Buildup Before Drawdown
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PACIFIC WAR FACES ‘Central Park’ Afghan president Singer-actress Gomez in Seoul moves releasing 400 slices, dices and keeps closer to reality Taliban prisoners it real on new show Page 3 Page 4 Page 14 Surprising Suns are last unbeaten team in Disney bubble » NBA, Back page stripes.com Volume 79, No. 81 ©SS 2020 Monday, August 10, 2020 50¢/Free to Deployed Areas VIRUS OUTBREAK New Army guidelines for soldier, family travel BY KIM GAMEL Stars and Stripes SEOUL, South Korea — The Army will require soldiers and family members to test negative for the coronavirus before leav- ing the United States and to self- quarantine for two weeks before the journey, officials said Friday. The new guidelines were to take effect on Aug. 21 amid concerns that Inside: troops and their families US leads may be ex- world with posed to the virus or con- 5 million tagious them- virus cases, selves while in transit Page 7 after the Pen- tagon lifted a travel ban for many locations. Personnel must take the test on the 11th day of the two-week pre- travel restriction of movement, less than 72 hours prior to depar- ture from the United States, the Army said. The new requirements, which apply to personnel traveling on Buildup before drawdown military and commercial flights, may mean that soldiers have to undergo two periods of quaran- tine if one is also required upon arrival, a spokeswoman told Stars Pentagon has $349 million in construction projects already underway in Germany and Stripes. “The Army seeks to reduce risk BY JOHN VANDIVER 80 projects underway in Germany at a cost of COVID-19 transmission dur- Stars and Stripes UNDER DEVELOPMENT of $349 million for the current fiscal year. ing official travel from the U.S. to But any number of those projects could international destinations across STUTTGART, Germany — Trucks are Next year, the Army Corps of Engineers said eventually prove to be a multimillion-dol- now pouring concrete for a new $50 million the globe, acknowledging that ad- it will break ground on 15 projects across lar waste if the Pentagon puts into action ditional risk mitigation measures school at Stuttgart’s Patch Barracks, but its plan to pull nearly 12,000 troops in the when the doors open in two years there may Germany, ranging from family housing and may be required upon arrival at clinics to a new elementary school. Regarding country. host nation destinations,” Col. not be any students to attend. The big questions are how long it will take Stuttgart, the work at Patch Elementary Catherine Wilkinson said in an In Vilseck, a new high school field house for the myriad units to leave, and depend- is slated to open next year, even as the U.S. will proceed even though the base appears email. ing on who wins the presidential election in The order doesn’t specify the 2nd Cavalry Regiment prepares to leave. destined for closure under the reduction plan. type of test, but the Army’s cur- The Army Corps of Engineers says it has SEE PROJECTS ON PAGE 4 rently approved test is the PCR The sign outside the construction site Patch Barracks in Germany says “U.S. dollar financed project,’’ but the $50 million investment test, she added. Polymerase chain for a new elementary school could go to waste if the U.S. military relocates from Stuttgart as planned in the coming years. reaction tests analyze the genetic composition of the virus from a John Vandiver/Stars and Stripes SEE TRAVEL ON PAGE 5 PAGE 2 F3HIJKLM •STARS AND STRIPES• Monday, August 10, 2020 BUSINESS/WEATHER EXCHANGE RATES Military rates Switzerland (Franc)............................0.9133 Saudi Aramco half-year profits plunge 50% Euro costs (Aug. 10) ............................. $1.16 Thailand (Baht) ..................................... 31.21 Dollar buys (Aug. 10) ........................€0.8232 Turkey (Lira) .........................................7.2839 British pound (Aug. 10)........................ $1.28 (Military exchange rates are those BY AYA BATRAWY lion for the same time period. ment spending. Japanese yen (Aug. 10) .....................103.00 available to customers at military banking South Korean won (Aug. 10) .........1,155.00 facilities in the country of issuance The results were announced as The price of Brent crude hov- Commercial rates Associated Press for Japan, South Korea, Germany, the Bahrain (Dinar) ....................................0.3770 Aramco’s second quarter earn- ers just under $45 a barrel, sig- Netherlands and the United Kingdom. For British pound .....................................$1.3051 DUBAI, United Arab Emirates nonlocal currency exchange rates (i.e., ings dipped to $6.6 billion com- nificantly less than before the Canada (Dollar) ...................................1.3386 purchasing British pounds in Germany), — Saudi Aramco’s net income China (Yuan) ........................................6.9678 pared to $24.7 billion during the pandemic but up from a low of check with your local military banking Denmark (Krone) ................................6.3210 plunged by 50% in the first half facility. Commercial rates are interbank same time last year, reflecting a around $21 a barrel in April. Egypt (Pound) ....................................15.9598 of the year, according to figures staggering 73% drop. Aramco CEO Amin Nasser Euro ........................................$1.1782/0.8488 rates provided for reference when buying published Sunday, offering a re- The majority state-owned com- acknowledged that the compa- Hong Kong (Dollar) .............................7.7506 currency. All figures are foreign currencies Hungary (Forint) .................................294.03 to one dollar, except for the British pound, vealing glimpse into the impact pany’s financial health is crucial ny’s finances were impacted by Israel (Shekel) ..................................... 3.4110 which is represented in dollars-to-pound, of the coronavirus pandemic to Saudi Arabia’s stability. De- “strong headwinds from reduced Japan (Yen) ...........................................105.93 and the euro, which is dollars-to-euro.) on one of the world’s biggest oil spite massive efforts by Saudi demand and lower oil prices” Kuwait (Dinar) .....................................0.3057 INTEREST RATES Norway (Krone) ...................................9.0528 producers. Crown Prince Mohammed bin sparked by the pandemic, which Philippines (Peso)................................. 49.10 Prime rate ................................................3.25 Profits for the first six months Salman to diversify the economy, halted flights around the world Poland (Zloty) ..........................................3.75 Discount rate ..........................................0.25 Saudi Arabia (Riyal) ...........................3.7500 Federal funds market rate ...................0.09 of the year plunged to $23.2 bil- Saudi Arabia still depends heav- and plunged economies into re- Singapore (Dollar) ..............................1.3729 3-month bill .............................................0.09 lion, half of last year’s $46.9 bil- ily on oil exports to fuel govern- cession, including Saudi Arabia’s. South Korea (Won) ..........................1,189.63 30-year bond ...........................................1.23 WEATHER OUTLOOK MONDAY IN THE MIDDLE EAST MONDAY IN EUROPE TUESDAY IN THE PACIFIC Misawa 93/75 Kabul 98/69 Seoul 82/74 Baghdad 107/80 Kandahar Osan 105/73 Tokyo Mildenhall/ Drawsko 81/75 100/78 Lakenheath Pomorskie Busan 92/65 86/62 84/75 Iwakuni 90/79 Kuwait Bahrain Zagan Sasebo City 105/94 Brussels 86/66 Guam 114/92 94/68 Ramstein 90/82 88/81 Lajes, 95/64 Riyadh Doha Azores Stuttgart Pápa 109/83 111/93 76/67 92/67 90/66 Aviano/ Vicenza 90/71 Naples 91/73 Okinawa Morón 91/84 95/69 Sigonella Rota 91/72 The weather is provided by the Djibouti Souda Bay American Forces Network Weather Center, 99/88 82/71 86/72 2nd Weather Squadron at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb. T O D A Y IN STRIPES American Roundup ..... 11 Classified .................. 13 Comics ...................... 15 Crossword ................. 15 Faces ........................ 14 Opinion .................16-17 Sports .................. 18-24 Monday, August 10, 2020 •STARS AND STRIPES• F3HIJKLM PAGE 3 PACIFIC Seoul’s ‘Central Park’ moves closer to reality BY KIM GAMEL the base for a national police AND YOO KYONG CHANG headquarters already has been Stars and Stripes revised. The headquarters will be built in a different location, SEOUL, South Korea — It expanding the area for the envi- doesn’t look much like a park sioned park to about 740 acres, yet. The playgrounds are roped the ministry said last month. off and the main attractions are A joint government-civilian brick townhouses that not long panel also has decided to incor- ago were home to American of- porate into the park the existing ficers and their families. War Memorial museum, which But South Korea has gained sits on the edge of the base. control of a sliver of land on the “The government will come up southeastern tip of the Army’s with various ways for the people Yongsan Garrison, nearly two to participate in transforming the decades after the allies set in mo- Yongsan base into the country’s tion a plan to relocate the bulk of first national park that reflects American troops south of Seoul our hope for peace and the fu- and return the property to the ture,” Land Minister Kim Hyun- government. mee said in a press release. The 12-acre area, formerly The government took own- known as Black Hawk Village, ership of Black Hawk Village, opened to the public on Aug. 1, a which consists