WAR ON TERRORISM VIRUS OUTBREAK MUSIC Violence, attacks are US passes 20M Swift’s ‘folklore’ ‘leverage’ for Taliban COVID-19 cases, among year’s in peace talks most worldwide best albums Page 3 Page 6 Page 12 Alabama, Ohio State set to clash for championship ›› College football, Page 24 stripes.com Volume 79 Edition 183B ©SS 2021 CONTINGENCY EDITION SUNDAY,JANUARY 3, 2021 Free to Deployed Areas GOP-led Senate says no to veto Congress overrides Trump, dismissing objections to $740 billion National Defense Authorization Act BY MATTHEW DALY Big Tech companies. Pathetic!!!’’ Associated Press Trump also slammed lawmakers for rejecting his call WASHINGTON — Congress on Friday overrode to increase COVID-19 relief payments to $2,000: “Not President Donald Trump’s veto of a defense policy bill, a fair, or smart!’’ first by lawmakers since he took office nearly four years The 81-13 vote in the Senate on the widely popular ago, ensuring that the measure becomes law. defense bill followed an earlier 322-87 override vote in In an extraordinary New Year’s Day session, the Re- the House. The bill affirms a 3% pay raise for U.S. troops publican-controlled Senate easily turned aside the veto, and guides defense policy, cementing decisions about dismissing Trump’s objections to the $740 billion bill troop levels, new weapons systems and military read- and handing him a rebuke just weeks before he leaves iness, personnel policy and other military goals. the White House. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said the Trump lashed out on Twitter, saying the Senate mis- “sweeping and overwhelmingly bipartisan votes” in the sed an opportunity to eliminate protections for social media platforms that he said give “unlimited power to SEE OVERRIDE ON PAGE 5 President Donald Trump boards Air Force One in West Palm Beach, Fla., on Friday. PATRICK SEMANSKY/AP Remembering US troops who died in Iraq and Syria in 2020 BY CHAD GARLAND tling ISIS since it began a little blamed on pro-Iran Shiite mili- ing route clear- said in a statement at the time. Stars and Stripes over six years ago. Twenty-one tias. ance operations, Moore, who was on his first de- Four U.S. service members were killed in combat and more The U.S. is expected to reduce the Pentagon ployment since enlisting in the were killed during hostilities and than 235 have been wounded in troop numbers in Iraq to around said. Moore was Army as a combat engineer in four others died in noncombat in- action. 2,500 by mid-January. Hundreds assigned to the May 2017, was survived by his cidents in Iraq and Syria in 2020 All four combat deaths hap- of troops are expected to remain Army’s 363rd En- mother, stepfather, three broth- as America wound down its role pened in March, two during an in eastern Syria. gineer Battalion, ers and one sister, the Vicksburg, in the fight against the Islamic operation against ISIS in northern 411th Engineer Miss.-based 412th Theater Engi- Moore State group. Iraq and two in a rocket attack on Antonio I. Moore Brigade, out of neer Command said in a state- The eight deaths last year bring Camp Taji, near Baghdad. A Brit- Spc. Antonio I. Moore, 22, of Knightdale, N.C. ment. to 99 the number of American ish soldier was also killed and 14 Wilmington, N.C., died in Deir al- “Antonio was one of the best in His awards and decorations in- troops who have died while taking troops were wounded in the rock- Zour province, Syria, on Jan. 24, our formation,” Lt. Col. Ian Doi- part in the U.S.-led coalition bat- et attack, which the Pentagon has when his vehicle rolled over dur- ron, the battalion’s commander, SEE REMEMBERING ON PAGE 4 PAGE 2 • STARS AND STRIPES • Sunday, January 3, 2021 BUSINESS/WEATHER Chewy sends paintings to stand out EXCHANGE RATES Military rates So. Korea (Won) 1089.92 Associated Press In the cutthroat world of online tree. Switzerland (Franc) .8897 Euro costs (Jan. 4) $1.20 Thailand (Baht) 29.97 NEW YORK — Danielle shopping, that personal touch and “I just want to buy everything Dollar buys (Jan. 4) 0.7924 Turkey (NewLira) 7.4392 British pound (Jan. 4) $1.33 Schwartz didn’t ask for an oil a bit of kitsch is how Chewy is from them,” she says. “They’re a Japanese yen (Jan. 4) 101.00 (Military exchange rates are those available painting of her cat. But she loves looking to stand out among the big company. I was shocked that South Korean won (Jan. 4) 1062.00 to customers at military banking facilities in the Commercial rates country of issuance for Japan, South Korea, Ger­ the portrait of Stinky that hangs competition, which has only got- they did something so personal.” many, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Bahrain(Dinar) .3770 For nonlocal currency exchange rates (i.e., pur­ in her upstate New York home, a ten stiffer as more people shop The portraits have become a Britain (Pound) .7314 chasing British pounds in Germany), check with Canada (Dollar) 1.2722 your local military banking facility. Commercial surprise gift from an unlikely online and add pandemic pets to hit on social media, where people China(Yuan) 6.5330 rates are interbank rates provided for reference Denmark (Krone) 6.0929 place: an online pet store. their families. Pet ownership is share images of them or beg for Egypt (Pound) 15.7396 when buying currency. All figures are foreign It’s one of the more than 1,000 expected to grow 4% in 2020, the their pets to be turned into works Euro .8240 currencies to one dollar, except for the British Hong Kong (Dollar) 7.7529 pound, which is represented in dollars­to­ free paintings that Chewy sends first increase in several years, ac- of art. Hungary (Forint) 297.00 pound, and the euro, which is dollars­to­euro.) Israel (Shekel) 3.2226 to select customers each week — cording to the Petco Foundation. “Customers were going ba- Japan (Yen) 103.25 INTEREST RATES even during the pandemic — tap- Chewy’s strategy seems to be nanas,” says co-founder Ryan Co- Kuwait(Dinar) .3041 Norway (Krone) 8.6305 Prime rate 3.25 ping into people’s obsession with working on Schwartz, whose hen, who helped come up with Philippines (Peso) 48.34 Interest Rates Discount rate 0.75 Poland (Zloty) 3.74 Federal funds market rate 0.09 their fur children and, it hopes, blue-eyed cat likes to rub up the idea in 2013 before leaving Saudi Arab (Riyal) 3.7514 3­month bill 0.09 winning customers for life. against the painting from his cat the company. Singapore (Dollar) 1.3221 30­year bond 1.64 WEATHER OUTLOOK SUNDAY IN THE MIDDLE EAST SUNDAY IN EUROPE MONDAY IN THE PACIFIC Misawa 30/25 Kabul Seoul 51/30 35/18 Baghdad 71/45 Tokyo Drawsko Osan Kandahar Mildenhall/ 36/19 50/27 54/26 Pomorskie Busan Lakenheath 34/30 41/35 45/31 Iwakuni Kuwait City 50/30 Bahrain Brussels Zagan Sasebo Guam 72/55 72/62 Ramstein 37/33 52/37 37/33 35/30 86/77 Riyadh Lajes, 73/52 Doha Azores Stuttgart Pápa 62/58 34/28 76/61 Aviano/ 46/36 Vicenza 50/33 Naples 52/43 Okinawa Morón 72/64 51/29 Sigonella Rota 59/41 The weather is provided by the Djibouti 53/37 Souda Bay American Forces Network Weather Center, 82/73 65/53 2nd Weather Squadron at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb. TODAY IN STRIPES American Roundup ...... 11 Comics .........................15 Crossword ................... 15 Music ..................... 12-13 Opinion ........................ 18 Television .................... 14 Sports .................... 19-24 Sunday, January 3, 2021 • STARS AND STRIPES • PAGE 3 WAR ON TERRORISM Taliban using attacks to ‘leverage’ peace talks BY PAMELA CONSTABLE AND SHARIF HASSAN The Washington Post KABUL, Afghanistan — In a video, five turbaned fighters stand in a row, wearing flak jackets and sneakers, assault rifles at the ready. One says in Pashto that God hates those who stray from reli- gion and “cling to a worldly life,” and obliges the faithful to wage ji- had, even if they must face prison or death, to establish the “law of the Koran” on earth. The video, published Monday on a Taliban spokesman’s Twitter account, came amid a rash of tar- geted shootings and bombings in the Afghan capital that have killed several dozen journalists, civic leaders, physicians, democracy advocates and government offi- cials. The mayhem has brought a new kind of personal terror to a city long accustomed to insurgent attacks against official buildings and military targets. Even though U.S. troops are leaving the country, the militia- man explained, “it is permissible to kill the (American) puppet re- gime of Kabul” and those who aid it. English subtitles accompanied his raised voice. “We are carrying weapons to avenge our values and MARIAM ZUHAIB/AP institutions,” he said. “We are Firefighters clean up the debris after a car bomb explosion in Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday. wholeheartedly obeying the su- preme command of Allah.” many explosions and attacks, he ing 5,000 troops, slated to be The video was posted days be- “The real worry is not these said, he had to change his location halved next month. By sowing ter- fore negotiations between Taliban from another, more vulnerable ror on city streets, he added, “the and Afghan delegates are set to re- individual assassinations. It is the market where he made more mon- Taliban are telling the new admin- sume Wednesday in Qatar, after a ey.