Volume 79 Edition 183 ©SS 2020 CONTINGENCY EDITION THURSDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2020 Free to Deployed Areas

stripes.com

FACES

Seacrest stays as busy as everduring lockdownPage 13

MILITARY

US bomber missionover Persian Gulfmeant to deter IranPage 5

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Superpowers hoardelite talent, leaveIrish, others behindPage 24

First US case of coronavirus variant reported in Colorado ›› Page 8

NAIROBI — The United States has invested

billions of dollars in Somalia over the past dec-

ade, in part to build and train Danab, the only

effective, apolitical fighting unit in the coun-

try’s war against al-Qaida-affiliated al-Shabab.

Now, with hundreds of the U.S. troops who

trained them leaving Somalia under orders

from the Trump administration, current and

former Danab officers are fearful that dimin-

ished American supervision will leave the elite

division vulnerable to political interference

from Somalia’s government, which is em-

broiled in a bitterly disputed election sched-

uled for February.

In the past, “if the government ever tried to

interfere with Danab for political nonsense,

the Americans were the ones who said: ‘Hey,

stop it,’” said Ahmed Abdullahi Sheikh, Da-

nab’s top commander from 2016 to 2019. “That

was the condition the Americans attached

when they started training us, that we’d be

apolitical. Without that, our defense mecha-

nism toward our own government doesn’t ex-

ist.”

Sheikh and other officials stressed that al-

though large-scale political interference with

AARON SPERLE /U.S. Navy

A U.S. Marine Corps F-35B Lightning II prepares to land aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Makin Island on Monday in the Indian Ocean.The ship is part of Operation Octave Quartz, which aims to remove American troops from Somalia and reposition them in the region.

Dark time for Danab

As US forces leave, Somalia’s elite fighting unit fears becoming political pawnBY MAX BEARAK

The Washington Post

SEE DANAB ON PAGE 6

KAISERSLAUTERN, Germa-

ny — Members of the armed

forces and federal employees

have 12 months instead of four to

pay back Social Security taxes

that haven’t been collected since

September, officials said this

week.

The so-called payroll tax defer-

ral, which was put in place by the

Trump administration for the last

four months of 2020 to help work-

ers during the coronavirus pan-

demic, meant that many working

Americans — including service

members and federal employees

— had an extra 6.2% of money in

each paycheck.

But starting with the first pay

period of 2021, the extra money

has to be paid back. And, on top of

that, Social Security taxes will be

collected again.

Initially, the money was sup-

posed to be repaid by April 30 in

equal amounts, which would have

meant a dip in paychecks of

12.4%.

But this week, the Defense Fi-

nance and Accounting Service an-

nounced the period to collect the

deferred tax has been extended

until Dec. 31, 2021, meaning the

money will be deducted in even

amounts over 26 pay periods in-

stead of eight.

The extended period for paying

back the money means some

troops and civilians could see

smaller paychecks in 2021 — but

not as small as they would have

Service members,federal employeesgiven more time torepay deferred tax

BY JENNIFER H. SVAN

Stars and Stripes

SEE REPAY ON PAGE 5

To our readers

This holiday edition of Stars and Stripes covers Dec. 31through Jan. 1. Publication willresume on Jan. 2.

WASHINGTON — U.S. home

prices jumped in October by the

most in more than six years as a

pandemic-fueled buying rush

drives the number of available

properties for sale to record lows.

That combination of strong de-

mand and limited supply pushed

home prices up 7.9% in October

compared with 12 months ago, ac-

cording to Tuesday’s S&P Core-

Logic Case-Shiller 20-city home

price index. That’s the largest an-

nual increase since June 2014.

The coronavirus outbreak has

forced millions of Americans to

work from home and it’s curtailed

other activities like eating out, go-

ing to movies or visiting gyms.

That’s leading more people to seek

out homes with more room for a

home office, a bigger kitchen, or

space to work out.

“The data from the last several

months are consistent with the

view that COVID has encouraged

potential buyers to move from ur-

ban apartments to suburban

homes,” said Craig Lazzara, Ma-

naging Director at S&P Dow Jones

Indices.

All 19 cities reported larger

year-over-year price gains in Oc-

tober than in September, Lazzara

said. Detroit wasn’t able to fully

report its home sales data because

of delays related to a coronavirus

lockdown.

The biggest price gain was in

Phoenix for the 17th straight

month, where home prices rose

12.7% from a year ago. It was fol-

lowed by Seattle with 11.7% and

San Diego at 11.6%.

US home prices rise most in 6 yearsAssociated Press

Bahrain70/60

Baghdad62/40

Doha75/61

Kuwait City66/50

Riyadh70/47

Kandahar50/19

Kabul54/22

Djibouti83/72

THURSDAY IN THE MIDDLE EAST

Mildenhall/Lakenheath

38/33

Ramstein36/32

Stuttgart40/30

Lajes,Azores61/57

Rota56/49

Morón52/32 Sigonella

61/40

Naples51/48

Aviano/Vicenza44/31

Pápa37/27

Souda Bay63/51

Brussels41/34

Zagan40/31

DrawskoPomorskie 36/29

THURSDAY IN EUROPE

Misawa22/17

Guam84/77

Tokyo50/31

Okinawa61/56

Sasebo43/38

Iwakuni45/35

Seoul32/16

Osan33/17

Busan41/29

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

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

FRIDAY IN THE PACIFIC

WEATHER OUTLOOK

TODAYIN STRIPES

American Roundup ...... 11Comics .........................16Crossword ................... 16Faces .......................... 13Opinion ........................ 14Sports ................... 20-24

BUSINESS/WEATHER

Military rates

Euro costs (Dec. 31) $1.15Dollar buys (Dec. 31) 0.8333British pound (Dec. 31) $1.33Japanese yen (Dec. 31) 101.00South Korean won (Dec. 31) 1,062.00

Commercial rates

Bahrain (Dinar) 0.3770Britain (Pound) 0.7350Canada (Dollar) 1.2774China(Yuan) 6.5260Denmark (Krone) 6.0496Egypt (Pound) 15.7329Euro 0.8134Hong Kong (Dollar) 7.7529Hungary (Forint) 296.82Israel (Shekel) 3.2081Japan (Yen) 103.04Kuwait(Dinar) 0.3045

Norway (Krone) 8.5631

Philippines (Peso) 47.99Poland (Zloty) 3.71Saudi Arab (Riyal) 3.7517Singapore (Dollar) 1.3236

So. Korea (Won) 1,088.14Switzerlnd (Franc) 0.8828Thailand (Baht) 29.93Turkey (NewLira) 7.3678

(Military exchange rates are those availableto customers at military banking facilities in thecountry of issuance for Japan, South Korea, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.For nonlocal currency exchange rates (i.e., purchasing British pounds in Germany), check withyour local military banking facility. Commercialrates are interbank rates provided for referencewhen buying currency. All  figures are foreigncurrencies to one dollar, except for the Britishpound,  which  is  represented  in  dollarstopound, and the euro, which is dollarstoeuro.)

INTEREST RATES

Prime rate 3.25Interest Rates Discount rate 0.75Federal funds market rate  0.093month bill 0.1030year bond 1.67

EXCHANGE RATES

PAGE 2 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Thursday, December 31, 2020

Thursday, December 31, 2020 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 3

MILITARY

Seven months into her deploy-

ment in Afghanistan, Estella Jua-

rez found out her nephew back

home in Colorado had died.

Juarez, a U.S. Army civilian

employee, could not travel home

because of coronavirus restric-

tions. Feeling homesick and iso-

lated at Bagram Airfield, she be-

gan to paint flowers and moun-

tain scenes on the light switches

and electrical boxes inside her

military home, which was actual-

ly a large converted shipping con-

tainer.

It was the beginning of the

chain reaction transformation of

drab military housing into 22

brightly colored doors leading to

a standout mural of a seaside

town.

Juarez started the project on

her own in May, but one by one,

her friends and even strangers on

the base began to help, making it

a huge collaborative public art

project in one of the most unlikely

of places.

People stationed at military

bases often do not spend much

time beautifying their surround-

ings because they know they’ll

only be there temporarily. The

housing units, Juarez points out,

are not even permanent structur-

es.

“Somebody could even say it’s

a waste of time because it’s only

temporary,” said Juarez, a pro-

curement analyst who is de-

ployed in Afghanistan for 14

months. “To me, that’s just it. It

won’t be there forever, but why

not? Why can’t you have a little bit

of beauty?”

The row is now affectionately

referred to as Ivy Lane, after the

artificial greenery — sent from

family and friends back home —

draped outside Juarez’s red door.

The public art started after

Juarez had fixed up as much as

possible on the inside of her small

living space on the base, the

largest U.S. military base in Af-

ghanistan, which is next to the an-

cient city of Bagram.

She turned her sights outside,

and after finding leftover paint at

the hazmat yard, she painted her

rust-colored metal door a cheer-

ful red.

Satisfied, she got a big idea.

Juarez told her friend Joe Gui-

jarro she wanted to paint all 22

doors in her row of containerized

housing units. She showed him a

magazine photo of a quaint street

in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico,

lined with colorful doors.

Guijarro laughed at the absur-

dity of it. “When Stella reached

out about the door project, I was

like, ‘But we’re in Afghanistan,’ ”

he recalled.

For Juarez, that was all the

more reason to do it. Everybody

missed home, she said, and could

use some cheering up.

She began showing her friends

and neighbors the photo and ask-

ing if she could paint their doors.

She took color requests and

mixed whatever paints she could

find. Guijarro got on board and

found paint brushes and paint

trays on the base. As people start-

ed to hear about the project, they

donated what they had — tape,

buckets and towels.

“Obviously once you see one

door, and then you see another,

and then another, even people

who initially thought you were a

little bit nuts start to see the po-

tential,” Juarez said.

Because of the desert climate

and the temporary nature of their

housing, most of the doors needed

much more than a coat of paint.

In the early hours of the morning

before work started at 8 and be-

fore it got unbearably hot, Juarez

repaired, sanded and primed

doors.

With all 22 doors almost com-

plete over the summer, Juarez

had another idea, this time for the

concrete wall at the end of the

row, and she knew exactly who to

ask for help — her neighbor John

Ye. In addition to his role working

for the U.S. Army, Ye is an illus-

trator and children’s book author.

When Juarez saw one of his il-

lustrations of the Greek island of

Santorini in a book, she asked him

to paint a mural of it at the end of

the now-colorful row of housing

units.

Initially, Ye was hesitant. They

work seven days a week with no

holidays and free time is pre-

cious. But he was soon convinced

by the excitement surrounding

the project, and he got to work,

painting beside Juarez while she

finished the doors. When the mu-

ral was complete, Juarez added

gallery lighting to the mural as a

surprise. She painted scrap wood

and zip tied it to the T-wall, and

suspended solar-powered garden

lights to illuminate the painting.

Because of the coronavirus

pandemic, what little creative

outlets they had on base were cut

back. No open-mic nights, no mo-

vies. The door project became an

outlet and escape initially for Jua-

rez — and eventually for other

people on base, too.

Ye said he’s glad he gave in and

helped out.

“Looking at the finished prod-

uct, the doors, the lighting, the lit-

tle signs, and the mural, it really

had the effect of making you for-

get you are in a war zone for a

little bit, and that reminds you

that no matter where you are, it is

what you make of it,” he said.

Juarez said the doors will go

away eventually, and that’s fine

with her.

“It’s like flowers,” she said.

“You plant them and they bloom

once, and then they’re gone. But

do you not plant the flowers just

because they won’t be there for-

ever?”

When Juarez looks at the doors,

she sees all the moments people

pulled together to do something

special for each other in stressful

circumstances, just to help ease

the passing of time.

“That’s what I see when I look

at the doors,” Juarez said. “That’s

why it doesn’t matter that the

doors won’t be there someday,

because they were there when it

mattered.”

‘You forget you are in a war zone’

PHOTOS BY YI YANG

Estella Juarez stands in her doorway on Ivy Lane at Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan. 

A street sign now adorns the rowof housing units.

One by one, people at Bagram Airfield joined Juarez in painting thedoors of the housing units in different colors. 

How one woman’s art started a chain reaction in Afghanistan

BY CAITLIN HUSON

Special to The Washington Post A look backSee a timeline of Stars and Stripes’reporters’ stories chronicling keyevents in Afghanistan during 2020 atstripes.com/go/afghan2020

“It doesn’t matter that the doors won’t be theresomeday, because they were there when it mattered.”

Estella Juarez

U.S. Army civilian employee at Bagram Airfield

PAGE 4 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Thursday, December 31, 2020

PACIFIC

TOKYO — Three U.S. military

bases in Japan reported 57 new

coronavirus cases as of 6 p.m.

Wednesday as the year staggered

to a close.

December has emerged as Ja-

pan’s worst month of the pandem-

ic, far surpassing the country's

previous records for new infec-

tions and deaths. A record high

1,110 people have died of coronavi-

rus complications in Japan so far

this month, according to Johns

Hopkins Coronavirus Resource

Center, and a record 74,824 new

infections were identified.

In Tokyo, the virus produced

another 944 newly infected people

Wednesday, five shy of the city’s

pandemic daily record of 949 set

Saturday, according to public

broadcaster NHK. Nearly 800

people per day in the city of 13.5

million have tested positive dur-

ing the final week of December,

according to Tokyo Metropolitan

Government data.

U.S. Forces Japan finishes the

year with about 200 people cur-

rently infected out of a population

of about 110,000 that includes ser-

vice members, Defense Depart-

ment civilians and family mem-

bers, Chief Master Sgt. Richard

Winegardner Jr. said Tuesday on

American Forces Network Radio.

Only two were hospitalized during

the pandemic, he said, neither of

them in critical condition.

“We’ve been very successful

here in Japan because of every-

one’s adherence to social distanc-

ing, washing your hands, wearing

your mask,” Winegardner, the

USFJ senior enlisted leader, said.

“We’ve had a very low rate.”

Yokosuka Naval Base, home-

port south of Tokyo of the U.S. 7th

Fleet, on Wednesday reported 43

individuals infected since Dec. 22.

The base has 78 people with the vi-

rus under observation, according

to a news release.

Yokosuka reported 27 of its new

cases are individuals associated

with the U.S. military who tested

positive during contact tracing.

Another nine tested positive after

showing symptoms of COVID-19,

the respiratory disease associated

with the virus; three more had re-

cently arrived in Japan; and one

tested positive during a medical

screening.

Contact tracing found three

base employees were also infect-

ed, according to the release.

Base commander Capt. Rich

Jarrett in a Facebook video Dec.

17 chided his subordinates for

cheating on coronavirus restric-

tions and sending hundreds of

their colleagues into precaution-

ary quarantine as a result. During

Christmas week about 350 sailors

were quarantined at Yokosuka,

about 110 for a time on the aircraft

carrier USS Ronald Reagan.

The naval base took a softer tone

in a Facebook post Wednesday. It

said “a number of people” among

the new cases tested positive after

returning from leave in the local

area.

“The community is reminded to

abide by the health protection pol-

icies while on both leave or liber-

ty,” the release stated.

Marine Corps Air Station Iwa-

kuni, 500 miles west of Tokyo, re-

ported six new cases Wednesday

for a second consecutive day, ac-

cording to a Facebook post. The

air base on Saturday stopped say-

ing how its new infections origi-

nated.

Kadena Air Base on Okinawa

reported seven people tested posi-

tive Wednesday, all of them while

in quarantine after travel outside

Japan, according to a Facebook

post. Two of the patients had be-

come ill with COVID-19 symp-

toms, the base said.

Late Tuesday the base reported

one person tested positive for the

virus. That person has been quar-

antined since Dec. 19 after contact

with an infected family member,

according to a Facebook post.

Japan has fared better than oth-

er nations during the pandemic,

although 223,786 people have con-

tracted the virus and 3,152 have

died, a mortality rate of 1.4%, ac-

cording to Johns Hopkins.

By comparison, Britain, with a

bit less than half of Japan’s pop-

ulation, has reported 2.3 million

cases and 71,217 deaths during the

pandemic, according to Johns

Hopkins. That’s 10 times the num-

ber of infections in Japan and 23

times the number of deaths.

US military in Japan counts 57 newcoronavirus cases as 2020 closes

BY JOSEPH DITZLER

Stars and Stripes

ditzler.joseph@stripes.comTwitter: @JosephDitzler

MORGAN OVER/U.S. Navy

A volunteer guide provides a tour to visitors wearing masks againstthe coronavirus at Yokosuka Naval Base, Japan, on Nov. 8. 

New Year’s Eve festivities will

look a bit different in Japan this

year thanks to the coronavirus

pandemic, which is setting record

case numbers in places like To-

kyo.

The Japanese government dis-

courages large gatherings in

crowded clubs and U.S. military

restrictions in Japan put some

party-centric areas and behaviors

out of bounds, anyway.

But tradition provides plenty of

socially distanced options for bid-

ding goodbye to troublesome 2020

beyond watching TV at home

alone.

Here are some ways to ring in

the Year of the Ox in Japan safely:

Visit a shrineIt is customary in Japan to visit

a shrine or temple at midnight on

New Year’s Eve or during New

Year’s Day, according to the Ja-

pan National Tourism Organiza-

tion.

Many people go with their fam-

ilies to pay respects to the gods for

getting them through the year

safely and pray for health, finan-

cial stability, love and strong fam-

ily bonds in the new year, the web-

site says.

Traditions include visiting a lo-

cal Buddhist temple to ring its bell

on midnight as a farewell to hu-

man pain and suffering from the

previous year.

Keep in mind social distancing

if you do decide to queue up for

this.

You can also visit a nearby Shin-

to shrine to buy charms and talis-

man, called omamori, to welcome

success and happiness into 2021.

There are plenty of shrines to

choose from, with about 80,000 in

the country, according to the Ja-

pan Association of Shinto Shrines

website.

Go Lucky Bag shopping Lucky Bags, or fukubukoro, are

another New Year’s tradition

unique to Japan, according to The

Japan Times.

The first of the year is a major

shopping event in Japan, much

like America’s Black Friday, and a

time to purchase signature “lucky

bags.”

Stores of all kinds, including toy

shops, clothing stores and elec-

tronic shops, offer a bundle of spe-

cialty and surprise items for pur-

chase inside colorful packages.

Some retailers offer a hint of

what’s inside; at others the con-

tents are a complete surprise.

Lucky bags are sold on a first-

come-first-serve basis, so get to

the mall early.

This year, to avoid crowds,

some stores are offering lucky

bags over several days or allow

you to hold your place online. Look

up your local mall or the shop you

most want fukubukoro from to

check the dates and availability.

Have a spa night Say goodbye to a stressful year

by bringing the spa to your own

home.

Japanese beauty shops sell

myriad locally made and Korean

self-care products such as face

masks, soaps, lotions and hair oils.

Favorite pampering items are

Korean sheet masks, varieties of

which include snail jelly, green

tea, ceramide and gold flecks.

View the first sunriseThis is another common tradi-

tion in Japan, according to the Ja-

pan National Tourism Organiza-

tion.

Dress in warm layers, grab a

hiking companion and take a walk

to see the first sunrise of the new

year from destinations such as

Mount Mitake and Mount Takao,

west of Tokyo, or Mount Mitsu-

toge, near Mount Fuji.

Avoid hiking in the dark without

a headlamp. If you don’t have one,

enjoy the sunrise from the base or

parking lot, then head up the trail

to see the glow of dawn of 2021

wash over the landscape. This is a

refreshing way to start the new

year and is a great kick-start if fit-

ness is a new year’s resolution.

Be sure to research weather and

trail conditions before setting off.

Watch a TV specialFor those who genuinely do

want to send the holiday cozied up

on the couch watching TV, consid-

er immersing yourself in a Japa-

nese tradition if you have local ca-

ble access by tuning in to “Kouha-

ku Uta Gassen,” a special that has

been running on the Japanese

broadcast network NHK since

1959, according to the broadcast-

er’s website.

The program is scheduled to air

from 7:15 p.m. to 11:45 p.m. Thurs-

day and features musical battles

between popular musicians and

recording artists.

Japan says good riddance to pandemic yearBY ERICA EARL

Stars and Stripes

ERICA EARL/Stars and Stripes

A common New Year's tradition in Japan is to purchase talismanscalled omamor to welcome success and happiness in the new year. 

earl.erica@stripes.comTwitter: @ThisEarlGirl

Thursday, December 31, 2020 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 5

MILITARY

WASHINGTON — A 30-year-

old Air National Guardsman was

killed Sunday responding to a fire

that has since been determined to

be arson, according to the West

Virginia National Guard.

Senior Airman Logan Young, a

firefighter assigned to the 167th

Airlift Wing in Martinsburg,

W.Va., responded to a mutual aid

call at a structure fire when he was

fatally injured, according to the

Guard.

“Our 167th Airlift Wing family

is heartbroken over the tragic loss

of Senior Airman Logan Young

and our thoughts and prayers are

with his family and friends during

this difficult time,” said Col. Mar-

ty Timko, the wing commander.

“As a first responder answering

the call to support a local emer-

gency, a finer example of commit-

ment to service as a citizen-air-

man could not be found.”

Young, a resident of Martins-

burg, is survived by his mother,

father, brother, and fiancée, ac-

cording to the Guard.

The fire happened at about 1:56

a.m. at a vacant structure in Berke-

ley County, according to a post on

the West Virginia State Fire Mar-

shal’s official Facebook page. At

about 2:34 a.m., a mayday call

went out and four firefighters were

transported to

Berkeley Medi-

cal Center for

treatment, ac-

cording to a post

on the Berkeley

County Public

Safety official

Facebook page.

Investigators connected the fire

to another structure fire at a va-

cant building about 20 minutes

prior in a neighboring county, ac-

cording to their Facebook post. In-

vestigators determined both fires

were intentionally set. The fire

marshal’s office and West Virgin-

ia State Police are still investigat-

ing the fire. There is a reward for

up to $20,000 for information that

leads to an arrest and conviction of

the people responsible for the ar-

son, according to the state fire

marshal’s Facebook page.

Young enlisted in the Air Force

in 2011 and served on active duty

as a military policeman until he

transitioned to the West Virginia

Air National Guard in 2018 to

serve as a firefighter in the 167th

Civil Engineer Squadron, accord-

ing to the Guard. He deployed to

the Middle East in 2014 and at the

time of his death worked full time

as a military authority firefighter.

His military awards include the

Air Force Outstanding Unit

Award, Global War on Terrorism

Expeditionary Service Medal, Air

Force Good Conduct Medal and

National Defense Service Medal.

"To lose such a talented and ded-

icated young airman is truly a

tragedy. Logan was a hero in ev-

ery sense of the word and lived out

the Air Force values of service be-

fore self in all that he did, which

was on full display at the time of

his passing,” said Maj. Gen. James

Hoyer, the West Virginia adjutant

general. “His service to his com-

munity as a first responder and

member of the Guard will always

be remembered.”

Airman firefighter dies responding to building fire in West VirginiaBY CAITLIN M. KENNEY

Stars and Stripes

kenney.caitlin@stripes.com Twitter: @caitlinmkenney

Young

been if they’d had to pay back the

money over four months.

The deferral affected civilians

who made $4,000 or less per pay

period and military members

who cleared $8,666 or less of ba-

sic pay per month.

Many private sector employers

chose not to be a part of the de-

ferral, which they saw as kicking

the can down the road. But partic-

ipation was mandatory for federal

government employees and ser-

vice members including enlisted

personnel, service academy ca-

dets, second lieutenants and ma-

jors, most warrant officers and

some lieutenant colonels and col-

onels.

An E5 with eight years of ser-

vice and monthly basic pay of

$3,306.30, for instance, will once

again have $204.99 deducted

from his or her paycheck starting

next month, and an additional

$68.33 will be taken out to start

paying back the deferred

amounts.

If the repayments had been

spread over four months, the

member would have seen his or

her paycheck shrink by more

than $400 a month.

When the deferral was an-

nounced, military leaders advised

troops to budget so that they

wouldn’t be caught short when

they face the double whammy of

having to pay back the deferred

taxes at the same time as the 6.2%

Social Security taxes were col-

lected again. Financial education

classes have also been made

available in some locations.

The repayment extension was

included in the $2.3 trillion gov-

ernment funding and COVID-19

relief bill passed by Congress and

signed into law Sunday by Presi-

dent Donald Trump.

Repay: Congress included payback extension in stimulus relief billFROM PAGE 1

svan.jennifer@stripes.comTwitter: @stripesktown

WASHINGTON — The United

States flew strategic bombers

over the Persian Gulf on Wednes-

day for the second time this

month, a show of force meant to

deter Iran from attacking Amer-

ican or allied targets in the Middle

East.

One senior U.S. military officer

said the flight by two Air Force

B-52 bombers was in response to

signals that Iran may be planning

attacks against U.S. allied targets

in neighboring Iraq or elsewhere

in the region in the coming days,

even as President-elect Joe Biden

prepares to take office.

The officer was not authorized

to publicly discuss internal as-

sessments based on sensitive in-

telligence and spoke on condition

of anonymity.

The B-52 bomber mission,

flown round trip from an Air

Force base in North Dakota, re-

flects growing concern in Wash-

ington, in the final weeks of Presi-

dent Donald Trump’s administra-

tion, that Iran will order further

military retaliation for the U.S.

killing last Jan. 3 of top Iranian

military commander Gen. Qas-

sem Soleimani.

Iran’s initial response, five days

after the deadly U.S. drone strike,

was a ballistic missile attack on a

military base in Iraq that caused

brain concussion injuries to about

100 U.S. troops.

Adding to the tension was a

rocket attack last week on the U.S.

Embassy compound in Baghdad

by Iranian-supported Shiite mili-

tia groups. No one was killed, but

Trump tweeted afterward that

Iran was on notice.

“Some friendly health advice to

Iran: If one American is killed, I

will hold Iran responsible. Think

it over,” Trump wrote on Dec. 23.

Because of the potential for es-

calation that could lead to a wider

war, the U.S. has sought to deter

Iran from additional attacks.

Strategic calculations on both

sides are further complicated by

the political transition in Wash-

ington to a Biden administration

that may seek new paths to deal-

ing with Iran.

Biden has said, for example,

that he hopes to return the U.S. to

a 2015 agreement with world pow-

ers in which Iran agreed to limit

its nuclear activities in exchange

for the lifting of international

sanctions.

In announcing Wednesday’s

bomber flight, the head of U.S.

Central Command said it was a

defensive move.

“The United States continues to

deploy combat-ready capabilities

into the U.S. Central Command

area of responsibility to deter any

potential adversary, and make

clear that we are ready and able to

respond to any aggression direct-

ed at Americans or our interests,”

said Gen. Frank McKenzie, the

commander of Central Com-

mand. “We do not seek conflict,

but no one should underestimate

our ability to defend our forces or

to act decisively in response to

any attack.”

He did not mention Iran by

name.

In advance of the announce-

ment, the senior U.S. military offi-

cer who spoke on condition of ano-

nymity said that U.S. intelligence

has detected recent signs of “fair-

ly substantive threats” from Iran,

and that included planning for

possible rocket attacks against

U.S. interests in Iraq in connec-

tion with the one-year anniver-

sary of the Soleimani killing.

The U.S. is in the process of re-

ducing its troop presence in Iraq

from 3,000 to about 2,500.

Trump ordered that the reduc-

tion be achieved by Jan. 15; offi-

cials say it is likely to be reached

as early as next week.

US bomber mission aimed at deterring IranAssociated Press

ROSLYN WARD / AP

A U.S. Air Force B52H “Stratofortress” from Minot Air Force Base, N.D., is refueled by a KC135“Stratotanker” in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility Wednesday.

PAGE 6 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Thursday, December 31, 2020

the 1,150-member force isn’t hap-

pening yet, the conditions are ripe.

A Danab officer based in the

central Somali city of Galkayo said

he has worried for his comrades’

reputation as apolitical every day

since the announcement that the

Americans were leaving.

“My biggest fear is losing that

reputation, that momentum. The

trust that people have in us, that

we are fighting for our country

and not some politician, is our big-

gest strength. Losing it would be

nothing short of disaster,” he said,

speaking on the condition of ano-

nymity for fear of reprisal. “I don’t

trust our politicians, just like most

people in Somalia don’t.”

Somalia’s defense minister,

Hassan Hussein Haji, did not re-

spond to repeated requests for

comment. Lt. Cmdr. Christina

Gibson, a spokeswoman for U.S.

Africa Command, said the U.S.

military “will not be ending our

important relationship with [Da-

nab],” but that “specific training

plans are still being developed and

refined.”

Somalia’s population, while eth-

nically homogeneous, is split

among clans that compete, often

violently, for political power. With

elections approaching, feuds have

grown and President Mohamed

Abdullahi Mohamed “Farmaajo”

has been accused of replacing offi-

cials ranging from his prime min-

ister to election administrators to

bolster his shot at reelection.

In the year since Sheikh was re-

moved as Danab’s leader, three

others have cycled through,

though he said that was due to a

combination of politics and oper-

ational factors.

Danab has been more success-

ful than other Somali military

units in fighting al-Shabab be-

cause of far superior training and

equipment, but it is greatly out-

numbered by al-Shabab, which

experts believe has as many as

10,000 active fighters.

While the U.S. military ramped

up a drone campaign in recent

years — which it says will contin-

ue despite troops being “reposi-

tioned” to neighboring Kenya and

Djibouti and allegations that the

campaign has killed dozens of ci-

vilians — al-Shabab still controls

the majority of Somalia’s rural in-

terior and runs an extensive tax

racket that keeps it well-funded.

“The timing of the U.S. with-

drawal for Danab is just terrible,”

said Hussein Sheikh-Ali, a former

security adviser to Somalia’s pres-

ident and chairman of the Hiraal

Institute, a think tank. “Both the

U.S. and Somalia are going

through similar transition periods

with contested elections and accu-

sations of illegitimacy at the high-

est level. At the minimum, this

move creates chaos — and we

were already in anarchy.”

A Defense Department Inspec-

tor General report released in No-

vember found that al-Shabab has

remained intact and capable in the

face of U.S. operations, and that

the Somali military — with the ex-

ception of Danab — was failing to

actively counter its operations.

The directive from the Trump

administration set a target of troop

withdrawal from Somalia by the

time Trump leaves office on Jan.

20.

The U.S. military has dubbed its

repositioning Operation Octave

Quartz and deployed numerous

combat ships including an aircraft

carrier to aid the mission.

The U.S. military’s top official at

Africa Command pushed back

against the notion that troop repo-

sitioning put Somali forces on the

back foot.

“To be clear, the U.S. is not with-

drawing or disengaging from East

Africa. We remain committed to

helping our African partners build

a more secure future,” Gen. Ste-

phen Townsend said in a state-

ment.

“We also remain capable of

striking Al-Shabaab at the time

and place of our choosing — they

should not test us.”

Danab: ‘Timing of US withdrawal for Danab is just terrible’

PATRICK W. MULLEN III/U.S. NAVY

A Somali soldier assigned to the 3rd Danab maintains a watchful eyeduring a security halt on a patrol in 2019. The Danab are a highlytrained Somali National Army infantry commando force.

FROM PAGE 1

WAR ON TERRORISM

SANAA, Yemen — A large ex-

plosion struck the airport in the

southern Yemeni city of Aden on

Wednesday, shortly after a plane

carrying the newly formed Cabi-

net landed there, security offi-

cials said. At least 22 people were

killed and 50 were wounded in

the blast.

The source of the explosion was

not immediately clear and no

group claimed responsibility for

attacking the airport. No one on

the government plane was hurt.

Officials later reported another

explosion close to a palace in the

city where the Cabinet members

were transferred following the

airport attack.

AP footage from the scene at

the airport showed members of

the government delegation dis-

embarking as the blast shook the

grounds. Many ministers rushed

back inside the plane or ran down

the stairs, seeking shelter.

Thick smoke rose into the air

from near the terminal building.

Officials at the scene said they

saw bodies lying on the tarmac

and elsewhere at the airport.

Yemeni Communication Minis-

ter Naguib al-Awg, who was also

on the plane, told The Associated

Press that he heard two explo-

sions, suggesting they were drone

attacks. Yemeni Prime Minister

Maeen Abdulmalik Saeed and the

others were quickly whisked

from the airport to Mashiq Palace

in the city.

Military and security forces

sealed off the area around the the

palace.

Saeed tweeted that he and his

cabinet were safe and unhurt. He

called the explosions a “cowardly

terrorist act” that was part of the

war on “the Yemeni state and our

great people.”

Officials said another explosion

hit close to the heavily fortified

Mashiq Palace, where the Cabi-

net members were taken follow-

ing the explosion at the airport.

The source of that blast and

whether it occurred before or af-

ter the Cabinet members' arrival

were not immediately known.

There were no immediate reports

of fatalities and the officials said

the Cabinet members arrived

safely.

The ministers were returning

to Aden from the Saudi capital,

Riyadh, after being sworn in last

week as part of a reshuffle follow-

ing a deal with rival southern sep-

aratists.

Yemen’s internationally recog-

nized government has worked

mostly from self-imposed exile in

Riyadh during the country’s

years-long civil war.

Yemen’s embattled President

Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, in

exile in Saudi Arabia, announced

a Cabinet reshuffle earlier this

month.

The reshuffle was seen as a ma-

jor step toward closing a danger-

ous rift between Hadi's govern-

ment and southern separatists

backed by the United Arab Emir-

ates. The Saudi-backed govern-

ment is at war with with Iran-al-

lied Houthi rebels, who control

most of northern Yemen as well

as the country’s capital, Sanaa.

Naming a new government was

part of a power-sharing deal be-

tween the Saudi-backed Hadi and

the Emirati-backed separatist

Southern Transitional Council, an

umbrella group of militias seek-

ing to restore an independent

southern Yemen, which existed

from 1967 until unification in

1990.

Blast at Yemeniairport kills atleast 22 people

AP

People run after an explosion at the airport in Aden, Yemen, shortly after a plane carrying the newlyformed Cabinet landed Wednesday. No one on board the government plane was hurt but reports said atleast 22 people were killed and 50 wounded in the blast.

Explosion in Aden hit shortly afterplane carrying new government landed

Associated Press

Thursday, December 31, 2020 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 7

VIRUS OUTBREAK

MOJIANG, China — Deep in

the lush mountain valleys of

southern China lies the entrance

to a mine shaft that once har-

bored bats with the closest

known relative of the COVID-19

virus.

The area is of intense scientific

interest because it may hold

clues to the origins of the coro-

navirus that has killed more than

1.7 million people worldwide. Yet

for scientists and journalists, it

has become a black hole of no

information because of political

sensitivity and secrecy.

A bat research team visiting

recently managed to take sam-

ples but had them confiscated,

two people familiar with the mat-

ter said. Specialists in coronavi-

ruses have been ordered not to

speak to the press. And a team of

Associated Press journalists was

tailed by plainclothes police in

multiple cars who blocked access

to roads and sites in late Novem-

ber.

More than a year since the first

known person was infected with

the coronavirus, an AP investiga-

tion shows the Chinese govern-

ment is strictly controlling all re-

search into its origins, clamping

down on some while actively pro-

moting fringe theories that it

could have come from outside

China.

The government is handing out

hundreds of thousands of dollars

in grants to scientists research-

ing the virus’ origins in southern

China and affiliated with the mil-

itary, the AP has found. But it is

monitoring their findings and

mandating that the publication of

any data or research must be ap-

proved by a new task force man-

aged by China’s cabinet, under

direct orders from President Xi

Jinping, according to internal

documents obtained by the AP. A

rare leak from within the govern-

ment, the dozens of pages of un-

published documents confirm

what many have long suspected:

The clampdown comes from the

top.

As a result, very little has been

made public. Authorities are se-

verely limiting information and

impeding cooperation with inter-

national scientists.

“What did they find?” asked

Gregory Gray, a Duke University

epidemiologist who oversees a

lab in China studying the trans-

mission of infectious diseases

from animals to people. “Maybe

their data were not conclusive, or

maybe they suppressed the data

for some political reason. I don’t

know … I wish I did.”

The AP investigation was

based on dozens of interviews

with Chinese and foreign scien-

tists and officials, along with

public notices, leaked emails, in-

ternal data and the documents

from China’s cabinet and the

Chinese Center for Disease Con-

trol and Prevention. It reveals a

pattern of government secrecy

and top-down control that has

been evident throughout the pan-

demic.

As the AP previously docu-

mented, this culture has delayed

warnings about the pandemic,

blocked the sharing of informa-

tion with the World Health Orga-

nization and hampered early

testing. Scientists familiar with

China’s public health system said

the same practices apply to sen-

sitive research.

“They only select people they

can trust, those that they can

control,” said a public health ex-

pert who has worked regularly

with the China CDC, who de-

clined to be identified out of fear

of possible retribution. “Military

teams and others are working

hard on this, but whether it gets

published all depends on the out-

come.”

China clamps downin hidden hunt forpandemic origins

Associated Press

Greece’s center-right govern-

ment says senior state officials

will no longer be given priority for

the COVID-19 vaccination after

posts on social media by Cabinet

ministers receiving the shot trig-

gered a backlash from health care

unions and opposition parties.

Aristotelia Peloni, a deputy gov-

ernment spokeswoman, said

Wednesday that a plan to vacci-

nate 126 officials from the govern-

ment and state-run organizations

was being cut short after around

half had received the shot.

It had been expected that a

small number of senior officials

would receive the vaccine publi-

cly, as part of a plan to persuade

everyone that it was safe and nec-

essary, but the number of people

on the list took many by surprise.

“These (vaccination) selfies

were wrong,” Peloni told private

Parapolitika radio. “The symbol-

ism around this issue has been ex-

hausted at the highest level and

nothing more was required.”

Greece’s prime minister, presi-

dent and the head of the armed

forces were all vaccinated at the

weekend at the start of a national

rollout expected to last months in

an effort to ease public concerns

over the safety of the program.

They were followed by opposi-

tion party leaders, Cabinet minis-

ters and other senior government

officials — drawing criticism from

medical workers’ unions.

“Cabinet ministers and their

general secretaries have been lin-

ing up for a selfie with the vaccine,

while doctors, nurses and other

front-line workers may have to

wait their turn until the end of

summer to get vaccinated,” Alexis

Tsipras, the leader of the left-wing

opposition, said Tuesday after get-

ting his own vaccine shot. “That’s

not symbolism, it’s favoritism.”

Peloni, the government spokes-

woman, said 66 officials had been

vaccinated by midday Wednesday

out of a total of 1,128 people who

had received the vaccine.

The last official on that list was

the leader of the Greek Communi-

st Party, Dimitris Koutsoumbas.

In Greece, ‘vaccination selfies’ anger unions, oppositionAssociated Press

KAISERSLAUTERN, Germa-

ny — The U.S. military stepped

up its campaign to vaccinate per-

sonnel in Europe against the cor-

onavirus this week as health care

workers on the front lines of

fighting COVID-19 were inoculat-

ed at bases in Germany and the

United Kingdom.

Airmen at bases in England

and soldiers in Germany were

given the Moderna vaccine start-

ing Monday, U.S. European Com-

mand said in a statement.

The first person to be vaccinat-

ed at the U.S. Army Health Clinic

Kaiserslautern Wednesday was

clinic commander Maj. Shara

Fisher.

“I chose to get the vaccine to-

day in an effort to demonstrate

my confidence in its safety and

encourage all others to get the

vaccine when it’s time,” she said.

The vaccine, which has emer-

gency use authorization from the

U.S. Food and Drug Administra-

tion, is available on a voluntary

basis, the military has said.

Next week, Defense Depart-

ment clinics in Italy, Spain, Bel-

gium and Portugal are expected

to receive their first shipment of

the Moderna vaccine and begin

inoculating personnel, EUCOM

said.

“Getting everybody immu-

nized allows us to move back to,

essentially, a sense of normalcy

in terms of how we interact with

each other,” Brig. Gen. Mark

Thompson, Commanding Gener-

al of Regional Health Command

Europe, said in the statement.

Once a second dose of the vac-

cine has been administered in

around one month, the Moderna

vaccine is 94% effective at pre-

venting the disease caused by the

coronavirus and 100% effective at

preventing severe illness, the

Massachusetts-based company

that produces it said in a state-

ment in November.

WILLIAM BEACH/U.S. ArmyMaj. Shara Fisher, commander of the U.S. Army Health Clinic in Kaiserslautern, Germany, was first toreceive the coronavirus vaccine at the facility on Wednesday, as the military works to vaccinate personnelin Europe against the virus.

Military’s vaccination campaigngathers more steam in Europe

Stars and Stripes

EUGENE OLIVER/U.S.Air Force

Lt. Col. Elizabeth Hoettels, 423rd Medical Squadron commander,receives the Moderna COVID19 vaccine at RAF Alconbury, England,on Monday.

news@stripes.com

PAGE 8 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Thursday, December 31, 2020

VIRUS OUTBREAK

COLUMBUS, Ohio — An Ohio

death row inmate who survived

an attempt to execute him by le-

thal injection in 2009 died Mon-

day of possible complications of

COVID-19, the state prisons sys-

tem said.

At the time of the 2009 proce-

dure, condemned prisoner Ro-

mell Broom was only the second

inmate nationally to survive an

execution after they began in

modern times.

Broom, 64, has been placed on

the “COVID probable list” main-

tained by the Department of Re-

habilitation and Correction, spo-

kesperson Sara French said Tues-

day. Inmates on that list are sus-

pected to have died of COVID-19,

pending a death certificate, she

said.

The state says 124 inmates have

died from confirmed or probable

cases of the coronavirus. One

death row inmate currently has a

positive COVID-19 test, and 55

death row inmates tested positive

and then recovered, French said.

Ohio unsuccessfully tried to put

Broom, then age 53, to death by

lethal injection

on Sept. 15, 2009.

The execution

was called off af-

ter two hours

when techni-

cians could not

find a suitable

vein, and Broom

cried in pain

while receiving 18 needle sticks.

Broom was returned to death

row, where he fought unsuccess-

fully to avoid a second execution.

His most recent execution date

was in June, but in the spring Re-

publican Gov. Mike DeWine is-

sued a reprieve and set a new date

in March 2022.

His attorneys filed arguments

with the U.S. Supreme Court that

he should be spared a second at-

tempt.

Broom survived the 2009 exe-

cution “only to live with the ever-

increasing fear and distress that

the same process would be used

on him at his next execution

date,” attorneys Timothy Swee-

ney and Adele Shank said in a

statement.

“Let his passing in this way, and

not in the execution chamber, be

the final word on whether a sec-

ond attempt should ever have

been considered,” they said.

Broom was sentenced to die for

raping and killing 14-year-old

Tryna Middleton after abducting

her in Cleveland in 1984 as she

walked home from a football

game with two friends.

Ohio is now under a de facto

death penalty moratorium as De-

Wine has said lethal injection is no

longer an option because of the

state’s inability to find drugs. He

says lawmakers would have to

choose a new method.

Inmate who survived executionattempt dies; COVID-19 suspected

Associated Press

Broom

BATON ROUGE, La. — Luke

Letlow, Louisiana’s incoming Re-

publican member of the U.S.

House, died Tuesday night from

complications related to CO-

VID-19 only days

before he would

have been sworn

into office. He

was 41.

Letlow spokes-

man Andrew

Bautsch con-

firmed the con-

gressman-elect’s

death at Ochsner-LSU Health

Shreveport.

“The family appreciates the nu-

merous prayers and support over

the past days but asks for privacy

during this difficult and unexpect-

ed time,” Bautsch said in a state-

ment. “A statement from the fam-

ily along with funeral arrange-

ments will be announced at a later

time.”

Louisiana’s eight-member con-

gressional delegation called Let-

low’s death devastating.

The state’s newest congress-

man, set to take office in January,

was admitted to a Monroe hospital

on Dec. 19 after testing positive for

the coronavirus disease. He was

later transferred to the Shreve-

port facility and placed in inten-

sive care.

Dr. G.E. Ghali, of LSU Health

Shreveport, told The Advocate

that Letlow didn’t have any under-

lying health conditions that would

have placed him at greater risk to

COVID-19.

Letlow, from the small town of

Start in Richland Parish, was

elected in a December runoff elec-

tion for the sprawling 5th District

U.S. House seat representing cen-

tral and northeastern regions of

the state, including the cities of

Monroe and Alexandria.

He was to fill the seat being va-

cated by his boss, Republican

Ralph Abraham. Letlow had been

Abraham’s chief of staff.

La. Congressman-elect Luke Letlow dies from virus

Associated Press

Letlow

DENVER — A new variant of

the coronavirus that may be more

contagious has been found in a

Colorado man who had not been

traveling, triggering a host of

questions about how the first re-

ported U.S. case of the new ver-

sion showed up in the Rocky

Mountain state.

The new variant was first iden-

tified in England, and infections

are soaring now in Britain, where

the number of hospitalized CO-

VID-19 patients has surpassed the

first peak of the outbreak in the

spring. The new variant has also

been found in several other coun-

tries.

Colorado officials were expect-

ed to provide more details at a

news conference Wednesday

about how the man in his 20s from

a mostly rural area of rolling

plains at the edge of the Denver

metro area came down with the

variant. Gov. Jared Polis an-

nounced the case Tuesday, adding

urgency to efforts to vaccinate

Americans.

For the moment, the variant is

likely still rare in the U.S., but the

lack of travel history in the first

case means it is spreading, prob-

ably seeded by travelers from Bri-

tain in November or December,

said scientist Trevor Bedford, who

studies the spread of COVID-19 at

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Re-

search Center in Seattle.

“Now I’m worried there will be

another spring wave due to the

variant,” Bedford said. “It’s a race

with the vaccine, but now the virus

has just gotten a little bit faster.”

The man is in isolation south-

east of Denver in Elbert County,

state health officials said.

Colorado Politics reported

there is a second suspected case of

the variant in the state according

to Dwayne Smith, director of pub-

lic health for Elbert County. Both

of the people were working in the

Elbert County community of Sim-

la. Neither is a resident of that

county — expanding the possibil-

ity that the variant has spread in

the state.

Public health officials are inves-

tigating other potential cases of

the variant, which was confirmed

by the Colorado State Laboratory,

and performing contact tracing to

determine its spread.

Scientists in the United King-

dom believe the variant is more

contagious than previously identi-

fied ones — though they have

found no evidence that it is more

lethal or causes more severe ill-

ness. Experts also believe the vac-

cines being given now will be ef-

fective against the variant.

Still, authorities in Britain have

blamed the variant for a spike in

hospitalizations since a higher

rate of transmission increases the

likelihood that more people will

become very ill.

Amid the strain on its hospitals,

Britain announced Wednesday

that it would prioritize giving a

single dose of the newly autho-

rized AstraZeneca vaccine to as

many people as possible. The vac-

cine was tested with two doses a

few weeks apart, but one dose is

believed to give a large measure of

protection against the virus. The

British government now plans to

give everyone a second shot about

12 weeks later.

It’s not clear exactly why the

new variant appears to spread fas-

ter. It has an unusually large num-

ber of genetic changes, or muta-

tions, particularly in areas that af-

fect the Spike protein, according

to reports by Public Health En-

gland.

“There is a lot we don’t know

about this new COVID-19 variant,

but scientists in the United King-

dom are warning the world that it

is significantly more contagious.

The health and safety of Colora-

dans is our top priority, and we

will closely monitor this case, as

well as all COVID-19 indicators,

very closely," Polis, the Colorado

governor, said.

The discovery of the new varia-

nt led the Centers for Disease Con-

trol and Prevention to issue new

rules on Christmas Day for travel-

ers arriving to the U.S. from the

U.K., requiring they show proof of

a negative COVID-19 test.

Worry has been growing about

the variant, known as B.1.1.7, since

the weekend before Christmas,

when Britain’s prime minister

said the new variant was moving

rapidly through southeast En-

gland. Dozens of countries barred

flights from the U.K., and south-

ern England was placed under

strict lockdown measures. Scien-

tists say there is reason for con-

cern but the new strains should

not cause alarm.

No travel history in US case of virus variantAssociated Press

DAVID ZALUBOWSKI / AP

A shopper pauses to look at a sign spelling out the word "Denver" while shopping in in downtown Denveron Tuesday. Colorado has the first reported case of a new version of the coronavirus in the U.S.

Thursday, December 31, 2020 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 9

VIRUS OUTBREAK

BANGKOK — The Thai tourist

city of Pattaya and the surround-

ing district were placed under

lockdown on Wednesday as the

country continues to grapple with

an intensifying outbreak of the

coronavirus.

Health workers sprayed res-

taurants and other establish-

ments as part of preventative

measures.

The governor ordered the clos-

ing of non-essential shops in the

Banglamung district in Chonburi

province, which includes Pattaya,

southeast of Bangkok. Restau-

rants are allowed to serve only

takeaway food. The province has

also shut down schools and or-

dered 24-hour convenience stores

to close between 10 p.m. and 5

a.m.

Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-

ocha visited the city on Wednes-

day to give his support to health

workers located at quarantine

centers.

Thai media reported that he ex-

pressed concern for the effect the

new restrictions will have on Pat-

taya’s economy, which relies

heavily on tourism, but said it was

necessary to concentrate on con-

trolling the spread of the corona-

virus.

On Wednesday, Thai officials

reported 250 new cases of the

coronavirus. The vast majority of

them, 241, were reported to be lo-

cal transmissions.

After months of seeming to

have the COVID-19 situation un-

der control, Thailand has seen

two major clusters develop since

mid-December. One has mainly

infected hundreds of migrant

workers from Myanmar at a sea-

food market near Bangkok, while

in recent days, another cluster

has grown connected to a gam-

bling den located in an eastern

province.

Bangkok has been officially

designated as a zone 2 area,

meaning that more than 10 new

cases have been confirmed there,

and the the number is likely to in-

crease.

Earlier this week, officials in

Bangkok announced new restric-

tions, including the closure of

some entertainment facilities, to

be implemented during the New

Year’s holiday.

Thailand has confirmed a total

of 6,690 cases, including 61

deaths.

Thai tourist city of Pattaya placed under COVID-19 lockdownAssociated Press

GEMUNU AMARASINGHE/AP

A statue of a dinosaur is dressed with a Santa hat and a face mask in Bangkok, Thailand, on Wednesday.

ROME — Italian Premier Giu-

seppe Conte said Wednesday that

one of the greatest pandemic con-

cerns facing his government is the

plight of workers once a moratori-

um on firings lifts in March.

Conte defended his govern-

ment’s actions to protect workers,

citing 5 billion euros earmarked

for social stabilizers that the Bank

of Italy said had helped to prevent

600,000 people from losing their

jobs during the COVID-19 emer-

gency.

He said the government was

working with unions and social

services “to confront the very wor-

rying scenarios that we will see af-

ter March, because it is clear that

the security belt that we have built

is more or less working.”

Charities have reported a spike

in requests from first-time aid re-

cipients due to the total lockdown

in the spring and less severe clo-

sures this fall as the virus re-

surged. It has claimed more than

73,000 lives since February, the

highest toll in Europe.

Charities also note that some

categories of workers remain un-

covered by social programs while

government aid last spring ar-

rived late and proved in many

cases insufficient to cover basic

expenses.

During a wide-ranging end-of-

year press conference, Conte

maintained his stance that the vac-

cine against the virus would re-

main voluntary in Italy. But he

urged people to get it. Surveys

show one-quarter to one-third of

Italians are skeptical of the vac-

cine.

“I ask everyone to make an ef-

fort, put aside ideology, put aside

emotional reactions, and let’s per-

form an act of solidarity, if we don’t

want to call it love, toward the en-

tire national community. Let’s

take the vaccine,’’ Conte said.

Conte said the first phase of the

vaccination program reaching at

least 10 million people should be

reached by the end of April, but

that there will still be a long way to

go to reach so-called herd immuni-

ty in the country of 60 million.

ANDREW MEDICHINI/AP

Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte wears a face mask to curb the spread of COVID19 as he gives his yearend press conference, in Rome on Wednesday.

Italy’s premier deems workers’plight a chief pandemic concern

Associated Press

LONDON — The British gov-

ernment on Wednesday extended

its toughest coronavirus restric-

tions to three-quarters of En-

gland’s population, saying that a

fast-spreading new variant of the

virus has reached most of the

country.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock

said the government’s top infec-

tion-warning level, Tier 4, would

be expanded beyond London and

the southeast to cover large

swaths of central, northern and

southwest England.

Under Tier 4, restaurants and

bars can only offer takeout, people

are advised to stay home, mixing

of households is prohibited, and

nonessential shops are shut.

Hancock said Wednesday’s au-

thorization of a second vaccine for

use in the United Kingdom was

good news, but “sharply rising

cases and the hospitalizations that

follow demonstrate the need to act

where the virus is spreading.”

“It brings forward the day on

which we can lift the restrictions,”

he told lawmakers in the House of

Commons. “But …we must act to

suppress the virus now, especially

as the new variant makes the time

between now and then even more

difficult.”

Hospitals in the worst-hit areas

of London and southern England

are becoming increasingly over-

stretched, with ambulances un-

able to unload patients at some

hospitals where all the beds are

occupied. There are more people

in hospitals with COVID-19 now

than at the first peak of the out-

break in April.

Britain has recorded more than

71,000 confirmed coronavirus

deaths, the second-highest death

toll in Europe after Italy. The

country reported a record number

of new confirmed cases on Tues-

day.

UK puts millionsmore under limitsas cases shoot up

Associated Press "It brings forwardthe day on whichwe can lift therestrictions."

Matt Hancock

UK Health Secretary

PAGE 10 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Thursday, December 31, 2020

NATION

American Airlines flew a Boe-

ing 737 Max with paying passen-

gers from Miami to New York on

Tuesday, the plane’s first com-

mercial flight in U.S. skies since it

was grounded after two deadly

crashes.

American flight 718 carried 87

passengers on the 172-seat plane,

and the return flight from La-

Guardia Airport to Miami Inter-

national Airport held 151 passen-

gers, according to an airline spo-

keswoman.

Last month, the Federal Avia-

tion Administration approved

changes that Boeing made to an

automated flight-control system

implicated in crashes in Indonesia

and Ethiopia that killed 346 peo-

ple. In both crashes, the system

pushed the nose down repeatedly

based on faulty sensor readings,

and pilots were unable to regain

control.

The FAA cleared the way for

U.S. airlines to resume using the

plane if certain changes are made

and pilots are provided with addi-

tional training, including time in a

flight simulator.

Brazil’s Gol airlines operated

the first passenger flight with a re-

vamped Max on Dec. 9. Since

then, Gol and Aeromexico have

operated about 600 flights be-

tween them with Max jets, accord-

ing to tracking service Flightra-

dar24 and aviation-data firm Ciri-

um.

American plans to make one

round trip a day between Miami

and New York with Max jets

through Jan. 4 before putting the

plane on more routes. United Air-

lines plans to resume Max flights

in February, and Southwest Air-

lines expects to follow in March.

All three airlines say they will

give customers the chance to

change flights if they are uncom-

fortable flying on the Max.

The Max was grounded world-

wide in March 2019, days after the

second crash.

Reports by House and Senate

committees faulted Boeing and

the FAA for failures in the process

of certifying the plane. Congres-

sional investigators uncovered in-

ternal Boeing documents in which

company employees raised safety

concerns and bragged about de-

ceiving regulators.

FAA Administrator Stephen

Dickson, a former military and

airline pilot, operated a test flight

in September and vouched for the

reworked plane’s safety, saying he

would put his family on it. Amer-

ican Airlines President Robert

Isom was on Tuesday’s inaugural

U.S. flight, according to the air-

line.

Some relatives of people who

died in the second crash, a Max

operated by Ethiopian Airlines,

contend that the plane is still un-

safe. They and their lawyers say

that Boeing is refusing to hand

over documents about the plane’s

design and development.

“The truth is that 346 people are

now dead because Boeing cut cor-

ners, lied to regulators, and simply

considers this the cost of doing

business,” Yalena Lopez-Lewis,

whose husband died in the crash,

said in a statement issued by her

lawyers. “It is infuriating that

American Airlines is in effect re-

warding Boeing for the corrupt

and catastrophic process that led

to the Max.”

Boeing spokesman Bernard

Choi said the company “learned

many hard lessons” from the

crashes and is committed to safe-

ty.

“We continue to work closely

with global regulators and our

customers to support the safe re-

turn of the fleet to service around

the world,” Choi said.

The return of the plane to U.S.

skies is a huge boost for Boeing,

which has lost billions during the

Max grounding because it has

been unable to deliver new planes

to airline customers. Orders for

the plane have plunged. Boeing

has removed more than 1,000 Max

jets from its backlog because air-

lines canceled orders or the sales

are not certain to go through be-

cause of the pandemic crisis grip-

ping the travel industry.

Boeing Max plane returns to US skiesBY DAVID KOEING

Associated Press

KEVIN HAGEN/AP

U.S. Navy member Estfhi Guzman picks up her baggage after arriving at LaGuardia Airport from Miami onthe first Boeing 737 Max flight since the plane’s return to service Tuesday in New York.

OMAHA, Neb. — The railroad

industry has installed an automat-

ic braking system on nearly 58,000

miles of track where it is required

ahead of a yearend deadline, fed-

eral regulators said Tuesday.

Federal Railroad Administra-

tion chief Ronald Batory said rail-

roads worked together over the

past 12 years to develop and install

the long-awaited technology

known as positive train control, or

PTC. The roughly $15 billion brak-

ing system is aimed at reducing

human error by automatically

stopping trains in certain situa-

tions, such as when they’re in dan-

ger of colliding, derailing because

of excessive speed, entering track

under maintenance or traveling

the wrong direction because of

switching mistakes.

“PTC is a risk reduction system

that will make a safe industry even

safer, and provide a solid founda-

tion upon which additional safety

improvements will be realized,”

Batory said.

The National Transportation

Safety Board has said more than

150 train crashes since 1969 could

have been prevented by positive

train control, which was required

in 2008 after a commuter train col-

lided head-on with a freight train

near Los Angeles, killing 25 and

injuring more than 100. That agen-

cy had recommended positive

train control for years before Con-

gress mandated it after that crash.

Then Congress extended the orig-

inal 2015 deadline twice and gave

railroads until the end of this year

to complete the system.

The braking system uses GPS,

wireless radio and computers to

monitor train position and speed,

and it can give engineers com-

mands.

Major rail safety technology installed before deadlineAssociated Press

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — More

than a year before Anthony War-

ner detonated a bomb in down-

town Nashville on Christmas, offi-

cers visited his home after his

girlfriend told police that he was

building bombs in an RV trailer at

his residence, according to docu-

ments obtained by The Associated

Press. But they were unable to

make contact with him, or see in-

side his RV.

Officers were called to Pamela

Perry’s home in Nashville on Aug.

21, 2019, after getting a report

from her attorney that she was

making suicidal threats while sit-

ting on her front porch with fire-

arms, the Metropolitan Nashville

Police Department said Tuesday

in an emailed statement. A police

report said Raymond Throckmor-

ton, the attorney, told officers that

day that he also represented War-

ner.

When officers arrived at Per-

ry’s home, police said she had two

unloaded pistols sitting next to her

on the porch. She told them those

guns belonged to “Tony Warner,”

police said, and she did not want

them in the house any longer. Per-

ry, then 62, was then transported

for a psychological evaluation af-

ter speaking to mental health pro-

fessionals on the phone.

Throckmorton told The Tennes-

sean that Perry had fears about

her safety, and thought Warner

may harm her. The attorney was

also at the scene that day, and told

officers Warner “frequently talks

about the military and bomb mak-

ing,” the police report said. War-

ner “knows what he is doing and is

capable of making a bomb,”

Throckmorton said to responding

officers.

Police then went to Warner’s

home, located about 1.5 miles

from Perry’s home, but he didn’t

answer the door when they

knocked several times. They saw

the RV in the backyard, the report

said, but the yard was fenced off

and officers couldn’t see inside the

vehicle.

The report said there also were

“several security cameras and

wires attached to an alarm sign on

the front door” of the home. Offi-

cers then notified supervisors and

detectives.

“They saw no evidence of a

crime and had no authority to en-

ter his home or fenced property,”

the police statement said.

A day after officers visited War-

ner’s home, the police report and

identifying information about

Warner were sent to the FBI to

check their databases and deter-

mine whether Warner had prior

military connections, police said.

Later that day, the police de-

partment said “the FBI reported

back that they checked their hold-

ings and found no records on War-

ner at all.”

Nashville man’s girlfriend warned that he was building bombsAssociated Press

Thursday, December 31, 2020 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 11

AMERICAN ROUNDUP

City tries to find sourceof mysterious explosions

MA BROCKTON — Fireinvestigators are try-ing to determine the source of two

loud explosions and accompany-

ing flashes of white light that

shook a Massachusetts city last

weekend.

The Brockton Fire Department

announced a reward of up to

$5,000 through the ArsonWatch

reward program for information

about the explosions.

The Brockton Fire Department

said its Fire Prevention Bureau,

city police and Massachusetts

State Police are working on deter-

mining the source.

Potentially live grenadesold at antique mall

NC OCEAN ISLE BEACH— The federal Bureauof Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and

Explosives is looking for a hand

grenade that was sold at a North

Carolina antique mall.

The Charlotte Observer

reported that the device may ac-

tually be live and ready to explode.

The agency said that the gre-

nade was purchased June 13 from

the Fancy Flea Antique Mall in

Ocean Isle Beach.

“The grenade, thought to be in-

ert, may contain materials that

could degrade (and) explode,” the

ATF statement said.

Photographer questioned,files complaint

VA ARLINGTON — ABlack real estate pho-tographer who was hired to take

pictures of a home in Virginia filed

a complaint with police after offi-

cers questioned him and demand-

ed his identification.

The Washington Post reported

that the incident occurred last

week in Arlington.

The photographer, Marlon

Crutchfield, is a former U.S. Capi-

tol Police officer, Army veteran

and licensed real estate agent.

Crutchfield was sitting in his

car waiting for his appointment

near the U.S. Army’s Joint Base

Myer-Henderson Hall. He said a

white man alerted base security.

Arlington police said that they

responded to a report of a suspi-

cious person who was taking pho-

tos of a base entrance.

‘Frost quakes’ may because of noises

WI MILWAUKEE — Mete-orologists believe thatmysterious sounds reported in

southeastern Wisconsin may have

been caused by a rare natural phe-

nomenon known as “frost

quakes,” which happen when

moisture in the ground suddenly

freezes and expands.

The Journal Sentinel reported

Muskego police received reports

of loud booming noises in the city

but were unable to determine the

source of the sounds.

Scientists say that if conditions

are just right, the soil or bedrock

breaks like a brittle frozen pipe,

generating mysterious noises that

range from an earthquake-like

rumble to sharp cracking noises

sometimes mistaken for falling

trees.

Couple tries to solveChristmas card mystery

FL TAMPA — A couplenear Tampa is lookingfor the name of an 85-year-old

woman who sent them an un-

signed Christmas card detailing

the good times she spent in their

house when she was a child.

The woman wrote in the card

she mailed to Jeremy Beauchamp

and his husband, Dale, that some

of the best years of her life were

spent in the house in the Seminole

Heights neighborhood.

They hope to meet the woman

who sent the card.

“We’ve done marriage records,

we did the census,” Beauchamp

told the television station. “I mean

you name it, we started going

through it.”

“Then we found that there was

at one time during the census a 9-

year-old girl that lived here at the

same time period that this person

was talking about,” Beauchamp

said.

The couple sent a card back to

the address where they believe

the woman may live.

Girl becomes area’s firstfemale Eagle Scout

ID RIGBY — When then-14-year-old Alexis Sharpwent to Scout Camp in Island Park

in July 2019, it was the first year

girls were able to attend. Of the

more than 400 people there, ap-

proximately 12 of the Scouts were

girls.

On Dec. 14, Alexis, now 15, be-

came the Grand Teton Council’s

first female Eagle Scout when she

completed her board of review. A

total of four girls in Idaho have

now passed their Eagle Scout

board of review. She is one of just a

handful of girls in the country to

have achieved the honor.

Becoming an Eagle Scout is no

easy feat. It includes passing a

number of requirements, includ-

ing earning 21 merit badges (Alex-

is has 77), serving in a leadership

role for six months, carrying out a

significant service project in the

community and passing a board of

review. Only 6% of Scouts achieve

this rank.

Woman slips handcuffs,wrecks police cruiser

MI LOCKPORT TOWN-SHIP — A police cruis-er was stolen and wrecked in

southwestern Michigan by a 25-

year-old woman who slipped from

handcuffs after being arrested

earlier for drunken driving.

The woman had been taken into

custody after a crash in Lockport

Township, authorities said.

She was placed in the rear seat

of a St. Joseph sheriff’s office vehi-

cle. After getting free of the hand-

cuffs, she climbed through a parti-

tion and into the driver’s seat as

deputies searched her vehicle.

The sheriff’s office said she

drove off in the cruiser but struck

autility pole and several trees. She

was caught after trying to run

away.

Group hopes to revivesod house museum

NE GOTHENBURG —Three Gothenburgbusiness owners are working to

revive the old Sod House Museum

at the town’s exit off of Interstate

80.

J.C. Smith said he and his busi-

ness partners at Crop Tech Solu-

tions bought the site that includes

the sod house, a big red barn, a

large plow and a steel bison built

out of barbed wire.

Smith and his partners plan to

shore up the old sod house, and

they’d like to start using the barn

to host community events.

STEVE GONZALES, HOUSTON CHRONICLE/AP

Tamara Rhodes and her children didn't need snow to do some sledding at Tom Bass Regional Park Section III on Tuesday in Houston. Rhodessaid she and her children spent about 30 minutes cardboard sledding on a hill in the park. 

Who needs snow?

THE CENSUS

1K The approximate weight, in pounds, of marijuana U.S. cus-toms agents found hidden inside kitchen cabinets at a U.S.-Canadian border crossing in Vermont. The 1,400 pounds of pot was discov-ered after border officers selected the truck carrying the cabinets for closer ex-amination when it tried to enter the United States from Canada at HighgateSprings, Vt. It was the largest marijuana seizure in New England in recentyears, with an estimated street value of more than $3 million.

From The Associated Press

PAGE 12 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Thursday, December 31, 2020

WORLD

PETRINJA, Croatia — After-

shocks jolted central Croatia on

Wednesday, a day after a 6.3-mag-

nitude earthquake killed at least

seven people, injured dozens and

left several towns and villages in

ruins.

The strongest, 4.7-magnitude

tremor was recorded near the

heavily damaged town of Petrinja,

some 25 miles southeast of the

capital, Zagreb. Many people had

spent the night in tents, their cars

or military barracks.

Neven Pavkovic, a resident,

said the aftershocks kept him

awake: “It was a rough night, I

slept maybe half an hour.”

In the hard-hit village of Majske

Poljane, where five people died, a

little boy could be seen sleeping in

a van on the chilly morning.

Sobbing villagers said they re-

ceived blankets, food and other

aid, but don’t know what they will

do next. Rain that fell overnight

turned the dust from the rubble in-

to mud, adding to the hardship.

“We can’t say, ‘Good morning,’

It is not good,” Petrinja Mayor Da-

rinko Dumbovic told Croatian ra-

dio. “We had the third and fourth

tremors this morning, short ones

but strong. What hasn’t fallen off

before is falling now from the ru-

ins of Petrinja.”

“Fear has crept into people,” he

said.

Pope Francis prayed for the vic-

tims. At the end of his weekly audi-

ence, he said: ”I particularly pray

for those who died and for their

families.”

Prime Minister Andrej Plen-

kovic said the government will de-

clare Saturday a day of national

mourning. As the government

abolished a travel ban be