MILITARY FACES WORLD SERIES Working dogs Underwood adds Lowe leads ensemble in Iraq get their to record in CMT effort as Rays pull even own blood bank Music Awards with Dodgers in Game 2 Page 4 Page 14 Back page Lewd tweets from Fort Bragg sent by administrator, not hacker » Page 7 Volume 79, No. 135 ©SS 2020 CONTINGENCY EDITION FRIDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2020 stripes.com Free to Deployed Areas ANALYSIS AFGHANISTAN NATO troops wounded in bomb blast BY J.P. LAWRENCE Stars and Stripes KABUL, Afghanistan — A bomb blast in southern Afghani- stan wounded two Romanian soldiers, NATO Resolute Support said in a statement Thursday. The soldiers were on a patrol in Kandahar province Wednesday when the improvised explosive device detonated, the statement said. The Romanian government identified the soldiers as Sgt. Adrian Ioan Czifrak and Cpl. 2nd Class Iosif Ioan Reman, who are both in stable condition at a Kan- dahar Airfield hospital. The two soldiers were traveling in a con- voy of Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles when they were injured, the statement said. Violence has raged across Af- ghanistan in recent days, threat- ening 6-week-old peace talks in Qatar between the Taliban and the government. A deadly offensive last week by Two-party problem the Taliban in Helmand province drew accusations that the mili- tant group was openly flouting a deal it signed with the U.S. in February, under which all foreign troops could leave the country by mid-2021. North Korea poised to provoke US regardless of election outcome The U.S. launched airstrikes to defend Afghan forces during BY KIM GAMEL President Testing a new administration those attacks, and the head of Stars and Stripes Donald Trump American and NATO forces in speaks with The North’s next step will likely be to test-fire a long- Afghanistan, Gen. Scott Miller, SEOUL, South Korea — With the U.S. election North Korean range missile, but probably not until after the results called on the Taliban “to imme- less than two weeks away, it appears clear that leader Kim are in from the Nov. 3 vote, experts said. diately stop their offensive ac- North Korea’s leader would like to continue his Jong Un on “The North Koreans are perhaps more inclined to tion in Helmand province and bromance with President Donald Trump. the North teach a lesson and to housebreak a new Biden admin- reduce their violence around the Kim Jong Un has heaped praise on Trump in Korean side istration than they are to throw a monkey wrench into country.” of the Joint But the United Nations said more than two dozen letters even as nuclear talks what’s already a kind of wild and crazy U.S. election,” Security Area Daniel Russel, former assistant secretary of state for Wednesday that the offensive in between the two countries faltered. Meanwhile, on June 30, the region, said during a virtual panel this month. Helmand was continuing, and the North has called Democratic rival Joe Biden a 2019. Kim has Despite the weapons advances, Trump has consis- tens of thousands of Afghans had “rabid dog” who is “greedy for power.” praised Trump, tently touted North Korea as a foreign policy success, been displaced by the fighting. No matter who wins, the new U.S. administra- but that’s likely saying in 2018 that he and Kim “fell in love” after Miller repeated his call for a tion will face a growing nuclear threat from the not enough to months of high-profile summits and diplomatic efforts reduction in violence in an inter- North, which recently rolled out a huge new in- keep the North tamped down hostilities that pushed the divided penin- view with the BBC on Wednes- tercontinental ballistic missile that may be able to at bay. sula to the brink of a new war in 2017. day during a visit to the southern province. target the United States. KCNA SEE NORTH ON PAGE 7 SEE BLAST ON PAGE 4 PAGE 2 •STARS AND STRIPES• Friday, October 23, 2020 BUSINESS/WEATHER EXCHANGE RATES Short-video app Quibi ending months after launch Military rates Switzerland (Franc)............................0.9072 Euro costs (Oct. 23) ..............................$1.16 Thailand (Baht) ..................................... 31.31 Dollar buys (Oct. 23).........................€0.8231 Turkey (Lira) .........................................7.9287 British pound (Oct. 23) ........................$1.28 (Military exchange rates are those Associated Press services started to challenge Net- reach viewers, despite a 90-day Japanese yen (Oct. 23) ......................103.00 available to customers at military banking South Korean won (Oct. 23) ..........1,105.00 flix over the past few years, most free trial, as short videos abound Commercial rates facilities in the country of issuance Short-video app Quibi said it for Japan, South Korea, Germany, the of which were part of much big- on the internet and the coronavi- Bahrain (Dinar) ....................................0.3770 Netherlands and the United Kingdom. For is shutting down just six months British pound .....................................$1.3103 ger tech and entertainment com- rus pandemic kept many people nonlocal currency exchange rates (i.e., after its early April launch, hav- Canada (Dollar) ...................................1.3155 purchasing British pounds in Germany), panies, like Apple and Disney. at home. Part of the appeal of China (Yuan) ........................................6.6828 ing struggled to find customers. check with your local military banking Quibi, short for “quick bites,” the service, which started at $5 Denmark (Krone) ................................6.2931 The company said Wednesday Egypt (Pound) ....................................15.7291 facility. Commercial rates are interbank that it would wind down its opera- raised $1.75 billion from inves- a month, was supposed to be that Euro ........................................$1.1823/0.8458 rates provided for reference when buying tors including Hollywood players you could watch short videos Hong Kong (Dollar) .............................7.7504 currency. All figures are foreign currencies tions and plans to sell its assets. to one dollar, except for the British pound, Disney, NBCUniversal and Via- while out, without access to a TV. Hungary (Forint) .................................308.45 “Quibi is not succeeding,” its top Israel (Shekel) .....................................3.3821 which is represented in dollars-to-pound, executives bluntly declared in a com and its leadership were big Being stuck at home made TV Japan (Yen) ...........................................104.72 and the euro, which is dollars-to-euro.) letter posted online. names: entertainment industry more desirable than watching on Kuwait (Dinar) .....................................0.3057 INTEREST RATES Norway (Krone) ...................................9.2348 The video platform — designed heavyweight Jeffrey Katzenberg a phone, and Quibi only later and Philippines (Peso).................................48.63 Prime rate ................................................3.25 for people who were out and about and former Hewlett-Packard slowly rolled out TV options. Kat- Poland (Zloty) ..........................................3.88 Discount rate .......................................... 0.75 Saudi Arabia (Riyal) ...........................3.7506 Federal funds market rate ...................0.08 to watch on their phones — was CEO Meg Whitman. zenberg blamed the pandemic for Singapore (Dollar) ..............................1.3569 3-month bill ............................................. 0.10 one of a slew of new streaming But the service struggled to Quibi’s woes. South Korea (Won) ..........................1,135.72 30-year bond ...........................................1.62 WEATHER OUTLOOK FRIDAY IN THE MIDDLE EAST FRIDAY IN EUROPE SATURDAY IN THE PACIFIC Misawa 57/48 Kabul 79/47 Seoul 57/39 Baghdad 96/64 Kandahar 74/45 Osan Tokyo Mildenhall/ Drawsko 58/42 66/54 Lakenheath Pomorskie Busan 57/45 60/49 62/46 Iwakuni 66/48 Kuwait Bahrain Zagan Sasebo City 92/77 Brussels 62/55 Guam 98/70 63/50 Ramstein 66/55 85/78 Lajes, 59/50 Riyadh Doha Azores Stuttgart Pápa 91/57 95/78 70/64 59/52 66/45 Aviano/ Vicenza 63/53 Naples 71/52 Okinawa Morón 73/70 68/54 Sigonella Rota 78/53 The weather is provided by the Djibouti Souda Bay American Forces Network Weather Center, 93/81 68/59 72/61 2nd Weather Squadron at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb. T O D A Y IN STRIPES American Roundup ..13 Comics ................. 15 Crossword ............ 15 Faces ................... 14 Opinion ............ 16-17 Sports ............. 18-24 Friday, October 23, 2020 •STARS AND STRIPES• PAGE 3 MILITARY Airman’s sexual abuse post gets high-rank notice BY SETH ROBSON of all Airmen, and her interest in Stars and Stripes Airman 1st Class Figueroa’s situ- ation is no exception,” a Pacific TOKYO — The chief master Air Forces spokesperson, Sgt. sergeant of the Air Force has Renae Rittman, wrote Thursday reached out to a female airman in an email to Stars and Stripes. in Japan who said on Instagram Figueroa told Stars and Stripes that she experienced sexual ha- that she wanted to talk Oct. 16 via rassment and retaliation. an Instagram message but did Airman 1st Class Sarah not respond to subsequent emails Figueroa posted her claims Oct. and messages. 14 along with a photograph of In follow-up Instagram posts, herself in uniform that tagged Figueroa said she wasn’t trying President Donald Trump, Sen. ALEXANDER WILLIAMS/U.S. Navy to defame the Air Force or the Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and numer- military. Capt. Brett Crozier addresses his USS