MILITARY WAR ON TERRORISM FACES Navy ships more U.S. military spokesman Grammy-winning singer than 40,00 pounds trades words on Twitter Rowland’s new single of backlogged mail with Taliban counterpart an ode to black beauty Page 3 Page 4 Page 15 Online: Get the latest news on the virus outbreak » stripes.com/coronavirus stripes.com Volume 79, No. 11 ©SS 2020 MONDAY, MAY 4, 2020 50¢/Free to Deployed Areas PACIFIC CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK Shots fired across DMZ after Kim Tremendous help reappears Military’s assistance in New York ‘was a rescue’ BY KIM GAMEL Stars and Stripes Page 7 SEOUL, South Korea — North and South Korean troops ex- changed gunfire across the heav- ily fortified border Sunday, the South Korean military said, in the first shooting in the area in more than two years. The incident occurred a day after North Korea re- leased pho- tos of leader Kim Jong Un making his first public appearance in nearly three weeks, tamping down specu- Kim lation about Inside: his health. The U.S.-led United Nations Command, which administers Most DODEA schools will close the area, said it will investigate through end of school year, Page 6 whether there was a violation of the armistice that has existed Lt. Col. Guy Travis Clifton, an Army doctor assigned to the since the 1950-53 Korean War. field hospital at Javits, assisted with the transfer of about The North Koreans fired first, with several bullets hitting a 70 patients out of Elmhurst Hospital Center in New York. South Korean guard post at about CELESTE SLOMAN / The Washington Post 7:41 a.m. in a central part of the Demilitarized Zone, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Seoul. South Korean troops respond- ed by firing 20 rounds of warning AP: Most states fall short of minimum testing thresholds shots on two occasions and broad- Associated Press casting warnings over loudspeak- tain the virus. What federal offi- cials outlined recently isn’t even ‘ It’s dangerous and irresponsible. ers, it said. ATLANTA — As more states an official benchmark, and AP’s ’ No casualties or significant begin to relax their coronavirus Lawrence Gostin damage were reported on the analysis found that a majority of lockdowns, most are falling short states are not yet meeting it. public health specialist at Georgetown University South Korean side. of the minimum levels of testing South Korea later sent a no- With no specific guidelines, suggested by the federal govern- states are left to figure out what tice calling for an explanation ment and recommended by a from the North Korean side via a successful testing program sible,” said Lawrence Gostin, a that eventually includes millions variety of public health research- should be while they simultane- public health specialist at George- of patients without symptoms, an inter-Korean communication ers, an Associated Press analysis line, but did not immediately re- ously try to reopen their shat- town University. which is not happening now. has found. ceive a response, according to the tered economies. If states don’t In many states, testing has A testing blueprint released Three months into an unprec- JCS. have robust testing, public health been limited to hospitalized pa- Monday by the Trump adminis- edented public health emergency, A JCS officer said the shoot- experts say they will be unable to tients, high-risk individuals and tration lacked any metrics state ing did not appear to be an inten- the White House has largely re- detect outbreaks quickly enough front-line workers. But most officials could use to make in- tional provocation, although the sisted calls for a coordinated plan to contain them, which could lead public health experts agree that formed decisions. Instead, the to conduct the millions of tests to more shutdowns. containing the virus will require SEE FIRED ON PAGE 5 experts say are needed to con- “It’s dangerous and irrespon- a massive expansion of testing SEE MINIMUM ON PAGE 8 PAGE 2 F3HIJKLM •STARS AND STRIPES• Monday, May 4, 2020 BUSINESS/WEATHER EXCHANGE RATES Buffett remains optimistic about the future Military rates Switzerland (Franc)............................0.9618 Euro costs (May 4) ................................$1.06 Thailand (Baht) .....................................32.45 Dollar buys (May 4) ..........................€0.8961 Turkey (Lira) .........................................7.0124 British pound (May 4) ..........................$1.22 (Military exchange rates are those BY JOSH FUNK still too varied. Berkshire’s meet- and depressions before. Japanese yen (May 4) ........................105.00 available to customers at military banking South Korean won (May 4) ............1,188.00 facilities in the country of issuance Associated Press ing was held without any of the “In the end, the answer is never Commercial rates for Japan, South Korea, Germany, the Bahrain (Dinar) ....................................0.3781 roughly 40,000 shareholders who bet against America,” Buffett Netherlands and the United Kingdom. For British pound .....................................$1.2484 OMAHA, Neb. — Billionaire nonlocal currency exchange rates (i.e., typically attend because of the said. Canada (Dollar) ...................................1.4075 purchasing British pounds in Germany), investor Warren Buffett doesn’t China (Yuan) ........................................ 7.0623 virus. It’s not clear how long the virus check with your local military banking Denmark (Krone) ................................6.7984 know how or when the economy “We do not know exactly what will continue to weigh on the facility. Commercial rates are interbank Egypt (Pound) ....................................15.7552 will recover from the coronavi- happens when you voluntarily economy, Buffett said. He said Euro .........................................$1.0975/0.9111 rates provided for reference when buying rus outbreak shutdown, but he re- shut down a substantial portion that there could still be unpleas- Hong Kong (Dollar) .............................7.7526 currency. All figures are foreign currencies Hungary (Forint) .................................322.89 to one dollar, except for the British pound, mains optimistic in the long-term of your society,” Buffett said, be- ant surprises from the virus and Israel (Shekel) .....................................3.5081 which is represented in dollars-to-pound, future of the United States. cause it’s never been done. He said the way people react to it. Japan (Yen) ...........................................106.87 and the euro, which is dollars-to-euro.) Buffett said Saturday at Berk- that it may take several years to “You’re dealing with a huge Kuwait (Dinar) .....................................0.3094 INTEREST RATES Norway (Krone) .................................10.3550 shire Hathaway’s online annual realize all the economic implica- unknown,” Buffett said, so busi- Philippines (Peso).................................50.28 Prime rate ................................................3.25 meeting that there’s no way to tions of the outbreak, but it hasn’t nesses and investors can’t be sure Poland (Zloty) ..........................................4.16 Discount rate ..........................................0.25 Saudi Arabia (Riyal) ...........................3.7389 Federal funds market rate ...................0.04 predict the economic future right changed his long-term view be- of what will happen in the near Singapore (Dollar) ..............................1.4166 3-month bill ............................................. 0.10 now because the possibilities are cause the U.S. has endured wars future. South Korea (Won) ..........................1,225.14 30-year bond ...........................................1.28 WEATHER OUTLOOK MONDAY IN THE MIDDLE EAST MONDAY IN EUROPE TUESDAY IN THE PACIFIC Misawa 52/49 Kabul 66/51 Seoul 66/53 Baghdad 100/66 Kandahar 91/57 Osan Tokyo Mildenhall/ Drawsko 65/52 73/58 Lakenheath Pomorskie Busan 54/46 52/44 61/56 Iwakuni 62/59 Kuwait Bahrain Zagan Sasebo City 83/77 Brussels 56/44 Guam 90/72 58/50 Ramstein 68/61 85/81 Lajes, 60/47 Riyadh Doha Azores Stuttgart Pápa 97/62 97/69 61/58 63/48 63/41 Aviano/ Vicenza 63/46 Naples 69/54 Okinawa Morón 77/72 83/66 Sigonella Rota 74/53 The weather is provided by the Djibouti Souda Bay American Forces Network Weather Center, 90/81 74/68 64/59 2nd Weather Squadron at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb. T O D A Y IN STRIPES American Roundup ..... 14 Classified .................. 13 Comics ...................... 18 Crossword ................. 18 Faces ........................ 15 Opinion .................16-17 Sports .................. 20-24 Monday, May 4, 2020 •STARS AND STRIPES• F3HIJKLM PAGE 3 MILITARY ‘Mountain of mail’ sent after virus backlog BY CHAD GARLAND by C-40 Clippers of Commander Stars and Stripes Task Force 63, the Navy’s logis- tics arm for Europe and Africa, Disruptions caused by the based in Naples, Italy. coronavirus pandemic led the The flights also transported fro- Navy to send more than 40,000 zen samples for coronavirus test- pounds of backlogged mail to ing from Djibouti to Rota, Spain, sailors throughout the Mediter- and on to Germany, officials said ranean via a “back door” through in a statement last month. Bahrain and Africa. From March 30 through April Many of the commercial flights 25, Navy Lt. Russell Farr led a typically used to transport mili- cargo team that worked 14-hour tary mail from the U.S. to Europe, days to clear the nearly 200 mail Africa and the Middle East were pallets through Djiboutian cus- canceled, Navy officials