,n esper sues over dod redactions to memoir
TRANSCRIPT
Volume 80 Edition 162 ©SS 2021 TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2021 50¢/Free to Deployed Areas
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MILITARY
Ex-Army civiliansentenced for Kuwaitcontract kickbacks Page 3
NATION
Rising consumer pricesput pinch on households,businesses worldwidePage 8
FACES
Master of musicaltheater Sondheimpasses away at 91Page 14
Allure of air attack grounds league’s top rushing offenses ›› NFL, Page 24
BRUSSELS — Taking an act-now-ask-ques-
tions-later approach, countries around the world
slammed their doors shut again to try to keep the
new omicron variant at bay Monday as more
cases of the mutant coronavirus emerged and sci-
entists raced to figure out just how dangerous it
might be.
Japan announced it would bar entry of all for-
eign visitors, joining Israel in doing so just days
after the variant was identified by researchers in
South Africa. Morocco banned all incoming
flights. Other countries, including the United
States and European Union members, have
moved to prohibit travelers arriving from south-
ern Africa.
Travelers infected with the new version have
DENIS FARRELL/AP
A man receives a dose of a vaccine at a COVID-19 vaccine center, in Soweto, South Africa, on Monday. The World Health Organization hasurged countries not to impose flight bans on southern African nations due to concerns over the new omicron variant.
Preparing for the worstAs more cases of omicron variant emerge, wary, weary world slams doors shut
BY RAF CASERT AND MARI YAMAGUCHI
Associated Press
SEE SLAMS ON PAGE 7
CAUTIOUS APPROACH
Despite concerns, scientists caution that it
is still unclear if omicron is more alarming
than other versions of the virus. Dr. Francis
Collins, director of the National Institutes of
Health in the United States, said no data as
yet suggests the new variant causes more
serious illness than previous versions.
SOURCE: Associated Press
VIRUS OUTBREAK
WASHINGTON — Former De-
fense Secretary Mark Esper
claims in a lawsuit against the De-
fense Department that material is
being improperly withheld from
his use as he seeks to publish an
“unvarnished and candid mem-
oir” of his time in President Do-
nald Trump’s Cabinet.
The lawsuit, which was filed
Sunday in U.S.
District Court in
Washington, de-
scribes the
memoir, “A Sa-
cred Oath,” as an
account of Esp-
er’s tenure as Ar-
my secretary
from 2017 to 2019
and his 18
months as defense secretary,
which ended when Trump fired
him in a tweet just days after the
president lost his reelection bid.
The period in which Esper was
Pentagon chief was “an unprece-
dented time of civil unrest, public
health crises, growing threats
abroad, Pentagon transformation,
and a White House seemingly
bent on circumventing the Consti-
tution,” the lawsuit says.
Esper and Trump were sharply
divided over the use of the mili-
tary during civil unrest in June
2020 following the killing of Ge-
orge Floyd. Other issues led the
president to believe Esper was not
sufficiently loyal while Esper be-
lieved he was trying to keep the
department apolitical. Firing a de-
fense secretary after an election
loss was unprecedented, but the
opening allowed Trump to install
loyalists in top Pentagon positions
as he continued to dispute his elec-
tion loss.
The lawsuit contends that “sig-
Esper suesover DODredactionsto memoir
Associated Press
Esper
SEE MEMOIR ON PAGE 3
PAGE 2 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Tuesday, November 30, 2021
BUSINESS/WEATHER
TOKYO — Nissan said Monday
it is investing $17.6 billion over the
next five years and developing a
cheaper, more powerful battery to
boost its electric vehicle lineup.
The Japanese automaker’s chief
executive, Makoto Uchida, said 15
new electric vehicles will be avail-
able by fiscal 2030. Nissan Motor
Co. is aiming for a 50% “electrifica-
tion” of the company’s model li-
neup, under what Uchida called
the “Nissan Ambition 2030” long-
term plan. Electrified vehicles in-
clude hybrids and other kinds of
environmentally friendly models
other than just electric vehicles.
The effort is focused mainly on
electric vehicles to cut emissions
and meet various customers’
needs, said Uchida. Nissan also
will reduce carbon emissions at its
factories, he added.
The company has been strug-
gling to put the scandal of its for-
mer Chairman Carlos Ghosn be-
hind it.
Uchida made no mention of the
scandal but referred to “past mis-
takes” he promised won’t be re-
peated at Nissan.
Nissan’s “electrification” rests
on developing a new ASSB, or all
solid state battery, that it categor-
ized as “a breakthrough” for being
cheaper and generating more
power than batteries now in use.
That means electric power-
trains can be more easily used in
trucks, vans and other heavier ve-
hicles because the batteries can be
smaller. The ASSB will be in mass
production by 2028, according to
Nissan.
Nissan investing in e-vehicles, battery progressAssociated Press
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WEDNESDAY IN THE PACIFIC
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TODAYIN STRIPES
American Roundup ...... 11Classified .................... 13Comics .........................16Crossword ................... 16Faces .......................... 14Opinion ........................ 15Sports .................... 17-24
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Tuesday, November 30, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 3
nificant text” in the memoir,
scheduled for publication by Wil-
liam Morrow in May, is being im-
properly held under the guise of
classification and that Esper
maintains it contains no classified
information. The suit notes that
Esper is restricted by his secrecy
agreements from authorizing
publication without Pentagon ap-
proval, or face possible civil and
criminal liability.
The lawsuit quotes from a letter
Esper sent to Defense Secretary
Lloyd Austin criticizing the re-
view process. He wrote that he
had been asked not to quote
Trump and others in meetings, not
to describe conversations he had
with Trump, and not to use certain
verbs or nouns when describing
historical events.
The letter describes other prob-
lematic subjects and says some 60
pages of the manuscript contained
redactions at one point. Agreeing
to all of those redactions would re-
sult in “a serious injustice to im-
portant moments in history that
the American people need to know
and understand,” Esper wrote.
The suit itself says some stories
Esper relates in the manuscript
under consideration appeared to
have been leaked to some main-
stream media “possibly to under-
mine the impact” it would have
had in his book.
Pentagon spokesman John Kir-
by said the department was aware
of Esper’s concerns. “As with all
such reviews, the Department
takes seriously its obligation to
balance national security with an
author’s narrative desire. Given
that this matter is now under liti-
gation, we will refrain from com-
menting further,” he said in a
statement.
Esper, 57, a West Point gradu-
ate and Gulf War veteran, said in a
statement that he had waited for
six months for the review process
to play out but found “my unclassi-
fied manuscript arbitrarily re-
dacted without clearly being told
why.”
“I am more than disappointed
the current Administration is in-
fringing on my First Amendment
constitutional rights. And it is with
regret that legal recourse is the
only path now available for me to
tell my full story to the American
people,” he said.
Memoir: Ex-DOD chief says redactingparts of book will be ‘serious injustice’FROM PAGE 1 “It is with regret that legal recourse
is the only path now available forme to tell my full story to theAmerican people.”
Mark Esper
former defense secretary
MILITARY
ralingam was also charged in the
indictment with conspiring to of-
fer a kickback and paying illegal
gratuities to Garcia, but he re-
mains a fugitive.
Under a plea agreement last
summer, the government drop-
ped a charge that Garcia had re-
ceived some $170,000 in illegal
gratuities from Sankaralingam
and others at Gulf Link and an-
other firm, which they said was
sent to Garcia’s adult daughters’
bank accounts from 2010 to 2015.
“Mr. Garcia emphatically de-
nies that this money was derived
illegally,” his attorneys said
pleading for the judge’s leniency
in sentencing, citing their client’s
age, declining health and the dif-
ficulties his family has suffered
since he was arrested.
Prosecutors had sought a sen-
tence of eight to 10 years and a
fine of $165,000, citing Garcia’s
net worth of more than $1 million.
But in a letter to the judge, Gar-
cia sought probation and home
confinement, citing his impover-
ished upbringing in the Philip-
pines, his honorable military ser-
vice, his wife’s worsening health
over stress from his arrest and his
daughter’s acid reflux.
In response, prosecutors said
his involvement in the kickback
conspiracy was not a “one-time
‘lapse in judgment,” and suggest-
ed to D.C. District Judge Amit P.
Mehta that if he were inclined to-
ward leniency, he not sentence
Garcia to less than five years in
prison.
Garcia was sentenced to two
years, a $200 fine and three years
of probation. The court document
giving Mehta’s reasons for the
sentence remains sealed.
An ex-Army civilian employee
was sentenced to prison this
month for offering a government
contractor much more than soup,
salad and breadsticks at an Olive
Garden in Kuwait in 2015.
Ephraim Garcia, 64, pleaded
guilty earlier this year to one
count of conspiring to offer a
kickback and one count of offer-
ing a kickback, both stemming
from the meeting at the chain res-
taurant between the unnamed
American contractor and the
head of a Kuwaiti firm that was
seeking about $3 million in sub-
contract work on Camp Arifjan,
Kuwait.
Garcia, who retired from the
Air Force in 2000 as a master ser-
geant, admitted to brokering the
meeting, where prosecutors say
he and the CEO of the firm Gulf
Link Venture Co., Gandhiraj San-
karalingam, offered to pay the
employee of Colorado-based Vec-
trus Systems Corp. to steer some
of the company’s government
contract business to Gulf Link.
In 2011, Vectrus was awarded
the Kuwait base operations secu-
rity and service support contract,
for which the Army had paid out
more than $2.7 billion as of 2016,
the Pentagon’s Inspector General
said in a report four years ago.
Sankaralingam and Garcia,
who was a mechanical engineer
for the Army’s department of
public works on Camp Arifjan, of-
fered to split proceeds from the
inflated costs of heating and air
conditioning work under that
contract — possibly up to
$756,000 — with the Vectrus em-
ployee if it was awarded to Gulf
Link, court records state. Instead,
the employee reported the illegal
offer to the government.
Officials with the Pentagon IG,
Defense Criminal Investigative
Service and Army Criminal In-
vestigative Command were in-
volved in the investigation.
Garcia, who also retired after
16 years as an Army civilian in
2016, was arrested in 2019 and in-
dicted the following year. Sanka-
Ex-Army civilian sentenced for kickbacksBY CHAD GARLAND
Stars and Stripes
U.S. ARMY
ExArmy civilian Ephraim Garcia, 64, pleaded guilty to charges he offered kickbacks to an employee ofVectrus Systems Corp. to steer some $3 million in subcontract work to Kuwaiti firm Gulf Link Venture Co.for heating and air conditioning work in Zone 6 of Camp Arifjan, Kuwait.
MOSCOW — Russia’s navy has
successfully test-fired a prospec-
tive hypersonic missile, the mili-
tary said Monday.
The Defense Ministry said the
Admiral Gorshkov frigate in the
White Sea launched the Zircon
cruise missile, hitting a practice
target 215 nautical miles away.
The launch was the latest in a se-
ries of tests of Zircon, which is set
to enter service next year.
Russian President Vladimir Pu-
tin has said Zircon would be capa-
ble of flying at nine times the
speed of sound and have a range of
620 miles. Putin has emphasized
that its deployment will signifi-
cantly boost the capability of Rus-
sia’s military.
Zircon is intended to arm Rus-
sian cruisers, frigates and subma-
rines.
Russian navy test-firesits hypersonic missile
Associated Press
LEXINGTON, Ky. — The Ken-
tucky National Guard says about
150 soldiers are deploying to east-
ern Africa.
A ceremony Saturday at the
Lexington airport honored mem-
bers of the Somerset-based 149th
Infantry Regiment as they en-
tered federal active duty, the Na-
tional Guard said in a news re-
lease.
The unit will deploy under the
command of a task force from the
Virginia Army National Guard
and provide security around the
Horn of Africa, the statement said.
About 200 other members of the
Kentucky National Guard are pre-
paring for a separate mobilization
to southeastern Europe in early
2022.
Ky. National Guard todeploy to eastern Africa
Associated Press
PAGE 4 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Tuesday, November 30, 2021
AFGHANISTAN
CHARASIAB, Afghanistan — At
this town’s district hospital, an
hour’s drive south of Kabul, mid-
wives resorted to using mobile
phone flashlights to deliver babies
during power cuts, when foreign aid
was halted and they could no longer
pay for generator fuel.
When critical supplies such as sa-
line solution and dressings ran out,
many patients were turned away
and told they would have to pur-
chase such materials themselves.
“It was terrible,” hospital director
Sharifa Noor said of the first time in
her 17 years working here that she
had to tell patients she was unable to
care for them.
Early this month, a United Na-
tions program gave the hospital a re-
prieve, with an influx of supplies
and, equally important, cash to pay
the salaries of its staff for the first
time in months. Doctors working
under Noor received about $150.
The lifeline was temporary, part
of an experiment cobbled together
by U.N. agencies with outside funds
to prove to the international com-
munity that money could be distrib-
uted in Afghanistan without falling
into the hands of the Taliban.
Before the militants took over in
August, foreign donors — largely
wealthy Western countries led by
the United States — paid for up to
80% of all Afghan government ex-
penses. Since then, donors have fro-
zen all funding, as leverage to press
the Taliban to meet demands, in-
cluding rights for women, girls and
minorities, an inclusive govern-
ment and freedom from reprisals
and of movement.
The Biden administration and al-
lied governments are debating
whether the experimental U.N. pro-
gram — which targeted only a por-
tion of Afghanistan’s health care
system — or similar initiatives can
be expanded into other parts of the
economy.
“We are also deeply concerned by
the ongoing liquidity shortage, infla-
tion and other economic factors,”
Jeffrey De Laurentis, deputy U.S.
ambassador to the U.N.told the U.N.
Security Council last week. “We
welcome creative solutions from
the international community to help
mitigate” these problems “in a way
that limits undue benefits to the Ta-
liban and sanctioned individuals.”
None of the discussions so far in-
volves releasing about $10 billion in
Afghan government reserves, held
primarily in the U.S.
The largest single pot of foreign
money is held by the World Bank’s
Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust
Fund, whose cash balance at the end
of September stood at more than
$1.5 billion. In the past, it has funded
programs as diverse as providing
grants for small businesses, supply-
ing farmers with seeds and financ-
ing for short-term agricultural la-
bor, and building and improving
roads and irrigation systems.
Its distributions have now been
frozen by the bank’s member states,
none of which recognizes the Tali-
ban government. The hope at the
U.N. is that at least some of those
funds can be released into a new
U.N.-administered fund that would
go beyond humanitarian food and
medicine aid to Afghanistan to
maintain basic services and pay sal-
aries and wages. The fund is also
asking countries with bilateral de-
velopment aid programs in Afghan-
istan to repurpose that money —
now also frozen — and come up with
new donations.
Bank voting members are ex-
pected to meet next week to discuss
the terms for allowing the release of
some funds while ensuring that
their demands are addressed —
particularly on girls’ education —
and adequate monitoring is in place.
But international humanitarian
and development agencies are in-
sisting, in increasingly dire terms,
that time is running out and the lives
of millions are at risk.
With virtually no money circulat-
ing, the U.N., the International Com-
mittee of the Red Cross and other
major aid operators have warned
that more than half of Afghanistan’s
population of 40 million is well on its
way to “acute food insufficiency,”
their term for starvation.
“You really have to go there and
meet with people inside Afghanis-
tan ... to understand the depths of
this crisis,” said Jan Egeland, secre-
tary general of the Norwegian Refu-
gee Council, one of the largest non-
governmental aid agencies still op-
erating on the ground.
During a recent visit to the coun-
try, Egeland said in an interview, “I
asked mothers in tents — how are
you treated now? Are you discrimi-
nated against? Are your children in
school?
“They just stared at me and said
‘We have only one concern — not to
freeze and starve to death this win-
ter.’”
The absence of cash flow extends
into virtually every part of the Af-
ghan economy.
The public sector “is not first and
foremost bureaucrats,” Egeland
said. “There are also 300,000 teach-
ers, thousands of health workers,
water engineers, garbage collec-
tors, electricity grid engineers,” all
of whom are public employees who
are not being paid.
International organizations
charged with administering pro-
grams and providing services on the
ground have said they agree the Ta-
liban must be held to their own
pledges.
“But even if the Taliban in all cor-
ners of the country said yes to all our
demands tomorrow,” Egeland said,
“the crisis would be so deep that too
many people will perish this winter
unless there is a real change in pol-
icy from the Western countries on
these fundamental issues” affecting
afunctioning economy.
With Washington immersed in
political arguments over responsib-
ility for the Taliban takeover, the
chaos of the U.S. withdrawal in Au-
gust, and ongoing efforts to evacuate
U.S. citizens and at-risk Afghans,
the internal collapse has drawn little
notice.
“Members of the international
community have focused under-
standably on helping those Afghans
who want to leave,” Deborah Lyons,
the U.N.’s special representative for
Afghanistan, told the U.N. Security
Council earlier this month. “But our
attention must now turn to the vastly
greater number of Afghans who re-
main in the country but face in the
short term a most dire future.”
Afghanistan’s gross domestic
product has already contracted
40%, and fuel and food prices have
skyrocketed. “Cash is severely lim-
ited. Traders cannot get credit,” and
Afghans “can’t access their sav-
ings,” Lyons said. “An entire com-
plex social and economic system,”
including substantial public works
the international community paid
for in the first place “is shutting
down,” she said, primarily because
financial sanctions “have paralyzed
the banking system.”
Dominik Stillhart, operations di-
rector the International Committee
of the Red Cross, said that with little
to no banking services available in
Afghanistan, and sanctions largely
prohibiting the entry of dollars into
the country, organizations such as
his have increasingly turned to in-
formal systems, including hawala,
in which money is deposited, usual-
ly in dollars, and then doled out in lo-
cal currency, for a fee, by traders in
Afghanistan.
The world has stepped up dona-
tions for direct humanitarian aid, al-
most completely funding a $606 mil-
lion U.N. emergency fund to pay for
food, medicine and shelter materi-
als trucked and flown into the coun-
try.
But while “humanitarian aid is
part of the solution,” Stillhart said,
“it was never meant to replace a
functioning economy and public
service delivery”
The health care payment pro-
gram spearheaded by the U.N. De-
velopment Program — which over-
sees and supports a network of
25,000 health care workers in 2,200
primary care clinics and small hos-
pitals around the country — proved
that money could flow into Afghan-
istan, Kanni Wignaraja, assistant
UNDP administrator and regional
director for Asia and the Pacific,
said during a visit to Kabul this
month.
The program used one of the few
commercial banks still open to send
direct payments to health care
workers via cellphones — and deliv-
ered cash in person to those with no
phone or account. Lists of workers
every sector supported by interna-
tional payments through the previ-
ous government remain intact and
could be used to expand the experi-
ment to teachers and other public
sector employees, Wignaraja said.
“It’s clear that we have to avoid
money going in through the de facto
authorities. They know that. We
know that. It can be managed,” she
said. “These are the basic things that
we take for granted ... schools, basic
health clinics, the electricity grid,
sanitation. These are not projects.
These are nationwide systems.”
The health care distributions
were “all done under this very short
time frame,” during October and
November, “but it showed end to
end it works,” Wignaraja said, not-
ing that the Taliban did not inter-
fere.
While the UNDP program cov-
ered small clinics — some of which
had already shut down — larger
hospitals in Afghanistan are funded
through the ICRC, which was not
part of the UNDP experiment.
Among them is Jumhuriat Hospital,
one of the biggest in Kabul.
There, director Dr. Mohamma-
dullah Alishungi said this week that
if he cannot start paying salaries in
the next month, he may lose up to
half his employees by the end of the
year. “Without staff, we cannot
function,” he said, estimated that
roughly 30 have already left, many
fleeing the country.
Marghlai Muhammadi, a nurse in
the hospital’s emergency room,
spoke with passion of her work. But
with no income, she said, she will be
forced to leave in the coming weeks
and find a way to support her family.
Compounding the problem, as
supplies run low and doctors and
nurses look to flee, large hospitals in
cities like Kabul are seeing spikes in
patients as health care and other
systems collapse around the coun-
try and Afghans travel long distanc-
es for treatment.
“We receive more and more peo-
ple in very critical conditions,” Mo-
hibullah Barakzai, the emergency
room’s chief doctor, said. But “by
the time they get here, we can’t help
them.”
Global communitylooking to avoidhumanitarian woe
The Washington Post
SUSANNAH GEORGE/The Washington Post
A patient is rushed into Kabul’s Jumhuriat hospital’s emergency ward as Afghanistan’s humanitarian crisisdeepens after international aid to the country was dramatically cut.
Tuesday, November 30, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 5
TOKYO — The government of Japan
closed its borders again Tuesday to nearly
all international travelers as a precaution
against the spreading omicron variant of
the coronavirus.
The new ban on foreign travelers does not
affect the U.S. military population covered
by the status of forces agreement, said Lt.
Col. Brooke Brander, spokeswoman for
U.S. Forces Japan at Yokota Air Base in
western Tokyo. SOFA defines the legal sta-
tus of U.S. armed forces, including military
families and civilian employees, stationed
in host countries.
“Japan’s recent suspension of entry of
overseas travelers will not affect SOFA
members’ ability to enter Japan,” Brander
wrote by email Monday to Stars and Stripes.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida an-
nounced the ban on visiting foreigners
Monday. “We are taking the step as an
emergency precaution to prevent a worst-
case scenario in Japan,” Kishida said.
The border closure does not, so far, affect
any of the three measures recently ap-
proved to help traveling SOFA members re-
turning to Japan reduce the time they spend
in quarantine before reaching their destina-
tions, Brander said by email. She said USFJ
“will continue to coordinate closely” with
the government of Japan on any changes to
quarantine requirements, also called re-
striction of movement, that may result in re-
sponse to the omicron variant.
The ban on all foreign visitors to Japan
comes after the government over the week-
end imposed tighter entry restrictions on
travelers from nine African nations, ac-
cording to public broadcaster NHK. The
new prohibition rolls back a measure in ef-
fect since Nov. 8 that allowed some short-
term business travelers, international stu-
dents and workers to enter the country after
a shortened quarantine period.
Japanese citizens returning from areas
where the omicron variant has surfaced
will be treated carefully, Kishida said Mon-
day on NHK.
“For Japanese who are returning from 14
countries and areas where infected cases
have been confirmed, in addition to the nine
countries, including South Africa, they will
be strictly quarantined at designated facil-
ities depending on their risks,” he said.
The omicron variant was first identified
in South Africa on Nov. 24, according to the
World Health Organization. New cases as-
sociated with it have sprung up from Great
Britain to Hong Kong.
“This variant has a large number of muta-
tions, some of which are concerning,” ac-
cording to a WHO statement Friday. “Pre-
liminary evidence suggests an increased
risk of reinfection with this variant, as com-
pared to other” variants.
However, the omicron variant’s risks are
not well known even as countries lock their
borders against it.
The data is so far not clear that the om-
icron variant is any more severe than other
variants, including delta, according to a
WHO statement Sunday. “There is current-
ly no information to suggest that symptoms
associated with Omicron are different from
those from other variants,” according to the
statement.
The first infections were reported among
university students, “younger individuals
who tend to have more mild disease,” ac-
cording to WHO. A better understanding of
the new variant’s threat “will take days to
several weeks,” the organization said.
“All variants of COVID-19, including the
Delta variant that is dominant worldwide,
can cause severe disease or death, in partic-
ular for the most vulnerable people,” ac-
cording to WHO, “and thus prevention is al-
ways key.”
Japan in September emerged from its
most extreme phase of the pandemic, which
began in late July and peaked at a pandemic
high in the country of 26,050 new cases on
Aug. 27, according to WHO. Most of those
cases were attributed to the delta variant.
However, business closures, the near-
universal wearing of masks and a relatively
high proportion of its people getting vacci-
nated helped bring the fifth coronavirus
wave to an end in Japan. More than 76% of
its population, or about 97 million people,
are fully vaccinated, according to the Johns
Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center on
Sunday.
The number of confirmed new coronavi-
rus cases in Tokyo, a city of nearly 14 mil-
lion, on Sunday was nine, according to the
metropolitan government’s online data. On
Aug. 13, the daily case number reached
5,908, the city pandemic record.
Japan is the latest country to close its bor-
ders. Israel also barred entry to foreigners,
and Morocco planned to suspend all incom-
ing flights for two weeks starting Monday,
according to the AP.
Japan exempts DOD workers from foreign travelers banBY JOSEPH DITZLER
AND HANA KUSUMOTO
Stars and Stripes
[email protected]: @HanaKusumoto
TOKYO — A program to get
American travelers affiliated with
the U.S. military back to Okinawa
without a long pause for a corona-
virus quarantine is a hit among the
people it’s designed to serve, ac-
cording to the Marine who runs it.
The Okinawa Domestic Con-
nection Program is booked into
mid-February, Maj. Denver Edick
told Stars and Stripes by phone
Monday. That means its airline
seats after the Christmas and New
Year’s holidays are also booked,
he said.
“From 29 December all the way
through 10 January every seat is
booked and there is standby,” Ed-
ick said.
The program, which puts U.S.
travelers onto flights from Hane-
da International Airport in Tokyo
to Naha, Okinawa, was expanded
after it started as a 30-day trial
Nov. 12, according to an email
Monday from Lt. Col. Brooke
Brander, spokeswoman for U.S.
Forces Japan at Yokota Air Base
in western Tokyo.
The Okinawa program and two
others created recently allow
travelers associated with the U.S.
military to return to Japan without
incurring costly delays due to
quarantining in hotels or other
lodging. A 10-day stay at a hotel or
base lodging can exceed $1,000.
Those programs are, so far, not
affected by the travel ban that took
effect Tuesday in Japan that bars
entry by most foreign visitors to
the country. Prime Minister Fu-
mio Kishida announced the ban
Monday as an “emergency pre-
caution” to curb the spread of the
omicron variant of the coronavi-
rus. Americans under the status of
forces of agreement with Japan
are exempt from the ban.
The number of flights under the
Okinawa Domestic Connection
Program went from one to two
daily, Monday through Friday.
The number of seats available
rose from five to 15 daily, Edick
said. Only vaccinated adults and
unvaccinated minor family mem-
bers are eligible.
The program allows U.S. travel-
ers covered by SOFA and return-
ing from the States to board a com-
mercial flight for Naha eight hours
or more after arriving at Haneda.
SOFA governs the relationship be-
tween the United States and host
countries in regard to passports,
visa regulations and other mat-
ters.
Some restrictions apply. Trav-
elers must have a negative pre-
travel test for COVD-19 within 24
hours of domestic travel in Japan.
They must stay in lodging ap-
proved by the government of Ja-
pan or on a U.S. military until their
flight to Naha. Travel to their lodg-
ing by public transportation is
prohibited, but privately owned or
government vehicles are accept-
able.
SOFA travelers must complete
their 10-day quarantine, or re-
striction of movement, at their
home station, according to the
program.
Okinawa connection flights are
first come, first served, and are
booked by the program on All Nip-
pon Airways, according to the pro-
gram description. Travelers must
apply through the program.
The Okinawa Domestic Con-
nection is available to any service
branch, Edick said. He said he ex-
pects the program to be extended
beyond its 30-day trial period.
Feedback on the program has
been its own reward.
One woman needed to get to the
States to visit a sister whose child
was born prematurely. But the
ROM delay on the return leg
meant missing her husband’s de-
ployment, Edick said. The domes-
tic connection program provided
relief.
“She was in tears,” he said. “She
was excited about this.”
The Okinawa connection is one
of three options available to SOFA
travelers returning to Japan that
permit shortened ROM periods.
The other two were announced
Wednesday by USFJ.
SOFA travelers returning to Ja-
pan are instructed by USFJ to
work through their or their spon-
sors’ chains of command to sign
up for each option.
Under one option, Funded Envi-
ronmental Morale Leave, the Pen-
tagon on Nov. 19 eased its travel
restrictions to permit SOFA trav-
elers to fly aboard the Patriot Ex-
press from Seattle to Naha.
The Patriot Express is a U.S.
government-contracted military
passenger service that flies be-
tween the United States, Japan
and South Korea.
The third option allows incom-
ing SOFA travelers to quarantine
a minimum three days before con-
tinuing on to their U.S. military
destinations in Japan, where they
finish their ROM requirement.
USFJ commander Lt. Gen. Ricky
Rupp approved this exception to
travel policy with the Japanese
government’s cooperation, Bran-
der said Wednesday.
The individual traveler’s excep-
tion to policy must be approved
prior to travel, she said.
US military OKto bypass Japanquarantine rule
BY JOSEPH DITZLER
Stars and Stripes
AKIFUMI ISHIKAWA/Stars and Stripes
All Nippon Airways airliners prepare for departures at Haneda International Airport, Japan, on Nov. 10.
[email protected]: @JosephDitzler
VIRUS OUTBREAK
PAGE 6 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Tuesday, November 30, 2021
JOHANNESBURG — South
Africa’s rapid increase in CO-
VID-19 cases attributed to the new
omicron variant is resulting in
mostly mild symptoms, doctors
say.
“We’ve seen a sharp increase in
cases for the past 10 days. So far
they have mostly been very mild
cases, with patients having flu-
like symptoms: dry coughs, fever,
night sweats, a lot of body pains,”
said Dr. Unben Pillay, a general
practitioner in Gauteng province
where 81% of the new cases have
been reported.
“Most of these patients have
been treated at home,” Pillay told
an online press briefing Monday.
“Vaccinated people tend to do
much better. We have not seen a
vast increase in hospitalizations,
but this is still early days. Hospi-
talizations often come several
days after a rise in confirmed
cases.”
Most of the new cases in South
Africa have been among people in
their 20s and 30s, and doctors note
that age group generally has mil-
der symptoms of COVID-19 in any
case. They warn that older people
infected by the new variant could
have more severe symptoms.
Learning more about the omi-
cron variant is important as na-
tions around the world sought
Monday to keep the new variant at
bay with travel bans and further
restrictions, even as it remains
unclear what the variant means
for the COVID-19 pandemic.
Japan announced it would sus-
pend entry for all foreign visitors,
while new cases of the variant
identified days ago by research-
ers in southern Africa appeared
as far away as Hong Kong, Aus-
tralia and Portugal. Portuguese
authorities were investigating
whether some infections there
could be among the first reported
cases of local transmission of the
variant outside of southern Africa.
South Africa has seen its seven-
day average of new cases over the
past two weeks surge from about
200 per day to more than 2,000.
Omicron appears to be more
transmissible than previous vari-
ants and the surge in South Africa
could bring the daily number of
new cases to 10,000 by the end of
the week, infectious diseases spe-
cialist Salim Abdool Karim, told
the briefing.
“Our biggest challenge will be
to stop super-spreading events,
particularly indoors,” he said,
suggesting that it might be neces-
sary to restrict indoor gatherings
to those who are vaccinated.
The hotspot for the new surge is
Gauteng’s Tshwane metropolitan
area, incorporating the capital,
Pretoria. The “vast majority” of
those hospitalized there have
been unvaccinated people, said
Waasila Jassat of the National In-
stitute for Communicable Diseas-
es.
“Of recent hospitalizations 87%
have been unvaccinated, 13%
have been vaccinated,” Jassat
said of the 455 hospital admissions
in the Tshwane area in the past
two weeks.
Vaccination appears to have al-
so helped people avoid infection,
she said.
Of South Africa’s 60 million
people, 16.5 million are vaccinat-
ed and the number of fully vacci-
nated who are testing positive is
very small, said Nicholas Crisp,
the acting director-general of the
department of health. “It is a very
small number of those people who
tested positive. It’s minute in com-
parison to unvaccinated people.”
To combat the surge of CO-
VID-19 cases attributed to the om-
icron variant, South Africa is urg-
ing vaccinations and is weighing
making vaccines mandatory to
enter indoor areas, the minister of
health said Monday.
The government is not planning
to impose centralized vaccine
mandates, but will support busi-
nesses and organizations that
seek proof of vaccination to enter
indoor areas, Minister of Health
Joe Phaahla told reporters.
The government is considering
requiring vaccines for health
workers, including those who
work at state hospitals, he said.
“We are looking at concrete
proposals on how to deal with vac-
cine mandates in workplaces and
health care workplaces,” Phaahla
said.
Afew African countries, includ-
ing Angola, Egypt, Mauritius and
Rwanda, have joined the slew of
nations that have placed travel re-
strictions on South Africa and oth-
er countries in southern Africa.
“It’s quite regrettable, very un-
fortunate and I’ll even say sad to
be talking about travel restric-
tions imposed by a fellow African
country,” said Clayson Monyela,
spokesman for the Department of
International Affairs and
Many illin surgehave mildsymptoms
BY ANDREW MELDRUM
Associated Press
DENIS FARRELL/AP
A petrol attendant stands next to a newspaper headline in Pretoria, South Africa, on Saturday.
VIRUS OUTBREAK
WASHINGTON — Dr. Antho-
ny Fauci, the government’s top
infectious diseases expert, blast-
ed Sen. Ted Cruz for suggesting
that Fauci be investigated for
statements he made about CO-
VID-19 and said the criticism by
the Texas Republican was an at-
tack on science.
“I should be prosecuted? What
happened on Jan. 6, senator?”
Fauci, who is President Joe Bi-
den’s chief medical adviser, said
in an interview that aired Sunday
on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” It was
a reference to the violent insur-
rection at the U.S. Capitol by sup-
porters of then-President Donald
Trump that was stoked as Cruz
helped lead GOP objections to
Congress’ certifying the 2020
election results.
“I’m just going to do my job and
I’m going to be saving lives, and
they’re going to be lying,” Fauci
said.
Some Republicans, including
Cruz and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky.,
have accused Fauci of lying to
Congress when he denied in May
that the National Institutes of
Health funded “gain of function”
research — the practice of en-
hancing a virus in a lab to study
its potential impact in the real
world — at a virology lab in Wu-
han, China. Cruz has urged Attor-
ney General Merrick Garland to
appoint a special prosecutor to in-
vestigate Fauci’s statements.
Fauci, the director of the Na-
tional Institute of Allergy and In-
fectious Diseases, called the GOP
criticism nonsense.
“Anybody who’s looking at this
carefully realizes that there’s a
distinct anti-science flavor to
this,” he said.
Cruz and Paul say an October
letter from NIH to Congress con-
tradicts Fauci. But no clear evi-
dence or scientific consensus ex-
ists that “gain of function” re-
search was funded by NIH, and
there is no link of U.S.-funded re-
search to the emergence of CO-
VID-19. NIH has repeatedly
maintained that its funding did
not go to such research involving
boosting the infectivity and le-
thality of a pathogen.
When asked in the CBS inter-
view whether Republicans might
be raising the claims to make him
a scapegoat and deflect criticism
of Trump, Fauci said, “of course,
you have to be asleep not to figure
that one out.”
Fauci blasts Cruz over Chinese lab claimsBY HOPE YEN
Associated Press “I’m just going to do my job andI’m going to be saving lives, andthey’re going to be lying.”
Dr. Anthony Fauci
chief medical adviser
LONDON — The emergence of
the new omicron variant and the
world’s desperate and likely futile
attempts to keep it at bay are re-
minders of what scientists have
warned for months: The coronavi-
rus will thrive as long as vast parts
of the world lack vaccines.
The hoarding of limited CO-
VID-19 shots by rich countries —
creating virtual vaccine deserts in
many poorer ones — doesn’t just
mean risk for the parts of the
world seeing shortages; it threat-
ens the entire globe.
That’s because the more the dis-
ease spreads among unvaccinated
populations, the more possibilities
it has to mutate and potentially be-
come more dangerous, prolonging
the pandemic for everyone.
“The virus is a ruthless oppor-
tunist, and the inequity that has
characterized the global response
has now come home to roost,” said
Dr. Richard Hatchett, CEO of CE-
PI, one of the groups behind the
U.N.-backed COVAX shot-shar-
ing initiative.
Perhaps nowhere is the inequal-
ity more evident than in Africa,
where under 7% of the population
is vaccinated. South African sci-
entists alerted the World Health
Organization to the new omicron
variant last week.
COVAX was supposed to avoid
such inequality — but instead the
initiative is woefully short of shots
and has already abandoned its ini-
tial goal of 2 billion doses.
Meanwhile, richer nations often
have a glut of shots, and many are
now offering boosters — some-
thing the WHO has discouraged
because every booster is essen-
tially a dose that is not going to
someone who’s never even gotten
their first shot.
New omicronshowcasesinequity invaccinations
Associated Press
Tuesday, November 30, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 7
turned up in a widening array of
countries over the past few days,
and new cases in Portugal and
Scotland have raised fears that the
variant may already be spreading
locally.
“Many of us might think we are
done with COVID-19. It’s not done
with us,” warned Tedros Adha-
nom Ghebreyesus, director-gen-
eral of the World Health Organi-
zation.
Days after the variant sent a
shudder through the financial
world nearly two years into the
pandemic that has killed over 5
million people, markets had
mixed reactions Monday, with
European stocks and oil prices re-
bounding and Wall Street opening
higher, while Asian markets fell
further.
The infections showed the diffi-
culty in keeping the virus in check
in a world of jet travel and open
borders. Yet many countries tried
to do just that, even against the
urging of the WHO, which noted
that border closings often have
limited effect and can wreak ha-
voc on lives and livelihoods.
Some argued that such restric-
tions could provide valuable time
to analyze the new variant. Little is
known about it, including whether
it is more contagious, more likely
to cause serious illness or more
able to evade vaccines.
While the initial global response
to COVID-19 was criticized as
slow and haphazard, the reaction
to the new variant came quickly.
“This time, the world showed it
is learning,” said EU Commission
President Ursula von der Leyen,
singling out South African Presi-
dent Cyril Ramaphosa for praise.
“South Africa’s analytic work and
transparency and sharing its re-
sults was indispensable in allow-
ing a swift global response. It no
doubt saved many lives.”
The WHO has praised Botswa-
na as well as South Africa for
quickly alerting the world to the
presence of the new variant, and
many have warned that the coun-
tries should not be punished for
their speed.
But that did not hold von der
Leyen back from successfully
pushing the 27-nation EU to agree
on a ban on flights from seven
southern African nations over the
weekend, similar to measures
many other countries have taken.
On Monday, EU members Spain
and Poland followed through by
announcing travel and quarantine
restrictions.
Cases had already been report-
ed in EU nations Belgium, Den-
mark and the Netherlands before
Portuguese authorities identified
13 cases of omicron among team
members of the Belenenses pro-
fessional soccer club. Authorities
reported that one member had re-
cently traveled to South Africa. Its
game against Benfica over the
weekend had be abandoned at
halftime for lack of players.
Quarantining also became an is-
sue when Dutch military police
had to arrest a husband and wife
who left a hotel where they were
being held after testing positive
and boarded a plane bound for
Spain.
“Quarantine is not obligatory,
but we assume people will act re-
sponsibly,” spokeswoman Petra
Faber said.
And after Scotland reported its
first six cases, First Minister Nico-
la Sturgeon warned that “there
might already be some communi-
ty transmission of this variant.”
Taking no chances, Japan,
which has yet to detect any omi-
cron cases, reimposed border con-
trols that it had eased earlier this
month.
“We are taking the step as an
emergency precaution to prevent
a worst-case scenario in Japan,”
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida
said. The new measures begin
Tuesday.
Israel likewise decided to bar
entry to foreigners, and Morocco
said it would suspend all incoming
flights for two weeks starting
Monday.
Slam: Despite WHO urging, nations around the world close bordersFROM PAGE 1
VIRUS OUTBREAK
NAPLES, Italy — U.S. military
installations in Italy likely will see
little impact from the country’s lat-
est effort to turn up the heat on un-
vaccinated people, mostly because
of earlier Pentagon vaccination
mandates for service members
and civilians, officials said Mon-
day.
Anew Italian decree barring the
unvaccinated from most public
places goes into effect next Mon-
day.
Aviano Air Base officials said
they didn’t anticipate any CO-
VID-19 policy changes, but they
reminded community members
that the new rules went into effect
in the surrounding region Mon-
day, a week sooner than the rest of
Italy.
Rising infection, hospitalization
and intensive care rates pushed
Friuli-Venezia Giulia into Italy’s
yellow risk zone. The designation
also triggered separate controls,
such as mandatory mask wearing
outdoors, the base said on its web-
site.
The rest of Italy remained in the
white zone, according to the Italian
Health Ministry.
Officials at Naval Air Station Si-
gonella in Sicily, U.S. Army Garri-
son Vicenza and Naval Support
Activity Naples also said they ex-
pected no changes.
“Currently, we have no plans to
introduce stricter restrictions that
exceed what we already have if it
respects the local Italian decree,”
said Lt. Drake Greer, a NAS Sigo-
nella spokesman, noting that all
active-duty service members are
already required to be vaccinated.
Typically, U.S. bases in Italy
have followed local, regional or na-
tional COVID-19 laws unless De-
fense Department or Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention
rules are tougher.
For example, the requirement
for social distancing on U.S. bases
is 6 feet, according to CDC recom-
mendations. Italian health recom-
mendations require just three feet.
While outdoor mask wearing
isn't required in most circum-
stances in Italy, it is required at
NSA Naples' Capodichino site in
the main walkway during peak
times, such as lunch.
The government in Rome last
week passed some of the strictest
measures yet against the unvacci-
nated, effectively banning them
from most public venues, such as
cafes, bars, cinemas and sporting
venues.
Starting next Monday, only peo-
ple who are vaccinated or who can
prove recovery from the virus will
be allowed entry into those estab-
lishments, Reuters reported. Pre-
viously, people with a negative CO-
VID-19 test also could access those
same venues.
Unvaccinated people will be
able to go to the grocery store or
use other essential services. They
also can work if they can provide a
negative COVID-19 test.
The new measure added buses
and the metro to the list of public
transportation requiring a green
pass health certification or CDC
white card. Italy already required
the health certification for planes,
long-distance trains, taxis, ferries
and regional buses. The unvacci-
nated will still be able to use public
transportation provided they have
a negative test.
Italy reported 12,877 new CO-
VID-19 cases and 90 deaths on
Sunday, according to the Italian
Health Ministry website. The min-
istry also reported that 84% of the
population was fully vaccinated
and nearly 6 million booster doses
had been given.
On Monday, the Italian news
agency Ansa reported that Italy
was considering mandatory mask
wearing outdoors nationwide
starting Dec. 6.
US bases in Italy don’t expect policy changesBY ALISON BATH
Stars and Stripes
Stars and Stripes reporters Kent Harris and NancyMontgomery contributed to this [email protected]: @alisonbath_
KENT HARRIS/Stars and Stripes
A sign requiring masks at an Agip gas station near Aviano Air Base, Italy, on Monday.
PAGE 8 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Tuesday, November 30, 2021
therefore often leave us behind,
even if our products are high qual-
ity. Money talks,” she said. “We
notice that inflation is not good for
us. ... I’m just glad my kids don’t
want to continue this family busi-
ness, I don’t see much future in it.”
In nearby Poland, Barbara Gro-
towska, a 71-year-old pensioner,
said outside a discount supermar-
ket in the capital of Warsaw that
she’s been hit hardest by her gar-
bage collection fee nearly tripling
to $21. She also lamented that the
cooking oil she uses has gone up
by a third of its price, to $2.40.
“That’s a real difference,” she
said.
The recent pickup in inflation
has caught business leaders and
economists around the world by
surprise.
In spring 2020, the coronavirus
crushed the global economy: gov-
ernments ordered lockdowns,
businesses closed or slashed
hours and families stayed home.
Companies braced for the worst,
canceling orders and putting off
investments.
In an attempt to stave off eco-
nomic catastrophe, wealthy coun-
tries — most notably the United
States — introduced trillions of
dollars worth of government aid,
an economic mobilization on a
scale unseen since World War II.
Central banks also slashed inter-
est rates in a bid to revive econom-
ic activity.
But those efforts to jump-start
economies have had unintended
consequences: as consumers felt
more emboldened to spend the
money they had received through
government assistance or low-in-
terest borrowing, and vaccine rol-
louts encouraged people to return
to restaurants, bars and shops, the
surge in demand tested the capac-
ity of suppliers to keep pace.
Ports and freight yards were
suddenly clogged with shipments,
BUDAPEST, Hungary — From
appliance stores in the United
States to food markets in Hungary
and gas stations in Poland, rising
consumer prices fueled by high
energy costs and supply chain dis-
ruptions are putting a pinch on
households and businesses world-
wide.
Rising inflation is leading to
price increases for food, gas and
other products and pushing many
people to choose between digging
deeper into their pockets or tight-
ening their belts. In developing
economies, it’s especially dire.
“We’ve noticed that we’re con-
suming less,” Gabor Pardi, a shop-
per at an open-air food market in
Hungary’s capital, Budapest, said
after buying a sack of fresh vege-
tables recently. “We try to shop for
the cheapest and most economical
things, even if they don’t look as
good.”
Nearly two years into the CO-
VID-19 pandemic, the economic
impact of the crisis is still being
felt even after countries raced out
of debilitating lockdowns and con-
sumer demand rebounded. Now,
another surge of infections and a
new coronavirus variant, omi-
cron, are leading countries to
tighten their borders and impose
other restrictions, threatening the
global economic recovery.
The reverberations are hitting
central and Eastern Europe espe-
cially hard, where countries have
some of the highest inflation rates
in the 27-nation European Union
and people are struggling to buy
food or fill their fuel tanks.
A butcher at the Budapest food
market, Ildiko Vardos Serfozo,
said she’s seen a drop in business
as customers head to multination-
al grocery chains that can offer
discounts by buying in large
wholesale quantities.
“Buyers are price sensitive and
and prices began to rise as global
supply chains seized up — espe-
cially as new outbreaks of CO-
VID-19 sometimes shut down fac-
tories and ports in Asia.
The rise in prices has been dra-
matic. Inflation in the United
States surged to 6.2% in October,
the highest since 1990, and the In-
ternational Monetary Fund pre-
dicts that world consumer prices
will rise 4.3% this year, the biggest
jump since 2011.
It is most pronounced in the de-
veloping economies of central and
Eastern Europe, with the highest
annual rates recorded in Lithua-
nia (8.2%), Estonia (6.8%) and
Hungary (6.6%). In Poland, one of
Europe’s fastest-growing econo-
mies, inflation came in at 6.4% in
October, the highest rate in two
decades.
Several shoppers at a vegetable
stand in Warsaw said they are
anxious about rising prices for sta-
ples like bread and cooking oil and
are expecting the situation to get
worse in the new year, when ener-
gy prices are set to rise.
Piotr Molak, a 44-year-old vege-
table vendor, said he has not yet
had to raise prices on the potatoes,
apples or carrots he sells but the
cherry tomatoes he imports from
Spain and Italy, which he buys in
euros, have gotten far more ex-
pensive as Poland’s currency, the
zloty, has weakened.
“We will mostly feel this in the
new year when electricity goes
up,” Molak said. “We are really
going to feel it when we have to
spend more on our home than on
pleasure.”
The weakening of currencies
across central and Eastern Eu-
rope against the U.S. dollar and
euro is pushing up the price of im-
ports and fuel and exacerbating
the pinch from supply backups
and other factors.
Hungary’s currency, the forint,
has lost around 16% of its value
against the dollar in the last six
months and slipped to a historic
low against the euro last week.
That’s part of a strategy by Hun-
gary’s central bank to keep the
country competitive and attract
foreign companies seeking cheap
labor, said Zsolt Balassi, a portfo-
lio manager at Hold Asset Man-
agement in Budapest.
But prices on imported goods
have skyrocketed, and global oil
prices set in U.S. dollars have
pushed fuel costs to record levels.
“As the Hungarian forint, and
actually all regional currencies,
are more or less constantly weak-
ening, this will constantly raise oil
prices in our currencies,” Balassi
said.
In response to record fuel pric-
es, which peaked this month at
$1.59 for gasoline and $1.61 for die-
sel per liter, Hungary’s govern-
ment announced a $1.50 cap at fill-
ing stations.
While giving some relief, Hun-
gary’s upcoming elections, in
which the right-wing governing
party faces the most serious chal-
lenge since it was elected in 2010,
were likely a factor, Balassi said.
“This is obviously a political de-
cision which has huge economic
disadvantages, but probably it
makes the households happy,” he
said.
The political nature of some ec-
onomic decisions is not limited to
Hungary.
Poland’s central bank, also fac-
ing a weakening currency, has
been accused by critics of allow-
ing inflation to rise too high for too
long to encourage economic
growth and bolster support for the
ruling party.
The bank surprised markets
with the timing and size of two
base interest rate hikes in October
and November in a bid to ease
prices, while Hungary’s central
bank has raised rates in smaller
increments six times this year.
Still, if central banks move too
aggressively too soon to control in-
flation, it could short-circuit the
economic recovery, said Carmen
Reinhart, chief economist at the
World Bank.
Global inflationsurges; familiesstruggle to pay
Associated Press
RINGO H.W. CHIU/AP
A Black Friday shopper wearing a face mask leaves a Walmart store with a TV in Pic Rivera Calif., onFriday.
NATION
AUSTIN, Texas — Actor Mat-
thew McConaughey isn’t running
for Texas governor after months
of publicly flirting with the idea of
becoming the latest celebrity
candidate.
The Academy Award winner
said in a video posted Sunday
night that political leadership
was not a route he was choosing to
take “at this moment.” McCo-
naughey, 52, said he would in-
stead focus on supporting busi-
nesses and foundations that cre-
ate pathways for others to suc-
ceed.
The Texas governor’s race is
already shaping up to be one of
the nation’s highest-profile con-
tests in 2022. Republican Gov.
Greg Abbott is seeking a third
term and Demo-
crat Beto
O’Rourke, com-
ing off failed
bids for the U.S.
Senate and pres-
ident, an-
nounced month
that he was get-
ting in the race.
The “Dazed and Confused” and
“Dallas Buyers Club” star had
never said what party — if any —
he would run under while ac-
knowledging that he was mulling
a run for governor in his home
state. McConaughey had also
shied away from going into policy
specifics and positions on conten-
tious issues in Texas.
“Politicians? The good ones can
help us to get to where we need to
go, yeah,” McConaughey said in
the video posted to Twitter. “But
let’s be clear, they can’t do any-
thing for us unless we choose to
do for ourselves.”
In California, former Olympian
Caitlyn Jenner ran for governor
this year in a failed GOP-led re-
call effort against Democratic
Gov. Gavin Newsom but gained
little momentum.
McConaughey won’t run for Texas governor in 2022Associated Press
McConaughey
Tuesday, November 30, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 9
NATION
LAWRENCE, Kan. — A 21-
year-old embattled Kansas law-
maker was arrested on suspicion
of drunken driving — his second
arrest in less than a month — and
is facing fresh calls for his resig-
nation or removal from office.
A Kansas trooper arrested Aa-
ron Coleman around 1 a.m. Satur-
day on Interstate 70 near Law-
rence, the Kansas Highway Pa-
trol said. Cole-
man was taken
to the Douglas
County Jail,
where he bond-
ed out hours lat-
er.
Coleman did
not immediately
return phone and email messages
left Monday morning by The As-
sociated Press seeking a com-
ment on this matter.
At the time of the arrest, Cole-
man was already out on bond
from an Oct. 30 domestic battery
arrest. In that case, he allegedly
pushed, hit and spit on his 18-
year-old brother in a fight that
erupted because the brother was
going to get baptized, according
to court documents.
The Kansas City Democrat has
been embroiled in controversy
since before he took office after
being elected in 2020 and has ac-
knowledged past abuses against
girls and young women. A legisla-
tive committee reprimanded Co-
leman in writing in February
over those abuses.
Last month, Coleman also was
banned from the Kansas Depart-
ment of Labor’s offices over alle-
gations of disruptive behavior.
Coleman said he was trying to
help constituents.
Both Kansas House Speaker
Ron Ryckman, a Republican, and
Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly
have joined the chorus of those
calling for Coleman to resign. If
he refuses to resign, Kelly said,
the Legislature should remove
him from office, saying his latest
arrest “is further evidence that
he is not fit to serve in the Kansas
House of Representatives.”
Embattled Kan. lawmaker arrested for 2nd time in a monthAssociated Press
Coleman
BANGOR, Maine — University
of Maine researchers are trying to
produce potatoes that can better
withstand warming temperatures
as the climate changes.
Warming temperatures and an
extended growing season can
lead to quality problems and dis-
ease, Gregory Porter, a professor
of crop ecology and management,
told the Bangor Daily News.
“The predictions for climate
change are heavier rainfall
events, and potatoes don’t tolerate
flooding or wet conditions for long
without having other quality
problems,” Porter said. “If we
want potatoes to continue to be
produced successfully in Maine,
we need to be able to produce va-
rieties that can be resistant to
change.”
Around the world, research
aimed at mitigating crop damage
is underway. A NASA study pub-
lished this month suggested cli-
mate change may affect the pro-
duction of corn and wheat, with
corn yields projected to decline
while wheat could see potential
growth, as soon as 2030 under a
high greenhouse gas emissions
scenario.
Maine is coming off a banner
potato crop thanks in part to the
success of the Caribou russet,
which was developed by UMaine
researchers. But Porter fears that
even that variety isn’t as heat tol-
erant as necessary to resist the fu-
ture effects of climate change.
Pests are another factor. The
Colorado potato beetle and dis-
ease-spreading aphids have flour-
ished with the changing climate,
said Jim Dill, pest management
specialist at the University of
Maine Cooperative Extension.
Breeding seemingly small
changes like hairier leaves that
make it difficult for insects to
move around on the plant can cut
down on pests’ destruction and al-
so the need for pesticides, he said.
Breeding such characteristics
into potatoes is a long process of
cross-pollinating different potato
varieties.
The process is well underway.
They’re in a research testing
phase right now at sites through-
out the United States. Test pota-
toes in Virginia, North Carolina
and Florida are testing high tem-
perature stress.
“It takes 10 years of selection
after that initial cross pollination,
and it might take two to five years
before enough commercial eval-
uation has taken place to release a
new potato variety,” Porter said.
ROBERT F. BUKATY/AP
High school students Adam Paterson, 15, left, and Jordi Legasse, 17, right, pulls rocks and and unwantedmaterials from a conveyor belt moving potatoes into storage facility in Mapleton, Maine, on Sept. 25,2014.
Researchers try producing potatothat is resistant to climate change
Associated Press
Weather officials urged North-
west residents to remain alert Sun-
day as more rain was predicted to
fall in an area with lingering water
from extreme weather earlier this
month.
“There’s some good news and
some pending news,” said Steve
Reedy, a meteorologist with the Na-
tional Weather Service in Seattle.
The weather service on Saturday
warned that flooding was possible
through Sunday in northwestern
Washington, but an atmospheric
river — a huge plume of moisture
extending over the Pacific and into
the Northwest — moved farther
north into Canada than expected
overnight.
“The impacts weren’t quite as
bad as we were anticipating during
the overnight period,” Reedy said.
After a respite, rain reentered the
area later Sunday, which could
cause some “nuisance flooding,” he
said.
“The flooding isn’t going to be
quite as bad as we were expecting
24 hours ago, but it still looks like
some rivers up there could get into
minor, maybe even moderate flood-
ing,” Reedy said.
The big question was how some
communities, which saw heavy
damage earlier from the previous
storm, would fare.
People in the small communities
of Sumas and Everson in northwest
Washington were asked to evacuate
voluntarily Saturday night, The Bel-
lingham Herald reported. Both
towns near the Canadian border
saw extreme flooding from the pre-
vious storm.
The Nooksack River topped Main
Street in Everson on Sunday after-
noon, Everson Mayor John Perry
told The Associated Press.
Perry was hopeful flooding
wouldn’t end up being as dramatic
as anticipated, but the uncertainty
of the bottom of the river from the
last flood made him nervous.
“I think we’re overprepared right
now,” he said. “We’re monitoring it
very carefully.”
The rain slowed down later in the
day and Main Street’s flooding was
about a foot deep, he said.
“At this point, it appears things
are stable and there’s no cause for
alarm,” Perry said.
Sumas resident Duane DeWaard
said his garage flooded a couple of
inches during the last flood. He put
sandbags at the garage doors and
braced for more rain to come Sun-
day.
“Sumas so far is doing OK,” he
said.
November has been wet for
northwest Washington. Bellingham
recorded 11.64 inches at midnight
Sunday — an all-time record for the
month, the weather service said.
A station at Quillayute Airport on
the north coast got 27.8 inches and
could likely break a 1983 record of
29.14 inches for November, Reedy
said.
One concern overnight is the
threat of landslides, said Gary
Schneider, another meteorologist
with the weather service in Seattle.
There were also flood warnings in
effect for some local rivers.
Reedy cautioned not driving into
standing water on roadways near
rivers.
“It doesn’t take a lot of water to
push your car around — or truck,”
he said. “Some people think just be-
cause they have a large truck, they
can mow through. That’s not always
the case.”
While rain will taper off Monday,
another system is headed to the area
starting Tuesday and spilling into
Wednesday, Reedy said.
“On the bright side of things, it
does still look like after we get into
Wednesday, conditions look dry af-
ter the second half of the week,” he
said. “So hopefully there’s some
light at the end of the tunnel.”
Northwest citizensurged to stay alertas storms roll in
BY JENNIFER SINCO
KELLEHER
Associated Press
PAGE 10 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Tuesday, November 30, 2021
NATION
NEW YORK — With an expand-
ed definition to reflect the times,
Merriam-Webster has declared an
omnipresent truth as its 2021 word
of the year: vaccine.
“This was a word that was ex-
tremely high in our data every sin-
gle day in 2021,” Peter Sokolowski,
Merriam-Webster’s editor-at-
large, told The Associated Press
ahead of Monday’s announcement.
“It really represents two differ-
ent stories. One is the science story,
which is this remarkable speed
with which the vaccines were de-
veloped. But there’s also the de-
bates regarding policy, politics and
political affiliation. It’s one word
that carries these two huge stories,”
he said.
The selection follows “vax” as
word of the year from the folks who
publish the Oxford English Dictio-
nary. And it comes after Merriam-
Webster chose “pandemic” as tops
in lookups last year on its online site.
“The pandemic was the gun go-
ing off, and now we have the after-
effects,” Sokolowski said.
At Merriam-Webster, lookups
for “vaccine” increased 601% over
2020, when the first U.S. shot was
administered in New York in De-
cember after quick development,
and months of speculation and dis-
cussion over efficacy. The world’s
first jab occurred earlier that
month in the United Kingdom.
Merriam-Webster has been de-
claring a word of the year since
2008. Among its runners-up in the
word biography of 2021 were insur-
rection, infrastructure, perseve-
rance and nomad.
Merriam-Webster chooses ‘vaccine’ as 2021 word of the yearAssociated Press
MINNEAPOLIS — Strolling his
church’s rooftop among 630 solar
panels, Bishop Richard Howell Jr.
acknowledged climate change
isn’t the most pressing concern for
his predominantly Black congre-
gation — even though it dispropor-
tionately harms people of color
and the poor.
“The violence we’re having,
shootings, killings, COVID-19,”
Howell said wearily. “You’re try-
ing to save families, and right now
no one’s really talking about global
warming.”
Yet his Shiloh Temple Interna-
tional Ministries in north Minnea-
polis welcomed the opportunity to
become one of many “community
solar” providers popping up
around the United States amid
surging demand for renewable en-
ergy.
Larger than home rooftop sys-
tems but smaller than utility-scale
complexes, they’re located atop
buildings, or on abandoned factory
grounds and farms. Individuals or
companies subscribe to portions of
energy sent to the grid and get
credits that reduce their electrici-
ty bills.
The model attracts people who
can’t afford rooftop installations or
live where solar is not accessible,
such as renters and owners of
dwellings without direct sunlight.
“We’re helping fight this climate
war and blessing families with
lower costs,” Howell said.
Nearly 1,600 community solar
projects, or “gardens,” are operat-
ing nationwide, according to the
National Renewable Energy Lab-
oratory in Golden, Colo. Most are
in Minnesota, Massachusetts,
New York and Colorado, although
41 states and Washington, D.C.,
have at least one. Florida has rela-
tively few, but they’re big enough
to make the state a leading pro-
ducer.
Together they generate roughly
3.4 gigawatts — enough for about
650,000 homes — or roughly 3% of
the nation’s solar output. But more
than 4.3 gigawatts are expected to
go online within five years, says
the Solar Energy Industries Asso-
ciation.
“We can have a cheaper, cleaner
and more equitable system for ev-
eryone if we build smaller, local
resources,” said Jeff Cramer, ex-
ecutive director of the Coalition
for Community Solar Access, a
trade group.
Yet it’s unclear how big a role
community solar will play in the
U.S. transition from fossil fuels to
renewables.
The Biden administration is
continuing a $15 million Energy
Department initiative begun in
2019 to support its growth, partic-
ularly in low- and moderate-in-
come neighborhoods. The depart-
ment announced a goal in October
of powering the equivalent of 5
million households with commu-
nity solar by 2025, saving consum-
ers $1 billion.
But power regulation happens
at the state level, where interest
groups are fighting over what de-
fines community solar and who
should generate it.
The Solar Energy Industries As-
sociation said the label should ap-
ply only where private developers
and nonprofit cooperatives, not
just utilities, can operate solar gar-
dens and send power to the grid.
The association said 19 states and
Washington, D.C., have such poli-
cies.
Utilities say having too many
players could unravel regulatory
structures that assure reliable
electric service. They warn of di-
sasters such as last winter’s deadly
blackout in Texas.
“You’ve got lots of individual
profit-motivated actors trying to
make a buck,” said Brandon Hof-
meister, a senior vice president
with Consumers Energy. The Mi-
chigan power company is fighting
state bills that would allow non-
utility community solar providers.
Others have said utilities are
simply ducking competition.
“What’s really driving the rise of
community solar is the free mar-
ket,” said John Freeman, execu-
tive director of the Great Lakes
Renewable Energy Association, a
trade group. “It saves money and
promotes a cleaner environment.”
Community solar took off in
Minnesota after lawmakers in
2013 required Xcel Energy, the
state’s largest utility, to establish a
program open to other developers.
It has more than 400 gardens —
tops in the U.S. — with nearly 500
applications pending.
Keith Dent and Noy Koumalasy,
who are married, said subscribing
to the Shiloh Temple garden has
lowered their bills an average of
$98 per year.
“You’re generating your own
power and saving a little money,”
said Dent, who helped install sev-
eral complexes built by Coopera-
tive Energy Futures, a local non-
profit.
Xcel, which is required to buy
the gardens’ electricity, says the
state formula for valuing solar en-
ergy makes it too expensive. The
costs, spread among all the utility’s
customers, essentially force non-
subscribers to subsidize commu-
nity solar, spokesman Matthew
Lindstrom said.
Community solar backers have
said Xcel’s claim ignores savings
from local gardens’ lower distribu-
tion costs.
Among Cooperative Energy Fu-
tures gardens are 3,760 panels on a
parking deck overlooking the
Twins’ baseball stadium and a col-
lection on a farm near Faribault,
50 miles south of Minneapolis.
Although conflicted about tak-
ing six acres out of production,
farmer Gerald Bauer supports the
climate cause and said lease pay-
ments of $1,200 per acre make
community solar a financial win-
ner.
“Farming doesn’t even come
close to the revenue that the solar
generates,” he said, walking
through rows of panels framed by
fields of corn.
A cooperative project for a mu-
nicipal roof in nearby Eden Prairie
has twice as many would-be sub-
scribers as panels.
”There are people in the com-
munity who want to support clean
energy any way they can,” said
Jennifer Hassebroek, sustainabil-
ity coordinator for the suburban
city.
But community solar develop-
ers are hitting a roadblock: Under
state law, residents and businesses
can subscribe to facilities only in
their county or an adjacent one.
That means the heavily populat-
ed Twin Cites have many potential
subscribers, but are short of space
for gardens. Rural areas have
plenty of room but fewer buyers
for the energy.
A bill by State Rep. Patty
Acomb, a Democrat representing
a Twin Cities suburban district,
would drop the “contiguous coun-
ty” rule.
But Xcel says that contradicts a
basic community solar principle:
producing energy close to where
it’s used.
Community solar is billed as
making renewable energy more
available to households, especially
needy ones. Yet businesses and
public entities with sustainability
goals, such as schools and city
halls, subscribe to most of the pow-
er.
“There’s still a lot to be done to
open community solar market ac-
cess to marginalized folks,” said
Gilbert Michaud, an assistant pro-
fessor of public policy at Loyola
University Chicago.
Community systemsprovide alternativesolar growth paths
BY JOHN FLESHER
Associated Press
PHOTOS BY JIM MONE/AP
Barb and Gerald Bauer stroll along a row of solar panels on their farm near Faribault, Minn., on Friday,Aug. 20.
A “community solar” installation is atop the Ramp A parking garagenear the Minnesota Twins’ baseball stadium in downtown Minneapolison Friday, Aug. 20.
Tuesday, November 30, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 11
AMERICAN ROUNDUP
Fire station gets severelydamaged in huge blaze
GA SMARR — A middle
Georgia fire station
was heavily damaged in a late Sat-
urday blaze.
Monroe County Emergency
Services said in a social media
post that its station in Smarr
caught fire and burned while no
firefighters were present. A pum-
per truck that had been used to re-
spond to an earlier call Saturday
night was parked inside the sta-
tion and was also severely dam-
aged.
As firefighters battled the blaze,
part of the roof collapsed. A fire
battalion chief injured his knee
and was taken to a local hospital
with non-life-threatening injuries.
Firefighters fought the fire for
more than three hours and contin-
ued monitoring for hotspots, the
agency said. No cause has been
determined. The Georgia state
fire marshal is investigating.
Lawsuit accuses priest ofkeeping church donations
KY LOUISVILLE — Par-
ishioners in Kentucky
have accused a Roman Catholic
priest of converting church funds
for his personal use.
Current and former parish
council members at St. John Vian-
ney Catholic Church in Louisville
filed a civil lawsuit in Jefferson
County against the Rev. Anthony
Ngo, news outlets reported.
The lawsuit accuses Ngo of vio-
lating his fiduciary duties by pock-
eting the donations. Ngo has re-
fused to share documents with the
parish council about the church’s
funds and donations and instruct-
ed a parish accountant to withhold
the documents as well, it said.
Ngo has declined comment, cit-
ing the ongoing lawsuit. Louisville
Archdiocese spokeswoman Cece-
lia Price said a financial audit was
conducted and “no malfeasance
was found.” Ngo has been pastor
for more than two decades and re-
mains assigned to the church.
Man pleads guilty inairline baggage scam
LA NEW ORLEANS — A
Louisiana man has
pleaded guilty in an airline bag-
gage scam that resulted in more
than $300,000 in fraudulent
claims, federal prosecutors said.
Pernell Anthony Jones, Jr., 31,
of Kenner, pleaded guilty to con-
spiracy to commit mail fraud and
mail fraud, U.S. Attorney Duane
A. Evans said in a news release
Tuesday. For each count, Jones
faces up to 20 years in prison and a
$250,000 fine. U.S. District Judge
Susie Morgan set sentencing for
Feb. 24, 2022.
According to court documents,
beginning in 2015, Jones flew on
several airlines using false identi-
ties. When he arrived at the desti-
nation airport, he then falsely
claimed that his baggage was lost
and requested reimbursement to
compensate him for his loss.
Through the scheme, Jones sub-
mitted more than 180 false claims
for lost luggage, requesting over
$550,000 in reimbursement,
Evans’ office said. In total, the air-
lines paid over $300,000 in fraudu-
lent claims, authorities said.
Art museum gets $750Kgift and renames gallery
ME OGUNQUIT — A
Maine art museum
has received one of the largest
gifts in its history and is renaming
a gallery after the donors.
The Ogunquit Museum of
American Art said it received the
$750,000 gift from Carol and Noel
Leary. The gift will help fund the
expansion of the museum.
The museum said it renamed its
largest gallery the “Carol and No-
el Leary Gallery” in honor of the
donors. The Learys are longtime
donors to the museum, and Carol
Leary was elected its board presi-
dent this month.
The Learys “hope our gift will
inspire others to invest in the mu-
seum’s future,” Carol Leary said.
People upset about odorlose beet processor case
MI BAY CITY — Residents
complaining about foul
odors from a sugar beet processor
in Bay City have a lost a key deci-
sion at the Michigan Court of Ap-
peals.
Michigan Sugar, which turns
beets into sugar, is accused of de-
priving people from enjoying their
property because of odors.
But the appeals court said Mik-
kie Morley and Jonathan Morley,
who moved into their home in
2016, haven’t exhausted the com-
plaint process at state agencies.
The court also dismissed a sepa-
rate negligence claim.
Michigan Sugar’s attorney,
Brion Doyle, said millions of dol-
lars are being spent to control
odors under a previous agreement
with state regulators.
Up to 30 people conductrobbery at Best Buy store
MN MINNEAPOLIS — A
group of 20 to 30 peo-
ple grabbed numerous electronic
items at a Best Buy store in Burns-
ville and quickly fled before police
could arrive.
No weapons were seen in the
caper Friday night and no one was
reported injured, Burnsville po-
lice Capt. Don Stenger said. The
Star Tribune reported no one had
been arrested as of Saturday
morning.
The robbery occurred shortly
after 8 p.m. on Black Friday, one of
the busiest shopping days of the
year following the Thanksgiving
holiday.
The incidents resemble a num-
ber of mass robberies recently re-
ported across the United States,
where groups of people swarm a
store, clear the shelves of goods
and then flee.
Fire destroys guitars atAvett Bros. father’s home
NC CONCORD — A fire
has destroyed 60 gui-
tars and up to 100 paintings at the
North Carolina home of Jim Avett.
He is the father of Scott and Seth
Avett of the Avett Brothers band.
The Charlotte Observer report-
ed that the fire occurred Friday in
the city of Concord.
Officials said that arriving fire-
fighters saw “heavy fire from the
garage” and entered the house to
keep the flames from spreading.
No one was hurt, although Jim
Avett said a cat was missing.
The Avett Brothers, a three-
time Grammy Award nominee,
are based in North Carolina and
have a national following. Jim
Avett said on Facebook that the
blaze is “not a knockout punch.”
Man arrested in woman’sdeadly fall down stairs
NY NEW YORK — A man
suspected in a deadly
mugging on a subway station
stairway was arrested four
months later after someone spot-
ted him in Central Park and called
a tip line, police said Saturday.
David Robinson, 53, was await-
ing arraignment after being ar-
rested Friday on murder and
manslaughter charges in the
death of Htwe Than Than. It
wasn’t immediately clear whether
Robinson had an attorney who
could comment on the allegations,
and no phone number for his
home could immediately be
found.
Police said the 58-year-old vic-
tim was walking up some steps in a
station in Manhattan’s Chinatown
with her 22-year-old son on July 17
when Robinson grabbed the son’s
backpack, propelling both son and
mother down the stairs. She was in
a coma for several days before
succumbing to her injuries.
Noting that the transit agency
now has security cameras in every
station, Metropolitan Transporta-
tion Authority spokesperson Tim
Minton said in a statement Satur-
day that “anyone who preys on
transit riders can expect to be
identified and face justice.”
MARK MORAN, THE CITIZENS’ VOICE/AP
Art student Allison Stallard paints a holiday decoration on the window door at Community Counseling Services in WilkesBarre, Pa., on Friday.
Hand painted mug
THE CENSUS
129 The age of a historic building that was once the site of theWright brothers’ first bike shop, which was approved by the
Dayton Board of Zoning Appeals to be demolished by the city. The city wantsto tear down the site because the building has deteriorated to a point where itcan no longer be maintained and redeveloped, the Dayton Daily News has re-ported. Public safety concerns have also been raised by some who fear thebuilding could collapse. Preservation groups had opposed the city’s plan. Theyargued that keeping the building’s facade and incorporating it into a redevel-opment project would make the project eligible for historic tax credits.
From The Associated Press
PAGE 12 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Tuesday, November 30, 2021
WORLD
VIENNA — Negotiators gath-
ered in Vienna on Monday to re-
sume talks over reviving Iran’s
2015 nuclear deal with world
powers, with hopes of quick pro-
gress muted after the arrival of a
hard-line new government in
Tehran led to a more than five-
month hiatus.
The remaining signatories to
the nuclear deal formally known
as the Joint Comprehensive Plan
of Action — Iran, Russia, China,
France, Germany and Britain —
will convene at the Palais Co-
burg, the luxury hotel where the
agreement was signed six years
ago. The talks come as Austria
remains locked down over the
coronavirus, which start a week
earlier over a surge in cases.
The last round of talks, aimed
at bringing Iran back into com-
pliance with the agreement and
paving the way for the United
States to rejoin, was held in June.
Since then, the task has only be-
come more difficult.
The U.S. is not at the table be-
cause it unilaterally pulled out of
the deal in 2018 under then-Pres-
ident Donald Trump, who re-
stored and augmented American
sanctions in a campaign of “max-
imum pressure” to try to force
Iran into renegotiating the pact.
President Joe Biden has sig-
naled that he wants to rejoin the
deal. A U.S. delegation headed
by the administration’s special
envoy for Iran, Robert Malley, is
participating indirectly in the
talks, with diplomats from the
other countries acting as go-be-
tweens.
The nuclear deal saw Iran lim-
it its enrichment of uranium in
exchange for the lifting of eco-
nomic sanctions. Since the deal’s
collapse, Iran now enriches
small amounts of uranium up to
60% purity — a short step from
weapons-grade levels of 90%.
Iran also spins advanced centri-
fuges barred by the accord and
its uranium stockpile now far ex-
ceeds the accord’s limits.
Iran maintains its atomic pro-
gram is peaceful. U.S. intelli-
gence agencies and international
inspectors, however, have said
that Iran had an organized nu-
clear weapons program up until
2003. Nonproliferation experts
fear the brinkmanship could
push Tehran toward even more-
extreme measures to try and
force the West to lift sanctions.
Making matters more diffi-
cult, United Nations nuclear in-
spectors remain unable to fully
monitor Iran’s program after
Tehran limited their access. A
trip to Iran last week by the head
of the International Atomic En-
ergy Agency, Rafael Grossi,
failed to make any progress on
that issue.
Russia’s top representative,
Mikhail Ulyanov, said he held
“useful” informal consultations
with officials from Iran and Chi-
na on Sunday. That meeting, he
said, was aimed at “better under-
standing ... the updated negotiat-
ing position of Tehran.“ Enrique
Mora, the European Union offi-
cial chairing the talks, on Twitter
wrote Monday of “intense pre-
paratory work ongoing.”
A delegation appointed by new
President Ebrahim Raisi is join-
ing the negotiations for the first
time. Iran has made maximalist
demands, including calls for the
U.S. to unfreeze $10 billion in as-
sets as an initial goodwill ges-
ture, a tough line that might be
an opening gambit.
Ali Bagheri, an Iranian nucle-
ar negotiator, told Iranian state
television late Sunday that the
Islamic Republic “has entered
the talks with serious willpower
and strong preparation.” He
cautioned, however, that “we
cannot anticipate a timeframe on
the length of these talks now.”
Iran nuclear talks to resume in Vienna amid muted hopesBY KIYOKO METZLER
Associated Press
PESHAWAR, Pakistan — A Muslim mob
burned a police station and four police
posts overnight in northwest Pakistan after
officers refused to hand over a mentally un-
stable man accused of desecrating Islam’s
holy book, the Quran, authorities said Mon-
day.
No officers were hurt in the attacks,
which forced the police to summon troops
to restore order in Charsadda, a district in
the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, local
officer Asif Khan said.
A video posted on social media showed
the police station burning.
Khan said officers foiled an attempt by
the mob to lynch the detainee and the po-
lice moved him to another district. He did
not disclose the name of the man, saying
officers were still investigating and the sus-
pect was arrested a day ago.
Khan said officers initially resisted but
fled after thousands of demonstrators at-
tacked the police buildings. He said police
avoided the use of force to prevent casu-
alties among demonstrators. The situation
in Charsadda was normal Monday, he said,
and law enforcement was seeking to arrest
people linked to the attacks.
Blasphemy carries the death penalty in
Pakistan, where mere allegations of the of-
fense are often enough to provoke mob vio-
lence. International and domestic rights
groups say that accusations of blasphemy
have often been used to intimidate reli-
gious minorities and settle personal scores.
Mob attacks Pakistan police, fails to grab blasphemy suspectAssociated Press
Tuesday, November 30, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 13
CALAIS, France — At the ma-
keshift camps in France near Ca-
lais and Dunkirk, migrants are
digging in, waiting for their
chance to make a dash across the
English Channel despite the
deaths of at least 27 people this
week when their boat sank a few
miles from the French coast.
Police have stepped up patrols
in recent days and the weather has
worsened, making this a bad time
to attempt a crossing. But most mi-
grants say the tragedy won’t pre-
vent them from climbing into a
flimsy inflatable boat packed with
up to 50 people in hopes of reac-
hing Britain.
“I don’t afraid of anything,” a
22-year-old from Iran who identi-
fied himself only as Kawa said in
halting English. “Water? If we die
… sorry to say this but we already
died. Nobody accepts us any-
where. We’re useful. Useless, sor-
ry,” he said, correcting himself.
“Just look at these people.”
Kawa and his father spent the
past six years in Denmark, where
they say they never felt free be-
cause they constantly had to re-
port to police and other author-
ities. Now they want to reach En-
gland, and eventually Canada, be-
cause “they are good to Iranians.”
They are among a group of
about 150 young Kurdish men and
a smattering of families camped
Saturday on a disused railroad
line in hopes of escaping the damp
ground below. Alongside a collec-
tion of incongruously bright red,
green and blue tents near Dun-
kirk, they pull hoods over their
heads, hunch shoulders inside
winter jackets and huddle next to
small fires to stay warm as an
early winter chill grips northern
Europe. The smell of burning
plastic hangs in the air as the mi-
grants use anything they can find
as fuel.
The coast around Calais has
long been the jumping-off point
for migrants anxious to get to the
U.K. But this week’s disaster un-
derscores the combination of
dreams and despair that drives
people to camp in drizzling rain
with temperatures hovering
around 40 Fahrenheit for the
chance to risk their lives at sea.
But first they have to pay smug-
glers about $3,300 for a seat in a
boat.
Wednesday’s tragedy came
amid a jump in the number of mi-
grants trying to cross the channel
in inflatables and other small craft
after the COVID-19 pandemic lim-
ited air and ship travel and Bri-
tain’s departure from the Europe-
an Union curtailed cooperation
with neighboring countries in
processing asylum-seekers and
other migrants.
More than 23,000 people have
already entered the U.K. on small
boats this year, up from 8,500 last
year and just 300 in 2018, accord-
ing to data compiled by Parlia-
ment.
Migrants camping in France waitfor opening to head into England
BY DANICA KIRKA
Associated Press
WORLD
LONDON — Dozens of custom-
ers who stopped for a drink at Bri-
tain’s highest altitude pub got a
longer stay than they bargained
for, after the building was cut off by
a blizzard.
Sixty-one people woke up Mon-
day after their third night at the
Tan Hill Inn in the Yorkshire
Dales, 270 miles north of London.
They have been unable to leave
since Friday, when a late autumn
storm brought snow and heavy
winds that felled power cables and
blocked roads.
The pub sits 1,732 feet above sea
level and is used to being cut off by
bad weather.
Manager Nicola Townsend said
staff had organized movies, a quiz
night and karaoke for the stranded
guests. They have also been enter-
tained by an Oasis cover band, Noa-
sis, who have also been stuck at the
pub since their gig on Friday night.
Townsend said the guests were
“in really good spirits.”
Townsend said she hoped people
would be able to head home later
Monday once roads had been
cleared.
DANNY LAWSON, PA/AP
The Tan Hill Inn, following fresh snow fall, in Richmond, YorkshireDales, England, on March 13.
61 people stuck in Britain’shighest pub after snowstorm
Associated Press
PAGE 14 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Tuesday, November 30, 2021
FACES
Country star Miranda Lambert
readily admits that she doesn’t re-
ally like Christmas music at all.
The only thing that would get
her in the spirit to do a holiday record was
singing with her two best gal pals from the
Pistol Annies, Ashley Monroe and Angalee-
na Presley.
“If there was ever a time I would think a
Christmas album was fun, it would be with
these two girls, for sure,” said the Texas-
born singer.
“Hell of a Holiday” is the album for the
holiday survivors, the folks like Lambert
who are a little more sarcastic than senti-
mental, but still can find the meaning of the
season through all the tinsel. The trio of
singers bring both humor and harmony as
they celebrate with hillbilly relatives, get
caught up in the hustle and sing Jesus a
“Happy Birthday” song.
“We are all sad song lovers, so there’s
some moments
on this record
that have either
some some dark
humor or some
sad song under-
tones,” said
Lambert.
The three
wrote the 10
original songs together at Lambert’s farm
around the holidays last year, penning
songs together around bonfires.
On “Snow Globe,” the trio capture the
magic of a white Christmas to hold onto all
year long, backed by electric guitars, a sax-
ophone solo and handclaps. On “Harlan
County Coal,” Presley sings about lazy hus-
bands, shotgun shells as ornaments and
scraping by to afford both presents and the
light bill.
“That’s just like a really hardcore hillbilly
Christmas song,” said Presley.
While they wanted to incorporate some
classic Christmas production, with bells,
saxophones and organs, they still wanted
the songs to sound like their other albums.
“A couple of songs on the record, I mean,
technically, if you take them off of a Christ-
mas album, you wouldn’t even know that
they were a Christmas song, which is some-
thing that I thought added a bit of Annies to
it,” said Presley.
In addition to the originals, they also cov-
ered Christmas classics, like Merle Hag-
gard’s “If We Make It Through December”
and a tender version of “Auld Lang Syne.”
By the time they finished the record in
June, the trio had fully embraced the holi-
days, with Lambert buying ugly Christmas
sweaters to wear in the studio.
Presley and Monroe may have made a
true believer out of Lambert, as she hopes
the music will become a new tradition for
years to come.
“Because it is a holiday record, it will live
every year forever. And that makes me re-
ally happy,” said Lambert.
INVISION/AP
The Pistol Annies are, from left, Ashley Monroe, Angaleena Presley and Miranda Lambert, shown here in 2018, in Nashville.
Not-so-sweet seasonal treatPistol Annies bring humor, harmony to ‘Hell of a Holiday,’ a mix of old and new classics
BY KRISTIN M. HALL
Associated Press
Even a new Walt Disney Co. animated
film with a score by Lin-Manuel Miranda of
“Hamilton” fame failed to light up the box
office over the normally strong Thanksgiv-
ing weekend, a sign consumers are still cau-
tious about going to cinemas.
“Encanto,” a musical about a family in
Colombia with magical powers, generated
an estimated $40.3 million in ticket sales
over the five-day holiday weekend, Disney
said Sunday. That was below some esti-
mates, even though the picture scored well
with critics and was released only in thea-
ters. Forecasts for the weekend ranged
from a low of $35 million from Disney to
$56.4 million from Boxoffice Pro.
Sony’s “Ghostbusters: Afterlife,” another
installment in the supernatural comedy
franchise, made $35.3 million in its second
weekend, according to the studio. “House of
Gucci,” a new drama starring Adam Driver,
Lady Gaga and Al Pacino, opened with $21.8
million, according to its distributor.
Thanksgiving has historically ranked
among the busiest moviegoing stretches of
the year, buoyed by crowd-pleasers that at-
tract families or buzzy Oscar contenders
aimed at adults. But this year, revenue
amounted to just $142 million, researcher
Comscore Inc. estimated in a release.
Disney has used the period to release
some of its biggest family films, including
2013’s “Frozen” and “Moana” three years
later. But some parents are still hesitant to
bring kids to cinemas this year, and many
older film lovers are staying home to watch
dramas on TV.
Theaters faced heavy competition this
week from streaming services. Disney+
rolled out the three episodes of director Pe-
ter Jackson’s much-anticipated “The Beat-
les: Get Back” documentary, along with
“Hawkeye,” a new Marvel series. And
“King Richard,” starring Will Smith as the
father of tennis stars Venus and Serena Wil-
liams, was also available on HBO Max.
Other news
Actress Lindsay Lohanhas announced
her engagement to boyfriend Bader Sham-
mas on Instagram. The 35-year-old “Mean
Girls” star has been based in Dubai in the
United Arab Emirates for several years.
Little is known about Shammas, a Dubai
resident whose LinkedIn page says he’s the
assistant vice president of international
wealth management at Credit Suisse.
‘Encanto’ leadsquiet box office
From news reports
Stephen Sondheim, the songwriter who reshaped
American musical theater in the second half of the 20th
century with his intelligent, intricately rhymed lyrics, his
use of evocative melodies and his willingness to tackle un-
usual subjects, has died. He was 91.
Sondheim’s Texas-based attorney, Rick Pappas, told
The New York Times the composer died Nov. 26 at his
home in Roxbury, Conn.
Sondheim influenced several generations of theater
songwriters, particularly with such landmark musicals as
“Company,” “Follies” and “Sweeney Todd,” which are
considered among his best work. His most famous ballad,
“Send in the Clowns,” has been recorded hundreds of
times, including by Frank Sinatra and Judy Collins.
The artist refused to repeat himself, finding inspiration
for his shows in such diverse subjects as an Ingmar Berg-
man movie (“A Little Night Music”), the opening of Japan
to the West (“Pacific Overtures”), French painter Georg-
es Seurat (“Sunday in the Park With Ge-
orge”), Grimm’s fairy tales (“Into the
Woods”) and even the killers of Ameri-
can presidents (“Assassins”), among
others.
Tributes quickly flooded social media
as performers and writers alike saluted a
giant of the theater. “We shall be singing
your songs forever,” wrote Lea Salonga.
Aaron Tveit wrote: “We are so lucky to
have what you’ve given the world.”
Music supervisor, arranger and orchestrator Alex La-
camoire tweeted: “For those of us who love new musical
theater: we live in a world that Sondheim built.”
Six of Sondheim’s musicals won Tony Awards for best
score, and he also received a Pulitzer Prize (“Sunday in
the Park”), an Academy Award (for the song “Sooner or
Later” from the film “Dick Tracy”), five Olivier Awards
and the Presidential Medal of Honor. In 2008, he received
a Tony Award for lifetime achievement.
Sondheim’s music and lyrics gave his shows a dark, dra-
matic edge, whereas before him, the dominant tone of mu-
sicals was frothy and comic. He was sometimes criticized
as a composer of unhummable songs, a badge that didn’t
bother Sondheim.
Taught by no less a genius than Oscar Hammerstein,
Sondheim pushed the musical into a darker, richer and
more intellectual place. “If you think of a theater lyric as a
short story, as I do, then every line has the weight of a par-
agraph,” he wrote in his 2010 book, “Finishing the Hat,”
the first volume of his collection of lyrics and comments.
Towering musical theater master Sondheim dies at 91BY MARK KENNEDY
Associated Press
Sondheim
Tuesday, November 30, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 15
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stripes.com
OPINION
The White House’s latest effort to
tackle the difficult problem of sui-
cide among the military and veter-
ans may be the comprehensive ap-
proach that’s sorely needed. It could help a
lot of people here in Hampton Roads and
across the nation.
The new strategy, announced the week
before Veterans Day, is promising and de-
serves support.
Skeptics will be forgiven, since we’ve
heard a lot of this before. The rate of suicides
among the military and veterans has re-
mained alarmingly high for a decade or
more, despite the well-publicized vows of
the last three presidential administrations to
make this crisis a priority.
The statistics are grim. Since the Sept. 11,
2001, terrorist attacks, about four times
more military members and veterans have
died of suicide than have been killed fight-
ing. In 2019, the most recent year for which
the Department of Veterans Affairs has sta-
tistics, about 17 veterans a day died by sui-
cide — and that was before COVID-19
brought more isolation and depression. The
rate of suicide among military members and
veterans is 1.5 times that of American civil-
ians.
These unacceptable numbers continue
despite increased attention and recent fed-
eral initiatives.
Rightly calling suicide among service
members, veterans and their families “a
public health and national security crisis,”
the Biden administration’s strategy calls for
building on existing programs and adding
more in a drive toward real progress.
It’s a comprehensive strategy that will in-
volve departments and agencies across the
federal government in addition to the de-
partments of Defense and Veterans Affairs.
It intends to improve ways to deal with
people in times of crisis and at risk of suicide.
It also takes a broader approach designed to
address the many causes of suicide with an
eye to keeping military members and veter-
ans from reaching that moment of crisis.
It recognizes that just as there are many
reasons people are driven to suicide, there is
not a one-size-fits-all solution.
One emphasis is on making it less likely
that a person in crisis will have easy access to
“lethal means.” Often, the time when a per-
son sinks to that level of desperation is rela-
tively brief. If the means of suicide isn’t
readily available, the crisis may pass. Since
about 70% of all suicides in America involve
firearms, this means keeping guns locked
away. As part of the comprehensive ap-
proach, the Department of Justice is work-
ing on a proposal from the Bureau of Alco-
hol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to re-
quire gun dealers to offer compatible, se-
cure gun storage and safety devices for sale.
Other plans include expanding existing
efforts to identify military members and vet-
erans struggling with mental health prob-
lems, doing more to intervene before a cri-
sis, and making it easier for those in crisis to
get emergency help.
The plan will expand efforts to make high-
quality mental health care easily available
and affordable for military members, veter-
ans and their families.
One of the most important aspects of the
comprehensive strategy involves correct-
ing the problems that lead service members
and veterans to the brink of suicide. That’s a
challenge, because there are many reasons
that go beyond the common factors, such as
post-traumatic stress disorder. And many
service members and veterans are reluctant
to ask for help when they need it.
This effort will address basic things such
as pay, benefits, family stresses and the diffi-
culty of making the transition from military
to civilian life. Too many veterans struggle
with homelessness, unemployment, sub-
stance abuse and other problems that con-
tribute to hopelessness.
The 20 years of war since Sept. 11 have put
great stresses on the men and women who
volunteer to serve in our military and pro-
tect our nation. The government and society
as a whole have done a poor job of helping
them deal with their emotional and mental-
health problems.
The new, expanded emphasis has the po-
tential to make a difference. Let’s do what we
can to make it work.
A strategy to fight veteran suicidesVirginian-Pilot & Daily Press Editorial Board
There’s a grim inevitability to the
fact that the latest concerning
strain of the COVID-19 virus —
known as B.1.1.529, and now nick-
named the Nu variant — should have been
first identified in South Africa.
So far, SARS-CoV-2’s most devastating
impacts have been in developed countries.
The U.S., U.K. and European Union have ac-
counted for about a third of deaths, com-
pared to their roughly 10% share of the
world’s population. However, it’s been in the
BRICS grouping of fast-growing middle-in-
come nations where an outsized share of
new variants of concern have been isolated
and analyzed for the first time. From the
original strain in China, to the Delta lineage
picked up in India, the Gamma variety iso-
lated in Brazil and the Beta and latest Nu
strains from South Africa, only the U.K.-re-
lated Alpha variant has emerged outside
these countries.
In part, that’s just a reflection of the fact
that two out of five people in the planet live in
one of the BRICS nations. It’s also no coinci-
dence that new variants were first identified
in countries with the sophisticated scientific
infrastructure needed to spot them. The
BRICS are some of the biggest players in the
global market for generic drugs, and the
likes of India and South Africa have per-
formed a key role in debates over intellec-
tual property waivers to increase access to
medicines.
At this point, though, the crucial factor
may be the fact that richer countries are now
mostly so heavily vaccinated that the oppor-
tunities for the virus to cook up new muta-
tions are increasingly limited. The nations
with the largest populations of unvaccinated
and susceptible citizens are those where the
odds are greatest that SARS-CoV-2 will find
a new way of breaking through the barriers
we’ve placed in its path.
“Escaping from immunity is something
that viruses do really well,” said Ian Mackay,
an associate professor of virology at the Uni-
versity of Queensland. “If there are lots of
populations that are still susceptible, we’re
in the same kind of hamster wheel of this that
we’ve been in before.”
It’s too early to know much about how the
latest variant will affect people. One con-
cerning aspect is the remarkably large num-
ber of mutations, particularly to aspects of
the genome that affect the virus’s ability to
transmit itself to others or fight back against
the body’s immune responses. That raises
the prospect that it could, as with Delta,
spread more rapidly through non-immune
populations, or even break through the pro-
tections of those who’ve already been infect-
ed or vaccinated.
At the same time, the sheer diversity of
mutations means it will be hard to know for
sure whether these changes will amplify or
cancel each other out until we’ve been able
to observe the latest variant’s progress in hu-
mans, said Mackay.
We don’t need the answer to those ques-
tions, however, to know the mistake the rich
world is already making in treating CO-
VID-19 as a pathogen that’s already been de-
feated by its own high rates of vaccine cov-
erage. While the likes of China, Japan,
France, Italy, South Korea and Canada can
boast that three-quarters of their popula-
tions are fully immunized, 110 of the 200
countries and territories for which Bloom-
berg has data are shy of 50% (the U.S., at
59%, has one of the worst records in the de-
veloped world). Of that number, 64 haven’t
even reached 25%, including South Africa it-
self. India, at 31%, and Russia at 37% aren’t
doing much better. Of the 37 nations with
less than 10% fully protected, 32 are in sub-
Saharan Africa.
That yawning gap is being driven by the
glacial pace at which pharmaceutical com-
panies in the rich nations where drugs have
been developed have been sharing their in-
tellectual property with generics producers
in emerging economies. While the U.S. deci-
sion in May to waive IP rules around co-
vid-19 drugs was a major step toward ad-
dressing that problem, European opposition
and a lack of compulsion from governments
have failed to produce the change needed to
increase supplies.
“The current vaccine equity gap between
wealthier and low resource countries dem-
onstrates a disregard for the lives of the
world’s poorest and most vulnerable,” the
heads of the World Health Organization and
International Organization for Migration
and United Nations High Commission for
Refugees wrote in an open letter to Group of
20 leaders last month. “Vaccine inequity is
costing lives every day, and continues to
place everyone at risk.”
As natural and vaccine-derived immunity
rises, viral evolution will have to get more
and more ingenious to evade our defenses.
So far, scarcely more than half of the world’s
population has had a dose of a covid vaccine.
That means there’s still more than 3.4 billion
people out there whose bodies the virus can
treat as laboratories in which to develop new
mutations. Until we reduce that number fur-
ther, the odds aren’t as strongly in our favor
as we’d like to think.
Expect new variants until world is immuneBY DAVID FICKLING
Bloomberg News
David Fickling is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist coveringcommodities, as well as industrial and consumer companies.
PAGE 16 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Tuesday, November 30, 2021
ACROSS
1 Furniture brand
5 Young fox
8 Prolonged sleep
12 Farmer’s place
13 Anger
14 Baseball stats
15 October
birthstone
16 Pasta variety
18 Shade trees
20 Insurance giant
21 Early hrs.
22 Humorist
23 Big parade
sponsor
26 Flax product
30 Actress Mendes
31 London’s Big —
32 Lucy of “Kill Bill”
33 16th president
36 Cologne’s river
38 Frequently
39 Sock part
40 Engine sound
43 Pedigree
47 Job-hunter’s aid
49 Sand formation
50 Part of a
French play
51 Actor McShane
52 And others (Lat.)
53 Entryway
54 Snoop
55 Pixels
DOWN
1 Pop star
2 French
military cap
3 Flair
4 Dawn-to-dusk
5 Pottery ovens
6 Eye part
7 Sawbuck
8 Vinegar bottles
9 Last writes?
10 Wis. neighbor
11 On the
Adriatic, say
17 Profit
19 Type measures
22 Victory
23 Singer Tormé
24 Bird (Pref.)
25 Fire
26 Author Deighton
27 Yale grad
28 Aachen article
29 Payable
31 Diner order
34 Kitchen
appliance
35 “How
clumsy —!”
36 Harry Potter pal
37 Obeyed
39 Metallic-
sounding
40 — the Impaler
41 “Little Caesar”
role
42 Aware of
43 Deceitful person
44 Prefix with pilot
45 Pesky insect
46 Congers
48 Chips go-with
Answer to Previous Puzzle
Eugene Sheffer CrosswordFra
zz
Dilbert
Pearls B
efo
re S
win
eN
on S
equitur
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Tuesday, November 30, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 17
SCOREBOARD
AP Top 25
The Top 25 teams in The Associated Presscollege football poll, with first-place votesin parentheses, records through Nov. 27,total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote, and previous ranking:
Record Pts Prv
1. Georgia (62) 12-0 1550 1
2. Michigan 11-1 1449 6
3. Cincinnati 12-0 1422 4
4. Alabama 11-1 1388 3
5. Oklahoma St. 11-1 1291 7
6. Notre Dame 11-1 1264 5
7. Ohio St. 10-2 1147 2
8. Mississippi 10-2 1105 8
9. Baylor 10-2 1066 9
10. Oregon 10-2 932 11
11. Michigan St. 10-2 877 12
12. BYU 10-2 839 13
13. Oklahoma 10-2 837 10
14. Utah 9-3 667 16
15. Iowa 10-2 662 17
16. Houston 11-1 603 19
17. Pittsburgh 10-2 589 20
18. Wake Forest 10-2 485 21
19. San Diego St. 11-1 416 22
20. Louisiana-Lafayette 11-1 317 23
21. NC State 9-3 310 24
22. Clemson 9-3 269 -
23. Arkansas 8-4 214 25
24. Texas A&M 8-4 117 14
25. Kentucky 9-3 82 -
Others receiving votes: Wisconsin 68,UTSA 58, Appalachian St. 50, Minnesota 37,Purdue 21, Mississippi St. 7, Penn St. 5, Ar-my 5, Fresno St. 1.
AP Top 25 schedule
FridayNo. 10 Oregon vs. No. 14 Utah, Pac-12
championship at Las Vegas Saturday
No. 1 Georgia vs. No. 4 Alabama, SECchampionship at Atlanta
No. 2 Michigan vs. No. 15 Iowa, Big Tenchampionship at Indianapolis
No. 3 Cincinnati vs. No. 16 Houston, AACchampionship at Cincinnati
No. 5 Oklahoma St. vs. No. 9 Baylor,Big-12 championship at Arlington, Texas
No. 17 Pittsburgh vs. No. 18 Wake Forest,ACC championship at Charlotte, N.C.
No. 19 San Diego St. vs. Utah St., Moun-tain West championship at Carson, Calif.
No. 20 Louisiana-Lafayette vs. Appala-chian St., Sun Belt Championship at La-fayette, La.
Coaches Top 25
The USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches PollTop 25 with team’s records FROMTHROUGH SATURDAY in parentheses, to-tal points based on 25 for first placethrough one point for 25th, ranking in lastweek’s poll and first-place votes re-ceived.:
Record PtsPvs
1. Georgia (62) 12-0 1550 1
2. Alabama 11-1 1440 2
3. Michigan 11-1 1408 6
4. Cincinnati 12-0 1399 4
5. Oklahoma State 11-1 1285 7
6. Notre Dame 11-1 1250 5
7. Ohio State 10-2 1133 3
8. Mississippi 10-2 1097 8
9. Baylor 10-2 1046 10
10. Oregon 10-2 932 11
11. Oklahoma 10-2 851 9
12. Iowa 10-2 845 12
13. Michigan State 10-2 840 13
14. Brigham Young 10-2 741 15
15. Pittsburgh 10-2 640 17
16. Houston 11-1 607 16
17. Utah 9-3 596 19
18. Wake Forest 10-2 531 21
19. San Diego State 11-1 396 22
20. North Carolina State 9-3 334 24
21. Louisiana-Lafayette 11-1 268 23
22. Kentucky 9-3 226 25
23. Texas A&M 8-4 202 14
24. Clemson 9-3 170 NR
25. Arkansas 8-4 128 NR
Dropped out: No. 18 Wisconsin (8-4); No.20 Texas-San Antonio (11-1).
Others receiving votes: Wisconsin (8-4)100; Texas-San Antonio (11-1) 36; Appala-chian State (10-2) 30; Air Force (9-3) 16;Minnesota (8-4) 13; Purdue (8-4) 11; UtahState (9-3) 8; Coastal Carolina (10-2) 8;Penn State (7-5) 5; UCLA (8-4) 3; FresnoState (9-3) 3; Mississippi State (7-5) 2.
FCS PlayoffsSecond Round
Saturday’s games
Incarnate Word at Sam Houston UT-Martin at Montana St.S. Illinois at North Dakota St.Kennesaw St. at ETSU Holy Cross at Villanova South Dakota St. at Sacramento St.E. Washington at Montana SE Louisiana at James Madison
QuarterfinalsFriday, Dec. 10
TBD
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Sunday’s Men’s Scores
EAST
Binghamton 110, Hartwick 41 Boston U. 61, Merrimack 60 Brown 72, Quinnipiac 61 Bucknell 65, Siena 56, OT Dartmouth 63, Bryant 61, OT Duquesne 88, American 79 Fordham 89, CCSU 83, OT Kansas 96, Iona 83 Loyola (Md.) 75, Fairfield 70 Princeton 89, Fairleigh Dickinson 79 Seton Hall 84, Bethune-Cookman 70 St. Francis (Pa.) 79, Lehigh 68 Stony Brook 85, Yale 81 Villanova 72, La Salle 46
SOUTH
Alabama 96, Miami 64 Dayton 63, Belmont 61 FIU 84, North Florida 69 Florida 84, Troy 45 Florida Gulf Coast 85, Fort Wayne 78 James Madison 69, FAU 65 Kennesaw St. 89, Charleston Southern
52 Lipscomb 86, Kentucky Christian 67 Norfolk St. 70, Hampton 61 North Alabama 81, Alabama St. 69 Radford 88, E. Kentucky 75 South Carolina 65, Rider 58 Southern U. 82, Tennessee St. 80 Stephen F. Austin 72, Northwestern St.
68 The Citadel 91, SC State 79, OT UNC-Asheville 106, St. Andrews 36 W. Michigan 81, SE Louisiana 77, OT Wofford 68, Georgia 65
MIDWEST
Alcorn St. 61, Milwaukee 57 Bellarmine 75, Franklin 37 Bowling Green 75, Chicago St. 57 DePaul 101, E. Michigan 63 Evansville 70, E. Illinois 54 Kansas St. 84, North Dakota 42 North Texas 57, Drake 54
SOUTHWEST
Arkansas 76, Penn 60 Arkansas St. 66, UMKC 55 Portland 77, Incarnate Word 68 SMU 74, Louisiana-Monroe 67
FAR WEST
Academy of Art 79, UC Davis 60 CS Northridge 56, San Diego 52 California 65, Fresno St. 57 Colorado 80, Stanford 76 Montana St. 75, SE Missouri 68
Sunday’s Women’s Scores
EAST
Boston College 77, Albany (NY) 65 Bucknell 68, Vermont 53 Cent. Michigan 56, Marist 50 Columbia 63, Rider 60 Cornell 66, Lafayette 55 George Mason 69, Navy 64 Holy Cross 67, Bryant 49 Kent St. 81, Penn St. 74 Manhattan 69, Fairleigh Dickinson 55 Md.-Eastern Shore 74, Millersville 39 Missouri 88, Lehigh 67 North Dakota 65, Brown 46 Princeton 82, Maine 43 Providence 64, Monmouth (NJ) 34 Quinnipiac 113, Hartford 64 St. Bonaventure 81, Clarion 49 Stony Brook 71, St. Francis Brooklyn 64 Syracuse 79, Colgate 57 UCLA 73, St. John’s 65 Wagner 70, New Hampshire 48 Yale 71, Fairfield 64
SOUTH
Alabama 89, Bethune-Cookman 45 Alabama St. 69, South Alabama 59 Appalachian St. 71, UNC-Asheville 56 Clemson 83, Mount St. Mary’s 59 Coastal Carolina 55, ETSU 41 Coppin St. 68, St. Francis (Pa.) 38 Duke 91, Troy 75 East Carolina 76, Campbell 66 Gardner-Webb 65, UNC-Greensboro 63 Lipscomb 72, Life University 59 Long Beach St. 64, Rhode Island 52 Louisiana-Lafayette 67, McNeese St. 57 Old Dominion 61, Stetson 51 Richmond 74, Virginia 65 SC-Upstate 102, Mars Hill 40 W. Kentucky 77, Tennessee St. 65
MIDWEST
Ball St. 73, Saint Joseph’s 67 Cleveland St. 87, LIU 65 IUPUI 80, Butler 47 Iowa St. 76, UMass 71 Liberty 76, Bowling Green 72 Loyola Chicago 69, Miami (Ohio) 52 Michigan St. 85, Marshall 75 Minnesota 81, UTSA 52 N. Illinois 69, Milwaukee 50 SIU-Edwardsville 68, Fort Wayne 56
SOUTHWEST
Abilene Christian 81, Arkansas St. 69 Arkansas 83, Belmont 63 Longwood 62, Lamar 59 Oral Roberts 74, UALR 56
Stephen F. Austin 80, Louisiana-Monroe53
Texas Tech 82, New Mexico 75 FAR WEST
Colorado 67, Wisconsin 51 Drake 83, Idaho 66 Gonzaga 68, Hawaii 49 Louisville 71, Colorado St. 56 Nevada 73, San Francisco 67, OT Portland 97, Evergreen State 49 UC Irvine 58, Sacramento St. 51 UMKC 85, Texas-Arlington 76 UNLV 89, Grambling St. 49 Utah 93, E. Illinois 77
Men’s Top 25 Fared
No. 1 Gonzaga (6-1) beat Central Michi-gan 107-54; best No. 2 UCLA 83-63; lost toNo. 5 Duke 84-81.
No. 2 UCLA (6-1) beat Bellarmine 75-62;lost to No. 1 Gonzaga 83-63; beat UNLV 73-51.
No. 3 Purdue (6-0) beat Omaha 97-40. No. 4 Kansas (5-1) beat North Texas 71-
59; lost to Dayton 74-73; beat Iona 96-83. No. 5 Duke (7-0) beat Citadel 107-81; beat
No. 1 Gonzaga 84-81. No. 6 Baylor (7-0) beat Arizona St. 75-63;
beat VCU 69-61; beat Michigan St. 75-58. No. 7 Villanova (4-2) beat La Salle 72-48. No. 8 Texas (4-1) beat California Baptist
68-44. No. 9 Memphis (5-1) beat Virginia Tech
69-61; lost to Iowa St. 78-59. No. 10 Alabama (6-1) lost to Iona 72-68;
beat Drake 80-71; beat Miami 96-64.No. 10 Kentucky (5-1) beat Albany 86-61;
beat North Florida 86-52. No. 12 Houston (5-1) lost to Wisconsin
65-63; beat Oregon 78-49. No. 13 Arkansas (5-0) beat Kansas St. 72-
64; beat Cincinnati 73-67; beat Penn 76-60. No. 14 Illinois (4-2) lost to Cincinnati 71-
51; beat Kansas St.72-64; beat Texas RioGrande Valley 94-85.
No. 15 Tennessee (4-1) beat TennesseeTech 80-69.
No. 16 St. Bonaventure (5-1) lost to N. Io-wa 90-80.
No. 17 Arizona (6-0) beat Sacramento St.105-58.
No. 18 BYU (6-0) beat Texas Southern 81-64; beat Utah 75-64.
No. 19 Auburn (5-1) lost to No. 22 UConn115-109; Beat Loyola Chicago 62-53; beatSyracuse 89-68.
No. 20 Michigan (4-2) beat Tarleton St.65-54.
No. 21 Seton Hall (5-1) lost to Ohio St. 79-76; beat California 62-59; beat Bethune-Cookman 84-70.
No. 22 UConn (6-1) beat No. 19 Auburn115-109, 2OT; lost to Michigan St. 64-60;beat VCU 70-63, OT.
No. 23 Florida (6-0) beat California 80-60;beat Ohio St. 71-68; beat Troy 84-45.
No. 24 Southern Cal (6-0) beat Dixie St.98-71; beat Saint Joseph’s 70-55; beat SanDiego St. 58-43.
No. 25 Xavier (5-1) lost to Iowa St. 82-70;beat Virginia Tech 59-58.
Women’s Top 25 Fared
No. 1 South Carolina (7-0) beat vs. Elon79-38.
No. 2 Maryland (6-2) lost to No. 5 NCState 78-60; lost to No. 7 Stanford 86-67.
No. 3 UConn (3-1) did not play. No. 4 Indiana (5-1) lost to No. 7 Stanford
69-68; beat Miami 53-51. No. 5 NC State (6-1) beat No. 2 Maryland
78-60; beat Washington St. 62-34.No. 6 Baylor (6-1) beat Fordham 68-45;
beat Arizona St. 62-52; beat Houston 74-58. No. 7 Stanford (5-2) beat No. 4 Indiana 69-
66; lost to No. 18 South Florida 57-54; beatNo. 2 Maryland 86-67.
No. 8 Iowa (4-0) did not play. No. 9 Arizona (7-0) beat Vanderbilt 48-46;
beat DePaul 75-68; beat Rutgers 80-44. No. 10 Louisville (5-1) beat Cal Poly 72-32;
beat Colorado St. 71-56. No. 11 Tennessee (6-0) beat Kansas 68-
58; beat Oklahoma St. 80-55. No. 12 Michigan (7-0) beat No. 16 Oregon
St. 61-52; beat Mississippi St. 64-48. No. 13 Iowa St. (7-0) beat Charlotte 75-59;
beat Penn St. 93-59; beat UMass 76-71. No. 14 Texas (4-1) beat Cal St. Northridge
83-42. No. 15 Oregon (3-2) lost to No. 18 South
Florida 71-62. No. 16 Oregon St. (3-2) lost to No. 12 Mi-
chigan 61-52; lost to Notre Dame 64-62. No. 17 Florida St. (4-2) lost to BYU 61-54;
lost to Purdue 66-61. No. 18 South Florida (5-2) beat No. 15
Oregon; beat No. 7 Stanford 57-54.No. 19 UCLA (4-2) lost to Kent St. 75-69;
lost to S. Dakota St. 76-66; beat St. John’s73-65.
No. 20 Kentucky (4-1) beat La Salle 74-52. No. 21 Ohio St. (5-0) beat Bellarmine 110-
58; beat Cincinnati 86-50. No. 22 West Virginia (4-1) beat Purdue
65-57; lost to BYU 58-57. No. 23 Texas A&M (7-0) beat Pittsburgh
57-46; beat South Dakota 58-44; beatNorthwestern 77-68.
No. 24 Virginia Tech (6-1) lost to MissouriSt. 76-68; beat UT Martin 54-49.
No. 25 Florida Gulf Coast (7-0) beat Ten-nessee Tech 81-69; beat Saint Louis 73-65.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Sunday’s TransactionsBASKETBALL
National Basketball AssociationNBA — Fined Orlando C/F Wendell Carter
Jr. $35,000 for forcefully throwing his pro-tective glasses at a game official in a gamewith Cleveland on Nov. 27. Fined Miami CDewayne Dedmon $15,000 for kicking aseat cushion from his team’s bench intothe spectator stands in a game with Chica-go on Nov. 27.
HOCKEYNational Hockey League
ANAHEIM DUCKS — Recalled C Benoit-Olivier Grouix from San Diego (AHL).
BUFFALO SABRES — Signed F Mark Jan-kowski to a one-year contract. Sent F ArttuRuotsalainen to Rochester (AHL).
FLORIDA PANTHERS — Sent C Aleksi He-poniemi to Charlotte (AHL). Placed D Gus-
tav Forsling on injured reserve.MONTREAL CANADIENS — Announced
the dismissal of general manager MarcBergevin, assistant general manager Tre-vor Timmins and senior vice president ofpublic affairs and communications PaulWilson.
NASHVILLE PREDATORS — Sent RW Mi-chael McCarron to Milwaukee (AHL).
OTTAWA SENATORS — Waived RW Lo-gan Shaw. Sent G Matt Murrayto Belleville(AHL).
PHILADELPHIA FLYERS — Recalled CMax Willman from Lehigh Valley (AHL).
PITTSBURGH PENGUINS — Recalled LWDrew O’Connor from Wilkes-Barre/Scran-ton (AHL).
SAN JOSE SHARKS — Waived RW Evan-der Kane.
ST. LOUIS BLUES — Recalled C LoganBrown from Springfield (AHL).
DEALS
NCAA Men’s Div. I TournamentSecond RoundSunday, Nov. 21
Duke 2, UCLA 1 Georgetown 2, Georgia St. 0 Indiana 2, Bowling Green 0 New Hampshire 4, orth Carolina 1 Pittsburgh 5, Northern Illinois 2 Providence 2, Marshall 1, 2OT Saint Louis 5, LIU 0 West Virginia 1, Virginia Tech 1, OT, West
Virginia advances on PK’s 4-3 Notre Dame 3, Villanova 0 Hofstra 8, Penn State 2 Wake Forest 3, FIU 2 Kentucky 2, Santa Clara 0 Clemson 1, Denver 0 Washington 3, Portland 1Oregon State 2, St. John’s (NY) 0
Third RoundSaturday’s games
Pittsburgh 4, Hofstra 0 Saint Louis 4, Duke 3 Washington 3, Indiana 2, OT West Virginia 1, Tulsa 0, 2OT
Sunday’s gamesGeorgetown 4, Providence 1 Notre Dame 2, Wake Forest 0 Clemson 2, Kentucky 1 Oregon State 1, New Hampshire 0
QuarterfinalsFriday, Dec. 3 or Saturday, Dec. 4
Georgetown vs. West Virginia
Saint Louis vs. Washington Pittsburgh vs. Notre Dame Oregon State vs. Clemson
SemifinalsFriday, Dec. 10
At WakeMed Soccer ParkCary, N.C.
Quarterfinal winnersChampionshipSunday, Dec. 12
At WakeMed Soccer ParkCary, N.C.
Semifinal winners
NCAA Women’s Div. I TournamentQuarterfinals
Friday’s gamesFlorida St. 1, Michigan 0, OT Santa Clara 2, Duke 1 Rutgers 2, Arkansas 2, OT, Rutgers ad-
vances on PK’s 4-2 Saturday’s game
BYU 4, South Carolina 1 Semifinals
Friday, Dec. 3At Stevens StadiumSanta Clara, Calif.
Florida St. vs. Rutgers Santa Clara vs. BYU
ChampionshipSunday, Dec. 5
At Stevens StadiumSanta Clara, Calif.
Semifinal winners
COLLEGE SOCCER
MLS playoffs
Conference SemifinalsEastern Conference
Sunday’s game
Nashville 1, Philadelphia 1, Philadelphiaadvanced 2-0 on penalty kicks
Tuesday’s game
New England vs. New York City FC Western Conference
Thursday, Nov. 25
Portland 1, Colorado 0
Sunday’s gameReal Salt Lake 2, Sporting Kansas City 1
Conference FinalsEastern Conference
Dec. 4-5Philadelphia vs. New England-New York
City FC winnerWestern Conference
Dec. 4-5Portland vs. Real Salt Lake
MLS CupSaturday, Dec. 11
Conference winners
PRO SOCCER
TENNIS
Davis Cup
Sunday’s matches
At OlympiaWorldInnsbruck, Austria
Group C
Great Britain 2, Czech Republic 1
SinglesTomas Machac, Czech Republic, def.
Dan Evans, Great Britain, 6-2, 7-5.Cameron Norrie, Great Britain, def. Jiri
Lehecka, Czech Republic, 6-1, 2-6, 6-1Doubles
Joe Salisbury and Neal Skupski, GreatBritain, def. Tomas Machac and Jiri Vesely,Czech Republic, 8-4, 6-2
Group F
Germany 2, Austria 1
SinglesJurij Rodionov, Austria, def. Dominik
Koepfer, Germany, 6-1, 7-5.Jan-Lennard Struff, Germany, def. Den-
nis Novak, 7-5, 6-4Doubles
Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz, Germany,def. Oliver Marach and Philipp Oswald,Austria, 6-3, 6-4
At Madrid ArenaMadrid, Spain
Group A
Russian Tennis Federation 2, Spain 1
SinglesFeliciano Lopez, Spain, def. Andrey Ru-
blev, Russian Tennis Federation, 2-6, 6-3,6-4.
Daniil Medvedev, Russian Tennis Feder-ation, def. Pablo Carreno Busta, 8-2, 7-6
DoublesAslan Karatsev and Andrey Rublev, Rus-
sian Tennis Federation, def. Marcel Gra-nollers and Feliciano Lopez, Spain, 6-4, 2-6,6-4
Group B
Kazakhstan 3, Canada 0
SinglesMikhail Kukushkin, Kazakhstan, def.
Brayden Schnur, Canada, 6-3, 6-7, 7-5.Alexander Bublik, Kazakhstan, def. Va-
sek Pospisil, Canada, 6-2, 7-6Doubles
Andrey Golubev and Aleksandr Nedo-vyesov, Kazakhstan, def. Peter Polanskyand Brayden Schnur, Great Britain, 6-4, 6-7,6-1.
At Pala AlpitourTurin, Italy
Group D
Croatia 2 Hungary 1
SinglesNino Serdarusic, Croatia, def. Fabian
Marozsan, Hungary, 6-4, 6-4.Zsomber Piros, Hungary, def. Marin Cil-
ic, Croatia, 4-6, 7-5, 6-4Doubles
Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic, Croatia,def. Fabian Marozsan and Peter Nagy,Hungary, 7-6, 6-2
Group E
Colombia 2, United States 1
SinglesFrances Tiafoe, United States, def. Nico-
las Mejis, Colombia, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6.Daniel Elahi Galan, Colombia, def. John
Isner, United States, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6Doubles
Juan-Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah,Colombia, def. Reilly Opelka and JackSock, United States, retired
QuarterfinalsMonday
At Pala AlpitourTurin, Italy
Croatia vs. Italy Tuesday
At OlympiaWorldInnsbruck, Austria
Great Britain vs. Germany Wednesday
At Madrid ArenaMadrid, Spain
Kazakhstan vs. Serbia Thursday
At Madrid ArenaMadrid, Spain
Russian Tennis Federation vs. Sweden Semifinals
Friday At Madrid Arena
Madrid, SpainSemi-Finalist (bottom half) vs. Semi-Fi-
nalist (bottom half)Saturday, Dec 4.At Madrid Arena
Madrid, SpainSemi-Finalist (top half) vs. Semi-Finalist
(top half)Final
Sunday, Dec. 5At Madrid Arena
Madrid, SpainFinalist vs. Finalist
GOLF
World Ranking
Player Country Avg.
1. Jon Rahm ESP 9.85
2. Collin Morikawa USA 9.02
3. Dustin Johnson USA 7.95
4. Patrick Cantlay USA 7.04
5. Xander Schauffele USA 6.91
6. Justin Thomas USA 6.85
7. Bryson DeChambeau USA 6.71
8. Rory McIlroy NIR 6.58
PAGE 18 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Tuesday, November 30, 2021
NBA
Eastern Conference
Atlantic Division
W L Pct GB
Brooklyn 14 6 .700 —
New York 11 9 .550 3
Boston 11 10 .524 3½
Philadelphia 10 10 .500 4
Toronto 9 12 .429 5½
Southeast Division
W L Pct GB
Miami 13 7 .650 —
Washington 13 7 .650 —
Charlotte 13 9 .591 1
Atlanta 11 10 .524 2½
Orlando 4 17 .190 9½
Central Division
W L Pct GB
Milwaukee 13 8 .619 —
Chicago 13 8 .619 —
Cleveland 10 10 .500 2½
Indiana 9 13 .409 4½
Detroit 4 16 .200 8½
Western Conference
Southwest Division
W L Pct GB
Dallas 10 8 .556 —
Memphis 10 10 .500 1
San Antonio 5 13 .278 5
New Orleans 5 17 .227 7
Houston 3 16 .158 7½
Northwest Division
W L Pct GB
Utah 13 7 .650 —
Portland 10 10 .500 3
Minnesota 10 10 .500 3
Denver 9 10 .474 3½
Oklahoma City 6 13 .316 6½
Pacific Division
W L Pct GB
Golden State 18 2 .900 —
Phoenix 17 3 .850 1
L.A. Clippers 11 9 .550 7
L.A. Lakers 11 11 .500 8
Sacramento 8 13 .381 10½
Sunday’s games
Golden State 105, L.A. Clippers 90 Milwaukee 118, Indiana 100 Boston 109, Toronto 97 Memphis 128, Sacramento 101 L.A. Lakers 110, Detroit 106
Monday’s games
Orlando at Philadelphia Denver at Miami Charlotte at Chicago Indiana at Minnesota Oklahoma City at Houston Cleveland at Dallas Washington at San Antonio Portland at Utah New Orleans at L.A. Clippers
Tuesday’s games
Memphis at Toronto New York at Brooklyn Detroit at Portland Golden State at Phoenix L.A. Lakers at Sacramento
Wednesday’s games
Atlanta at Indiana Denver at Orlando Minnesota at Washington Cleveland at Miami Philadelphia at Boston Charlotte at Milwaukee Dallas at New Orleans Houston at Oklahoma City Sacramento at L.A. Clippers
Leaders
Through Sunday
Scoring
G FG FT PTS AVG
Curry, GS 19 179 81 544 28.6
Durant, BKN 19 198 111 544 28.6
FG Percentage
FG FGA PCT
Gobert, UTA 105 145 .724
Allen, CLE 108 155 .697
Rebounds
G OFF DEF TOT AVG
Gobert, UTA 20 58 231 289 14.4
Jokic, DEN 14 38 152 190 13.6
Assists
G AST AVG
Paul, PHO 20 202 10.1
Harden, BKN 20 188 9.4
Scoreboard
LOS ANGELES — LeBron
James and Isaiah Stewart had no
Round 2 in the Lakers’ rematch
with the Pistons.
James was too busy making sure
Los Angeles got the same decision
he wasn’t around to see last week in
Detroit.
James had 33 points, nine assists
and no confrontations with Stewart
in the Lakers’ 110-106 victory Sun-
day night.
Russell Westbrook had 25 points
and nine assists, and Anthony Davis
added 24 points and 10 rebounds.
Los Angeles returned to .500 with
its second win over the Pistons in
eight days, rebounding from an em-
barrassing triple-overtime loss to
Sacramento on Friday.
“That Sac game lingered with us
for a couple of days, giving that
game away,” Davis said. “I think we
did a good job defensively tonight,
getting this kick-start to a winning
streak.”
Stewart was booed repeatedly
and zealously by the Lakers’ crowd,
but he appeared to have no signifi-
cant interactions with James after
both players were ejected from the
teams’ meeting in Detroit a week
earlier for an ugly altercation.
James was assessed a Flagrant-2
foul and ejected when he hit Stew-
art in the face while they jockeyed
for rebounding position. An infu-
riated Stewart repeatedly attempt-
ed to charge at James in the after-
math, earning his own ejection.
James served a one-game suspen-
sion and Stewart got a two-game
ban.
Stewart kept the pot stirring Fri-
day by saying he didn’t think James’
blow had been accidental. The 20-
year-old Stewart is 3½ years older
than James’ oldest son, Bronny.
“We were mad as heck the other
night after that Sac loss,” James
said. “We made it a point to come in
today very focused on our game
plan, learning from our mistakes,
and we got better. Right there lets
me know we’re a team that cares
and wants to get better.”
The Pistons said they didn’t feel
there was any extra juice to the re-
match.
“It’s just basketball,” Jerami
Grant said.
LeBron has 33, Lakers top PistonsLos Angeles back to .500as Round 2 betweenteams is much quieter
BY GREG BEACHAM
Associated Press
ALEX GALLARDO/AP
Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James passes the ball away as Detroit Pistons forward Jerami Grant,left, and center Isaiah Stewart, center, defend during the Lakers’ 110106 win Sunday in Los Angeles.
LOS ANGELES — Stephen Curry is among
the most dangerous players in the NBA. But an
angry Curry proved to be more lethal.
The Golden State star took out his frustrations
Sunday on the Los Angeles Clippers after being
called for a technical foul with 9:08 remaining in
the fourth quarter. He scored 11 of his 33 points
after that as the Warriors extended their win-
ning streak to eight with a 105-90 victory.
“It was just an accumulation of all types of
weird stuff. All that led into where I thought I got
a foul,” said Curry, who also had a season-high
six steals to go with five rebounds and six assists.
“It definitely fired me and the team up. After
that it was time to direct my energy into putting
the ball in the basket.”
Curry lost his temper when he didn’t a draw a
foul while driving to the basket after it appeared
Clippers guard Terance Mann made contact.
Coach Steve Kerr said he figured Curry was go-
ing to get a technical when he saw him go toward
the official and pump his fist.
“That was as upset as I’ve seen him and that I
have been in a long time. He clearly got fouled,”
Kerr said. “When he knows he got fouled on a
play like that and he doesn’t the call, the compet-
itor will come out in him and he will lose his
mind a little bit. But it will spur him like it did in
this instance.”
Golden State had a 79-70 lead when Curry’s
outburst happened, but the team put it away af-
terward with a 21-7 run during a nearly five-
minute span. Curry made three three-pointers
during the spurt, and applied the dagger shot
with an off-balance triple from the right corner
with 5:20 remaining.
Otto Porter Jr. added 18 points and 10 re-
bounds, and Jordan Poole scored 17 points for
the Warriors. They improved their NBA-best re-
cord to 18-2 heading into a showdown Tuesday
night in Phoenix against the streaking Suns —
17-3 after winning 16 straight.
Bucks 118, Pacers 100: Giannis Anteto-
kounmpo had 26 points and 13 rebounds and
Milwaukee won at Indiana for its seventh
straight victory.
Jrue Holiday scored 11 of his 23 points in the
third quarter. Bobby Portis added 15 points, and
Khris Middleton and Pat Connaughton each had
14,
Caris LeVert led the Pacers with a season-
high 23 points.
Celtics 109, Raptors 97: Marcus Smart
scored 21 points, Al Horford had 17 points and 11
rebounds and Boston won at Toronto to snap a
two-game losing streak.
Josh Richardson scored 18 of the Celtics’ 32
bench points. Jaylen Brown added 16 points, and
Grant Williams had 15 to help the team improve
to 11-10.
Fred VanVleet led the Raptors with 27 points.
Toronto lost for the sixth time in eight games to
fall to 9-12.
Grizzlies 128, Kings 101: Dillon Brooks
scored 21 points, Desmond Bane added 18 and
Memphis took advantage of visiting Sacramen-
to’s poor shooting.
The Grizzlies were playing their first game
without scoring leader Ja Morant. He sprained
his left knee Friday night in a loss to Atlanta.
Buddy Hield led the Kings with 14 points, but
was 5-for-17 from the field.
Warriors beat Clippers, await showdown with Suns
ASHLEY LANDIS / AP
Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Currydisputes a secondhalf foul call. He had 33points in a 10590 defeat of the Los AngelesClippers on Sunday in Los Angeles.
Associated Press
ROUNDUP
Tuesday, November 30, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 19
NHL
Eastern Conference
Atlantic Division
GP W L OT Pts GF GA
Toronto 23 16 6 1 33 69 49
Florida 21 14 4 3 31 77 56
Tampa Bay 20 12 5 3 27 64 56
Detroit 22 10 9 3 23 61 71
Boston 18 11 7 0 22 59 53
Buffalo 21 8 10 3 19 60 70
Montreal 23 6 15 2 14 54 83
Ottawa 19 4 14 1 9 46 73
Metropolitan Division
GP W L OT Pts GF GA
Washington 22 14 3 5 33 78 52
Carolina 20 15 4 1 31 66 43
N.Y. Rangers 20 13 4 3 29 60 54
Columbus 19 12 7 0 24 67 59
Pittsburgh 21 10 7 4 24 62 59
New Jersey 19 9 6 4 22 57 58
Philadelphia 20 8 8 4 20 49 61
N.Y. Islanders 17 5 10 2 12 32 52
Western Conference
Central Division
GP W L OT Pts GF GA
Minnesota 21 14 6 1 29 78 64
St. Louis 21 11 7 3 25 71 59
Winnipeg 21 10 7 4 24 60 60
Colorado 18 11 6 1 23 73 56
Nashville 21 11 9 1 23 58 63
Dallas 19 10 7 2 22 53 55
Chicago 21 7 12 2 16 45 67
Arizona 21 4 15 2 10 39 77
Pacific Division
GP W L OT Pts GF GA
Edmonton 20 15 5 0 30 77 59
Calgary 21 12 4 5 29 70 42
Anaheim 22 11 8 3 25 70 64
Vegas 21 12 9 0 24 66 64
San Jose 21 11 9 1 23 55 58
Los Angeles 20 9 8 3 21 53 54
Seattle 21 7 13 1 15 58 73
Vancouver 22 6 14 2 14 53 76
Sunday’s games
Washington 4, Carolina 2Minnesota 4, Tampa Bay 2San Jose 2, Chicago 0New Jersey 5, Philadelphia 2Boston 3, Vancouver 2N.Y. Islanders at N.Y. Rangers, ppdToronto 5, Anaheim 1
Monday’s games
Seattle at BuffaloArizona at WinnipegVancouver at MontrealPittsburgh at Calgary
Tuesday’s games
Detroit at BostonN.Y. Islanders at Philadelphia, ppdSan Jose at New JerseyWashington at FloridaArizona at MinnesotaColumbus at NashvilleTampa Bay at St. LouisCarolina at DallasAnaheim at Los Angeles
Wednesday’s games
Philadelphia at N.Y. RangersColorado at TorontoSeattle at DetroitVancouver at OttawaPittsburgh at EdmontonVegas at Anaheim
Scoreboard
MONTREAL— The Montreal Canadiens
fired general manager Marc Bergevin and
two other executives Sunday amid on-ice
struggles just months after advancing to the
Stanley Cup Final.
The Canadiens announced Bergevin’s dis-
missal along with those of assistant GM Tre-
vor Timmins and Paul Wilson, senior vice
president of public affairs and communica-
tions.
“Their relentless work allowed our fans to
experience many memorable moments, in-
cluding last summer’s playoff run that culmi-
nated with the Stanley Cup Final,” team own-
er Geoff Molson said in a statement. “I think,
however, that the time has come for a lead-
ership change within our hockey operations
department that will bring a new vision and
should allow our fans and partners to contin-
ue cheering for a championship team.”
The team said Jeff Gorton will serve as ex-
ecutive vice president of hockey operations
as the it searches for a new general manager.
Bergevin was in his 10th season as the team’s
GM.
“Montreal is the city where I took my first
skating strides and it’s also the city where I
learned to lead the NHL’s winningest fran-
chise,” Bergevin said in a statement. “This
city and this organization will always have a
special place in my heart.
“That said, and despite the fact that this
journey is coming to an end, I am proud of the
legacy I’m leaving within the organization.
The current team is much better than the re-
sults show, and I am convinced that my suc-
cessors will be able to rise to the challenge.”
The Canadiens have a 6-15-2 record this
season and are ahead of only the New York
Islanders and Ottawa Senators in the Eastern
Conference standings.
Bergevin’s long-term status with the team
had been a question since he entered the sea-
son on an expiring contract.
Still, this wasn’t the start to the season
Montreal was expecting as the team went in-
to the campaign fresh off an unexpected run
to its first Stanley Cup Final appearance
since winning it all in 1993.
Backed by the goaltending of Carey Price,
the Canadiens came back from a 3-1 deficit to
upset the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first
round of the playoffs. They lost to two-time
Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay in the fi-
nal.
Instead, Montreal had an offseason to for-
get and started the campaign without Price
and captain and defensive stalwart Shea
Weber in the lineup.
Price voluntarily entered the joint NHL
and NHL Players’ Association’s assistance
program during training camp. He has since
revealed he entered a residential treatment
facility for substance use. Weber, mean-
while, is on the long-term injury reserve list
with a foot/ankle injury and could be out for
the entire season.
Slumping Canadiens shake up their front officeAssociated Press
RALEIGH, N.C. — Dmitry Orlov scored on
a power play with 2:55 remaining, and the
Washington Capitals recovered after blowing
a two-goal lead to beat the Carolina Hurri-
canes 4-2 on Sunday.
Alex Ovechkin and Aliaksei Protas scored
59 seconds apart in the second period for the
Capitals, who’ve won nine of their last 11
games (9-1-1). John Carlson added an empty-
netter after posting two assists earlier.
The winning goal, which was set up by Tom
Wilson’s pass, came just seconds after Wash-
ington’s 5-on-3 advantage expired, but the
Capitals still had time with an extra skater.
Washington has a power-play goal in three of
its last four games.
“It was a great moment for us to win the
game,” Orlov said. “I tried to come there (in
the slot) and make a strong shot.”
Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Nino Niederreiter
scored in the third period for the Hurricanes.
Niederreiter’s goal, his first since Oct. 28, tied
the game at 2-2 with 6:28 remaining.
“That was a tough way to end the game. I
thought it was a great hockey game,” Carolina
coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “I thought we
had a great third period. We just did every-
thing we could.”
Ilya Samsonov stopped 30 shots for the Cap-
itals, while the Hurricanes’ Frederik Ander-
sen made 21 saves.
Samsonov, whose record improved to 9-0-1,
played in his third consecutive game for the
first time this season. There was plenty to keep
him busy.
“In a big game, in a big situation, too,” Wash-
ington coach Peter Laviolette said. “There
were some big saves that (Samsonov) made
out there.”
The teams entered the game with a league-
low three regulation losses apiece.
“The third was the period where probably
we were on our heels the most,” Laviolette
said. “We knew they were going to push and
they did.”
The teams combined for 28 shots without
scoring until Ovechkin took a pass from Orlov
and delivered the puck past Andersen for his
19th goal of the season.
Maple Leafs 5, Ducks 1: Michael Bunting,
Alexander Kerfoot and William Nylander
each had a goal and an assist, and Toronto beat
Anaheim to tie a franchise record with its sev-
enth straight road win.
The Maple Leafs also had seven straight
road wins in 1940-41, 1960-61 and 2002-03.
Auston Matthews scored for the third con-
secutive game, Wayne Simmonds had a goal,
and Jack Campbell made 39 saves for Toronto.
Hampus Lindholm scored and John Gibson
made 26 saves for the Ducks, who have lost
four of five following an eight-game win
streak.
Wild 4, Lightning 2: Ryan Hartman broke a
2-all tie midway through the third period, and
host Minnesota beat Tampa Bay.
Hartman scored for the third straight game
and has goals in five of the past six games to
give him 12 on the season.
Nick Bjugstad, Victor Rask and Marcus Fo-
ligno also scored for the Wild, who have won
three in a row and scored the most goals in the
NHL since Nov. 2. Minnesota’s Cam Talbot
made 28 saves.
Corey Perry scored for the second time in
three games for the Lightning, who had won
three games in a row and six of seven.
Sharks 2, Blackhawks 0: Timo Meier
scored on a deflection and added an empty-net
goal, James Reimer earned his 42nd career
shutout, and visiting San Jose beat Chicago.
The Sharks won for the third time in four
starts, all with Reimer in goal. He was only
occasionally challenged en route to his first
shutout in 22 months, stopping 29 shots.
The loss was the third in five games for the
Blackhawks.
Devils 5, Flyers 2: Andreas Johnsson had
two goals and two assists, Jesper Bratt had a
goal and two assists, and host New Jersey beat
Philadelphia.
Dougie Hamilton had a goal and an assist,
and Nathan Bastian also scored for the Devils,
who snapped a two-game losing streak and
won at home for the first time since Nov. 11.
For the Flyers, Joel Farabee scored in his
third straight game and Scott Laughton had a
goal and an assist. Martin Jones made 30
saves, and Philadelphia dropped its sixth
game in a row.
Bruins 3, Canucks 2: Brad Marchand
scored the tying goal on a power play in the
third period and set up David Pastrnak’s go-
ahead score, helping host Boston over Van-
couver.
Anton Blidh also scored for the Bruins, and
Linus Ullmark made 36 saves. Boston won for
the fifth time in seven games.
ROUNDUP
Orlov scores late, Caps top Canes
KARL B DEBLAKER/AP
The Capitals’ Alex Ovechkin, left, celebrates his goal with teammate Lars Eller while theHurricanes’ Brett Pesce kneels on the ice during the second period in Raleigh, N.C., Sunday.
Associated Press
PAGE 20 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Tuesday, November 30, 2021
COLLEGE FOOTBALL/SPORTS BRIEFS
Southern California desperate
ly wanted a marquee head coach
after more than a decade of under
achievement and embarrassment.
The Trojans landed one of the
biggest, brightest names in the
game.
USC hired Oklahoma’s Lincoln
Riley on Sunday in a stunning and
rare move of one traditional col
lege football powerhouse swiping
another’s highly accomplished
coach.
Riley went 5510 in five seasons
leading the Sooners, winning four
Big 12 titles and making three Col
lege Football Playoff appearances
in his first head coaching job.
Southern Cal sold the 38yearold
Texan on the chance to return the
Trojans to their glory days as an
annual national championship
contender and the West Coast’s
premier program.
“USC has an unparalleled foot
ball tradition with tremendous re
sources and facilities, and the ad
ministration has made a deep
commitment to winning,” Riley
said in a statement. “I look forward
to honoring that successful tradi
tion and building on it. The pieces
are in place for us to build the pro
gram back to where it should be
and the fans expect it to be.”
Riley “will immediately transi
tion to USC,” according to the
school’s statement. Interim coach
Donte Williams will lead the Tro
jans (47, 35 Pac12) in their sea
son finale at California on Satur
day night.
Bob Stoops is returning as Okla
homa’s interim head coach to lead
the Sooners in their bowl game, the
school announced. Riley took over
the program in 2017 when Stoops
retired, and Oklahoma has dom
inated the Big 12 in the halfdecade
since.
“Leaving OU was probably the
most difficult decision of my life,”
Riley said. “OU is one of the best
college football programs in the
country, and it has been forever.
That’s not going to change. It’s not
going to change in the SEC, it’s not
going to change with another head
coach. It’s stood the test of time
and it’s going to continue to do so.
This was a personal decision solely
based on my willingness to go take
on a new challenge, and I felt like it
was the right opportunity for me
and my family to do that.”
Southern Cal fired Clay Helton
in September after the second
game of his seventh season in
charge, and the school has been
searching for a gamechanging
head coach to revive a program
that has had meager success since
a dominant run through the 2000s
under Pete Carroll that included
two national titles.
Since Carroll left for the Seattle
Seahawks in late 2009, the Trojans
have struggled under three for
mer Carroll assistants and Helton,
who brought stability and profes
sionalism to USC, but not nearly
enough onthefield success while
going 4624. With one game left,
the Trojans are 8748 with one
Pac12 title, one Rose Bowl victory
and no College Football Playoff
berths in 12 years under Lane Kif
fin, Ed Orgeron, Steve Sarkisian,
Helton and Williams.
The team has been a sleeping gi
ant on the college football land
scape for over a decade — and Ri
ley is expected to wake them up.
After being connected to several
top candidates for jobs in this hir
ing cycle, USC athletic director
Mike Bohn managed to land an
even more impressive name than
all but his most starryeyed fans
imagined.
“His successes and offensive ac
colades as a head coach the past
five years are astonishing,” Bohn
said of Riley. “Lincoln will recruit
relentlessly, develop his players
on and off the field, and implement
a strong culture in which the pro
gram will operate with the highest
level of integrity and professional
ism. Lincoln is universally consid
ered one of the brightest and most
talented football coaches in the na
tion, and the fact that he chose USC
is a testament to the strength of our
brand, the power of the Trojan
Family, and the leadership of our
university.”
Riley was Oklahoma’s offensive
coordinator when he was anointed
successor to Stoops, who led the
Sooners to 190 wins and a national
championship in 17 seasons. Okla
homa has owned its conference ev
er since the move, with Riley pro
ducing two Heisman Trophywin
ning quarterbacks — Baker May
field and Kyler Murray — and
some of the most prolific offenses
in college football history.
While Riley doesn’t have major
ties to the West Coast, he has
recruited well in California’s tal
entrich areas, and the Sooners
currently have several commit
ments from elite California high
schoolers over the next two
recruiting classes. In the hours af
ter Riley’s move, Malachi Nelson
— the Orange County high school
quarterback considered one of the
top prospects in the 2023 recruit
ing class — decommitted from Ok
lahoma, as did receiver Brandon
Inniss and running back Treyaun
Webb from Florida.
“One of the things that attracted
me to OU, other than the rich histo
ry and amazing fans, was the sta
bility in the coaching staff and
their ability to develop the QB po
sition,” Nelson wrote in his social
media post.
Riley led the Sooners to yet an
other 10win season this year, but
Oklahoma’s string of Big 12 titles
was snapped when the Sooners
(102) narrowly lost to Oklahoma
State on Saturday night. With Ok
lahoma out of contention for the
College Football Playoff, USC
dived in to make a splash.
Rumors connecting Riley to the
opening at LSU had been persist
ent for several weeks, but he shot
them down after the Oklahoma
State game.
“I’m not going to be the next
head coach at LSU,” he said. “Next
question.”
He said nothing about USC.
Oklahoma will be forced to con
duct its first head coaching search
since 1999 when the school hired
Stoops, who is scheduled to be in
ducted into the College Football
Hall of Fame next week.
USC hires coach Rileyaway from Oklahoma
SUE OGROCKI/AP
Oklahoma head coach Lincoln Riley talks with his players duringSaturday’s loss to Oklahoma State. That was Riley’s last game withthe Sooners as he is leaving to coach at USC.
BY GREG BEACHAM
Associated Press
NEW YORK — Eighttime All
Star Max Scherzer is nearing a
$130 million, threeyear contract
with the New York Mets, a person
familiar with the negotiations told
The Associated Press.
The person spoke on condition
of anonymity Monday because the
agreement was still being worked
on and would be subject to a suc
cessful physical.
The $43.33 million average sal
ary would easily set a baseball re
cord, smashing the $36 million
Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole in av
eraging in his $324 million, nine
year contract with New York.
Scherzer, a 37yearold right
hander, would have the right to
opt out after the 2023 season to be
come a free agent once again.
Scherzer also receives a full no
trade provision, requiring his ap
proval for any deals.
A threetime Cy Young Award
winner, Scherzer was 154 with a
2.46 ERA last season for the Wash
ington Nationals and Los Angeles
Dodgers, who acquired him on Ju
ly 30. He struck out 236 and walk
ed 36 in 1791⁄�3 innings, averaging
94.4 mph with his fastball in the fi
nal season of a $210 million, seven
year contract that included $105
million in deferred money paya
ble from 202228.
He is 19097 with a 3.16 ERA in
14 major league seasons for Arizo
na (200809), Detroit (201014),
Washington and the Dodgers.
Elder, first Black
to play Masters, diesLee Elder, who broke down ra
cial barriers as the first Black gol
fer to play in the Masters and
paved the way for Tiger Woods
and others to follow, has died at
the age of 87.
The PGA Tour announced El
der’s death, which was first re
ported Monday by Debert Cook of
African American Golfers Digest.
No cause or details were immediately available, but the tour said itconfirmed Elder's death with hisfamily.
A native Texan who developedhis game during segregated timeswhile caddying, Elder made history in 1975 at Augusta National,which had been an allwhite tournament until he received an invitation after winning the MonsantoOpen the previous year.
Elder missed the cut at his firstMasters but forever stamped himself as a groundbreaking figure ina sport that had never been knownfor racial tolerance.
Twentytwo years later, Woodsbecame the first Black golfer tocapture the green jacket, launching one of the greatest careers ingolf history.
This past April, in the wake ofsocial justice protests that roiledthe nation, the Masters honoredElder by having him join JackNicklaus and Gary Player for theceremonial opening tee shots.
Elder was in poor health and unable to take a swing, but he held uphis driver proudly at the first tee,clearly moved by the moment.
German government hints
at smaller crowdsThe German government sug
gested Monday that big crowds atsports events should be reducedafter a weekend that featured oneemptystadium Bundesliga gameand another with a crowd of50,000.
Germany leaves policy onsports events during the coronavirus pandemic to the state governments, but there are calls for amore unified approach.
Outgoing Chancellor AngelaMerkel’s spokesman, SteffenSeibert, said it is “really hard tounderstand why 50,000 people arecoming together in a football stadium, even if it was approved,” ata time when experts are sayingthat contacts need to be reduced.
JOHN HEFTI/AP
Threetime Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer is close to a $130million deal to join the New York Mets.
BRIEFLY
AP source: Scherzer
nears deal with MetsAssociated Press
Tuesday, November 30, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 21
NFL
STARS
Passing
Mac Jones, Patriots, completed
23 of 32 passes for 310 yards and two
touchdowns in New England’s 36-13
victory over Tennessee.
Aaron Rodgers, Packers, with-
stood pain from a toe injury, went 28 of
45 for 307 yards and threw two touch-
down passes and also ran for a score in
Green Bay’s 36-28 victory over the Los
Angeles Rams.
Joe Burrow, Bengals, scrambled
for a score and passed for another in
Cincinnati’s 41-10 win over Pittsburgh
to give it a sweep of the season series for
the first time since 2009.
Tua Tagovailoa, Dolphins, com-
pleted 27 of 31 passes for 230 yards
and a score in Miami’s 33-10 victory
over Carolina.
Rushing
Leonard Fournette, Buccaneers,
capped a four-touchdown game with a
28-yard scoring run with 20 seconds
left to give Tampa Bay a 38-31 come-
from-behind victory at Indianapolis. He
carried 17 times for 100 yards and three
scores and caught Tom Brady’s only TD
pass of the game.
Cordarrelle Patterson, Falcons,
ran for a career-high 108 yards and two
touchdowns in his return from an ankle
injury to help Atlanta past Jacksonville
21-14.
Deebo Samuel and Elijah Mitch-
ell, 49ers. Samuel ran for two touch-
downs before leaving with an injury and
Mitchell rushed for 133 yards and a
score, leading San Francisco to a 34-26
victory over Minnesota.
Myles Gaskin, Dolphins, had two
short TD runs to help Miami to a 33-10
victory over Carolina.
Dontrell Hilliard and D’Onta Fore-
man, Titans. They became the first Ten-
nessee backs other than Derrick Henry
to rush for 100 yards since 2018, with
Hilliard carrying 12 times for a career-
high 131 yards including a 68-yard TD,
in a 36-13 loss at New England. Fore-
man rushed 19 times for 109 yards.
Both also had costly turnovers.
Receiving
Jaylen Waddle, Dolphins, had
nine catches for a season-best 137
yards and a touchdown in Miami’s 33-
10 win over Carolina.
Kendrick Bourne, Patriots, had
both of New England’s touchdown re-
ceptions, finishing with five catches for
61 yards in a win over Tennessee.
Tee Higgins, Bengals, caught six
passes for 114 yards and a touchdown
in Cincinnati’s 41-10 win over Pitts-
burgh.
Adam Thielen, Vikings, had two
touchdown catches in a losing cause as
Minnesota fell 34-26 at San Francisco.
Special Teams
Kene Nwangwu, Vikings, had a
99-yard kickoff return for a touchdown
in Minnesota’s 34-26 loss at San Fran-
cisco. The running back had a 98-yard
kickoff return TD in Week 9, becoming
the first rookie to return a kickoff for a
score twice in a season since Cordarrelle
Patterson in 2013.
Justin Coleman and Duke Riley,
Dolphins. Coleman grabbed Riley’s
blocked punt and plowed in from 2
yards for a touchdown in Miami’s 33-10
win over Carolina.
Nick Folk, Patriots, kicked a 52-
yard field goal in the fourth quarter of
New England’s 36-13 win over Tennes-
see to tie Stephen Gostkowski (2013)
for the franchise record of five field goals
from 50 or more yards in a season.
Defense
Pat Surtain II, Broncos, had a pair
of interceptions to lead Denver past the
Los Angeles Chargers 28-13. The rookie
cornerback returned the second INT 70
yards for a game-sealing touchdown.
John Franklin-Myers, Jets, had
two sacks and an interception in New
York’s 21-14 victory at Houston, be-
coming the franchise’s first player to ac-
complish that feat since Lance Mehl in
1985.
Jaelan Phillips, Dolphins, had
three of Miami’s five sacks in a 33-10
victory over Carolina.
Shaquil Barrett, Buccaneers, had
two sacks and forced and recovered a
fumble on one of them in Tampa Bay’s
38-31 win at Indianapolis.
Rasul Douglas, Packers, returned
an interception of Matthew Stafford 33
yards for a touchdown in Green Bay’s
36-28 victory over the Los Angeles
Rams.
Ja’Whaun Bentley, Patriots,
forced two fumbles in New England’s
36-13 win over Tennessee.
MILESTONES
Tampa Bay’s Tom Brady has 30
touchdown passes this season, the
ninth season he has at least that many.
That ties him with Brett Favre and Pey-
ton Manning for the second most in NFL
history. Drew Brees holds the record
with 10 seasons of 30 or more TD
throws. ... Aaron Rodgers threw for 307
yards and two touchdowns in Green
Bay’s 36-28 win over the Los Angeles
Rams, his 60th career game with at
least 300 yards passing and two TD
passes. He joined Brees (97 games),
Brady (84) and Manning (70) as the on-
ly players with at least 60 such games.
... Keenan Allen had seven catches for
85 yards in a 28-13 loss at Denver, giv-
ing him 705 career receptions. He tied
Antonio Brown as the fastest players to
700 career catches, both doing it in 111
games.
STREAKS & STATS
Jacksonville has dropped 45 of its
past 52 games against teams from the
NFC after losing to Atlanta. The Jaguars
(2-9) are 0-4 this season versus the oth-
er conference. The latest defeat guaran-
teed the Jags another losing season,
their 10th in the past 11 years. ... Miami
beat Carolina 33-10 to become the sixth
team in NFL history to immediately fol-
low a 1-7 start with four consecutive
wins. ... Indianapolis’ Jonathan Taylor
ran for 83 yards and caught four passes
for 14 yards in the Colts’ 38-31 loss to
Tampa Bay — finishing 3 yards short of
a NFL record-breaking ninth consecu-
tive game with 100 or more yards from
scrimmage and a rushing TD. ... Minne-
sota has allowed 66 points in the final
two minutes of the first half, the most for
any team through 11 games since at
least 2000. ... The Vikings are also the
17th team in the Super Bowl era to take
a lead of at least seven points in each of
the first 11 games. The first 16 teams to
do it combined for an .852 winning per-
centage. The Vikings (5-6) are the only
team to do it and have a losing record.
NFL Today
the game for a 38-31 victory.
Why didn’t Taylor run the ball
on the first three possessions of
the second half?
“We were rolling,” Colts coach
Frank Reich said. “We tried to run
it in the first quarter, this is the No.
1run defense, and we weren’t get-
ting anything. We tried throwing
in the second quarter and started
having a lot of success. Carson was
hot. Called a bunch of RPOs that
got to throws because they were
throw reads. We come out in the
third quarter, we move the ball
well in the third quarter. We
moved down there twice, we’re
moving it well.”
The Colts became enamored
with the pass because it was work-
ing, but the turnovers ended up
hurting them. Perhaps, giving the
ball to Taylor in the third quarter
would’ve allowed Indianapolis to
extend the lead and avoid those
costly mistakes.
“When we turn it over, it gives
them life,” Reich said. “That’s No.
1. No. 2, they have Tom Brady.”
Reich’s former offensive coor-
dinator, Nick Sirianni, helped the
Eagles turn things around this
season after he committed to the
run. The first-year coach guided
Philadelphia (5-7) to three wins in
the last four weeks with a heavy
emphasis on the run, led by Hurts.
But against New York, the Eagles
moved away from it for stretches.
Hurts threw 31 passes and was
picked three times, including
twice in the red zone. He had a
chance at the end to win it, but Ja-
len Reagor couldn’t make a catch
near the goal line and the Giants
held on for a 13-7 win.
When the Eagles ran, they had
success, racking up 208 yards on
the ground. They just didn’t run it
enough to beat the Giants (4-7).
“When you turn the ball over
three times, there are different
things at play there, but not a win-
ning performance,” Sirianni said.
“Running the ball was good.”
The Ravens (8-3) defeated the
Browns (6-6) 16-10 despite a ca-
reer-worst four interceptions by
Jackson. Cleveland entered with
the league’s No. 1 rushing offense,
but handed the ball to Nick Chubb
and Kareem Hunt just 15 times
while Mayfield made 37 passes.
As the weather gets colder in
December, running teams will
have to do what they do best to
win.
Pass: Running teams shouldavoid falling into identity crisisFROM PAGE 24
AJ MAST/AP
The Colts’ Jonathan Taylor (28) is hit by the Tampa Bay Bucs’ SeanMurphyBunting (23) and Lavonte David on Sunday, in Indianapolis.
JOHN MUNSON/AP
Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts runs the ball during the first half of Sunday's game against theNew York Giants, in East Rutherford, N.J.
PAGE 22 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Tuesday, November 30, 2021
NFL
American Conference
East
W L T Pct PF PA
New England 8 4 0 .667 336 190
Buffalo 7 4 0 .636 326 182
Miami 5 7 0 .417 234 279
N.Y. Jets 3 8 0 .273 199 334
South
W L T Pct PF PA
Tennessee 8 4 0 .667 304 290
Indianapolis 6 6 0 .500 340 283
Houston 2 9 0 .182 164 292
Jacksonville 2 9 0 .182 173 283
North
W L T Pct PF PA
Baltimore 8 3 0 .727 263 240
Cincinnati 7 4 0 .636 309 226
Pittsburgh 5 5 1 .500 224 267
Cleveland 6 6 0 .500 254 267
West
W L T Pct PF PA
Kansas City 7 4 0 .636 281 250
Denver 6 5 0 .545 228 196
L.A. Chargers 6 5 0 .545 273 293
Las Vegas 6 5 0 .545 259 295
National Conference
East
W L T Pct PF PA
Dallas 7 4 0 .636 326 250
Philadelphia 5 7 0 .417 304 273
Washington 4 6 0 .400 212 267
N.Y. Giants 4 7 0 .364 202 253
South
W L T Pct PF PA
Tampa Bay 8 3 0 .727 347 253
Atlanta 5 6 0 .455 199 302
New Orleans 5 6 0 .455 257 249
Carolina 5 7 0 .417 236 253
North
W L T Pct PF PA
Green Bay 9 3 0 .750 283 242
Minnesota 5 6 0 .455 281 276
Chicago 4 7 0 .364 179 254
Detroit 0 10 1 .045 174 289
West
W L T Pct PF PA
Arizona 9 2 0 .818 310 202
L.A. Rams 7 4 0 .636 299 263
San Francisco 6 5 0 .545 280 248
Seattle 3 7 0 .300 194 209
Thursday, Nov. 25
Chicago 16, Detroit 14Las Vegas 36, Dallas 33, OTBuffalo 31, New Orleans 6
Sunday’s games
Atlanta 21, Jacksonville 14Cincinnati 41, Pittsburgh 10Miami 33, Carolina 10N.Y. Giants 13, Philadelphia 7N.Y. Jets 21, Houston 14New England 36, Tennessee 13Tampa Bay 38, Indianapolis 31Denver 28, L.A. Chargers 13Green Bay 36, L.A. Rams 28San Francisco 34, Minnesota 26Baltimore 16, Cleveland 10Open: Kansas City, Arizona
Monday’s game
Seattle at Washington
Thursday’s game
Dallas at New Orleans
Sunday, Dec. 5
Arizona at ChicagoIndianapolis at HoustonL.A. Chargers at CincinnatiMinnesota at DetroitN.Y. Giants at MiamiPhiladelphia at N.Y. JetsTampa Bay at AtlantaJacksonville at L.A. RamsWashington at Las VegasBaltimore at PittsburghSan Francisco at SeattleDenver at Kansas CityOpen: Cleveland, Tennessee, Car-
olina, Green Bay
Monday, Dec. 6
New England at Buffalo
Scoreboard
DENVER — Pat Surtain II
showed off not only his sticky hands
but his swift feet.
The rookie from Alabama picked
off Justin Herbert twice, returning
the second one 70 yards for a touch-
down and sparking the Denver
Broncos’ 28-13 win over the Los An-
geles Chargers on Sunday.
Surtain reached a top speed of
22.07 mph on his pick-6, according
to Next Gen Stats, the fastest by a
defensive back with the ball in his
hands in the last five years.
“I’ve always known I was fast,”
said Surtain. “I used to run track, so
I would say that little track back-
ground helped me a lot.”
The Broncos’ big win sets up a
showdown for the AFC West lead
next weekend in Kansas City,
where the game between Denver
(6-5) and the Chiefs (7-4) already
was flexed to Sunday night.
“No matter what happens,” said
safety Justin Simmons, “we’ve got
to find a way to leave Arrowhead
with a win,” something the Broncos
haven’t done since 2015.
Surtain’s first interception came
in the end zone on a pass intended
for tight end Jared Cook early in the
fourth quarter. Denver converted
that takeaway into a touchdown
when Teddy Bridgewater hit tight
end Eric Saubert from 9 yards to
make it 21-7.
Surtain’s second interception one
came off the hands of Austin Ekeler,
who watched helplessly as Surtain
sprinted past him and down the
Broncos’ sideline to push the Bron-
cos’ lead to 28-7 with 7:28 left.
“Those are two big swings in the
game and big, big plays,” Denver
coach Vic Fangio said.
“They do a great job of disguising
everything and they’re really well
coached,” said Herbert, who fin-
ished 28-for-44 for 303 yards and
two TDs with two interceptions and
three sacks. “When you put togeth-
er a really good coach like that with
some pretty exceptional players,
you get a really good defense.”
Featuring four rookie starters in
Surtain, safety Caden Sterns and li-
nebackers Jonathon Cooper and
Baron Browning, the Broncos’ de-
fense came up big on a day the inju-
ry-riddled offense lost Bridgewater
temporarily to a lower right leg in-
jury, left tackle Calvin Anderson
(knee), and left guard Dalton Risner
(back).
Bridgewater returned after half-
time and Denver closed out the win
by running the ball behind a ma-
keshift line, finishing with 147 yards
rushing against the league’s leakiest
run defense.
The Chargers’ first two drives of
the second half consisted of two doz-
en plays and ate up 14 minutes, 15
seconds. Both were fruitless.
The Broncos’ win means every
team in the division has a winning
record after 12 weeks.
“The AFC is still wide open,” said
the Chargers’ Derwin James Jr.
“We’re 6-5 right now and everyone
in the AFC pretty much has the
same record as us. Everything we
want is still there.”
Surtain’s picks leads Broncos past Chargers
JACK DEMPSEY/AP
Denver Broncos cornerback Pat Surtain II (2) celebrates one of histwo interceptions with teammates during the second half on Sunday.
BY ARNIE STAPLETON
Associated Press
CINCINNATI — Bengals cor-
nerback Mike Hilton, who played
for the Steelers for his first four
years, got his first pick-6 at any lev-
el of football against his former
team late in the first half Sunday.
Hilton’s interception of Ben
Roethlisberger put Cincinnati up
31-3 and seemed to serve as a sym-
bolic turning point in Pittsburgh’s
longtime domination of the Ben-
gals and the AFC North.
“To do it against those guys in a
big division game, it couldn’t be
any sweeter,” Hilton said as his
teammates shouted and the music
thumped in the locker room next
door.
The 41-10 win by Cincinnati (7-4)
on Sunday followed a double-digit
win in September, making it the
Bengals’ first season sweep of the
Steelers since 2009.
A 27-17 upset by Cincinnati last
Dec. 21 broke an 11-game winning
streak by Pittsburgh in the series.
“Beating these guys, for me
twice and for some of those other
guys three times straight, is a big
change of the guard in our opin-
ion,” said Hilton, who signed with
the Bengals as a free agent before
the season. “It’s given us a lot of
confidence, and guys are excited to
see how the rest of the season plays
out.”
Joe Mixon rushed for a career-
high 165 yards and two touch-
downs, Joe Burrow scrambled for
a score and passed for another one
as Cincinnati crushed the Steelers
(5-5-1) and kept them winless in
their past three games.
And the Bengals stamped them-
selves as a legitimate playoff con-
tender.
Mixon, coming off a rugged 123-
yard, two-TD performance in a win
over Las Vegas last week, pounded
away for 117 yards in the first half.
“To be honest, I feel like I’m
starting to reach that point, my
prime, like starting to get there,”
said Mixon, who was slowed by a
foot injury last season. “I know
what type of speed the defense
comes with, I know how to slow the
game down myself. As much as it
comes down to me making plays,
that has to do with my teammates.”
Cincinnati scored on its first four
drives, and then Hilton jumped
James Washington’s route and ran
it back 24 yards for a touchdown
with 30 seconds left in the half.
“It was a big moment, it was an
emotional moment,” Bengals
coach Zac Taylor said. “For Mike to
turn around and go the other way
with it really kind of catapulted us
to what we wanted to do the rest of
the day.”
The Cincinnti defense kept
Roethlisberger from getting any
real traction until it was too late. He
was picked off twice and sacked
three times, finishing with 263
yards.
Mixon, Bengals run over SteelersRunning back rushes forcareer-high 165 yards inCincinnati’s 41-10 victory
BY MITCH STACY
Associated Press
AARON DOSTER/AP
Cincinnati Bengals running back Joe Mixon celebrates after scoring a touchdown against the PittsburghSteelers during the first half of the Bengals’ 4110 win Sunday in Cincinnati.
Tuesday, November 30, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 23
NFL
GREEN BAY, Wis. — Aaron
Rodgers isn’t letting his toe injury
lower his expectations even as it
limits his practice time.
Rodgers threw two touchdown
passes and also ran for a score in
the Green Bay Packers’ 36-28 vic-
tory over the Los Angeles Rams on
Sunday. Not bad for someone who
hadn’t practiced all week.
“When I step on the field, I ex-
pect greatness,” said Rodgers,
who says he fractured his pinky toe
while working out during his quar-
antine after a positive COVID-19
test. “Anyone who’s a great com-
petitor feels the same way. I don’t
lean on excuses: not practicing, a
little toe injury.”
Rodgers went 28-for-45 for 307
yards as the Packers bounced back
from a 34-31 loss at Minnesota. The
reigning MVP threw touchdown
passes of 7 yards to Randall Cobb
and 5 yards to A.J. Dillon.
His injury had caused him to
practice just once in the week lead-
ing up to his 385-yard, four-touch-
down effort at Minnesota.
“It definitely isn’t the ideal situa-
tion not to practice,” Rodgers said.
“But if I can go out there, take men-
tal reps, go through the plan and
my preparation and feel good
about what I’m doing, and when I
get out there, I’ve just got to rely on
my instincts. The beauty is it’s an
11-person-a-side game, and I really
feel the offensive line allowed me
just to settle in.”
The Rams outscored Green Bay
11-0 in the fourth quarter, but their
comeback attempt ended when
Adrian Amos recovered an onside
kick with 17 seconds left.
The Packers (9-3) have never
lost consecutive games within the
same season during Matt La-
Fleur’s three-year coaching ten-
ure. Green Bay heads into its off
week with a 3½-game lead over
Minnesota (5-6) in the NFC Cen-
tral.
“We’ve just got to keep stacking
wins and ride this momentum,”
Packers defensive tackle Kenny
Clark said.
Los Angeles (7-4) dropped its
third straight game and continual-
ly made mistakes to create scoring
opportunities for Green Bay,
which scored 16 points off three
Rams turnovers.
“Pretty self-explanatory, kind of
a lot of the same narratives,” Los
Angeles coach Sean McVay said.
“We turn the ball over too many
times. You can’t get behind against
a good football team like that. I do
love the way that our guys continue
to battle.”
Matthew Stafford went 21-
for-38 for 302 yards with three
touchdown passes. But he also lost
afumble to set up a touchdown and
had an interception returned for a
touchdown. Stafford has thrown a
pick-6 in each of the last three
games.
Odell Beckham Jr. had five
catches for 81 yards with a 54-yard
touchdown in his second game as a
Ram.
Rodgers opened the scoring and
put the Packers ahead for good
with a 1-yard touchdown to cap a
drive that began at the Los Angeles
6-yard line. Green Bay’s Rashan
Gary, coming back from an elbow
injury that sidelined him last week,
sacked Stafford and hit the quar-
terback’s elbow to cause a fumble
that Preston Smith recovered to
give the Packers first-and-goal.
“We’re going to continue to
learn from these things, that’s the
only thing that you can do,” McVay
said. “But we’ve got to stop with
some of these self-inflicted
wounds.”
AARON GASH/AP
Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers ran for one touchdown andthrew two touchdown passes in Sunday’s 3628 defeat of the Rams.
Toe doesn’t slowRodgers as Packerstriumph over Rams
BY STEVE MEGARGEE
Associated Press 328Average passing yards per game overthe past three games by Packersquarterback Aaron Rodgers. On Sun-day, he was 28-for-45 for 307 yardsand two touchdown passes.
SOURCE: NFL.com
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The Titans ended an era
for the Patriots during the 2019 season when they
knocked them out of the playoffs in Tom Brady’s final
game in New England.
The Patriots are hoping Sunday’s victory over Ten-
nessee will be part of the blueprint to get them back to
the postseason without Brady.
Rookie Mac Jones threw two touchdown passes,
New England’s defense forced four turnovers and the
Patriots earned their sixth straight win, rolling past
the undermanned Titans 36-13.
“You’re not gonna win a Super Bowl now. You’re
gonna win it in February. We gotta keep that same
mindset,” defensive lineman Davon Godchaux said of
the victory, which snapped New England’s two-game
losing streak to Tennessee.
The Patriots (8-4) hadn’t beaten the Titans since
former New England linebacker Mike Vrabel took
over as coach in 2018. The Pats improved to 6-1 against
AFC opponents this season.
Jones completed 23 of 32 passes for 310 yards. Ken-
drick Bourne had both of New England’s touchdown
receptions, finishing with five catches for 61 yards.
Jones took multiple deep shots down the field, con-
necting with Bourne on a 41-yard TD and Jakobi
Meyers for 38 yards to set up a field goal.
“I can rely on any of them and we can rely on any of
them,” Jones said.
Tennessee (8-4) stayed close early, but couldn’t sur-
vive a bevy of errors that included three fumbles by its
running backs and an interception by Ryan Tannehill.
He finished 11-for-21 for 93 yards and a touchdown.
“Put all those together and you put yourself in a dif-
ficult situation,” Tannehill said.
Playing without star Derrick Henry (foot surgery)
for the fourth straight game, the Titans had mixed re-
sults from their rushing attack. They also were mis-
sing several other starters, notably top receiver A.J.
Brown (chest), guard Nate Davis (concussion) and li-
nebacker Rashaan Evans (ankle).
Dontrell Hilliard and D’Onta Foreman became the
first Tennessee backs other than Henry to rush for 100
yards since 2018. Hilliard carried 12 times for a ca-
reer-high 131 yards and a 68-yard TD. He also a fum-
ble in the second quarter that set up a Patriots field
goal.
Foreman rushed 19 times for 109 yards and broke
free for a 34-yard rush in the third quarter. That also
ended in turnover after he was stripped from behind
by J.C. Jackson.
New England took an early lead following a poor
start by the Titans. It included a penalty on their kick-
off return, a 1-yard run loss on their first play from
scrimmage and giving up a sack on third down. Ten-
nessee then had to punt twice after being penalized for
an illegal shift.
It all added up to a short field for the Patriots, who
started on the Titans 37. New England needed only
nine plays to go up 7-0 following a 4-yard TD pass from
Jones to Bourne.
STEVEN SENNE/AP
Tennessee Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill, center, is brought down by New England Patriots middlelinebacker Ja’Whaun Bentley, left, and safety Adrian Phillips during the Patriots’ 3613 win Sunday.
Jones throws 2 TD passesas Patriots thump Titans
STEVEN SENNE/AP
Patriots wide receiver Kendrick Bourne, left,breaks free from Titans inside linebacker JayonBrown in Sunday’s game at Foxborough, Mass.Bourne had two touchdown catches in the game.
BY KYLE HIGHTOWER
Associated Press
PAGE 24 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Tuesday, November 30, 2021
SPORTS
Source: Scherzer nears deal with Mets ›› Sports briefs, Page 20
Throwing the football in the NFL is so al-
luring it can seduce even the best run
teams.
The Indianapolis Colts forgot they
have Jonathan Taylor after relying on Carson
Wentz’s arm to build a 10-point halftime lead
against the defending Super Bowl champion Buc-
caneers.
The Philadelphia Eagles climbed into the play-
off race because of a potent rushing attack and let
Jalen Hurts throw it away against the Giants.
The Baltimore Ravens and Cleveland Browns
combined for five turnovers on pass plays in the
second quarter Sunday night. Lamar Jackson
threw three picks. Baker Mayfield and wide re-
ceiver Jarvis Landry fumbled on sacks.
If the Ravens didn’t play against the Browns,
the NFL’s five top running teams would’ve lost in
Week 12. The Tennessee Titans, who entered with
the league’s fifth-ranked rushing offense, kept
rolling on the ground with 270 yards, but they
were blown out by the Patriots 36-13.
Most baffling was the Colts’ play calling in the
second half.
Facing the league’s stingiest run defense, Indi-
anapolis couldn’t get Taylor going early. Tampa
Bay (8-3) wasn’t going to allow Taylor, the
league’s first 1,000-yard rusher this season, to
beat them. It dared the Colts to throw, and Wentz
responded with three perfect touchdown passes
in the first half for a 24-14 lead.
Indianapolis (6-6) got the ball to start the
third quarter and kept on throwing.
Wentz dropped back on 26 straight
plays at one point, including the fi-
nal eight plays in the second
quarter. The results in the sec-
ond half were disastrous.
Shaquil Barrett’s strip-sack
of Wentz led to a touch-
down for the Bucca-
neers. Wentz then threw
apick on a deep ball in which Antoine Winfield Jr.
made a leaping grab over Michael Pittman Jr.
That led to another touchdown for Tampa Bay.
When the Colts finally handed it to Taylor again
in the fourth quarter, he gained 58 yards on eight
carries, including a game-tying TD. But Tom Bra-
dy then led the Buccaneers on the winning drive
with Leonard Fournette scoring his fourth TD of
Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson scrambles against the Cleveland Browns, Sunday, in Baltimore.The Ravens held off the Browns 1610 despite a careerhigh four interceptions from Jackson.
GAIL BURTON/AP
Ground downAllure of the pass seduces even league’s best run teams
BY ROB MAADDI
Associated Press
SEE PASS ON PAGE 21
NFL: ON FOOTBALL
15Total rushing attempts by the Cleveland Browns (6-6) on Sunday in a16-10 loss to the Baltimore Ravens (8-3). Cleveland entered with theleague’s top-ranked rushing offense, but handed the ball to Nick Chubband Kareem Hunt just 15 times while quarterback Baker Mayfieldattempted 37 passes.
SOURCE: Associated Press
California dreamin’
Riley bolts Oklahoma to take job asUSC coach ›› College football, Page 20