US Navy Fires Warning Shots in New Tense Encounter with Iran
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NFL DRAFT WAR ON TERRORISM MILITARY 49ers weighing US orders drawdown Marine fighter jets Fields, other QBs at Kabul Embassy as set for deployment with No. 3 pick troops prepare to leave on British carrier Page 24 Page 3 Page 4 Nigeria’s leader says he wants AFRICOM relocated to Africa ›› Page 8 stripes.com Volume 80 Edition 9 ©SS 2021 THURSDAY,APRIL 29, 2021 50¢/Free to Deployed Areas SEALs SHIFT Teams turn from counterterrorism to global threats BY LOLITA C. BALDOR Associated Press WASHINGTON — Ten years after they found and killed Osama bin Laden, U.S. Navy SEALs are undergoing a major transition to improve leadership and expand their commando capabilities to better battle threats from global powers like China and Russia. The new plan cuts the number of SEAL platoons by as much as 30% and increases their size to make the teams more lethal and able to counter sophisticated mar- itime and undersea adversaries. And there will be a new, intensive screening process for the Navy’s elite warriors, to get higher-qual- ity leaders after scandals that rocked the force and involved charges of murder, sexual assault and drug use. Rear Adm. Hugh Howard, top commander for the SEALs, laid out his plans in an exclusive inter- ANTHONY W. WALKER/U.S. Navy view with The Associated Press. Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL candidates attempt to pass the surf zone in an inflatable boat during training at Naval Special Warfare Center in Coronado, Calif., in May. SEE SHIFT ON PAGE 5 US Navy fires warning shots in new tense encounter with Iran BY JON GAMBRELL The Navy released black-and- Iran did not immediately ac- warnings via bridge-to-bridge ra- to a safe distance from the U.S. Associated Press white footage of the encounter knowledge the incident. dio and loud-hailer devices, but vessels.” DUBAI, United Arab Emirates Monday night in international wa- The Navy said the USS Firebolt the (Guard) vessels continued She called on the Guard to “op- — An American warship fired ters of the northern reaches of the fired the warning shots after three their close range maneuvers,” erate with due regard for the safe- warning shots when vessels of Persian Gulf. In it, lights can be fast-attack Guard vessels came said Cmdr. Rebecca Rebarich, a ty of all vessels as required by in- Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary seen in the distance and what ap- within 68 yards of it and the U.S. spokeswoman for the Mideast- ternational law.” Guard came too close to a patrol in pears to be a single gunshot can be Coast Guard patrol boat USCGC based 5th Fleet. “The crew of Fire- “U.S. naval forces continue to the Persian Gulf, the U.S. Navy heard, with a tracer round racing Baranoff. bolt then fired warning shots, and said Wednesday. across the top of the water. “The U.S. crews issued multiple the (Guard) vessels moved away SEE IRAN ON PAGE 5 PAGE 2 • STARS AND STRIPES • Thursday, April 29, 2021 BUSINESS/WEATHER Google’s ad sales surge, Alphabet profit doubles EXCHANGE RATES Military rates South Korea (Won) 1,114.83 Associated Press and burst out of their pandemic Ruth Porat, chief financial officer Switzerland (Franc) .9146 Euro costs (April 29) $1.18 Thailand (Baht) 31.38 SAN RAMON, Calif. — Google’s cocoons. for Google’s parent company, Al- Dollar buys (April 29) 0.8079 Turkey (New Lira) 8.2067 British pound (April 29) $1.35 digital advertising network has Google vast digital ad empire is phabet Inc. Japanese yen (April 29) 106.00 (Military exchange rates are those available shifted back into high gear, with now benefiting from that recov- Google’s sales surged 32% from South Korean won (April 29) 1,085.00 to customers at military banking facilities in the Commercial rates country of issuance for Japan, South Korea, Ger its corporate parent reporting ery, although company executives the same time last year to nearly many, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Bahrain (Dinar) .3770 For nonlocal currency exchange rates (i.e., pur profit that more than doubled af- warned in a conference call that $45 billion during the January- Britain (Pound) 1.3895 chasing British pounds in Germany), check with Canada (Dollar) 1.2389 your local military banking facility. Commercial ter an unprecedented setback another wrong turn in the pan- March period. It’s the third con- China (Yuan) 6.4839 rates are interbank rates provided for reference Denmark (Krone) 6.1594 during the early stages of the pan- demic could discourage recent secutive quarter of accelerating Egypt (Pound) 15.6804 when buying currency. All figures are foreign demic. consumer splurging that’s also ad growth for Google following an Euro .8284 currencies to one dollar, except for the British Hong Kong (Dollar) 7.7631 pound, which is represented in dollarsto The robust first-quarter adver- spurring advertisers to spend 8% decline during last year’s Hungary (Forint) 299.99 pound, and the euro, which is dollarstoeuro.) Israel (Shekel) 3.2551 tising growth announced Tuesday more. April-June period. That marked Japan (Yen) 108.90 INTEREST RATES provides the latest sign that adver- “It’s too early to say how dura- the first time Google’s quarterly Kuwait (Dinar) .3013 Norway (Krone) 8.2490 Prime rate 3.25 tisers are expecting the economy ble this consumer behavior will be ad revenue had fallen from the Philippines (Peso) 48.47 Interest Rates Discount rate 0.75 Poland (Zloty) 3.80 Federal funds market rate 0.09 to roar back to life as more people as economies recover and restric- previous year since the company Saudi Arabia (Riyal) 3.7502 3month bill 0.02 get vaccinated against COVID-19 tions on mobility are lifted,” said went public in 2004. Singapore (Dollar) 1.3261 30year bond 2.29 WEATHER OUTLOOK THURSDAY IN THE MIDDLE EAST THURSDAY IN EUROPE FRIDAY IN THE PACIFIC Misawa 50/45 Kabul Seoul 86/53 51/48 Baghdad 96/65 Drawsko Osan Tokyo Kandahar Mildenhall/ 51/48 70/54 Pomorskie Busan 94/59 Lakenheath 51/43 49/41 64/57 Iwakuni Kuwait City 65/56 Bahrain Brussels Zagan Sasebo Guam 93/74 83/79 Ramstein 62/43 66/58 51/44 56/41 84/81 Riyadh Lajes, Stuttgart 95/74 Doha Azores Pápa 59/56 58/51 99/77 Aviano/ 69/50 Vicenza 61/49 Naples 67/57 Okinawa Morón 72/69 67/51 Sigonella Rota 75/53 The weather is provided by the Djibouti 62/55 Souda Bay American Forces Network Weather Center, 82/79 68/64 2nd Weather Squadron at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb. TODAY IN STRIPES American Roundup ...... 15 Comics .........................17 Crossword ................... 17 Opinion ........................ 16 Sports .................... 18-24 Thursday, April 29, 2021 • STARS AND STRIPES • PAGE 3 WAR ON TERRORISM US orders big drawdown at Kabul Embassy BY MATTHEW LEE yond the usual curtailment of ly dependent on the U.S. military employees, and there would be essary to defend the embassy,” Associated Press staffers for security and safety for security, and staff drawdowns no reduction in services offered. he said in remarks to the Amer- WASHINGTON — The State reasons. Such orders normally had been been underway since Charge d'affaires Ross Wilson ican Enterprise Institute. Department on Tuesday ordered apply only to nonessential per- the Trump administration had said it “ensures that American di- The State Department order a significant number of its re- sonnel. announced last year that Ameri- plomacy and support for Afghan- came just two days after Gen. maining staff at the U.S. Embassy In an updated travel advisory can troops would be withdrawn istan will be sustainable, robust, Austin Miller, America’s top gen- in Kabul to leave Afghanistan as for Afghanistan, the department from Afghanistan by May 1. and effective.” eral in Afghanistan, said the U.S. the military steps up the pullout said it had ordered the departure The Biden administration ex- Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, head military had begun closing down of American troops from the of all U.S. government employees tended that deadline until Sept. of the U.S. Central Command, operations in the country and that country. “whose functions can be per- 11, the 20th anniversary of the said Tuesday the administration Afghanistan’s security forces had The State Department said it formed elsewhere.” It also said 2001 terrorist attacks, but has ac- remains committed to keeping a to be ready to take over. had instructed all personnel to American citizens should not celerated the pullout. functioning embassy in Kabul. While the official start to the depart unless their jobs require travel to Afghanistan and those The top U.S. diplomat in Kabul “It is our intention to maintain an withdrawal of Washington’s them to be physically located in there who want to depart “should said the departure order was is- embassy in Afghanistan going 2,500 to 3,500 troops and NATO’s Afghanistan. The order was not leave as soon as possible on avail- sued “due to increasing violence forward. But we’ll have a very, 7,000 allied forces is May 1, Mill- specific as to the number of peo- able commercial flights.” and threat reports," would affect very minimal military presence er said the pullout had already ple affected, but it went well be- The embassy in Kabul is heavi- only a relatively small number of there — that which is strictly nec- begun. US envoy expresses hope for Afghanistan BY KAREN DEYOUNG people who work in this space The Washington Post think that’s the direction it is head- WASHINGTON — The U.S.