NBA DRAFT MILITARY VIDEO GAMES Pistons take Cade Philippines’ With changes, Cunningham with Duterte restores Skyward Sword the No. 1 pick key US troop pact excels on Switch Page 24 Page 5 Page 12 Navy charges USS Bonhomme Richard sailor with setting blaze ›› Page 5 stripes.com Volume 80 Edition 75A ©SS 2021 CONTINGENCY EDITION SATURDAY,JULY 31, 2021 Free to Deployed Areas OLYMPICS Survive and advance US women defeat Netherlands in penalty shootout to reach semifinals against Canada Page 22 SILVIA IZQUIERDO/AP United States’ players celebrate after defeating the Netherlands in a women’s quarterfinal soccer match at the 2020 Summer Olympics on Friday in Yokohama, Japan. Biden directs Pentagon to plan for troops to be required to get coronavirus vaccines BY CAITLIN DOORNBOS the Federal Drug Administration. a public address from the White Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin approval come? It usually takes a Stars and Stripes Though the military requires House that service members have is “open” to requiring the vaccine lot of work to get there.” WASHINGTON — President troops to receive many vaccina- an especially critical need to get before its full authorization, Biden Biden said he expected full FDA Joe Biden on Thursday directed tions, federal law prohibits the Pen- vaccinated. said, but “the question is when is approval should come “in the early Pentagon leaders to consider how tagon from mandating those with- “I think this is particularly im- the right time to get the most bang fall.” and when they will require troops out full FDA approval. The presi- portant because our troops serve in for the buck?” About 77% of active-duty sailors, to receive the coronavirus vaccine dent has the authority to bypass the places throughout the world — “A lot of this is timing, and so I 70% of soldiers, 61% of airmen and but stopped short of mandating the restriction and require troops to get many where vaccination rates are think it’s going to happen,” the 58% of Marines had received at shots as the vaccines remain under the shot, but Biden has not done so. low and disease is prevalent,” he president said. “It’s still a tempora- emergency-use authorization by Yet Biden said Thursday during said. ry approval, so when does the final SEE VACCINES ON PAGE 6 PAGE 2 • STARS AND STRIPES • Saturday, July 31, 2021 BUSINESS/WEATHER SBA to directly handle PPP loan forgiveness EXCHANGE RATES Military rates South Korea (Won) 1150.75 BY AARON GREGG Wednesday, was framed by the small business owners worried Switzerland (Franc) 0.9061 Euro costs (Aug. 2) $1.16 Thailand (Baht) 32.89 The Washington Post Small Business Administration as they will have to pay off an unex- Dollar buys (Aug. 2) 0.8195 Turkey (NewLira) 8.4117 British pound (Aug. 2) $1.36 Small business owners that re- a way to quickly wind down the pected debt. Japanese yen (Aug. 2) 107.00 (Military exchange rates are those available ceived taxpayer-subsidized Pay- massive emergency loan pro- The vast majority of those wait- South Korean won (Aug. 2) 1117.00 to customers at military banking facilities in the Commercial rates country of issuance for Japan, South Korea, Ger­ check Protection Program loans gram, which gave approximately ing for forgiveness fall under the many, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Bahrain(Dinar) 0.3770 For nonlocal currency exchange rates (i.e., pur­ of $150,000 or less will be able to $806 billion to millions of small $150,000 threshold, according to Britain (Pound) 1.3953 chasing British pounds in Germany), check with Canada (Dollar) 1.2432 your local military banking facility. Commercial seek forgiveness directly with the businesses between April 2020 the SBA. China(Yuan) 6.4617 rates are interbank rates provided for reference Denmark (Krone) 6.2614 government through an online and June 2021. “This initiative will allow PPP Egypt (Pound) 15.7041 when buying currency. All figures are foreign portal starting Aug. 4, allowing The PPP loans were attractive borrowers to put their concerns of Euro 0.8418 currencies to one dollar, except for the British Hong Kong (Dollar) 7.7745 pound, which is represented in dollars­to­ them to sidestep the private finan- to borrowers because they had an achieving full forgiveness behind Hungary (Forint) 300.57 pound, and the euro, which is dollars­to­euro.) Israel (Shekel) 3.2300 cial institutions that ran most as- interest rate of just 1% and could them and focus on operating and Japan (Yen) 109.69 INTEREST RATES pects of the program for 14 be entirely forgiven at taxpayers’ growing their businesses again,” Kuwait(Dinar) 0.3004 Norway (Krone) 8.7955 Prime rate 3.25 months. expense. But the loan forgiveness Patrick Kelley, associate adminis- Philippines (Peso) 50.03 Interest Rates Discount rate 0.75 Poland (Zloty) 3.84 Federal funds market rate 0.09 The policy change, contained in process has been more difficult trator for SBA’s Office of Capital Saudi Arabia (Riyal) 3.7502 3­month bill 0.06 a new regulation published than many expected, leaving some Access, said in a statement. Singapore (Dollar) 1.3538 30­year bond 1.91 WEATHER OUTLOOK SATURDAY IN THE MIDDLE EAST SATURDAY IN EUROPE SUNDAY IN THE PACIFIC Misawa 71/68 Kabul Seoul 91/57 83/76 Baghdad 113/80 Tokyo Drawsko Osan Kandahar Mildenhall/ 92/78 96/71 98/74 Pomorskie Busan Lakenheath 72/59 82/79 70/54 Iwakuni Kuwait City 81/78 Bahrain Brussels Zagan Sasebo 109/87 98/92 Ramstein 75/61 80/77 Guam 69/58 70/57 84/81 Riyadh Lajes, Azores Stuttgart 110/87 Doha Pápa 109/91 71/68 72/61 Aviano/ 81/71 Vicenza 82/67 Naples 89/73 Okinawa Morón 81/78 88/62 Sigonella Djibouti Rota 102/71 The weather is provided by the 77/64 Souda Bay American Forces Network Weather Center, 95/81 84/78 2nd Weather Squadron at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb. TODAY IN STRIPES American Roundup ...... 11 Comics/Crossword .......16 Health & Fitness ......... 13 Movies...........................14 Opinion ........................ 15 Sports .................... 17-24 Video Games ................12 Saturday, July 31, 2021 • STARS AND STRIPES • PAGE 3 WAR ON TERRORISM Evacuation brings 200 Afghans to US Associated Press U.S. or a U.S. territory, such as WASHINGTON — The first Guam. flight evacuating Afghans who “To date, there is simply no worked alongside Americans in clear plan as to how the vast ma- Afghanistan brought more than jority of our allies will be brought 200 people, scores of them chil- to safety,” Krish O’Mara Vignara- dren and babies in arms, to new jah, president of the Lutheran Im- lives in the United States on Fri- migration and Refugee Service re- day, and President Joe Biden said settlement agency, said of the Af- he was proud to welcome them ghan interpreters. home. “We cannot in good conscience The launch of the evacuation put them at risk in third countries flights, bringing out former inter- with unreliable human rights re- preters and others who fear retal- cords, or where the Taliban may iation from Afghanistan’s Taliban be able to reach them,” the reset- for having worked with American tlement official said. service members and civilians, Congress on Thursday ap- highlights American uncertainty proved legislation that would al- about how Afghanistan’s govern- low an additional 8,000 visas and ment and military will fare after $500 million in funding for the Af- the last U.S. combat forces leave ghan visa program. that country in the coming weeks. The United States has been talk- Family members are accompa- ing with Qatar and Kuwait about nying the interpreters, translators temporarily hosting thousands of and others on the flights out. The other Afghan interpreters who are first evacuation flight, an airliner, much further along in their visa carried 221 Afghans under the application process than Friday’s special visa program, including 57 DAVID GUTTENFELDER/AP arrivals. children and 15 babies, according Josh Habib, far left, a 53­year­old translator for the U.S. Marines, speaks with Afghan villagers and two But U.S. officials, speaking on to an internal U.S. government Marines in the Nawa district of Afghanistan’s Helmand province in 2009. the condition of anonymity to dis- document obtained by The Asso- cuss negotiations, said Friday that ciated Press. served shoulder-to-shoulder with statement, “I want to thank these cans and said their arrival demon- no deal had been closed with those It touched down in Dulles, Va., American troops and diplomats brave Afghans for standing with strates the U.S. government’s two countries. Concerns about just outside Washington, D.C., af- over the last 20 years in Afghan- the United States, and today, I am commitment to them. housing Afghans who have not ter midnight, according to the istan,” Biden said. He said he proud to say to them: ‘Welcome But a refugee agency said the completed their security screen- FlightAware tracking service. wanted to honor the military vet- home.’” Biden administration appeared to ings and uncertainty on the Amer- Friday’s flight was “an impor- erans, diplomats and others in the Secretary of State Antony Blin- be still scrambling to figure out ican side about finding funding for tant milestone as we continue to U.S. who have advocated for the ken and Secretary of Defense the resettlement of thousands the massive relocation effort have fulfill our promise to the thou- Afghans. Lloyd Austin lauded the Afghans more of the Afghans, and it urged remained obstacles, the U.S. offi- sands of Afghan nationals who “Most of all,” Biden said in a for their work alongside Ameri- Biden to bring them quickly to the cials said.