NFL: League working on more MUSIC protective masks Back page To release or not to release? That is the question for artists GAMES: Streets of Rage 4 with new albums but no tour like comfort food Page 22 dates to support them HEALTH: Battling those Page 32 housebound pounds Page 36 stripes.com Volume 79, No. 25 ©SS 2020 FRIDAY, MAY 22, 2020 $1.00 VIRUS OUTBREAK Back in business Roosevelt back at sea after 2 months battling COVID-19 BY CAITLIN DOORNBOS Stars and Stripes The aircraft carrier YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan — The aircraft carrier USS USS Theodore Roosevelt Another 2.4 million apply for US jobless aid; Theodore Roosevelt has returned to sea after spending nearly departs Apra Harbor at two months sidelined at Guam to battle a coronavirus outbreak Naval Base Guam on total rises to nearly 39 million since virus hit on board, the Navy announced Thursday. Thursday following an The carrier left Naval Base Guam and entered the Philippine extended visit amid the BY CHRISTOPHER RUGABER shrink their workforces, the Labor Sea on Thursday to conduct carrier qualification flights for Car- COVID-19 pandemic. Associated Press Department said Thursday. rier Air Wing 11, a statement said. The ship went out to sea Another 2.2 million people sought “It feels great to be back at sea,” Rear Adm. Stu Baker, com- for training after nearly WASHINGTON — More than 2.4 aid under a new federal program million people applied for U.S. un- mander of Carrier Strike Group 9, said in the statement. “Getting two months sidelined at for self-employed, contractor and employment benefits last week in Theodore Roosevelt and Carrier Air Wing 11 one step closer to the pier with a coronavirus gig workers, who are now eligible outbreak onboard. the latest wave of layoffs from the returning to their mission in the Indo-Pacific is a great achieve- for jobless aid for the first time, up ment for the crew.” viral outbreak that triggered wide- from 850,000 in the previous week. JORDAN E. GILBERT, spread business shutdowns two SEE BACK ON PAGE 6 U.S. MARINE CORPS/AP months ago and sent the economy These figures aren’t adjusted for into a deep recession. seasonal variations, so the govern- Online: Get the latest Coronavirus restrictions are eased for Roughly 38.6 million people ment doesn’t include them in the on the virus outbreak personnel in Germany, Benelux countries have now filed for jobless aid since overall number of applications. the coronavirus forced millions of stripes.com/coronavirus Page 9 businesses to close their doors and SEE JOBLESS ON PAGE 9 PAGE 2 F3HIJKLM •STARS AND STRIPES• Friday, May 22, 2020 BUSINESS/WEATHER EUROPE GAS PRICES EXCHANGE RATES Country Super E10 Super unleaded Super plus Diesel Military rates Switzerland (Franc)............................0.9679 Germany $2.141 $2.549 $2.816 $2.649 Azores -- -- 3.132 -- Euro costs (May 22).............................. $1.07 Thailand (Baht) ..................................... 31.82 Change in price +2.7 cents +2.9 cents +3.6 cents -0.8 cents Change in price -- -- No change -- Dollar buys (May 22) ........................€0.8891 Turkey (Lira) .........................................6.8006 British pound (May 22) ........................$1.20 Netherlands -- $3.155 $3.361 $3.320 Belgium -- $2.834 $2.190 $2.252 (Military exchange rates are those Japanese yen (May 22) ......................105.00 Change in price -- +8.8 cents +8.9 cents -1.3 cents Change in price -- No change No change No change available to customers at military banking South Korean won (May 22) .........1,200.00 facilities in the country of issuance U.K. -- $2.459 $2.726 $2.559 Turkey -- -- $2.617 $2.450* Commercial rates for Japan, South Korea, Germany, the Change in price -- +2.9 cents +3.4 cents -0.8 cents Change in price -- -- +3.4 cents -0.8 cents Bahrain (Dinar) ....................................0.3776 Netherlands and the United Kingdom. For British pound .....................................$1.2237 nonlocal currency exchange rates (i.e., Canada (Dollar) ...................................1.3909 purchasing British pounds in Germany), China (Yuan) ........................................ 7.1072 check with your local military banking PACIFIC GAS PRICES Denmark (Krone) ................................6.7875 facility. Commercial rates are interbank Egypt (Pound) ....................................15.8593 rates provided for reference when buying Country Unleaded Super unleaded Super plus Diesel Euro ........................................ $1.0986/0.9103 currency. All figures are foreign currencies Japan -- $2.609 -- $2.439 South Korea $1.959 -- $2.639 $2.469 Hong Kong (Dollar) .............................7.7544 to one dollar, except for the British pound, Change in price -- +4.0 cents -- -1.0 cents Change in price +2.0 cents -- +4.0 cents -1.0 cents Hungary (Forint) .................................316.81 which is represented in dollars-to-pound, Okinawa $1.929 -- -- $2.439 Guam $1.939** $2.349 $2.619 -- Israel (Shekel) ..................................... 3.5143 and the euro, which is dollars-to-euro.) Change in price +2.0 cents -- -- -1.0 cents Change in price +2.0 cents +3.0 cents +4.0 cents -- Japan (Yen) ........................................... 107.72 Kuwait (Dinar) .....................................0.3088 INTEREST RATES Norway (Krone) ...................................9.8868 Philippines (Peso).................................50.62 Prime rate ................................................3.25 * Diesel EFD ** Midgrade Poland (Zloty) ..........................................4.11 Discount rate ..........................................0.25 Saudi Arabia (Riyal) ...........................3.7563 Federal funds market rate ...................0.05 For the week of May 22-28 Singapore (Dollar) ..............................1.4143 3-month bill ............................................. 0.12 South Korea (Won) ...........................1231.31 30-year bond ...........................................1.40 WEATHER OUTLOOK FRIDAY IN THE MIDDLE EAST FRIDAY IN EUROPE SATURDAY IN THE PACIFIC Misawa 60/48 Kabul 79/55 Seoul 73/57 Baghdad 108/73 Kandahar 90/62 Osan Tokyo Mildenhall/ Drawsko 74/56 65/56 Lakenheath Pomorskie Busan 67/60 60/43 66/54 Iwakuni 66/60 Kuwait Bahrain Zagan Sasebo City 86/82 Brussels 64/43 Guam 99/81 70/64 Ramstein 72/60 84/79 Lajes, 72/51 Riyadh Doha Azores Stuttgart Pápa 103/76 101/77 60/56 75/53 64/43 Aviano/ Vicenza 67/57 Naples 73/58 Okinawa Morón 75/65 96/63 Sigonella Rota 77/57 The weather is provided by the Djibouti Souda Bay American Forces Network Weather Center, 101/85 79/60 68/65 2nd Weather Squadron at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb. T O D A Y IN STRIPES American Roundup ............40 Classified ......................... 41 Comics ..................38, 44-45 Crossword .............38, 44-45 Faces ............................... 39 Opinion .......................42-43 Sports .........................48-56 Weekend ..................... 17-38 Friday, May 22, 2020 •STARS AND STRIPES• F3HIJKLM PAGE 3 MILITARY Percentage of women up slightly since ’04 GAO study also finds that female troops are more likely to leave service early BY COREY DICKSTEIN Stars and Stripes WASHINGTON — Women make up a higher percentage of U.S. armed forces, but female troops are 28% more likely than men to leave the military early, the Gov- ernment Accountability Office found in a study released Tuesday. The percentage of women serving in the military services rose slightly from 15.1% of the active-duty force in 2004 to 16.5% in 2018, the GAO found. The Congress-man- dated study looked at personnel data from the Army, Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps for the 15-year period that ended in 2018, the most recent year for which they had complete data. The report’s authors found a variety of reasons that women are significantly more likely to leave the military earlier than their male counterparts, largely based on family-related and cultural issues, which the authors encouraged the Pentagon to address. Defense Department officials have for years indicated publicly that increasing female recruitment and retention rates are important to ensure diversity within KARRA BROWN/U.S. Navy the ranks, especially since the Pentagon Recruits march in formation at Recruit Training Command. More than 35,000 recruits train annually at the Navy’s only boot camp. opened all jobs and units, including front- line combat positions, to women in 2015. cording to the authors. the GAO reported. The authors noted fe- However, more women were actually serv- But the GAO found service leaders had The report’s authors noted the lower re- male veterans expressed discouragement ing in 2004, when a much larger military not implemented plans with “goals, per- tention rates among female troops has led based on the occurrences of sexual assault was conducting major combat operations formance measures and timeframes” that to an even smaller percentage of women and the military’s handling of sexual as- in Iraq and Afghanistan. DOD reported would aid in assessing female recruiting serving within the highest ranks of the sault investigations. 236,342 female service members in 2004 and retention. military. They also found women reported “For example, two females stated that and 232,063 in 2018. “DOD officials stated that retention six primary factors for their decision to the perpetrator was not punished, and an- During the 15 years that the GAO stud- goals have, in the past, been misconstrued leave the service before retirement eligi- other woman cited the lack