REVAMP Changes in System May Endure After Pandemic

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REVAMP Changes in System May Endure After Pandemic FACES MILITARY MLB Country singers face Senators look to Group of players backlash for concerts block troop cuts to sit out season due during pandemic in Germany to health concerns Page 15 Page 3 Back page Study: Use of military contractors shrouds true costs of war » Page 4 stripes.com Volume 79, No. 53 ©SS 2020 WEDNESDAY, JULY 1, 2020 50¢/Free to Deployed Areas Sources: White House aware of bounties in 2019 BY JAMES LAPORTA The assessment was included in at least White House has said Trump wasn’t — and claiming ignorance of Russia’s provoca- Associated Press one of President Donald Trump’s written still hasn’t been — briefed on the intelli- tions to justify his administration’s lack of daily intelligence briefings at the time, gence assessments because they haven’t response. Top officials in the White House were according to the officials. Then-national been fully verified. However, it’s rare for “He can disown everything if nobody aware in early 2019 of classified intelli- security adviser John Bolton also told col- intelligence to be confirmed without a ever told him about it,” Bolton said. gence indicating Russia was secretly offer- leagues at the time that he briefed Trump shadow of a doubt before it is presented to The revelations cast new doubt on the ing bounties to the Taliban for the deaths on the intelligence assessment in March top officials. White House’s efforts to distance Trump of Americans, a full year earlier than has 2019. Bolton declined to comment Monday from the Russian intelligence assessments. been previously reported, according to The White House didn’t respond to ques- when asked by the AP if he’d briefed The AP reported Sunday that concerns U.S. officials with direct knowledge of the tions about Trump or other officials’ aware- Trump about the matter in 2019. On Sun- intelligence. ness of Russia’s provocations in 2019. The day, he suggested to NBC that Trump was SEE BOUNTIES ON PAGE 5 Recruiting REVAMP Changes in system may endure after pandemic BY LOLITA C. BALDOR Associated Press WASHINGTON ith his Army recruiting of- fice shuttered due to the coronavirus, Staff Sgt. An- W thony Holt has had to be creative to meet his enlistment goals. Using social media is one way. Signing up the grocery delivery guy is another. Holt asked the man how he ended up with the virtual shopping job. It turned out, he wanted to be a boat operator, but a job with an Alaskan cruise company fell through because of the pandemic. The Army also has maritime jobs, Holt told him. He found an open train- ing slot for an Army watercraft opera- tor. The delivery guy enlisted. “I talk to every single person that I meet no matter what, because I have no idea what their life story is,” said Holt, SEE RECRUITING ON PAGE 8 A drill sergeant watches over trainees as they stand in formation in May on Fort Sill in Oklahoma. DUSTIN D. BIVEN/U.S. Army PAGE 2 F3HIJKLM •STARS AND STRIPES• Wednesday, July 1, 2020 BUSINESS/WEATHER EXCHANGE RATES Billions in aid for small businesses go unclaimed Military rates Switzerland (Franc)............................0.9497 Euro costs (July 1) ................................ $1.09 Thailand (Baht) .....................................30.90 Dollar buys (July 1) ...........................€0.8690 Turkey (Lira) .........................................6.8544 British pound (July 1) ...........................$1.20 (Military exchange rates are those BY JOYCE M. ROSENBERG created obstacles that stopped loans worth nearly $518 billion. Japanese yen (July 1) .........................104.00 available to customers at military banking South Korean won (July 1) .............1,165.00 Associated Press countless small businesses from Small businesses that also in- Commercial rates facilities in the country of issuance for Japan, South Korea, Germany, the applying. For those that did seek cluded medical offices, dry clean- Bahrain (Dinar) ....................................0.3776 Netherlands and the United Kingdom. For British pound .....................................$1.2302 NEW YORK — Billions of dol- loans, the ever-changing applica- ers and manufacturers obtained nonlocal currency exchange rates (i.e., Canada (Dollar) ...................................1.3672 lars offered by Congress as a purchasing British pounds in Germany), tion process proved to be an exer- money that ultimately saved jobs China (Yuan) ........................................ 7.0731 check with your local military banking lifeline to small businesses strug- Denmark (Krone) ................................6.6492 cise in futility. and eased the unemployment rate facility. Commercial rates are interbank gling to survive the pandemic are Egypt (Pound) ....................................16.1310 The program’s shortcomings from April’s staggering 14.7% to Euro ........................................ $1.1207/0.8923 rates provided for reference when buying about to be left on the table when also made it more difficult for May’s still-excruciating 13.3%. Hong Kong (Dollar) .............................7.7503 currency. All figures are foreign currencies to one dollar, except for the British pound, a key government program stops minority businesses to get loans, But more than $140 billion Hungary (Forint) ................................. 317.06 Israel (Shekel) .....................................3.4706 which is represented in dollars-to-pound, accepting applications for loans. according to a report from the in loan money remained un- Japan (Yen) ........................................... 107.69 and the euro, which is dollars-to-euro.) Business owners and advocacy Center for Responsible Lending, claimed out of $659 billion allo- Kuwait (Dinar) .....................................0.3078 INTEREST RATES Norway (Krone) ...................................9.7074 groups have comp lained that the a research group. cated by Congress. It will be up Philippines (Peso).................................49.80 Prime rate ................................................3.25 money in the Paycheck Protec- As of late Friday, the Small to Congress to decide what to do Poland (Zloty) ..........................................3.97 Discount rate ..........................................0.25 Saudi Arabia (Riyal) ...........................3.7507 Federal funds market rate ...................0.08 tion Program was not fully put Business Administration had with any leftover funds, an SBA Singapore (Dollar) ..............................1.3962 3-month bill ............................................. 0.14 to work because the program approved more than 4.7 million spokeswoman said. South Korea (Won) ......................... 1,200.27 30-year bond ...........................................1.39 WEATHER OUTLOOK WEDNESDAY IN THE MIDDLE EAST WEDNESDAY IN EUROPE THURSDAY IN THE PACIFIC Misawa 66/63 Kabul 86/62 Seoul 78/61 Baghdad 106/78 Kandahar 104/82 Osan Tokyo Mildenhall/ Drawsko 78/61 86/71 Lakenheath Pomorskie Busan 66/57 66/58 74/65 Iwakuni 73/68 Kuwait Bahrain Zagan Sasebo City 90/86 Brussels 76/59 Guam 106/87 64/61 Ramstein 76/69 83/80 Lajes, 77/61 Riyadh Doha Azores Stuttgart Pápa 109/81 98/78 65/62 80/57 84/62 Aviano/ Vicenza 81/67 Naples 78/65 Okinawa Morón 82/79 76/68 Sigonella Rota 84/70 The weather is provided by the Djibouti Souda Bay American Forces Network Weather Center, 105/87 53/49 85/58 2nd Weather Squadron at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb. T O D A Y IN STRIPES American Roundup ..... 14 Classified .................. 13 Comics ...................... 18 Crossword ................. 18 Faces ........................ 15 Opinion .................16-17 Sports .................. 20-24 Wednesday, July 1, 2020 •STARS AND STRIPES• F3HIJKLM PAGE 3 MILITARY Senators look to block US troop cuts in Germany BY JOHN VANDIVER Stars and Stripes ‘ The withdrawal of STUTTGART, Germany — A U.S. troops from bipartisan group of U.S. senators has introduced an amendment Germany would be to next year’s national defense a gift to Russia, bill that would prevent President SAMUEL HARDGROVE/U.S. Navy Donald Trump from withdraw- and that’s the last A sailor stands lookout on the flight deck of the guided-missile destroyer USS Barry as it traverses the ing large numbers of troops from thing we should be Taiwan Strait on April 23 . The Senate version of a U.S. defense spending bill calls for expanded drills Germany. between the U.S. and Taiwan. “The withdrawal of U.S. troops doing. from Germany would be a gift to ’ Russia, and that’s the last thing Sen. Mitt Romney R-Utah we should be doing,” Sen. Mitt Defense spending bill paves way Romney, R-Utah, said in a state- ment issued Monday, when the legislation was introduced. active-duty troops in Germany. “In addition to undermining for expanded US, Taiwan drills Defense Secretary Mark Esper our NATO alliance, a withdrawal would be required to submit a BY WYATT OLSON would present serious logistical than participants. report to Congress that certifies challenges and prevent our mili- Stars and Stripes “Due to the modified at-sea-only construct of how a reduction would serve U.S. RIMPAC 2020, this iteration of the exercise will not tary from performing routine … national security interests while Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs is touting feature an observer nation program,” U.S. Pacific readiness exercises,” he said. not undermining NATO, security language in a proposed version of the U.S. defense Fleet, which oversees invitations to the exercise, Members of both parties have in Europe and the military’s abil- spending bill for 2021 calling
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