NBA FINALS VIDEO GAMES MOVIES Halfway there: Sumire shows Finally, Marvel’s Suns take 2-0 simplicity can Black Widow gets lead over Bucks be deceiving an origin story Page 24 Page 11 Page 12 Tropical Storm Elsa soaks NYC as it races up the East Coast ›› Page 5 stripes.com Volume 80 Edition 60A ©SS 2021 CONTINGENCY EDITION SATURDAY,JULY 10, 2021 Free to Deployed Areas Resurgent Taliban raise fears of more terrorism Bloomberg News The Taliban’s lightning-fast ad- vance to control more territory in Afghanistan is raising alarms from Russia to China, as U.S. President Joe Biden’s move to withdraw troops disrupts a bal- ance of power in South Asia that has held steady for about two dec- ades. At least 1,000 Afghan troops this week retreated into Tajikistan, prompting the country mobilize an extra 20,000 soldiers to guard its frontier. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s sought out assur- ances from the Taliban that it will respect the borders of Central Asian states that once were part of the Soviet Union, while neighbor- ing Pakistan has said it won’t open its borders to refugees. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who warned last week that the most pressing task in Afghanistan was “to maintain stability and pre- KHALID MOHAMMED/AP vent war and chaos,” plans to trav- Iran-backed militia fighters march in central Baghdad on June 29. Iraqi Shiite militias are showing a degree of defiance of their patron Iran by el to Central Asia next week for escalating rocket and drone attacks on the U.S. presence in the country, militia and Shiite political leaders say. talks on the country. Wang Wen- bin, a spokesman for the ministry, SEE TALIBAN ON PAGE 4 Show of defiance In keeping up attacks, some Iraq militias challenge directive from patron Iran BY QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA the United States. increasing against the U.S. on mil- serting a degree of independence, AND SAMYA KULLAB But he was met with defiance. itary bases in both Iraq and Syria. sometimes even flouting orders Associated Press One of the six faction leaders Three missile attacks in the last from Tehran. Iran now relies on BAGHDAD — Iran’s expedi- spoke up in their meeting: They week alone resulted in minor inju- Lebanon’s Hezbollah for support ALEXANDER ZEMLIANICHENKO/AP tionary Quds Force commander could not stay quiet while the ries, stoking fears of escalation. in reining them in, and there is po- Mawlawi Shahabuddin Dilawar, a brought one main directive for death of his predecessor Qassem The details from Esmail Ghaa- tential that Iran’s new president member of the political Iraqi militia faction leaders long Soleimani and senior Iraqi militia ni’s visit, confirmed to The Associ- could play a role in doing the delegation from the Afghan beholden to Tehran, when he gath- commander Abu Mahdi al-Mu- ated Press by three Shiite political same. Taliban’s movement, gestures ered with them in Baghdad last handis in a U.S. drone strike went officials and two senior militia of- The officials spoke on condition during a news conference in month: Maintain calm, until after unavenged. ficials, demonstrate how Iranian- Moscow on Friday. nuclear talks between Iran and Militia attacks have only been aligned Iraqi militia groups are as- SEE DEFIANCE ON PAGE 4 PAGE 2 • STARS AND STRIPES • Saturday, July 10, 2021 BUSINESS/WEATHER New tool aids air traffic control with space operations EXCHANGE RATES Military rates South Korea (Won) 1145.48 Associated Press Integrator, will replace a system Canaveral, Fla., carrying dozens Switzerland (Franc) 0.9155 Euro costs (July 12) $1.16 Thailand (Baht) 32.56 Federal regulators said Thurs- in which much of the work of giv- of satellites into orbit. It will be Dollar buys (July 12) 0.8221 Turkey (NewLira) 8.6727 British pound (July 12) $1.35 day they now can better track ing telemetry data about space ve- used again with the pending re- Japanese yen (July 12) 107.00 (Military exchange rates are those available rocket launches and space vehi- hicles to air traffic control manag- turn of a SpaceX cargo ship from South Korean won (July 12) 1119.00 to customers at military banking facilities in the Commercial rates country of issuance for Japan, South Korea, Ger­ cles returning to Earth, which ers is done manually. the International Space Station, many, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Bahrain(Dinar) 0.3769 For nonlocal currency exchange rates (i.e., pur­ could cut the amount of time that Elon Musk’s SpaceX was the the agency said. Britain (Pound) 1.3852 chasing British pounds in Germany), check with Canada (Dollar) 1.2493 your local military banking facility. Commercial airplanes must be routed around first company to share flight te- During space operations, the China(Yuan) 6.4796 rates are interbank rates provided for reference Denmark (Krone) 6.2671 space operations. lemetry data with the FAA, and FAA shuts down a huge section of Egypt (Pound) 15.6882 when buying currency. All figures are foreign The Federal Aviation Adminis- others including Jeff Bezos’ Blue airspace for hours in case the Euro 0.8427 currencies to one dollar, except for the British Hong Kong (Dollar) 7.7681 pound, which is represented in dollars­to­ tration said a new tool automates Origin have since joined the pro- rocket or the space vehicle breaks Hungary (Forint) 299.58 pound, and the euro, which is dollars­to­euro.) Israel (Shekel) 3.2832 the near-instantaneous delivery of gram, according to the FAA. apart. Airlines must reroute Japan (Yen) 110.15 INTEREST RATES data about a space vehicle’s flight The FAA said the new technol- flights, which causes them to burn Kuwait(Dinar) 0.3009 Norway (Krone) 8.7085 Prime rate 3.25 path to the nation’s air traffic con- ogy was first used on June 30 for more fuel and fall behind sched- Philippines (Peso) 50.03 Interest Rates Discount rate 0.75 Poland (Zloty) 3.83 Federal funds market rate 0.09 trol system. the launch of SpaceX’s Transpor- ule. A single launch can affect Saudi Arabia (Riyal) 3.7504 3­month bill 0.06 The tool, called the Space Data ter 2, which lifted off from Cape hundreds of flights. Singapore (Dollar) 1.3515 30­year bond 1.91 WEATHER OUTLOOK SATURDAY IN THE MIDDLE EAST SATURDAY IN EUROPE SUNDAY IN THE PACIFIC Misawa 70/64 Kabul Seoul 97/60 81/73 Baghdad 110/81 Tokyo Drawsko Osan Kandahar Mildenhall/ 84/72 81/73 107/74 Pomorskie Busan Lakenheath 68/61 77/74 66/55 Iwakuni Kuwait City Bahrain 77/74 Brussels Zagan Sasebo 113/92 95/92 Ramstein 73/59 78/75 Guam 67/58 75/54 84/81 Riyadh Lajes, Azores Stuttgart 111/79 Doha Pápa 110/87 69/65 75/53 Aviano/ 84/62 Vicenza 80/64 Naples 85/70 Okinawa Morón 83/80 105/70 Sigonella Rota 95/70 The weather is provided by the Djibouti 89/64 Souda Bay American Forces Network Weather Center, 103/88 81/77 2nd Weather Squadron at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb. TODAY IN STRIPES American Roundup ...... 14 Health & Fitness.......... 13 Comics/Crossword ...... 17 Movies ......................... 12 Opinion ........................ 16 Sports .................... 18-24 Television .................. 15 Saturday, July 10, 2021 • STARS AND STRIPES • PAGE 3 MILITARY Embassy ups security after Eswatini unrest BY CHAD GARLAND week. wives, live a lavish lifestyle while AP reported. Videos on social dead and spurred a series of Re- Stars and Stripes The team’s primary mission is most of the country’s 1.1 million media showed people burning publican-led inquiries. Over a dozen Marines with a to protect U.S. diplomatic and con- people are impoverished, human tires and barricading streets in U.N. officials expressed con- diplomatic security unit created in sular facilities facing increased rights groups say. Manzini, the country’s largest cern this week over the situation the wake of the 2012 Benghazi at- threat, or in situations such as nat- “Unrest first began ... in May, city, and the central town of Mat- in Eswatini after reports of inter- tacks were deployed to Eswatini, a ural disasters and VIP visits. when students took to the streets sapha. net blackouts and allegations of southern African kingdom previ- “Since it was established, the to call for accountability for the The government ordered busi- what a spokesperson for the orga- ously known as Swaziland, after MSAU has deployed on average death of a 25-year-old law student, nesses to close and imposed a nization’s human rights office pro-democracy demonstrations every eight days,” the statement allegedly at the hands of the po- strict curfew to quell the violence, called “disproportionate and un- erupted last month. said. lice,” the United Nations said this the AP reported June 29. necessary use of force,” including The short-notice deployment The tiny mountain kingdom of week. “In late June, these protests The Marine unit was created af- harassment, intimidation and the June 30 of the Quantico, Va.-based Eswatini is ruled by Africa’s last grew into daily pro-democracy ter President Barack Obama and use of live ammunition by govern- Marine Security Guard Security absolute monarch, King Mswati marches.” Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ment security forces. Augmentation Unit, or MSAU, III, who protesters accused of hu- Among their political and eco- faced criticism over the response Dozens have reportedly been was its 106th mission since the out- man rights abuses and running a nomic grievances, the demonstra- to the terrorist attack on U.S. facil- killed or injured in the clashes, the fit was created under the Obama repressive government, The Asso- tors sought the lifting of a ban on ities in the Libyan city of Benghazi U.N.