiency, caution they may be un-
derestimating the effects on mi-
nority and economically disad-
vantaged groups. Those students
made up a significant portion of
the roughly 1 in 4 students who
tested in 2019 but were missing
from 2020 testing.
NWEA said they may have opt-
ed out of the assessments, which
were given in-person and remote-
ly, because they lacked reliable
technology or stopped going to
school.
The NWEA findings show that,
compared to last year, students
scored an average of 5 to 10 per-
centile points lower in math, with
students in grades three, four and
five experiencing the largest
drops.
English language arts scores
were largely the same as last year.
CaliforniaSACRAMENTO — A stagger-
ing rise in coronavirus cases could
overwhelm California’s health
system within weeks and “dras-
tic” action such as a widespread
stay-at-home order may be need-
ed to combat the threat, Gov. Ga-
vin Newsom warned.
Hospitalizations from CO-
VID-19 have increased nearly 90%
and could triple by Christmas, of-
ficials said Monday.
“The red flags are flying in
terms of the trajectory in our pro-
jections of growth,” Newsom said.
The number of COVID-19 cases
reported each day in California
has been setting records, with the
average daily case rate over the
last week topping 14,000.
The levels are far above those
recorded during a summer peak
or even in March, when a state
public health order restricted peo-
ple from going outside except for
the most essential reasons. That
order was later eased.
Currently, 51 of 58 counties are
in the “purple” tier of the state’s
COVID-19 system, meaning they
are under the strictest business
restrictions. Those counties ac-
count for most of the state’s pop-
ulation.
DelawareDOVER — A school district in
Delaware has returned its stu-
dents to remote learning after the
state’s COVID-19 figures showed
that the county has met two of
three indicators to determine sig-
nificant community spread of the
coronavirus.
Remote instructions for Capital
School District students in Kent
County will be effective until Jan.
4, Interim Superintendent Dr. Syl-
via Henderson said in a statement
on the district’s website.
The county’s rates of new case
and positive COVID tests are now
in the “red phase” used to deter-
mine how schools operate during
the pandemic, but closures are not
mandated by the state.
The change comes after the
school board voted last week to
continue hybrid learning to ele-
mentary students and delay in-
person instructions to other stu-
dents, Delaware State News re-
ported.
MainePORTLAND — Maine has
launched a grant program de-
signed to help health care organi-
zations continue serving patients
during the coronavirus pandemic.
The program is backed by $30
million in federal coronavirus re-
lief dollars and is called the Maine
Health Care Financial Relief Pro-
gram, Democratic Gov. Janet
Mills said. The grant program is
open to hospitals as well as nurs-
ing, congregate care and behav-
ioral health facilities and commu-
nity service providers, state offi-
cials said.
The grants can go as high as
$100,000, Mills said Monday.
“Our health care providers, and
the heroic workers they employ,
have shouldered an enormous
burden this year,” Mills said.
“These funds, although not nearly
enough to make up for their losses,
will help bolster our providers at
this critical time and allow them to
continue providing care to Maine
people.
Mills also announced a $40 mil-
lion economic recovery grant pro-
gram for Maine’s tourism, hospi-
tality and retail small business
sector earlier on Monday. That
program is backed by CARES Act
money as well.
MarylandANNAPOLIS — Maryland Gov.
Larry Hogan and state Attorney
General Brian E. Frosh are press-
ing leaders in Washington for
more stimulus relief related to the
coronavirus pandemic.
The Frederick News-Post re-
ported Monday that the governor
urged President-elect Joe Biden
to prioritize a new stimulus pack-
age to help states and small busi-
nesses that are struggling. The
state is approaching 200,000 con-
firmed cases of COVID-19.
“States are already fighting an
uphill battle to rebuild our econo-
mies and maintain essential ser-
vices in education, health care,
emergency operations and public
safety,” the Republican wrote.
Frosh, the state’s Democratic
AG, joined a coalition of attorneys
general who are asking Congress
to extend CARES Act funding
through the end of next year. The
CARES Act has provided more
than $2 trillion in economic relief
to state and local governments.
MichiganLANSING — State Rep. John
Chirkun said Monday he had test-
ed positive for the coronavirus,
becoming at least the 10th mem-
ber of the Legislature to be infect-
ed since the pandemic hit Michi-
gan more than eight months ago.
Also, two people in the Senate
notified the business office of their
positive tests. It was not specified
if they are senators, employees or
interns. Neither was on site during
the transmission period nor had
close contact with anyone in the
Senate.
Chirkun is the sixth known law-
maker to be infected in less than a
month, amid surging COVID-19
cases, hospitalizations and deaths
among the public. The Legislature
has 148 members and is due to re-
turn this week after a two-week
break.
House Democratic Leader
Christine Greig said Chirkun, a
third-term Democrat from Rose-
ville, thinks he contracted the vi-
rus during a recent hunting trip.
Rhode IslandPROVIDENCE — Rhode Island
has opened two field hospitals that
combined have more than 900
beds to deal with an expected
flood of COVID-19 patients that
has already swamped the state’s
hospitals.
Care New England opened a
field hospital with more than 300
beds in Cranston on Monday, the
same day the state sent an emer-
gency alert saying conventional
hospitals had reached their coro-
navirus capacity.
A facility with nearly 600 beds
opened Tuesday at the Rhode Is-
land Convention Center in Provi-
dence. It is run by Lifespan, the
state’s largest hospital group.
There were 365 patients in the
state’s hospitals with the disease
as of Saturday, the most recent
date for which the information
was available, according to the
state Department of Health, down
from a single-day high of 381 on
Nov. 23.
VermontMore people took to Vermont’s
hiking trails during the coronavi-
rus pandemic, according to recent
reports.
The average daily use count on
the Long Trail rose 35% this year,
according to the Green Mountain
Club. And in September alone,
overnight shelter use jumped 80%
from last year, Vermont Public
Radio reported.
“I think this was definitely a
year where the value of having
these outdoor resources in Ver-
mont, and having them open, real-
ly came through,” said Green
Mountain Club Field supervisor
Isaac Alexandre-Leach.
There also was more than twice
as much pedestrian traffic on the
West River Trail in Brattleboro
this fall, according to findings
from a recent use survey.
WisconsinMADISON — Auto fatalities are
up in Wisconsin despite there be-
ing fewer people on the road due
to the coronavirus pandemic, a re-
port released Tuesday by the Wis-
consin Policy Forum found.
The report examined state
crash data from March 14 through
July 31.
While all crashes and injuries
were down compared with the
same period in 2019, crashes
where someone was killed and the
number of crash-related fatalities
were up.
Fatal crashes increased by
more than 17% and total crash fa-
talities grew by 20%, the report
found.
At the same time, alcohol-in-
volved crashes were up 50%,
drug-involved crashes grew by
46% and speeding-involved crash-
es were up by 52%, the report said.
Other Midwestern states have
also seen increases in auto fatali-
ties this year, but Wisconsin was
out of step with nationwide trends,
the report said.
Study: Somestudents fallingbehind in math
Associated Press
MARK LENNIHAN/AP
Nurses walk out of Montefiore New Rochelle Hospital to go on strike over safe staffing issues during thecoronavirus pandemic Tuesday in New Rochelle, N.Y.
Wednesday, December 2, 2020 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 9
NATION
WILMINGTON, Del. — With
unemployment still high and the
pandemic threatening yet another
economic slump, President-elect
Joe Biden is assembling a team of
liberal advisers who have long fo-
cused on the nation’s workers and
government efforts to address ec-
onomic inequality.
Janet Yellen, announced Mon-
day as Biden’s nominee for treasu-
ry secretary, served as chair of the
Federal Reserve from 2014 to
2018, when she placed a greater
emphasis than previous Fed
chairs on maximizing employ-
ment and less focus on price infla-
tion. Biden also named Cecilia
Rouse as chair of his Council of
Economic Advisers, and Heather
Boushey and Jared Bernstein as
members of the council.
All are outspoken supporters of
more government stimulus
spending to boost growth, a major
issue with the coronavirus pan-
demic cramping the U.S. econo-
my.
Those choices “signal the desire
of the Biden administration to take
the CEA in a direction that really
centers on working people and
raising wages,” said Heidi Shier-
holz, senior economist at the Eco-
nomic Policy Institute and former
Labor Department chief econo-
mist during the Obama adminis-
tration.
Biden’s nominees are also a
more personally diverse group
than those of previous presidents.
Yellen, if confirmed by the Sen-
ate, would be the first woman to
serve as treasury secretary, after
breaking ground as the first wom-
an to chair the Fed. Rouse would
be the first Black woman to lead
the CEA in its 74 years of exist-
ence. And Neera Tanden, Biden’s
pick for director of the Office of
Management and Budget, would
be the first South Asian American
in that job.
Biden also selected Wally
Adeyemo to be Yellen’s deputy,
which would make him the first
Black deputy treasury secretary.
Rouse, Tanden and Adeyemo will
all require Senate confirmation,
and Tanden in particular is al-
ready drawing heavy Republican
criticism.
Along with its progressive cast,
Biden’s team also has years of ex-
perience in government and poli-
cymaking. And that’s earning
plaudits from some conservatives,
who note that the nominees are
not a far-left group bent on stran-
gling the economy, as President
Donald Trump repeatedly
warned during the 2020 cam-
paign.
“They are intellectual liberals,
but not burn-it-all-down social-
ists,” said Brian Riedl, a senior fel-
low at the Manhattan Institute and
an adviser to Sen. Mitt Romney’s
presidential campaign. “They’re
fairly conventional liberal econo-
mists and experts.”
Still, the Biden administration’s
ambitious goals will face solid op-
position from Republicans in Con-
gress. The GOP needs to win one
of two Georgia Senate seats in a
Jan. 5 special election to retain
control of the Senate, and the Re-
publicans made major inroads on
Nov. 3 in the Democrats’ House
majority.
“Most of the policies that Biden
ran on will not survive a Republi-
can Senate,” Riedl said. Those in-
clude proposals to raise the mini-
mum wage to $15 an hour and sig-
nificantly increase taxes on
wealthy Americans.
Biden could secure another
round of stimulus spending early
next year, particularly if the re-
cent spikes in confirmed virus
cases push the economy into re-
cession again. But such a package
will likely have to come in under
$1 trillion to get Senate Republi-
can support, Riedl said, rather
than the higher figure House
Speaker Nancy Pelosi is seeking.
Aspokesman for GOP Sen. John
Cornyn of Texas tweeted that Tan-
den “stands zero chance of being
confirmed” as budget director,
citing “an an endless stream of
disparaging comments about” Re-
publican senators. And Josh
Holmes, a political adviser to Sen-
ate Majority Leader Mitch
McConnell, tweeted that her con-
firmation was likely doomed.
Brian Deese, a former senior
economic adviser in the Obama
administration and now the ma-
naging director and global head of
sustainable investing at Black-
Rock, is expected to be named di-
rector of the White House Nation-
al Economic Council, according to
a person familiar with transition
plans who was not authorized to
speak publicly on the matter.
Deese worked on the auto bai-
lout and environmental issues in
the Obama White House, where
he held the title of deputy director
of both the NEC and the OMB.
Deese and Adeyemo are both
under fire from progressives for
their connections to BlackRock, a
giant Wall Street asset manage-
ment firm. BlackRock has sought
to avoid greater regulatory scruti-
ny by Treasury, and many activ-
ists assail the firm for owning
huge stakes in oil and gas compa-
nies.
Biden names liberal economics team
MEL EVANS /AP
Neera Tanden is PresidentelectJoe Biden's pick for director ofthe Office of Management andBudget.
Associated Press
GAO said the problem arose
because the Labor Department
was using the number of people
filing for claims in each state as a
proxy for the number of people
claiming benefits nationwide.
This has resulted in inaccurate
counts, however, because of large
backlogs in processing historic
levels of claims and other data
collection problems.
“Without an accurate account-
ing of the number of individuals
who are relying on these benefits
in as close to real time as possi-
ble, policymakers may be chal-
lenged to respond to the crisis at
hand,” the GAO said in its report.
GAO recommended that the
Labor Department revise its
weekly news releases to clarify
that the numbers in the reports
are not an accurate estimate of
the number of individuals claim-
ing benefits.
The GAO also recommended
that the department pursue other
means to get more accurate read-
ings on benefit applications, such
as using data collected by the
states.
The GAO report said that the
Labor Department had agreed to
make revisions to its weekly news
releases and agreed to pursue op-
tions for obtaining more accurate
data from the states. But the La-
bor Department balked at a rec-
ommendation that it seek state
data going back to January 2020,
contending that collecting back
data would put too much of a bur-
den on already strained state un-
employment offices.
In response to the pandemic
that triggered shutdowns and the
loss of millions of jobs, Congress
provided support through three
programs. It boosted relief
through the regular jobless pro-
gram by $600 weekly to provide
more support. It also extended
this relief from the usual 26
weeks to 39 weeks and created a
Pandemic Unemployment Assist-
ance program that provided ben-
efits to gig-economy workers and
the self-employed.
The program providing an ex-
tra $600 in weekly benefits ex-
pired in August. The program to
help gig-workers and the self-em-
ployed as well as the extended
benefits program are both due to
expire at the end of December.
Congressional negotiators have
so far been unable to reach agree-
ment on reviving these benefit
programs, with Democrats and
Republicans remaining far apart
on the size of another relief bill.
The GAO report also found
that, under the program to help
gig workers and the self-employ-
ed, the majority of states had
been paying the unemployed in
these programs the minimum al-
lowable benefit instead of the
amount they would be eligible to
receive based on their prior earn-
ings.
The GAO findings were part of
the congressional watchdog
agency’s routine reviews of the
operation of the programs Con-
gress passed last spring to pro-
vide support for the country after
the economy went into deep re-
cession.
Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C.
and the chairman of the House
Select Subcommittee on the Cor-
onavirus Crisis, said the new re-
port highlighted continued fail-
ures of the Trump administration
in dealing with the crisis.
“With the coronavirus killing
more than one thousand Ameri-
cans each day, I strongly agree
with GAO that we need urgent ac-
tions to prevent the further loss of
Americans’ lives and liveli-
hoods,” Clyburn said in a state-
ment.
GAO: Labor Department advised tomake changes to jobless reportsFROM PAGE 1
WILMINGTON, Del. — Joe Bi-
den has had his first look as presi-
dent-elect at the President’s Daily
Brief, a top-secret summary of
U.S. intelligence and world events
— a document former first lady
Michelle Obama has called “The
Death, Destruction and Horrible
Things Book.”
Biden has already had eyes on
different iterations of the so-
called PDB, which is tailored to
the way each president likes to ab-
sorb information.
“The briefers almost certainly
will be asking Biden what he pre-
fers in terms of format and style,”
said David Priess, author of “The
President’s Book of Secrets,” a
history of the PDB. “At a mini-
mum, they’re seeing what seems
to resonate most with him so that
when they make the book his book,
they can tailor it to him.”
Obama’s PDB was a 10- to 15-
page document tucked in a leather
binder, which he found waiting for
him on the breakfast table. Later
in his presidency, he liked reading
the ultra-secret intelligence brief
on a secured iPad.
“Michelle called it “The Death,
Destruction and Horrible Things
Book,” Obama wrote in his recent-
ly released book, “A Promised
Land.”
“On a given day, I might read
about terrorist cells in Somalia or
unrest in Iraq or the fact that the
Chinese or Russians were devel-
oping new weapons systems,”
Obama wrote. “Nearly always,
there was mention of potential ter-
rorist plots, no matter how vague,
thinly sourced or unactionable —
a form of due diligence on the part
of the intelligence community,
meant to avoid the kind of second-
guessing that had transpired after
9/11.”
From now until Inauguration
Day, Biden and Vice President-
elect Kamala Harris will be read-
ing the PDB crafted for President
Donald Trump, who had delayed
giving them access to it as he con-
tests the outcome of the election.
Trump, who prefers absorbing
information in visual ways, likes
short texts and graphics.
“Trump himself said during his
campaign and during the transi-
tion in 2016 that he did not like
reading long documents — that he
preferred bullet points,” said
Priess, who has not seen any of
Trump’s PDBs. “It probably has
charts, tables, graphs — things
like that. Not the parody that peo-
ple make that it’s like a cartoon
book ... but something that is more
visual. But we don’t know for
sure.”
Biden gets access toPresident’s Daily Brief
Associated Press
PAGE 10 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Wednesday, December 2, 2020
NATION
HONOLULU — A U.S. judge
sentenced a former high-ranking
Honolulu prosecutor to 13 years
in prison Monday and her retired
police chief husband to seven
years, saying she stole money
from her own grandmother and
then used his law enforcement
power to frame her uncle for a
crime he didn’t commit — all to
maintain the couple’s lavish life-
style.
Katherine and Louis Kealoha,
now estranged, were once a re-
spected power couple. Louis Kea-
loha agreed to retire amid a wide-
ranging federal investigation. She
later gave up her law license.
“This case has staggered the
community in many ways,” U.S.
District Judge J. Michael Sea-
bright said.
He described how Katherine
Kealoha orchestrated a reverse
mortgage scheme that forced her
grandmother to sell her home,
framed her uncle for stealing the
Kealohas’ home mailbox, stole
money from children whose
trusts she controlled as a lawyer,
cheated her uncle out of his life
savings, convinced her firefighter
lover to lie about their affair and
used her position as a prosecutor
to turn a drug investigation away
from her doctor brother.
“Truth can be stranger than
fiction,” the judge said at Kathe-
rine Kealoha’s sentencing.
Later, he told Louis Kealoha
that while his wife was the mas-
termind, “you did master the
frame job that followed,” and the
scheme couldn’t have succeeded
without the Honolulu Police De-
partment.
A jury convicted the Kealohas
last year of conspiracy, along
with two former officers who are
scheduled to be sentenced Tues-
day.
The case is especially shocking,
Seabright said, because of the
role a police chief of a “major
American city,” played.
“Think about that, the chief of
police of one of the largest police
departments in the country ...
swears to tell the truth, the whole
truth and nothing but the truth,”
and lies, the judge said of Louis
Kealoha’s false testimony at the
trial of his wife’s uncle for steal-
ing the couple’s mailbox. The
trial ended in a mistrial that pros-
ecutors say the then-chief caused
on purpose to thwart the investi-
gation.
The Kealohas later pleaded
guilty to bank fraud, saying they
provided false information to ob-
tain loans.
They went to great lengths to
maintain a lifestyle they couldn’t
afford on public servant salaries,
the judge said.
Katherine Kealoha, 51, also
pleaded guilty to an identity theft
charge, saying she got an officer
to forge a police report she used
to explain negative information
on a credit report. She also plead-
ed guilty to a charge that involved
protecting her brother from the
drug investigation.
In a letter to the judge, she
blamed a prescription drug ad-
diction for clouding her judg-
ment.
“My client was on drugs, her
mind was not clear and she did a
lot of bad things,” her lawyer, Ga-
ry Singh, said in court.
Kealoha apologized to her fam-
ily in court and asked for forgive-
ness. “To my uncle, especially,”
she said. “I know that he has been
through so much pain and so
much hurt.”
Ex-Hawaii prosecutor, police chief get prisonAssociated Press
Igor Fruman and Andrey Kukush-
kin — are set to stand trial togeth-
er. All are free on bail, though law-
yers for each argued Monday that
their ability to prepare a defense
has been inhibited by the pandem-
ic.
Parnas’s lawyer Joseph Bondy
told the judge that his investigator,
for instance, cannot be sent to
places where case counts are par-
ticularly high, such as Florida and
Texas. Kukushkin’s lawyer Ger-
ald Lefcourt is based in New York
while his client is in California.
Lefcourt said they have “never
been in the same room” to discuss
evidence.
“It is too dangerous to go to trial
now, Lefcourt said, citing New
York’s rise in infections. “I don’t
NEW YORK — A Ukrainian-
born associate of Rudy Giuliani
pleaded not guilty Monday to
charges he defrauded investors in
a start-up insurance company that
claimed to offer fraud-protection
services to corporate clients —
what prosecutors have called a
sham business that was never op-
erational.
Lev Parnas, whose ties to Giu-
liani became a focal point in Presi-
dent Donald Trump’s impeach-
ment, appeared by video in Man-
hattan federal court to formally
face charges related to the compa-
ny, Fraud Guarantee. The Flor-
ida-based entity was defunct,
prosecutors say, when Parnas and
his business partner David Cor-
reia collected investments rang-
ing between $200,000 and
$500,000.
Giuliani was paid $500,000 by
Fraud Guarantee for consulting
work before teaming with Parnas
in what would prove an unsuc-
cessful quest to dredge up infor-
mation in Ukraine that would
damage Joe Biden ahead of the
election. The former New York
mayor, who as Trump’s personal
lawyer is leading the president’s
long shot bid to overturn the elec-
tion’s outcome, has maintained
there was nothing improper about
his consulting work nor his efforts
to undermine Biden’s candidacy
— though Giuliani’s activities
abroad have drawn the scrutiny of
federal prosecutors.
On Monday, U.S. District Judge
Paul Oetken said the March 1 trial
date that had been scheduled for
Parnas and his co-defendants was
no longer realistic due to rising
coronavirus numbers in New
York. Courts there have essential-
ly halted such proceedings as a re-
sult, and Oetken said that other
cases will likely take priority
when trials resume because they
involve defendants who have been
detained.
Anew trial date has not yet been
set. Oetken gave the lawyers two
weeks to agree on a new schedule.
Widespread availability of a coro-
navirus vaccine may be a deter-
mining factor.
Parnas and two other men —
want to be in a courtroom with a
mask and taking the subway in
this situation.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicolas
Roos said that several trials have
been conducted in the courthouse
recently “without incident.”
Authorities have accused Par-
nas of lying about how much of his
money was at stake in Fraud
Guarantee and how much had
been collected from others. They
allege that he used tens of thou-
sands of dollars to cover personal
expenses while telling his backers
that their funds were to be used
only for operating costs.
Correia, his former partner in
the venture, pleaded guilty in Oc-
tober and admitted he duped in-
vestors.
Giuliani associate Parnas pleads not guilty in fraud caseBY SHAYNA JACOBS
The Washington Post
MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota
regulators approved the final per-
mit Monday for Enbridge Ener-
gy’s Line 3 crude oil pipeline re-
placement across northern Min-
nesota, giving the company the
green light to begin construction
on the $2.6 billion project.
The Minnesota Pollution Con-
trol Agency granted a construc-
tion storm water permit for the
project, which was the last hurdle
that Calgary, Alberta-based En-
bridge needed to clear after years
of reviews and court battles. The
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
and the independent Minnesota
Public Utilities Commission gave
their final approvals last week.
“This project has had the most
extensive review in Minnesota
history,” Gov. Tim Walz told re-
porters. He said his position all
along has been that the state
needed to follow the regulatory
process, the law and the science.
The company and its support-
ers welcomed the decision, but
opponents have vowed to keep up
their fight.
“Construction can now begin,”
Enbridge spokeswoman Juli
Kellner said in a statement that
didn’t specify when that would
happen.
But Enbridge has signaled that
the start could be imminent. The
company notified landowners
along the route via letters earlier
in the month that it expected con-
struction to “start on approxi-
mately November 30.” The com-
pany has previously said it ex-
pected the work to take about
nine months.
“This is the culmination of six
years of evidence and science-
based review of the project,”
Kellner said. “Line 3 is poised to
provide significant economic
benefits for counties, small busi-
nesses, Native American commu-
nities and union members —
bringing 4,200 family-sustaining,
mostly local construction jobs,
millions of dollars in local spend-
ing and additional tax revenues at
a time when Northern Minnesota
needs it most.”
But two tribes — the Red Lake
and White Earth Bands of Chip-
pewa — asked the PUC last week
to stay its approval of the project,
saying the influx of construction
workers would put residents
along the route at higher risk of
COVID-19. A consolidated appeal
by environmental and tribal
groups is also pending before the
Minnesota Court of Appeals.
Opponents say the project
threatens spills in pristine waters
where Native Americans harvest
wild rice and that the Canadian
tar sands oil it plans to carry
would aggravate climate change.
Minn. gives final approval of disputed oil pipelineAssociated Press
JIM MONE/AP
Pipeline used to carry crude oil is shown at the Superior, Wis., terminal of Enbridge Energy.
Wednesday, December 2, 2020 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 11
AMERICAN ROUNDUP
Inmates start jail fire byburning mattresses
GA ATLANTA — Three
people were transport-
ed to a hospital after inmates start-
ed a fire at a Georgia jail by burn-
ing two mattresses, authorities
said.
Fulton County Sheriff’s Office
spokeswoman Tracy Flanagan
said two Fulton County Jail em-
ployees and an inmate were taken
to a hospital as a precaution after
the blaze.
The fire was already out by the
time crews got to the building, but
there was heavy smoke and minor
damage, Atlanta Fire Rescue
spokesman Sgt. Cortez Stafford
told The Atlanta Journal-Consti-
tution. He said a guard had also
suffered from smoke inhalation.
It is not clear how many inmates
are responsible for setting the
mattresses on fire.
Nuns to decide fate ofclosing monastery
NH CONCORD — A Ca-
tholic monastery in
Concord is closing, leaving its five
remaining nuns with a decision to
make.
The Concord Monitor reported
the Diocese of Manchester an-
nounced that it will close the Car-
melite Monastery, 74 years after it
was founded as a branch of the
Carmelites of Boston.
It will be up to the nuns to decide
whether they want to join another
Carmelite monastery. The Moni-
tor reported they will also decide
what to do with the monastery's
property and the remains of sev-
eral sisters buried onsite.
Light extravaganza goesdrive-thru due to virus
LA NEW ORLEANS — The
light extravaganza tra-
dition called Celebration in the
Oaks that is held yearly in City
Park has turned into a drive-thru
experience as a result of the coro-
navirus pandemic.
Thousands of visitors usually go
to the park every holiday season to
see the elaborate light show. It fea-
tures various scenes and charac-
ters made out of lights inter-
spersed throughout the park's
trees and landscapes.
In recent years, visitors would
buy a ticket and walk through a
section of the park where the
lights are arranged. But this year
the pandemic has meant some
changes. Instead of walking, vis-
itors will buy tickets and drive
through the park to see the lights.
Mayor-elect loses armafter hunting accident
WV DUNBAR — The
mayor-elect of a West
Virginia city has lost an arm in a
hunting accident.
Dunbar Mayor-elect Scott El-
liott was injured in a hunting acci-
dent, City Council member Greg
Hudson said in a Facebook post.
Elliott was elected mayor in No-
vember. He is the city's current
public works director and retired
in 2017 after more than 20 years
with the Dunbar police depart-
ment.
Mysterious silver monolithdisappears from desert
UT SALT LAKE CITY — A
mysterious silver
monolith that was placed in the
Utah desert has disappeared less
than 10 days after it was spotted by
wildlife biologists performing a
helicopter survey of bighorn
sheep, federal officials and wit-
nesses said.
“We have received credible re-
ports that the illegally installed
structure, referred to as the
‘monolith’ has been removed from
Bureau of Land Management
public lands by an unknown par-
ty,” BLM spokesperson Kimberly
Finch said in a statement. The
agency did not remove the struc-
ture, she said.
The Utah Department of Public
Safety said biologists spotted the
monolith. It was about 11 feet tall
with sides that appeared to be
made of stainless steel.
Police: Man charged inmachete attack
NC MACCLESFIELD —
Police in North Caroli-
na said they've charged a man
with attempted murder after he
attacked a person with a machete.
The Edgecombe County Sher-
iff's Office said the attacked oc-
curred in Macclesfield.
Police said Carlos Antonio
Washington attacked a person
with a machete outside the vic-
tim's home. Police said Washing-
ton fled after being shot at by
members of the victim's family.
Washington was apprehended
later by police and is being held at
a local detention center. Police
said the victim suffered minor in-
juries.
Man stopped with loadedhandgun at airport
IA DES MOINES — An Ok-
lahoma man was caught
with a loaded handgun in his car-
ry-on bag at an Iowa airport dur-
ing Thanksgiving week, federal
transportation officials said.
Des Moines police were called
to the airport, and officers confis-
cated the gun and cited the man on
suspicion of a weapons charge. It
was the sixth gun confiscated at
the Des Moines International Air-
port in 2020, the TSA said. There
were 12 guns found at the airport
in 2019.
A typical first offense for carry-
ing a loaded handgun into a check-
point is $4,100 and can go as high
as nearly $13,670, depending on
any mitigating circumstances, the
TSA said.
Customer kills gunmanduring robbery attempt
PA PHILADELPHIA — A
customer shot and
killed an armed man during an at-
tempted robbery at a restaurant,
police said.
The 53-year-old suspect en-
tered the Wingstop eatery on Cott-
man Avenue, brandished a gun
and demanded money from the
employees, police said.
The suspect pointed the weapon
at a 27-year-old customer who had
walked into the restaurant, ac-
cording to police. The customer,
who had a valid permit to carry a
gun, shot the suspect in the neck,
police said.
The suspect was pronounced
dead at the scene.
The customer was taken in for
questioning and police recovered
both weapons.
Fort Wayne's replica fortfaces costly repairs
IN FORT WAYNE — The
replica of Fort Wayne’s
early 1800s namesake military
post is facing costly repairs after a
car crashed into its outer timber
wall.
The crash knocked down the tall
timbers making up a corner of the
Old Fort’s wall and damaged the
baker’s oven.
“This is the fourth time the fort
has been hit by a vehicle,” said
Tom Grant, the treasurer of His-
toric Fort Wayne. “This is abso-
lutely the worst situation we’ve
had.”
Grant estimates that it could
costs tens of thousands of dollars
to make repairs at the replica fort
that was first built in the 1970s at
the downtown site along the St.
Marys River. He said the nonprof-
it group was seeking donations.
The car drove over a grassy
berm between a street and the fort
before hitting the timber wall. The
car was abandoned when police
officers arrived and the crash was
under investigation, police said.
HEATHER ROUSSEAU, THE ROANOKE (VA.) TIMES/AP
A hiker checks out the view after waking up before dawn to catch the sunrise at the top of McAfee Knob on Sunday in Catawba, Va.
On top of the world
THE CENSUS
14K The approximate amount in dollars in rewards for leads in thedeaths of two Louisiana black bears. Louisiana authorities are
offering $14,500 in rewards for leads in the deaths of two black bears shot afew miles and nearly six months apart. Investigators don’t know whether a bearfound Nov. 9 near Centerville and one found May 17 south of nearby Franklinwere shot by the same person, the state Department of Wildlife and Fisheriessaid in a news release. Ballistics results so far indicate only that each bear wasshot by a rifle, but not the caliber or other details, Adam Einck, enforcementspokesman for the department, said in an email.
From The Associated Press
PAGE 12 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Wednesday, December 2, 2020
WORLD
BAKU, Azerbaijan — Azerbai-
jan on Tuesday completed re-
claiming territory ceded by Arme-
nia under a Russia-brokered
peace deal that ended six weeks of
fierce fighting over Nagorno-Ka-
rabakh.
Azerbaijani President Ilham
Aliyev hailed the restoration of
control over the areas as a historic
achievement.
“We all lived with one dream
and now we fulfilled it," Aliyev
said in an address to the nation.
“We won a victory on the battle-
field and on the political arena,
and that victory opens a new era
for our country. It will be an era of
development, security and pro-
gress."
Nagorno-Karabakh is in Azer-
baijan but has been under the con-
trol of ethnic Armenian forces
backed by Armenia since a sepa-
ratist war there ended in 1994.
That war left Nagorno-Karabakh
and large chunks of surrounding
lands in Armenian hands.
In 44 days of heavy fighting that
began Sept. 27, the Azerbaijani
military routed Armenian forces
and wedged deep into Nagorno-
Karabakh, forcing Armenia to ac-
cept the Russia-brokered peace
deal that took effect Nov. 10.
The agreement saw the return
of a significant part of Nagorno-
Karabakh under Azerbaijan's con-
trol and also requested Armenia to
hand over all of the regions it held
outside the separatist region.
The Lachin region, which lies
between Nagorno-Karabakh and
Armenia, was the last of the three
areas on the rim of Nagorno-Kara-
bakh to be surrendered by Arme-
nian forces on Tuesday.
Russia deployed nearly 2,000
peacekeepers for at least five
years to monitor the peace deal
and help the return of refugees.
The Russian troops will also en-
sure safe transit between Nagor-
no-Karabakh and Armenia across
the Lachin region.
Turkey, which has strongly
backed its ally Azerbaijan, has ex-
tended its clout in the region. On
Tuesday, Russian and Turkish
military officials signed docu-
ments to set up a joint monitoring
center to ensure the fulfillment of
the peace deal, which was cele-
brated in Azerbaijan, but sparked
mass protests in Armenia.
Azerbaijan fullyreclaims landsceded by Armenia
Associated Press
The farmers had tried to fight
back.
They were tired of Boko Haram
extremists stealing their money
and crops, a local official said, so
when they saw a chance to capture
one of their tormentors, they tied
him up to face justice.
In response, gunmen on motor-
bikes stormed the village of Kosh-
obe on Saturday, killing at least
110 people in one of the region's
deadliest attacks in years.
"The entire country is hurt by
these senseless killings," tweeted
Nigerian President Muhammadu
Buhari, whose office described
the loss as "insane."
No one has claimed responsib-
ility for the bloodshed.
Nigeria's Borno state has grap-
pled with a relentless insurgency
for more than a decade. Residents
have long blasted leaders in the
capital, Abuja, for failing to pro-
tect them.
Boko Haram has killed more
than 30,000 people since 2009 and
continues to stage regular attacks
across Borno. Millions have been
forced from their homes. The vio-
lence didn't stop after Buhari de-
clared the group "technically de-
feated." An offshoot, the Islamic
State in West Africa, has since
spread, assaulting military out-
posts and collecting taxes from
villagers it intends to rule.
Both groups want to govern Ni-
gerians with an extreme version
of Islam. They have driven scores
of aid workers and federal helpers
out of the country's remotest cor-
ners, leaving residents with little
recourse.
The assailants who struck
Koshobe over the weekend —
about an hour's drive from Borno's
capital, Maiduguri — targeted
people who worked on rice fields.
They tied up the victims and slit
their throats, the local govern-
ment said. Most were migrant
workers who had come from the
nation's northeast. Then the sus-
pected militants set fire to the land
in an agricultural community that
depends on it.
In addition to the 110 people who
died in the ambush, many others
were wounded, said Edward Kal-
lon, the U.N. humanitarian coordi-
nator in Nigeria. Several women
were kidnapped, he added.
Militants massacre at least110 on Nigerian rice farms
BY DANIELLE PAQUETTE
The Washington Post
Wednesday, December 2, 2020 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 13
LONDON — The British government told
businesses Tuesday to make sure they are
ready for big changes when the U.K. makes
its final Brexit break from the European
Union in exactly a month. But with negotia-
tions on a free-trade deal with the bloc
stuck, firms say they still don't know key de-
tails of what those changes will be.
Michael Gove, the minister in charge of
Brexit preparations, said trade talks were
“getting close to the wire.”
“It’s certainly the case that there is a
chance that we may not get a negotiation
outcome, that’s why it’s important that busi-
nesses prepare for all eventualities,” he told
ITV.
The U.K. left the EU early this year, but
remained part of the 27-
nation bloc’s economic
embrace during an 11-
month transition as the
two sides tried to nego-
tiate a new free-trade deal
to take effect Jan. 1.
Talks have already
slipped past the mid-No-
vember date long set as a
deadline for agreement to be reached if it is
to be approved by lawmakers in Britain and
the EU before the end of the year.
Teams led by EU chief negotiator Michel
Barnier and British counterpart David
Frost met through the weekend in London
with no breakthrough. Talks are contin-
uing, and U.K. officials have said this is the
last week to strike a deal.
The two sides remain stuck over key is-
sues including the resolution of future dis-
putes and “level playing field” provisions —
the standards the U.K. must meet to export
into the EU.
The biggest hurdle appears to be fish, a
small part of the economy with an outsized
symbolic importance for Europe’s mari-
time nations.
EU countries want their boats to be able
to keep fishing in British waters, while the
U.K. insists it must control access and quo-
tas.
If there is no deal, New Year’s Day will
bring huge disruption, with the overnight
imposition of tariffs and other barriers to
U.K.-EU trade. That will hurt both sides,
but the burden will fall most heavily on Bri-
tain, which does almost half its trade with
the EU.
The British government has launched a
major information campaign, with bill-
boards and advertisements warning that
“time is running out” and telling businesses
to get ready for change on Jan. 1.
Gove said “more than 80% of what busi-
ness needs to do” would be the same wheth-
er or not there is an agreement.
“But I very much want a deal and I be-
lieve that we can secure one,” he said.
Month ahead of split, Brexit trade deal uncertainBY JILL LAWLESS
Associated Press
Barnier
WORLD
PAGE 14 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Wednesday, December 2, 2020
Max D. Lederer Jr., Publisher
Lt. Col. Marci Hoffman, Europe commander
Lt. Col. Richard McClintic, Pacific commander
Caroline E. Miller, Europe Business Operations
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stripes.com
OPINION
“America is back,” said Presi-
dent-elect Joe Biden as he
announced key members of
his foreign policy team.
Those three seemingly simple words in fact
require a lot of unpacking: back to what?
Trump-era foreign policy has certainly
been a departure from seven decades of bi-
partisan consensus among leaders in gov-
ernment, business and philanthropy. The
generation that felt itself dragged into two
catastrophic world wars concluded that only
the United States had the economic and mil-
itary muscle to establish and maintain a
more stable order. They understood that the
long-term interests of Americans were best
served by the gradual expansion of peace
and prosperity worldwide.
This stance toward the world has always
bred suspicion and resentment among those
who, like President Donald Trump, tend to
believe that every transaction necessarily
involves either “winning” or “losing.” By
their logic, the wealth of other nations must
reflect, at some level, a “loss” for the United
States, because the money is in their pock-
ets, not ours. Taken to an appalling extreme,
Trump anathematized NATO as some sort
of bad deal for our country. “The one that
benefits, really, the least is the United
States,” he said last year, adding, “we’re
helping Europe.” In fact, the unpreceden-
tedly stable Western alliance has been indis-
pensable to U.S. power and wealth for
Trump’s entire lifetime.
As former chair of the Senate Foreign Re-
lations Committee, Biden is deeply steeped
in the traditional win-win view of America’s
role in the world, and his team reflects that
conviction. The United States, in his view,
can never have too many friends, and the
success of our friends is good for us, too. He
is like the homeowner who understands that
asafe neighborhood raises everyone’s home
values.
To the extent that Biden takes the country
“back” to the expansive, internationalist ap-
proach, he will benefit the national interest.
But it would be a mistake to turn the clock
“back” to 2016. Post-Cold War foreign policy
was off track in some important ways.
Trump’s radical reboot has positioned Bi-
den to start from a new place and build some-
thing better.
Start with China. In hindsight, it’s clear
that the U.S. gave too much and demanded
too little in facilitating Beijing’s economic
rise. The bipartisan consensus took as an ar-
ticle of faith the idea that prosperity and
freedom would go hand in hand. Instead, the
ruling Communist Party has grown richer —
and more repressive, too. From Uighur con-
centration campsto the crackdown on Hong
Kong, Beijing is proposing an alternative to
the human-rights oriented American order.
And China’s escalating conflict with Austra-
lia, a stalwart U.S. ally, is a head-on chal-
lenge to our influence across the Pacific rim.
The Biden administration should main-
tain Trump’s insistence that China fulfill its
responsibilities and play by the rules — but
do it smarter. That means restarting the
Trans-Pacific Partnership of enhanced
trade with our many friends in China’s
neighborhood. We won’t be pushed by a re-
pressive communist regime into abandon-
ing longtime partners or surrendering zones
of influence.
In the Middle East, Trump recognized the
opportunities presented by the United
States’ rise to energy independence. No
longer hamstrung by our addiction to Arab
oil, the U.S. has begun to rethink the possibil-
ities in this seemingly impossible region.
The recognition of Israel by the United Arab
Emirates and Qatar reflects a sober under-
standing that endless conflict stands in the
way of urgently needed economic diversifi-
cation across North Africa.
Team Biden should press ahead with this
breakthrough rather than go back. In doing
so, however, the new administration should
end the mollycoddling of Saudi Arabia’s
reckless Crown Prince Mohammed bin Sal-
man. Modernization, yes; wars and assassi-
nations, no. As to Iran, Biden should take a
long, reflective pause before undoing
Trump’s policy — not because Trump was
careful about withdrawing from the Iran nu-
clear deal (he was rash), but because U.S. in-
terests are damaged by a ping-ponging par-
tisan approach.
Finally, Biden should not go “back” on
Trump’s engagement with our nearest
neighbors. Having renegotiated the North
American Free Trade Agreement, the cur-
rent administration leaves the country
pointed toward shared prosperity. The goal
should be to extend this development all the
way to Tierra del Fuego, knitting the Amer-
icas into a hemisphere of happiness. No wall
can stem mass migrations to the U.S., but
give people good jobs in peaceful communi-
ties and most will prefer to stay home.
Resolute regarding China, flexible in the
Middle East, bullish on development of the
Americas: These three themes constitute
the best of Trump’s unconventional, some-
times dangerous, foreign policy. As Biden
restores the United States to its rightful
place in the world order — the friend of free-
dom and the scourge of tyrants — on these
fronts, he should push ahead.
Biden says US is back. Back to what?BY DAVID VON DREHLE
The Washington Post
Washington Post columnist David Von Drehle is the author of“Rise to Greatness: Abraham Lincoln and America’s MostPerilous Year.”
Having spent the past four years
with the political equivalent of
heavy metal music blasting
outside their psychic windows
late into the night, millions of Americans
are hoping that the Biden administration
will usher in a new era of calm. They are
likely to be disappointed.
To a limited extent, such wishes will be
granted. Under President Joe Biden, the
White House will no longer generate a ca-
cophony of incompetence. Tweet tantrums
will yield to process and predictability. Out-
right falsehood will be supplanted by more
traditional spin, tethered to truth. Cabinet
officers and appointees will conspicuously
fail to match their predecessors' reckless
driving, or the ethical and policy car crash-
es that resulted. No one will be kidnapping
migrant children and blithely deporting
their parents to destinations unknown.
But while Biden may proceed with busi-
ness as usual, the nation and the world will
not. U.S. domestic politics is an ugly mess,
and whatever muddling consensus might
have been forged among U.S. allies regard-
ing Chinese ambitions, global migration or
climate peril is further from realization
than it was four years ago. No matter how
dull Biden aspires to be, the forces of entro-
py — including a soon-to-be-removed in-
cumbent desperate to polarize for profit —
will push toward chaos and conflict.
Notably, all suppositions of calm in U.S.
politics are based, explicitly or implicitly,
on Democratic political dominance. Yet the
demographic destiny of the party continues
to be over the next hill. Trump did his best to
drive the GOP deeper into an all-white cul-
de-sac. Yet as a Bloomberg News analysis
concluded, in counties as varied as Miami-
Dade in Florida, Maricopa in Arizona and
Harris in Texas, Trump did better among
Hispanic voters in 2020 than in 2016. He al-
so succeeded in bringing more white non-
college-educated voters to the polls. All in
all, Republicans fared spectacularly well
for a party that had ostentatiously failed to
address a crisis responsible for killing more
than a quarter million Americans so far this
year.
Meanwhile, the GOP is ever more invest-
ed in a set of interlocking resentments — of
liberal elites, of Black Americans, of femi-
nism and nontraditional sexual identities, of
immigrants, of rich cities, of poor cities, of
all the emerging and dynamic quarters of
the economy. Other than its bedrock com-
mitment to upward redistribution of nation-
al wealth, the party's compact with its vot-
ers entails little more than punishing weak-
er enemies or owning empowered libs.
Without shared truths, shared govern-
ment is tenuous. A Biden administration
can navigate the resentments stoked by
Trumpism, but there is no obvious way to
neutralize the lies that animate it.
While the GOP has abandoned truth, it
holds fast to partisan logic. The mixture of
silence and complicity that enveloped
Trump's efforts to steal the election con-
firmed that much of the party has climbed
the final mountain in its evolution: post-pol-
icy, post-truth, post-democratic.
Biden will be working to strengthen dem-
ocratic values in a world still reeling from
U.S. abandonment of democratic norms,
practices and goals, and in a nation where
the opposition party increasingly views de-
mocracy as an impediment to its quest for
power. He will face a domestic opposition
committed to undermining not only his pol-
icies, but also their empirical foundation.
U.S. allies have had four years to adjust
their mental maps of the world, gradually
acknowledging the moral and political void
where the outline of America used to be.
"America is back," Biden said last week. In
the White House, and across the cabinets of
the federal government, that may prove
correct. But across the world, doubts will
linger.
The next four years will be quieter, less
obnoxious, less dangerous, than the past
four. But they will not be boring, and they
will not be normal.
The Biden era will be neither normal nor boringBY FRANCIS WILKINSON
Bloomberg Opinion
Francis Wilkinson writes about U.S. politics and domestic policyfor Bloomberg Opinion.
PAGE 16 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Wednesday, December 2, 2020
ACROSS
1 Halloween
greeting
4 Roman 52
7 Honker
8 — blanche
10 Beetle Bailey’s
boss
11 Black Sea port
13 “Unacceptable!”
16 German article
17 Lauder of
cosmetics
18 Sweetie
19 Geese
formations
20 Antitoxins
21 Plumber’s tool
23 “— bleu!”
25 Bell sound
26 Leslie Caron role
27 Cash dispenser
28 Humiliate
30 Motorist’s org.
33 “Oh, and also ...”
36 Fall guy
37 Blood giver
38 Hot and sticky
39 Villain in “Wonder
Woman”
40 Light brown
41 Witnessed
DOWN
1 Tennis star
Becker
2 PTA and
NEA, e.g.
3 Seven days
4 Soup server
5 Cara or
Castle
6 “You never
had — good!”
7 “Funny!”
8 Young horses
9 Old Testament
book
10 Norm (Abbr.)
12 Worship
14 “Got it”
15 Stop — dime
19 Batman portrayer
Kilmer
20 Biol. or chem.
21 Rogen and
Green
22 “Broadway Joe”
23 Spanish ayes
24 Programs
25 Bit of butter
26 Played at
a casino
28 Bakery lure
29 Commence
30 Good — (fixed)
31 Singer Tori
32 — Lingus
34 Track tipster
35 Nickelodeon’s
“Explorer”
Answer to Previous Puzzle
Eugene Sheffer CrosswordFra
zz
Dilbert
Pearls B
efo
re S
win
eN
on S
equitur
Candorv
ille
Beetle B
ailey
Biz
arr
oCarp
e D
iem
PAGE 18 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Wednesday, December 2, 2020
FACES
Here’s a collection curated by The Asso-
ciated Press’ entertainment journalists of
what’s arriving on TV, streaming services
and music platforms this week.
MoviesFilm history fans will get a meal out of
David Fincher’s “Mank,” about “Citizen
Kane” screenwriter Herman J. Mankiew-
icz who is masterfully played by Gary Old-
man. Shot in gorgeous black and white,
“Mank” transports you into the depression-
era studio system and to the bungalow
where the first draft of the classic Orson
Welles film was composed. Available on
Netflix on Friday, “Mank” is one of the
year’s best films and both a tribute to and
searing critique of Hollywood’s golden age.
“Sound of Metal” stars Riz Ahmed as a
punk metal drummer who experiences sud-
den severe hearing loss. The film, which is
captioned in English, dives into the world of
the deaf community with Ruben (Ahmed)
in a way you’ve never seen or heard before.
It’s the directorial debut of Darius Marder-
who assembled an crack team of sound mix-
ers and editors to create a unique auditory
experience to simulate what Ruben is going
through as he loses his hearing entirely.
The new live-action “Mulan” will finally
be free for Disney+ subscribers Friday.
From director Niki Caro, this adaptation of
the Chinese folk tale about a young woman
who disguises herself as a man and takes
her father’s place in the army is breathtak-
ingly beautiful, from the stunning land-
scapes to the colorful costumes. Although it
may fall short of the kind of intoxicating sto-
ry magic that the Disney label signifies, it is
worth a watch and may just inspire some
curious young viewers to delve into more
Asian cinema classics. Also, if you find
yourself missing the songs and Eddie Mur-
phy, the animated 1998 version is also avail-
able on the service.
— AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr
MusicA house is not a home during the holiday
season without Mariah Carey’s “All I Want
for Christmas Is You” blasting. During a
normal year, Carey and her Christmas cra-
ziness would be on a holiday tour. Because
live shows aren’t really a thing in 2020, she’s
launching a holiday TV special on Apple
TV+ on Friday. “Mariah Carey’s Magical
Christmas Special” will includes a mix of
musical performances and dancing with
animation. Ariana Grande, Jennifer Hud-
son, Snoop Dogg, Tiffany Haddish, Misty
Copeland and Carey’s 9-year-old twins will
make special appearances.
Shawn Mendes released his debut album
in 2015 and he’s dropping his fourth effort
Friday. “Wonder” continues to showcase
Mendes’ growth as a
singer, songwriter
and performer. The
album features the
singles “Wonder”
and “Monster” with
Justin Bieber, which
debuted in the Top
10 of the Billboard
Hot chart this week.
Additionally, a Netflix documentary called
“Shawn Mendes: In Wonder” is available
for streaming and follows Mendes’ rise and
journey over the past few years.
Christmas came early when Carrie Un-
derwood released her first holiday album in
September, and on Thursday she’ll debut a
musical TV special to accompany it. On
HBO Max’s “My Gift: A Christmas Special
from Carrie Underwood” — conducted by
award-winning musical director Rickey
Minor — the country superstar is backed by
a live orchestra, choir and her band. John
Legend makes an appearance, and viewers
will get a behind-the-scenes look at Under-
wood’s 5-year-old son, Isaiah, recording his
vocals for “Little Drummer Boy.”
— AP Music Editor Mesfin Fekadu
Television“Selena: The Series” is described by Net-
flix as a coming-of-age drama that follows
Selena Quintanilla from talented youngster
to musical phenom, aided by her family. A
breakthrough star in male-dominated Teja-
no music, the singer was just shy of her 24th
birthday in 1995 when she was fatally shot
by a former business associate. The two-
part series debuts Friday with Christian
Serratos (“The Walking Dead”) as Selena
and Gabriel Chavarria (“East Los Angeles’)
and Ricardo Chavira (“Desperate House-
wives”) among the cast members.
The 11th and final season of the Showtime
dramady “Shameless” debuts Sunday,
weaving the pandemic, urban gentrifica-
tion and personal pressures into the lives of
the Gallaghers of Chicago’s South Side.
Aging patriarch Frank (William H. Ma-
cy) is facing the toll of longtime alcohol and
drug abuse, while and Ian and Mickey
(Cameron Monaghan, Noel Fisher) strug-
gle as newlyweds. Deb (Emma Kenney)
stands ready to give her all to single mother-
hood and Carl (Ethan Cutkosky) feels the
same about his nascent law enforcement
career.
— AP Television Writer Lynn Elber
Streaming soon
NETFLIX
Christian Serratos is Selena Quintanilla in “Selena The Series,” coming Friday to Netflix.
Amazon Studios
Riz Ahmed stars in “Sound of Metal” as apunk metal drummer who experiencessudden severe hearing loss.
SHOWTIME
William H. Macy is Frank Gallagher in“Shameless.” The 11th and final season ofthe series premieres Sunday.
Selena series, ‘Shameless’ and Shawn MendesAssociated Press
The year’s most played artist on
Spotify? Globally speaking: Bad
Bunny.
The Puerto Rican superstar is
the music platform’s most-
streamed artist of the year with 8.3
billion streams globally. The Latin
Grammy winner and hitmaker,
who released a new album last
week, leads a top five list that in-
cludes Drake, J Balvin, Juice
WRLD and The Weeknd.
With more than 3.3 billion
streams, Bad Bunny’s sophomore
solo album “YHLQMDLG” tops
Spotify’s list of most-streamed al-
bums globally. The Weeknd’s “Af-
ter Hours,” Post Malone’s “Holly-
wood’s Bleeding,” Harry Styles’
“Fine Line” and Dua Lipa’s “Fu-
ture Nostalgia” round of the top
five.
The Weeknd’s album is the only
one in the top five to earn no
Grammy nominations. The al-
bum’s single, “Blinding Lights,” is
Spotify’s most-streamed song of
the year with 1.6 million streams
globally.
“Dance Monkey” by Australian
singer Tones and I is the second
most-streamed song of the year,
while Roddy Ricch’s “The Box,”
SAINt JHN’s “Roses — Imanbek
Remix” and Lipa’s “Don’t Start
Now” came in third, fourth and
fifth respectively.
In the U.S., late rapper Juice
WRLD was the most-streamed
artist on Spotify. His album “Leg-
ends Never Die” was the plat-
form’s most-streamed album in
the U.S., while Ricch’s “The Box”
was the country’s most-streamed
song.
Felicity Huffman’s next
act: TV baseball comedy
Felicity Huffman, the “Desper-
ate Housewives” star who was
convicted last year in the college
admissions scandal, just got a new
lease on her acting life. The Em-
my-winning actress has inked a
deal for a comedy pilot for ABC. In
the half-hour how, as yet untitled,
Huffman will play the unlikely
owner of a minor-league baseball
team that she inherited after her
husband’s death. “Peanut Butter
Falcon” actor Zack Gottsagen will
co-star as Huffman’s eldest son, a
baseball fanatic who has Down
syndrome. The story is based on
the life of Susan Savage, owner of
the Triple A World Champion Sac-
ramento River Cats. .
Other news
The co-author of the million-
selling “Game Change” has a book
coming about the 2020 election.
Simon & Schuster announced
Monday that John Heilemann is
working on a “dramatic, first-
hand account” of Joe Biden’s vic-
torious presidential campaign.
The book is currently untitled.
Dave Prowse, the British
weightlifter-turned-actor who
was the body, though not the voice,
of arch-villain Darth Vader in the
original Star Wars trilogy, died
Nov. 28 after a short illness. He
was 85. Director George Lucas
saw Prowse in a small part in “A
Clockwork Orange” and asked the
6-foot-6-inch actor to audition for
the villainous Vader or the Wookie
Chewbacca in “Star Wars.”
Bad Bunny is Spotify’s most-streamed artist of 2020Associated Press
AP
Bad Bunny, shown at the Billboard Latin Music Awards in2019, was the moststreamedartist on Spotify in 2020.
PAGE 20 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Wednesday, December 2, 2020
SCOREBOARD/HIGH SCHOOLS
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
AP Top 25 scheduleNo. 1 Alabama at LSU, SaturdayNo. 2 Notre Dame vs. Syracuse, SaturdayNo. 3 Ohio State at Michigan State, Sat-
urdayNo. 4 Clemson at Virginia Tech, SaturdayNo. 5 Texas A&M at Auburn, SaturdayNo. 6 Florida at Tennessee, SaturdayNo. 9 Miami at Duke, SaturdayNo. 10 Indiana at No. 18 Wisconsin, Sat-
urdayNo. 11 Georgia vs. Vanderbilt, SaturdayNo. 12 Iowa State vs. West Virginia, Sat-
urdayNo. 13 Oklahoma vs. Baylor, SaturdayNo. 14 Coastal Carolina vs. No. 25 Liberty,
SaturdayNo. 15 Marshall vs. Rice, SaturdayNo. 17 Southern Cal vs. Washington
State, SundayNo. 19 Oklahoma State at TCU, SaturdayNo. 20 Louisiana-Lafayette at Appala-
chian State, FridayNo. 21 Oregon at California, SaturdayNo. 22 Tulsa at Navy, SaturdayNo. 23 Washington vs. Stanford, Satur-
dayNo. 24 Iowa at Illinois, Saturday
AP men's Top 25The top 25 teams in The Associated
Press' college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, recordsthrough Nov. 30, total points based on 25points for a first-place vote through onepoint for a 25th-place vote and previousranking
Record Pts Prv
1. Gonzaga (57) 2-0 1569 1
2. Baylor (6) 2-0 1513 2
3. Iowa 2-0 1410 5
4. Wisconsin 2-0 1287 7
5. Illinois 3-0 1281 8
6. Duke 1-0 1185 9
7. Kansas 1-1 1169 6
8. Michigan St. 2-0 1028 13
9. Creighton 1-0 981 11
10. Houston 3-0 949 17
11. West Virginia 3-0 943 15
12. Villanova 2-1 939 3
13. Tennessee 0-0 878 12
14. North Carolina 1-0 591 16
15. Virginia 1-1 581 4
16. Virginia Tech 3-0 570 —
17. Texas 2-0 478 19
17. Texas Tech 2-1 478 14
19. Richmond 2-0 382 —
20. Kentucky 1-1 363 10
21. Oregon 0-0 338 20
22. Florida St. 0-0 304 21
23. Ohio St. 2-0 282 23
24. Rutgers 3-0 252 24
25. Arizona St 2-1 233 18
Others receiving votes: Michigan 90, SanDiego St. 86, Saint Louis 69, Louisville 55,Alabama 52, Florida 45, Indiana 38, UCLA14, Maryland 9, Providence 7, Stanford 7,UConn 6, Clemson 4, LSU 3, Arkansas 2,Loyola of Chicago 1, TCU 1, Colorado 1, BYU1.
Monday's men's scores
EAST
Hofstra 73, Fairleigh Dickinson 58Seton Hall 86, Iona 64St. John's 97, Boston College 93UALR 76, Duquesne 66
SOUTH
Bowling Green 78, Appalachian St. 76Campbell 85, St. Andrews 51Chattanooga 62, Tennessee Tech 54Emmanuel 64, Stetson 61Jacksonville St. 85, Mobile 66LSU 96, SE Louisiana 43Mercer 86, Georgia St. 69Mississippi St. 68, Texas St. 51North Carolina 78, UNLV 51UCF 63, Auburn 55W. Carolina 96, Piedmont 58
MIDWEST
Indiana 79, Providence 58Kansas St. 62, UMKC 58Minnesota 67, Loyola Marymount 64Xavier 99, E. Kentucky 96, OT
SOUTHWEST
SMU 91, Texas A&M-CC 54Texas 78, Davidson 76
FAR WEST
CS Northridge 76, Seattle 65California 60, Nicholls 49Nevada 70, Pacific 58Stanford 82, Alabama 64Texas Southern 76, Wyoming 74
AP women's Top 25The top 25 teams in The Associated
Press' women's college basketball poll,with first-place votes in parentheses, re-cords through Nov. 30, total points basedon 25 points for a first-place vote throughone point for a 25th-place vote and previ-ous ranking
Record Pts Prv
1. South Carolina (29) 3-0 749 1
2. Stanford (1) 1-0 704 2
3. UConn 0-0 689 3
4. Baylor 1-0 665 4
5. Louisville 2-0 607 5
6. Mississippi St. 1-0 586 6
7. Arizona 1-0 566 7
8. NC State 2-0 564 8
9. UCLA 1-0 494 9
10. Oregon 1-0 477 10
11. Kentucky 2-0 466 11
12. Texas A&M 2-0 412 13
13. Indiana 1-0 342 16
14. Maryland 2-1 327 12
15. Northwestern 0-0 289 17
16. Arkansas 3-1 265 14
17. Oregon St. 1-0 256 18
18. Gonzaga 1-1 193 21
19. Ohio St. 1-0 189 20
20. DePaul 1-1 187 19
21. Missouri St. 2-1 153 24
22. Syracuse 1-0 142 23
23. Iowa St. 1-1 128 15
24. Michigan 2-0 110 25
25. Texas 2-0 65 —
Others receiving votes: South Dakota St.31, North Carolina 24, South Dakota 20,Notre Dame 20, Arizona St. 10, Wake Forest9, Ohio 6, South Florida 1, Boston College 1,Tennessee 1, Rutgers 1, Duke 1.
Monday's women's scores
EAST
Penn St. 87, St. Francis (Pa.) 54Towson 95, La Salle 66
SOUTH
Buffalo 80, James Madison 64Clemson 80, Charlotte 73FAU 93, North Florida 81Howard 87, Mount St. Mary's 83
MIDWEST
DePaul 128, Chicago St. 66Gonzaga 54, South Dakota 50
FAR WEST
Arizona St. 62, Saint Mary's (Cal) 53
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
PRO SOCCER
MLS playoffsPlay-in
Eastern ConferenceFriday, Nov. 20
New England 2, Montreal 1Nashville 3, Inter Miami 0
First RoundEastern Conference
Saturday, Nov. 21Orlando City 1, New York City FC 1, (Or-
lando advances 6-5 on penalties)Columbus 3, New York 2
Tuesday, Nov. 24Nashville 1, Toronto 0, OTNew England 2, Philadelphia 0
Western ConferenceSunday, Nov. 22
Sporting Kansas City 3, San Jose 3,(Sporting KC advances 3-0 on penalties)
Minnesota United 3, Colorado 0Portland 3, Dallas 3, (Dallas advances 8-7
on penalties)
Tuesday, Nov. 24Seattle 3, Los Angeles FC 1
Conference SemifinalsEastern Conference
Sunday, Nov. 29New England 3, Orlando City 1Columbus 2, Nashville 0
Western ConferenceTuesday's game
Dallas at Seattle
Thursday's gameMinnesota United at Sporting Kansas
City
Conference ChampionshipsSunday's game
Eastern ConferenceNew England at Columbus
Monday's gameWestern Conference
Seattle-Dallas winner vs. Sporting KC-Minnesota winner
MLS CupSaturday, Dec. 12
Teams TBD
DEALS
Monday's transactionsBASEBALL
Major League BaseballAmerican League
CLEVELAND INDIANS — Traded RHPAdam Cimber to Miami for cash consider-ations.
KANSAS CITY ROYALS — Signed OF Mi-chael Taylor. Designated LHP Foster Grif-fin for assignment.
National LeagueCHICAGO CUBS — Named Jeff Greenberg
assistant general manager. Named CraigBreslow assistant general manager andvice president of pitching.
MIAMI MARLINS — Designated RHP JoseUrena for assignment.
BASKETBALLNational Basketball Association
DETROIT PISTONS — Signed guards Kil-lian Hayes and Saben Lee and forwardsIsaiah Stewart and Saben Lee.
FOOTBALLNational Football League
ARIZONA CARDINALS — Placed TE EvanBaylis on waivers.
BALTIMORE RAVENS — Activated OLBJaylon Ferguson, G D.J. Fluker, CB ImanMarshall and DT Broderick Washingtonfrom the reserve/COVID-19 list.
CAROLINA PANTHERS — Placed DE YeturGross-Matos on the reserve/COVID-19 list.
CLEVELAND BROWNS — Claimed S Te-dric Thompson off waivers from KansasCity. Activated FB Andy Janovich from thereserve/COVID-19 list.
HOUSTON TEXANS — Activated G HjalteFroholdt from the exempt/commissionerpermission list.
JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS — Activated KChase McLaughlin from the reserve/CO-VID-19 list.
PHILADELPHIA EAGLES — Activated DEGendard Avery from injured reserve. Pro-moted TE Caleb Wilson and DT T.Y. McGillto the active roster.
PITTSBURGH STEELERS — Activated DEIsaiah Buggs and G Kevin Dotson from thereserve/COVID-19 list.
TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS — ActivatedWR Jaydon Mickens and RB T.J. Loganfrom the reserve/COVID-19 list. Placed DLBenning Potoa on the reserve/COVID-19list.
SOCCERMLS
LOS ANGELES GALAXY — Exercised con-tract options of G Justin Vom Steeg, D Die-die Traore, M Kai Koreniuk and F Ethan Zu-bak. Agreed to terms with M Sacha Kijes-tan on a new contract. Declined the op-tions of M Joe Corona, D's Emiliano Insuaand Emil Cuello, F's Yony Gonzalez andGordon Wild and G Jonathan Klinsmann.
National Women's Soccer LeagueWASHINGTON SPIRIT — Re-signed M ToriHuster to a two-year contract.
AP SPORTLIGHT
Dec. 2
1907 — Tommy Burns defends his worldheavyweight title by knocking out GunnerMoir in the 10th round at London.
1944 — Ohio State quarterback LeslieHorvath wins the Heisman Trophy.
1947 — Notre Dame quarterback JohnnyLujack wins the Heisman Trophy.
1952 — Oklahoma halfback Billy Vesselsis named the Heisman Trophy winner.
1958 — Army back Pete Dawkins isnamed the Heisman Trophy winner.
1993 — The Houston Rockets tie the NBArecord for the best start to a season, im-proving to 15-0 with a 94-85 victory overthe New York Knicks. The Rocketsmatched the start of the 1948-49 Washing-ton Capitols.
1995 — Notre Dame advances to theNCAA women’s soccer championship bybecoming the first team to beat 13-timechampion North Carolina in the nationalsemifinals. The lone score comes whenTar Heels forward Cindy Parlow acciden-tally heads a ball into her own net.
2002 — Oakland’s Tim Brown and JerryRice take turns rewriting the NFL recordbook in a 26-20 win over the New York Jets.Brown becomes the third player with 1,000receptions and the third with 14,000 yardsreceiving. Rich Gannon ties an NFL recordwith his ninth 300-yard passing game ofthe season. On the very next play afterBrown’s 1,000th catch, Rice scores on a 26-yard catch, giving Oakland a 13-10 lead.It’s Rice’s record 192nd TD catch and putshim over 1,000 yards receiving for a record14th season.
2009 — The New Jersey Nets are pound-ed into NBA infamy, falling 117-101 to theDallas Mavericks for their 18th straightloss to start the season. The Nets pass the1988-89 Miami Heat and 1999 Los AngelesClippers, who both dropped their first 17games.
2017 — McKenzie Milton of UCF passesfor 494 yards and five TDs to help the 12th-ranked Knights win the American AthleticConference title with a 62-55 victory overNo. 16 Memphis in double overtime. The117 points between UCF and Memphis setsa record for an FBS conference champion-ship game.
PRO BASEBALL
MLB calendarDec. 2 — Last day for teams to offer 2021
contracts to unsigned players on their 40-man rosters.
2021
Jan. 15 — International amateur signingperiod opens.
Jan, 26 — Hall of Fame voting an-nounced.
Feb. 1-19 — Salary arbitration hearings,Scottsdale, Ariz.
Feb. 17 — Voluntary reporting date forpitchers, catchers and injured players.
Feb. 22 — Voluntary reporting date forother players.
Feb. 27 — Mandatory reporting date. March 15 — Last day to place a player on
waivers for 30 days termination pay. March 27 — Last day to offer a retention
bonus to an eligible player attendingspring training with a minor league con-tract.
March 30 — Last day to place a player onwaivers for 45 days termination pay.
April 1 — Opening day, active rosters re-duced to 26 players.
July 13 — All-Star Game, Atlanta. July 25 — Hall of Fame induction, Coo-
perstown, N.Y. Dec. 1 — Collective bargaining agree-
ment expires, 11:59 p.m. EST. Dec. 15 — International amateur signing
period closes.
The American high school win-
ter sports season in Europe will
get off to a later start than antici-
pated.
If it happens at all.
“There won’t be any competi-
tion at least until we come back in
January,” Kathy Clemmons, the
DODEA Europe athletic director,
said Monday, shortly after shar-
ing an update with school admin-
istrators and athletic directors.
In Europe, the winter season
has traditionally featured two
weeks of competition — and
about a month’s worth of practic-
es — before the Christmas break.
But Clemmons said host nation
regulations and U.S. military re-
strictions to try to curb the spread
of the coronavirus will make the
winter season far from ordinary,
just as it did in the fall and spring
— where entire sports or seasons
were reduced or eliminated.
There might be practices at
some schools, though.
“Nothing has been finalized,”
said Dennis Ullery, athletic direc-
tor at Lakenheath in England. But
if the 48th Fighter Wing grants ap-
proval, practices for both girls
and boys teams in volleyball and
weightlifting could start as early
as Dec. 8.
That’s also the situation at Rota
in Spain. AD Ben Anderson said
students — who have been back
in school in Rota since Oct. 5 —
would like to start practice next
week. But the decision will be up
to the Naval Station Rota com-
mand.
Elsewhere, the situation is a bit
more complicated. Germany’s
national decree that expires Dec.
20 prohibits any training or com-
petition for amateur sports, Clem-
mons said. It’s entirely possible
that could be extended into the
new year. Christmas break starts
Dec. 19. and school resumes Jan.
4.
Italy has both national and re-
gional decrees in play. Vicenza
has the only DODEA high school
in Italy currently with students in
classrooms. AD Theresa Urquilla
said they’re waiting on a national
decree that expires Thursday to
see how they’ll proceed.
“There are so many layers, it’s
just impossible to say, ‘This is
what we’re going to do,’ ” as an
organization, Clemmons said. In a
mass email, she encouraged
schools who could practice to
start. But she said traveling to
play seemed unlikely under cur-
rent conditions.
“We’ll come back in January,
after Christmas break, and we’ll
see where we stand,” she said.
Anderson said practice is bet-
ter than nothing for the Admirals,
who have never fielded boys vol-
leyball or any weightlifting
teams.
“I know the kids would really
like to be doing something after
school,” he said.
MICHAEL ABRAMS / Stars and Stripes
Stuttgart’s Karen Kosinski, center, spikes the ball past the Ramsteindefense of Lauren Szczygeil, left, and Sequoia Juhaz duringthe Division I final at the DODEA Europe volleyball championships in Kaiserslautern on Nov. 2, 2019. The next season, if it happens, won’tbegin until at least January.
DODEA Europewinter sportsseason delayed
BY KENT HARRIS
Stars and Stripes
[email protected]: kharris4stripes
Wednesday, December 2, 2020 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 21
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Associated Press
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The
Southeastern Conference has
named Vanderbilt kicker Sarah
Fuller as the league’s co-special
teams player of the week after she
made history becoming the first
woman to play in a Power 5 con-
ference football game.
Fuller shared the award Mon-
day with Florida punt returner
Kadarius Toney after the senior
soccer player served as Vander-
bilt’s primary kicker in a loss to
Missouri. She sent a squib kick 30
yards that was covered at the Mis-
souri 35 to open the second half in
her only chance to kick.
The Vanderbilt kicker became
the third woman to play at the
Football Bowl Subdivision level,
joining Katie Hnida, who was the
first and scored two extra points
for New Mexico on Aug. 30, 2003,
and April Goss, who had an extra
point for Kent State in 2015.
Fuller is continuing to practice
with Vanderbilt, which visits No.
11 Georgia on Saturday. Fuller
helped Vanderbilt win the South-
eastern Conference women’s
tournament title on Nov. 22.
Fuller said she wants to remain
a member of the team.
“I'll stay around as long as they
want me, till they like, kick me
off,” Fuller said Sunday. “So I'm
here for the long run.”
Fuller said her longest field goal
in practice last week was 38 yards.
“I asked for some film on some
NFL kickers that are comparable
to how I kick so I can refine that,"
Fuller said.
Fuller lands SEC football honor
L.G. PATTERSON / AP
Vanderbilt's Sarah Fuller kicksoff at Missouri Saturday.
Associated Press
Minnesota announced Monday
it has called off this weekend’s
game against No. 16 Northwest-
ern, the second straight cancella-
tion for the Gophers due to a spike
in COVID-19 cases within the pro-
gram.
University officials made the
decision in consultation with the
Big Ten after seven additional
positive cases were confirmed.
The Wildcats, who lead the West
Division by one game at 5-1, were
scheduled to play Saturday at TCF
Bank Stadium. Those Gophers
who have contracted the virus
have experienced “very, very
mild symptoms,” according to
coach P.J. Fleck.
College football is limping to-
ward the postseason in late De-
cember as multiple programs deal
with COVID-19 outbreaks and
contact tracing protocols. Four
games on this week’s schedule
have been postponed or canceled.
Over the last three weeks, 52
games have been called off be-
cause of COVID-19 issues out of
179 that were scheduled. Since
late August, the total number of
canceled or postponed games is
103.
Minnesota’s football team has
turned up 47 positive cases since
Nov. 19 — 21 players and 26 staff
members. The Gophers paused all
team activities six days ago, when
they canceled the annual rivalry
game at Wisconsin. Minnesota al-
so said it will hold all meetings vir-
tually for the rest of the season.
Left on the schedule is a game at
Nebraska on Dec. 12 and a to-be-
determined cross-division oppo-
nent on Dec. 19.
“There’s not a lot we can do
about it. Nobody’s doing anything
wrong. The virus remains unde-
feated,” Fleck said on his weekly
radio appearance on KFAN-FM.
“We are in a major city, surround-
ed by a lot of people.”
The university is working with
the state health department to iso-
late and treat the individuals
who’ve tested positive. Last week,
Minnesota added testing beyond
the conference’s established pro-
tocols.
“The health and safety of our
student-athletes, coaches and
staff continues to be our main pri-
ority,” athletic director Mark
Coyle said. “The last couple of
days have shown a decrease in
positive cases, but not to the point
where we are able to return to
competition.”
Coyle said the Gophers are aim-
ing to play Nebraska as scheduled,
and Fleck said the team is game-
planning for the Huskers.
The virus has done a number on
the Big Ten race, with six cancel-
lations so far. The 18th-ranked
Badgers have likely become ineli-
gible for the conference cham-
pionship because they haven’t
played enough games. East Divi-
sion leader and third-ranked Ohio
State, which had to cancel its last
game against Illinois, would be in
danger of that fate with one more
cancellation.
College basketballThe pandemic is also disrupting
the early days of the college bas-
ketball season, with coaches
scrambling to fill holes in the
schedule. The 21st-ranked Oregon
men’s basketball program an-
nounced it would play two games
in Omaha, Neb. — against Missou-
ri on Wednesday and Seton Hall
on Friday.
Oregon is yet to open its basket-
ball season because of the CO-
VID-19-related cancellations of
multiteam events the Ducks
hoped to play in as well as a game
against Eastern Washington.
Ducks coach Dana Altman was
the longtime coach at Creighton,
in Omaha, before leaving for Ore-
gon and he has remained close
friends with athletic director
Bruce Rasmussen.
Seton Hall (0-1), like Creighton,
plays in the Big East. Rasmussen
served as the middleman to get the
Ducks and Pirates together on
Creighton’s home court.
Virus spike forcesGophers to cancelgame vs. Wildcats
STACY BENGS / AP
Linebacker Josh Aune, front, andMinnesota have had to canceltwo consecutive games becauseof a coronavirus outbreak.
Minnesota footballhas had 47 positivecases since Nov. 19
FORT SHAFTER, Hawaii —
The U.S. Army’s Hawaii-based
“Tropic Lightning” 25th Infantry
Division is serving as the inspira-
tion for the uniforms to be worn
next week during the Army-Navy
football game.
The annual matchup will take
place Dec. 12 at Army’s Michie
Stadium.
Black Knights players’ uni-
forms will honor the division’s Ko-
rean War-era 27th Infantry Re-
giment, the Wolfhounds, which
played a decisive role in repelling
the initial massive assault by the
North Korean People’s Army in
1950, according to promotional
materials released by the Army.
Army’s helmets will sport the
division’s distinctive insignia: a
golden lightning bolt emblazoned
upon a red taro leaf.
The division was activated on
Oahu shortly before Japan’s sur-
prise attack on the island on Dec.
7, 1941. Its soldiers participated in
the invasion of Luzon, Philippines,
in January 1945 and were among
the occupying forces in Japan af-
ter its surrender later that year.
On one shoulder of the uniform
is a wolf head, symbol of the divi-
sion’s Wolfhounds, whose soldiers
were deployed from the tranquil
Japan occupation to Korea when
war broke out in June 1950.
The Wolfhounds were among
the units defending the Pusan Pe-
rimeter and then pushed the ene-
my back toward the north, earning
three Presidential Unit Citations
during the conflict, which ended
in 1953.
“The Wolfhounds have more
Medal of Honor recipients than
any other regiment going back to
the Spanish-American War,” the
Army said.
The uniforms carry a shoulder
patch of an American flag from
the early 1950s, which had only 48
stars before Hawaii and Alaska
became states in 1959.
The game venue of West Point,
N.Y., chosen in the wake of the
coronavirus pandemic, is a signif-
icant departure from the longtime
tradition of holding the game at
neutral locations.
Over the 120 years the rivals
have competed, about three-quar-
ters of those games were played in
Philadelphia.
U.S. ARMY / U.S. Army
The 25th Infantry Division’s Wolfhounds, whose soldiers defended a foothold on the Korean peninsula in1950, are the inspiration for Army’s football uniforms for this year’s ArmyNavy game at West Point.
Army’s game uniform inspiredby Wolfhounds of Korean War
BY WYATT OLSON
Stars and Stripes
PAGE 22 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Wednesday, December 2, 2020
COLLEGE BASKETBALL/NBA
ASHEVILLE, N.C. — North Carolina
started its first game of the relocated Maui
Invitational so badly that it faced an imme-
diate double-digit hole as its Hall of Fame
coach benched multiple starters.
The 14th-ranked Tar Heels offered up a
confidence-building response to those early
troubles.
Freshman RJ Davis scored 16 points to
help UNC beat UNLV 78-51 in Monday
night’s first round. After falling behind 13-0,
the Tar Heels used a big run spanning half-
time and a dominating effort on the glass to
advance.
“I told them at the first timeout I wasn’t
worried about the score,” coach Roy Wil-
liams said. “I was just worried about how
we were playing.”
Garrison Brooks added 14 points and sur-
passed the 1,000-point mark for his career
in the first half for North Carolina (2-0),
which didn’t score for the first 6 ½ minutes.
But UNC closed the gap, then went on a 28-4
run for its own big lead.
The Tar Heels got a big contribution from
senior reserve Andrew Platek, who had 11
points and hit a pair of first-half three-point-
ers after UNC sputtered out of the tipoff.
“I think we were worried for a second,”
Platek said of the players’ reaction to the
early deficit. “But then we just knew if we
played our principles and played our game
plan, we were going to be fine.”
Bryce Hamilton scored 15 points for the
Runnin’ Rebels (0-2), who hit their first five
shots. But UNLV made just 13 of 57 shots
(22.8%) while the Tar Heels snagged seem-
ingly every miss to finish with a 54-35 re-
bounding advantage.
No. 17 Texas 78, Davidson 76: At Ashe-
ville, N.C., Courtney Ramey had the go-
ahead driving score with 20 seconds left for
the Longhorns in the opening game of the
Maui Invitational.
Ramey’s score broke a 76-all tie, then
Texas (2-0) came up with a pair of stops on
the final possession, when the Wildcats (1-1)
had a chance to tie or win.
Davidson's Sam Mennenga missed a con-
tested three-pointer from the wing, but the
Wildcats got another shot when the ball
went out of bounds with 3.8 seconds left.
Davidson inbounded again to Mennenga,
who missed a final three for the win with the
Longhorns’ Andrew Jones closely defend-
ing him. Mennenga turned toward the offi-
cial at the horn, while Wildcats coach Bob
McKillop also protested slightly before
leaving the court.
Ramey scored 14 points to lead the Texas
in the win.
Mennenga scored 17 points to lead David-
son.
Long Beach St.No. 22 UCLA, ppd.: The
Bruins’ home opener against the Beach was
postponed. UCLA spokesman Alex Tim-
iraos said the game is off “out of an abun-
dance of caution” based on COVID-19 pro-
tocols in the Long Beach State program.
TOP 25 ROUNDUP
Davis, 14th-rankedTar Heels top UNLV
Associated Press
KATHY KMONICEK / AP
North Carolina guard RJ Davis, back, leaps to shoot over UNLV guard Bryce Hamiltonduring the first half of Monday's game at the Maui Invitational in Asheville, N.C.
the start of Phase 4 in the league’s five-
phase plan for health and safety.
“We’re all going to have to be very nim-
ble, first of all keeping guys safe and
healthy,” Utah general manager Justin Za-
nik said Monday. “We’ll get an idea of the
schedule, how travel is, how the pandemic
affects us. ... No one in the NBA, other than a
three-month bubble, has ever gone through
what we’re about to go through.”
Preseason is less than two weeks away,
starting Dec. 11. The regular season starts
on Dec. 22, three weeks from Tuesday. A
schedule for the first half of the shortened
72-game regular season could be known in
the coming days, and many teams are still
deciding if they can begin the season with
fans in their arenas or not. The NBA cham-
pion Lakers have already said they aren’t
having fans in their building to start the sea-
son; Charlotte and Oklahoma City an-
nounced Monday that they will begin their
home schedules the same way.
“This is going to be a challenging season
for us,” Phoenix general manager James
Jones said. “We’re going to do everything in
our power to make sure that we try to stay
COVID-free and try to stay healthy. With 72
games in a condensed season and more or
increased back-to-backs means that we’ll
have to manage our time appropriately.”
For nine coaches — Tom Thibodeau in
New York, Steve Nash in Brooklyn, Billy
Donovan in Chicago, Doc Rivers in Phila-
delphia, Nate Bjorkgren in Indiana, Stan
Van Gundy in New Orleans, Stephen Silas
in Houston, Mark Daigneault in Oklahoma
City and Tyronn Lue with the Los Angeles
Clippers — this week marks the formal start
of their on-court tenures with their clubs.
It’ll also be the first training camp as head
coach for J.B. Bickerstaff in Cleveland; he
took over as coach in February.
Some teams haven’t played since March
11. Others saw their seasons resume in July,
then end in August or September. And for
the Lakers and the Heat, the NBA finalists,
the season went until mid-October.
Not even two months later, it’s time to
play again.
“I think it’s fair to say that coming into the
season, given everything that’s going on in
the country relative to COVID and the ef-
fects that it’s having on everybody both lo-
cally and nationally, this is going to be a
pretty unique season,” Oklahoma City gen-
eral manager Sam Presti said.
“We’ve never been through a season like
this before. No team has.”
Back: Teams still deciding if they can begin season with fansFROM PAGE 24
MARK J. TERRILL / AP
The Los Angeles Lakers' LeBron James, left, and Anthony Davis celebrate winning theNBA Finals on Oct. 11. Now the Lakers will begin defense of that title.
Wednesday, December 2, 2020 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 23
NFL
American Conference
East
W L T Pct PF PA
Buffalo 8 3 0 .727 299 282
Miami 7 4 0 .636 284 205
New England 5 6 0 .455 229 255
N.Y. Jets 0 11 0 .000 152 322
South
W L T Pct PF PA
Tennessee 8 3 0 .727 324 285
Indianapolis 7 4 0 .636 302 253
Houston 4 7 0 .364 268 297
Jacksonville 1 10 0 .091 227 325
North
W L T Pct PF PA
Pittsburgh 10 0 0 1.000 298 174
Cleveland 8 3 0 .727 265 286
Baltimore 6 4 0 .600 268 195
Cincinnati 2 8 1 .227 230 289
West
W L T Pct PF PA
Kansas City 10 1 0 .909 348 238
Las Vegas 6 5 0 .545 292 319
Denver 4 7 0 .364 209 298
L.A. Chargers 3 8 0 .273 277 300
National Conference
East
W L T Pct PF PA
N.Y. Giants 4 7 0 .364 214 253
Washington 4 7 0 .364 241 243
Philadelphia 3 7 1 .318 237 277
Dallas 3 8 0 .273 251 359
South
W L T Pct PF PA
New Orleans 9 2 0 .818 326 225
Tampa Bay 7 5 0 .583 344 280
Atlanta 4 7 0 .364 295 281
Carolina 4 8 0 .333 280 300
North
W L T Pct PF PA
Green Bay 8 3 0 .727 349 283
Chicago 5 6 0 .455 216 250
Minnesota 5 6 0 .455 292 305
Detroit 4 7 0 .364 252 328
West
W L T Pct PF PA
Seattle 8 3 0 .727 341 304
L.A. Rams 7 4 0 .636 263 215
Arizona 6 5 0 .545 304 258
San Francisco 5 6 0 .455 261 254
Thursday, Nov. 26
Houston 41, Detroit 25Washington 41, Dallas 16
Sunday, Nov. 29
Atlanta 43, Las Vegas 6Buffalo 27, L.A. Chargers 17Cleveland 27, Jacksonville 25Miami 20, N.Y. Jets 3Minnesota 28, Carolina 27N.Y. Giants 19, Cincinnati 17New England 20, Arizona 17Tennessee 45, Indianapolis 26New Orleans 31, Denver 3San Francisco 23, L.A. Rams 20Kansas City 27, Tampa Bay 24Green Bay 41, Chicago 25
Monday's game
Seattle 23, Philadelphia 17
Wednesday's game
Baltimore at Pittsburgh
Sunday's games
Cincinnati at MiamiCleveland at TennesseeDetroit at ChicagoIndianapolis at HoustonJacksonville at MinnesotaLas Vegas at N.Y. JetsNew Orleans at AtlantaL.A. Rams at ArizonaN.Y. Giants at SeattleNew England at L.A. ChargersPhiladelphia at Green BayDenver at Kansas CityOpen: Carolina, Tampa Bay
Monday, Dec. 7
Washington at PittsburghBuffalo at San Francisco
Tuesday, Dec. 8
Dallas at Baltimore
The Baltimore Ravens’ struggle
to contain an extended outbreak of
the coronavirus forced their res-
cheduled game Tuesday night
against the unbeaten Pittsburgh
Steelers to be moved back to
Wednesday afternoon.
It’s the third fix to a matchup
originally slated to be played
Thanksgiving night. The game
will remain on NBC.
Also, the Steelers’ home game in
Week 13 against Washington has
been moved from Sunday to Dec.
7. The Ravens’ home game against
Dallas will be on Tuesday, Dec. 8
on Fox and NFL Network. It was
originally set for Thursday night,
then moved to Dec. 7.
Ravens-Steelers was moved
back one more day for medical
reasons, but now Baltimore gets
some time for workouts. The NFL
permitted the Ravens to return to
their facility on Monday night un-
der doctors’ supervision, which is
similar to what happened when
the Tennessee Titans had a coro-
navirus outbreak earlier this sea-
son. The Titans got three days of
workouts in that scenario.
“Players arrived already pre-
pared to work out on the field, and
they did not enter the locker room
or training room,” the Ravens said
in a statement. “We intend to hold
another walk-through session on
Tuesday, in preparation for trav-
eling to Pittsburgh Tuesday eve-
ning.”
The NFL announced the most
recent switches Monday after the
Ravens placed starters Matthew
Judon, Willie Snead and Mark An-
drews on the reserve/COVID-19
list.
Although Baltimore also had
four players return from that list,
the team will still be severely
short-handed.
Steelers’game withRavens nowWednesday
BY DAVID GINSBURG
Associated Press
NICK WASS / AP
Quarterback Lamar Jackson andthe rest of the Baltimore Ravenswill now play the Steelers onWednesday, nearly a week afterthe game was scheduled.
PHILADELPHIA — DK Met-
calf got extra motivation he didn’t
even need.
Metcalf caught 10 passes for 177
yards, Russell Wilson threw for
230 yards and a touchdown and
the Seattle Seahawks beat the Phi-
ladelphia Eagles 23-17 on Monday
night.
Before the game, Metcalf said
Eagles defensive coordinator Jim
Schwartz, who coached Calvin
Johnson in Detroit, compared him
to the former Lions star.
“I’m getting a little respect, but
you know I still got work to do. One
of the defensive coaches came up
to me and it kind of made me mad
that he was like, ‘You know, I was
in Detroit with Megatron but
you’re not there yet,’ ” Metcalf
said. “In my mind, I’m not trying
to be Megatron. I’m trying to be
me. So I had a little chip on my
shoulder the whole game.”
The Seahawks (8-3) moved one
game ahead of the Rams in the
NFC West. Philadelphia (3-7-1)
fell a half-game behind the Giants
and Washington in the woeful
NFC East.
Carson Wentz didn’t cede many
snaps to backup Jalen Hurts but
had another rough game. He was
25-for-45 for 215 yards, two TDs —
and one interception.
Seattle’s defense entered the
game allowing the most yards in
the NFL and most yards passing
but held the Eagles’ inept offense
to 250 yards.
Metcalf was on the board when
Philadelphia took J.J. Arcega-
Whiteside in the second round
with the 57th pick in 2019. Arcega-
Whiteside has 12 career catches
and was a healthy inactive before
landing on the COVID-19 list. Met-
calf, who was the final pick of the
second round, had the best game
of his rookie year in Seattle’s play-
off win at the Eagles last season
and again showed why he’s one of
the best receivers in the NFL.
Metcalf’s 52-yard catch on
third-and-13 set up Wilson’s 1-
yard TD pass to David Moore that
gave the Seahawks a 7-0 lead.
“It’s kind of like coming home, a
place that had a chance to draft me
but they didn’t so I’ve got to make
them pay,” Metcalf said.
Cornerback Darius Slay, who
followed Metcalf in coverage,
called it his worst game.
“I lost every 50-50 ball. I let the
team down. I gotta play better,”
Slay said.
CHRIS SZAGOLA / AP
The Seattle Seahawks’ DK Metcalf, top, tries to hurdle Philadelphia Eagles’ Darius Slay. Metcalf had 10catches for 177 yards in his team’s 2317 win Monday at Philadelphia.
Metcalf, Wilson propelSeahawks past Eagles
BY ROB MAADDI
Associated Press
Seahawks 23, Eagles 17
Seattle 0 14 3 6 — 23
Philadelphia 0 6 3 8 — 17
Second Quarter
Sea—Moore 1 pass from R.Wilson(Myers kick), 10:56.
Sea—Carson 16 run (Myers kick), 5:27.Phi—Goedert 3 pass from Wentz (kick
failed), :12.
Third Quarter
Phi—FG Elliott 42, 7:33.Sea—FG Myers 44, 2:06.
Fourth Quarter
Sea—FG Myers 33, 11:08.Sea—FG Myers 39, 1:13.Phi—Rodgers 33 pass from Wentz
(Sanders run), :12.A—0.
Sea Phi
First downs 20 18
Total Net Yards 301 250
Rushes-yards 30-76 14-70
Passing 225 180
Punt Returns 4-27 2-19
Kickoff Returns 1-21 4-95
Interceptions Ret. 1-0 0-0
Comp-Att-Int 22-31-0 26-46-1
Sacked-Yards Lost 2-5 6-41
Punts 3-52.0 5-49.0
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 1-0
Penalties-Yards 8-83 9-79
Time of Possession 32:57 27:03
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—Seattle, Carson 8-41, Hyde15-22, Wilson 6-12, Moore 1-1. Philadel-phia, Wentz 5-42, Sanders 6-15, Scott 2-7,Clement 1-6.
PASSING—Seattle, Wilson 22-31-0-230.Philadelphia, Wentz 25-45-1-215, Hurts 1-1-0-6.
RECEIVING—Seattle, Metcalf 10-177,Lockett 3-23, Moore 3-(minus 6), Carson 2-18, Hollister 2-11, Hyde 2-7. Philadelphia,Goedert 7-75, Scott 5-40, Rodgers 3-53, Re-agor 3-11, Fulgham 2-16, Jeffery 2-15, Sand-ers 2-7, Ward 1-3, Hightower 1-1.
MISSED FIELD GOALS—None.
Scoreboard
PAGE 24 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Wednesday, December 2, 2020
SPORTSBattle of the birds
Seahawks rough up Wentz,hold off Eagles ›› NFL, Page 23
Army unveils uniforms for Navy game ›› College football, Page 21
For the Los Angeles Lakers and
Miami Heat, it was the shortest
offseason ever. For the eight
teams that haven’t played since
March, the offseason dragged
for longer than most seasons last. And for all
30 clubs, questions are far more prevalent
than answers these days.
Ready or not, the NBA is back.
Training camps opened around the
league Tuesday, though on-court sessions
were limited to individual workouts and on-
ly for those players who have gotten three
negative coronavirus test results back in the
last few days. Mandatory “group training
activities,” another way to describe what
would otherwise be called practice, will be-
gin in some cities Friday and for most clubs
Sunday, the league said.
“I feel like a kid getting excited for the
first day of school again,” Atlanta guard
Trae Young tweeted.
As is the case with school, there will be
tests in NBA camps. Lots of them.
Players and coaches will be tested for
coronavirus daily around the league, and a
positive test at this point would likely derail
someone for most of camp and probably in-
to the preseason. The rules are so strict that
clubs cannot even hold a team dinner on the
eve of training camp; the NBA isn’t allowing
those to take place until at least Dec. 11, or
MARK J. TERRILL / AP
The Miami Heat's Bam Adebayo dunks during the second half of Game 6 of the NBA Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers on Oct. 11 in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
TAMI CHAPPELL / AP
Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young tweetedthat he feels “like a kid getting excited forthe first day of school again.”
NBA
Getting back to itReady or not, training camps opening
BY TIM REYNOLDS
Associated Press
SEE BACK ON PAGE 22