'The War Is Taking a New Turn'
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VIDEO GAMES TRAVEL MLB Chicken Police – Dr. Beach: Hawaii’s Versatile Bryant Paint it RED! Hapuna shoreline is shines as Cubs top rules the roost 2021’s top spot NL Central Page 15 Page 13 Page 24 US to swiftly boost global vaccine sharing, Biden announces ›› Page 5 stripes.com Volume 80 Edition 35A ©SS 2021 CONTINGENCY EDITION SATURDAY,JUNE 5, 2021 Free to Deployed Areas Report does AFGHANISTAN not confirm, or rule out, UFO activity BY MISSY RYAN AND ALEX HORTON The Washington Post A soon-to-be-released govern- ment report on unexplained ae- rial phenomena finds no proof of extraterrestrial activity, but can- not provide a definitive explana- tion for scores of incidents in which strange objects have been spotted in the sky, officials said on Thursday. The findings of the report, due to be provided to Congress by the director of national intelligence as soon as this month, will offer no firm conclusions about what the objects — repeatedly detected by military pilots and others in re- PHOTOS BY LORENZO TUGNOLI/For The Washington Post cent years — might be, according Above: Afghan special forces on May 25 arrive at the Bolan Qala army outpost near the city of Lashkar Gah, where the fight against the Taliban to two officials who spoke on the has intensified. Below: Gen. Sami Sadat talks with troops during a May 25 visit at Nazar outpost near Lashkar Gah. condition of anonymity to address a document that is not yet public. That the report, whose conclu- sions were first described by the New York Times, does not rule out extraterrestrial activity is ‘The war is taking a new turn’ likely to further stoke what has become a highly unusual national discussion about the possibility Fight between Afghan government troops and the Taliban is entering a more brutal phase that unknown life-forms are vis- BY SUSANNAH GEORGE ded: dirt roads littered with cra- iting Earth, as senators, former The Washington Post ters and mud-straw walls pock- CIA directors and former presi- NAWA, Afghanistan — The marked with bullets and shrapnel. dent Barack Obama express new fight between Afghan government For months, the Taliban slowly openness to UFOs. troops and the Taliban is entering expanded its influence across Af- The report, mandated as part of a more brutal phase as a reduction ghanistan after signing the with- a gargantuan pandemic relief in airstrikes against the militants drawal deal with the United package signed last year by then- by withdrawing U.S. forces has States. The halt in offensive U.S. President Donald Trump, emerg- largely shifted combat to ground operations, especially airstrikes es as what was once seen as a engagements, many on the edges and raids, allowed the group to fringe conspiracy theory becomes of densely populated urban areas mass fighters, gather supplies and more mainstream. It comes as after some recent Taliban advanc- chip away at government-held years of political divisions and es. territory. misinformation shake Americans’ To clear pockets of this district, The country’s south, specifical- faith in their government and fuel just a few hundred yards from the ly Helmand, witnessed some of doubt about established science. edge of Helmand’s provincial cap- the militants’ most striking ad- Interest in the UFO report was ital, Afghan government forces tightly packed neighborhoods, of- The area had been densely vances. By May 1, the date mark- under Gen. Sami Sadat moved ten on foot, as Afghan aircraft car- mined by the Taliban, and weeks SEE REPORT ON PAGE 3 house to house last month through ried out waves of heavy strikes. of clashes left the streets shred- SEE FIGHT ON PAGE 4 PAGE 2 • STARS AND STRIPES • Saturday, June 5, 2021 BUSINESS/WEATHER List of Chinese firms off-limits to investors expands EXCHANGE RATES Military rates South Korea (Won) 1111.73 Associated Press spokesman Wang Wenbin urged mine the security or values of the Switzerland (Franc) 0.8984 Euro costs (June 7) $1.19 Thailand (Baht) 31.18 China vehemently objected Fri- Washington to withdraw the order United States and our allies.” Dollar buys (June 7) 0.8009 Turkey (NewLira) 8.6670 British pound (June 7) $1.38 day to President Joe Biden’s ex- and “provide Chinese enterprises The revised list includes compa- Japanese yen (June 7) 107.00 (Military exchange rates are those available pansion of a list of Chinese compa- with a fair and non-discriminatory nies that Washington alleges con- South Korean won (June 7) 1090.00 to customers at military banking facilities in the Commercial rates country of issuance for Japan, South Korea, Ger nies whose shares are off-limits to business and investment environ- tribute to the surveillance of reli- many, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Bahrain(Dinar) 0.3770 For nonlocal currency exchange rates (i.e., pur U.S. investors. ment.” gious and ethnic minorities or to re- Britain (Pound) 1.4188 chasing British pounds in Germany), check with Canada (Dollar) 1.2074 your local military banking facility. Commercial Late Thursday, the White House “China will take necessary mea- pression and “serious human China(Yuan) 6.3933 rates are interbank rates provided for reference Denmark (Krone) 6.1055 issued the update to an order sures to resolutely safeguard the le- rights abuses.” Egypt (Pound) 15.6894 when buying currency. All figures are foreign signed last year by his predecessor gitimate rights and interests of Chi- Telecoms equipment maker Euro 0.8210 currencies to one dollar, except for the British Hong Kong (Dollar) 7.7574 pound, which is represented in dollarsto Donald Trump that aims to streng- nese enterprises,” he told reporters Huawei Technologies, China’s big Hungary (Forint) 284.13 pound, and the euro, which is dollarstoeuro.) Israel (Shekel) 3.2504 then controls on investments in at a regular briefing in Beijing. state-owned telecoms companies Japan (Yen) 109.52 INTEREST RATES Chinese companies that the U.S. Washington says the aim of the and China National Offshore Oil Kuwait(Dinar) 0.3007 Norway (Krone) 8.3042 Prime rate 3.25 says are linked to defense and sur- revised order is to “ensure that U.S. Corp. all are on the new list of 59 Philippines (Peso) 47.70 Interest Rates Discount rate 0.75 Poland (Zloty) 3.67 Federal funds market rate 0.09 veillance. investments are not supporting companies. The earlier list includ- Saudi Arabia (Riyal) 3.7501 3month bill 0.02 Chinese Foreign Ministry Chinese companies that under- ed 31. Singapore (Dollar) 1.3236 30year bond 2.29 WEATHER OUTLOOK SATURDAY IN THE MIDDLE EAST SATURDAY IN EUROPE SUNDAY IN THE PACIFIC Misawa 71/58 Kabul Seoul 91/57 79/63 Baghdad 108/77 Tokyo Drawsko Osan Kandahar Mildenhall/ 79/63 73/64 104/62 Pomorskie Busan Lakenheath 73/55 69/64 68/51 Iwakuni Kuwait City Bahrain 69/64 Brussels Zagan Sasebo 111/89 94/90 Ramstein 74/53 75/62 Guam 64/56 71/59 84/81 Riyadh Lajes, Azores Stuttgart 110/81 Doha Pápa 113/84 64/61 71/59 Aviano/ 79/58 Vicenza 77/58 Naples 72/62 Okinawa Morón 79/76 80/60 Sigonella Rota 84/59 The weather is provided by the Djibouti 71/59 Souda Bay American Forces Network Weather Center, 95/78 69/63 2nd Weather Squadron at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb. TODAY IN STRIPES American Roundup ...... 11 Comics/Crossword .......17 Health & Fitness ......... 14 Movies ......................... 12 Opinion ........................ 16 Sports .................... 19-24 Travel .......................... 13 Saturday, June 5, 2021 • STARS AND STRIPES • PAGE 3 MILITARY PETA blasts use of cobra blood in military drills BY CAITLIN DOORNBOS were taken and published by the Stars and Stripes U.S. Army Pacific’s public affairs WASHINGTON — An animal office on March 2, 2020, as part of rights group on Thursday a media package on the exercise. launched its third protest of the “The fact that the general public snake blood-drinking tradition as- was able to see footage of our U.S. sociated with the multinational Marines taking part in something Cobra Gold military exercise in so cruel set this apart,” PETA As- Thailand, this time taking its sociate Director Ashley Byrne cause to the front steps of the Thai said at the protest outside the em- embassy and the U.S. defense sec- bassy. retary’s home. The exercise co-hosted by the About 15 protesters from People U.S. and Thailand is the largest for the Ethical Treatment of Ani- joint military exercise in South- mals held graphic photos and east Asia and includes training in CAITLIN DOORNBOS/Stars and Stripes signs in English and Thai outside disaster response, humanitarian People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals on Thursday protested the practice of killing king cobras the embassy of Thailand denounc- assistance and jungle survival, ac- during the U.S.Thai military exercise Cobra Gold outside the Thai embassy in Washington, D.C. ing the practice of decapitating cording to the Army. king cobras during the military The blood-drinking tradition is was brought to the group’s atten- tice and protested outside the Pen- ensure we are employing best exercise. They also planned to part of the jungle-survival train- tion when the photographs were tagon. practices for the humane treat- take their protest to Defense Sec- ing, during which Thai instructors published last year, according to “Because the military has not ment of animals while accom- retary Lloyd Austin’s Great Falls, share their knowledge of life-sus- the organization. The group sent committed to [ending the prac- plishing the need to prepare and Va., home Thursday evening.