MILITARY VIRUS OUTBREAK MUSIC 18 midshipmen COVID-19 antibody Grammy-winning leave academy for drug demand soars Los Lobos back cheating on exam in hard-hit states with covers album Page 3 Page 7 Page 12 With Cobb, Green Bay has crowded pack at wide receiver ›› NFL, Page 24 stripes.com Volume 80 Edition 90B ©SS 2021 CONTINGENCY EDITION SUNDAY,AUGUST 22, 2021 Free to Deployed Areas First stirrings of resistance to Taliban’s rule emerge BY EZZATULLAH MEHRDAD AND SUDARSAN RAGHAVAN The Washington Post KABUL — Groups of armed Af- ghans on Friday attacked the Tali- ban, driving Afghanistan’s new rulers out of three northern dis- tricts, the first assault against the Islamist militants since they swept into Kabul and seized con- trol of the government. Local anti-Taliban command- ers claimed in interviews “As long they had killed as many as 30 as we of the group’s fighters and are alive, captured 20 in we do not the takeover of the districts in accept the Baghlan prov- Taliban’s ince, just over 100 miles rule.” north of the capital. For- Sediqullah Shuja mer Afghan Ex-Afghan soldier service mem- bers were joined in the fight, they said, by local civilians. Images shared online showed celebra- tions as the red, green and black Afghan national flag — rather than the white flag of the Taliban — was raised over government Waiting for a reprieve buildings. “We have ignited something that is historic in Afghanistan,” Potential Islamic State threats force changes to US evacuations at Kabul airport said Sediqullah Shuja, 28, a for- BY AHMAD SEIR, RAHIM FAIEZ, complication to the already chaotic efforts to on condition of anonymity to discuss military mer Afghan soldier who took part KATHY GANNON AND LOLITA BALDOR get people out of the country after its swift fall operations. in Friday’s uprising. “Taliban Associated Press to the Taliban. The changes come as the U.S. Embassy is- fighters had armored vehicles, but KABUL, Afghanistan — Potential Islamic The official said that small groups of Amer- sued a new security warning Saturday telling people threw stones at Taliban State threats against Americans in Afghanis- icans and possibly other civilians will be given citizens not to travel to the Kabul airport with- fighters and drove them out.” tan are forcing the U.S. military to develop new specific instructions on what to do, including out individual instruction from a U.S. govern- “As long as we are alive,” he ways to get evacuees to the airport in Kabul, a movement to transit points where they can be said, “we do not accept the Tali- senior U.S. official said Saturday, adding a new gathered up by the military. The official spoke SEE AWAIT ON PAGE 6 ban’s rule.” Friday’s attack is the latest sign U.S. Air Force security forces maintain a security cordon outside a U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III aircraft in support of Operation Allies of defiance toward the Taliban, Refuge at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Friday. TAYLOR CRUL/AP SEE EMERGE ON PAGE 6 PAGE 2 • STARS AND STRIPES • Sunday, August 22, 2021 BUSINESS/WEATHER Stocks end higher, but still post weekly losses EXCHANGE RATES Military rates South Korea (Won) 1181.33 Associated Press tech sector stocks. Microsoft rose timent. Switzerland (Franc) 0.9174 Euro costs (Aug. 23) $1.14 Thailand (Baht) 33.35 Technology companies led 2.6% and chipmaker Nvidia Escalating coronavirus infec- Dollar buys (Aug. 23) 0.8348 Turkey (NewLira) 8.5070 British pound (Aug. 23) $1.33 stocks broadly higher on Wall gained 5.1% for the biggest gain in tions across the U.S. and around Japanese yen (Aug. 23) 107.00 (Military exchange rates are those available Street Friday, though the gains the index. the globe due to the highly conta- South Korean won (Aug. 23) 1147.00 to customers at military banking facilities in the Commercial rates country of issuance for Japan, South Korea, Ger­ were not enough to erase the mar- A mix of companies that rely on gious delta variant have also given many, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Bahrain(Dinar) 0.3770 For nonlocal currency exchange rates (i.e., pur­ ket's losses from earlier in the consumer spending and commu- traders reason to pause with the Britain (Pound) 1.3628 chasing British pounds in Germany), check with Canada (Dollar) 1.2860 your local military banking facility. Commercial week. nications stocks also made up a big market near all-time highs. China (Yuan) 6.5002 rates are interbank rates provided for reference Denmark (Krone) 6.3682 The S&P 500 index rose 0.8%, share of the rally. Energy stocks The S&P 500 rose 35.87 points to Egypt (Pound) 15.7004 when buying currency. All figures are foreign but still posted a weekly loss of also rose, despite another decline 4,441.67. The Dow Jones Industri- Euro 0.8564 currencies to one dollar, except for the British Hong Kong (Dollar) 7.7903 pound, which is represented in dollars­to­ 0.6% after two weeks of gains. in the price of U.S. crude oil. Trea- al Average added 225.96 points, or Hungary (Forint) 299.85 pound, and the euro, which is dollars­to­euro.) Israel (Shekel) 3.2409 Even so, the benchmark index is sury yields mostly rose. 0.7%, to 35,120.08. The Nasdaq Japan (Yen) 109.84 INTEREST RATES less than 1% from the all-time high Investors turned cautious this composite picked up 172.87 Kuwait(Dinar) 0.3011 Norway (Krone) 9.0455 Prime rate 3.25 it set Monday. week following some disappoint- points, or 1.2%, to 14,714.66. The Philippines (Peso) 50.31 Interest Rates Discount rate 0.75 Poland (Zloty) 3.93 Federal funds market rate 0.09 More than 80% of S&P 500 com- ing economic reports on retail Dow and Nasdaq also posted Saudi Arabia (Riyal) 3.7501 3­month bill 0.06 panies notched gains, including sales, housing and consumer sen- weekly losses. Singapore (Dollar) 1.3625 30­year bond 1.88 WEATHER OUTLOOK SUNDAY IN THE MIDDLE EAST SUNDAY IN EUROPE MONDAY IN THE PACIFIC Misawa 71/68 Kabul Seoul 75/70 Baghdad 110/78 Tokyo Drawsko Osan Kandahar 77/72 82/75 Mildenhall/ Pomorskie Busan Lakenheath 68/55 79/76 69/59 Iwakuni Kuwait City Bahrain 80/77 Brussels Zagan Sasebo 106/88 96/92 Ramstein 73/59 82/78 Guam 67/60 68/56 85/82 Riyadh Lajes, 107/78 Doha Azores Stuttgart 103/86 76/73 67/64 Pápa Aviano/ 86/62 Vicenza 84/64 Naples 88/71 Okinawa Morón 86/83 92/77 Sigonella Rota 90/71 The weather is provided by the Djibouti 83/70 Souda Bay American Forces Network Weather Center, 100/87 80/76 2nd Weather Squadron at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb. TODAY IN STRIPES American Roundup ...... 11 Books .......................... 14 Comics .........................15 Crossword ................... 15 Music ..................... 12-13 Opinion ........................ 17 Sports .................... 19-24 Sunday, August 22, 2021 • STARS AND STRIPES • PAGE 3 MILITARY 18 students leave US Naval Academy for violating code BY LAUREN LUMPKIN school’s honor code, and were re- AND DANIELLE tained in the brigade with sanc- DOUGLAS-GABRIEL tions and entered into a five- The Washington Post month remediation program, ac- Eighteen midshipmen at the cording to officials. Four other U.S. Navy U.S. Naval Academy in Annapo- students were found not in viola- The Ticonderoga­class guided­missile cruiser USS Anzio departs Norfolk Naval Station in March 2015. To lis, Md., have been expelled or re- tion and one is awaiting adjudica- pay for the ships and unmanned vessels the Navy hopes to build over the next few years, it wants to signed following an investigation tion by the Brigade Honor Board. decommission seven cruisers. One of them is the Anzio. into cheating on a physics exam As the investigation proceeded, in December 2020, officials said some students chose to submit re- Friday. signations while others were ex- Battle brewing over future of Navy More than 650 midshipmen pelled. took the final exam that month for The entire brigade of midship- General Physics I, which was ad- men conducted a day-long confer- cruisers, including 5 in Norfolk ministered through an online ence in April that included “in- platform. The students were giv- tensive training and discussions BY DAVE RESS billion to retain all seven in service cerns about cruiser decommis- en written and verbal instructions on honor,” officials said, adding The Daily Press over the next two years. sioning. that said they could not use out- “there will be a renewed focus on NORFOLK, Va. — To pay for The price tag to modernize just China’s increasingly aggressive side websites or sources to com- character and professional devel- the ships and unmanned vessels USS Anzio and Hue City is about posture in the western Pacific is a plete the test, according to a state- opment throughout this academic the Navy hopes to build over the $1.5 billion, he said. big worry, said Wittman, who is ment from the academy. year.” next few years, it wants to decom- Earlier this year, repairs to Vel- the most senior Republican on the Vice Adm. Sean Buck, the acad- Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberg- mission seven cruisers, a move the la Gulf kept it from joining the USS sea-powers subcommittee. U.S. emy’s superintendent, initiated er, D-Md., who chairs the Naval two Virginia representatives on Dwight D. Eisenhower for two and Navy cruisers could be a big help an investigation after learning Academy’s board of visitors, is- the House Armed Services Com- a half months, he said.