Volume 80 Edition 200A ©SS 2022
CONTINGENCY EDITION S
ATURDAY, J
ANUARY22, 2022 Free to Deployed Areas
stripes
.comPackers, 49ers set to renew rivalry after September thriller
Page 24
Congress votes to honor WWII ‘Ghost Army’ with medal
Page 3
Netflix’s ‘Archive 81’ a slow-building horror of a mystery
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Europe considers new COVID-19 strategy: Accepting the virus ›› Page 5
GENEVA — The United States and Russia sought to lower the temperature in a heated standoff over Ukraine, even as they report- ed no breakthroughs in high-level, high-stakes talks on Friday aimed at preventing a feared Russian in- vasion.
Armed with seemingly intracta- ble and diametrically opposed de- mands, U.S. Secretary of State An- tony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met in Geneva for roughly 90 minutes at what the American said was a
“critical moment.”
But there was no apparent movement on either side, and Blinken said the U.S. and its allies remain resolute in rejecting Rus- sia’s most important demands.
Nonetheless, Blinken told Lav- rov that the U.S. would present Russia with written responses to its proposals next week and sug- gested the two men would likely meet again shortly after that.
With an estimated 100,000 Rus- sian troops massed near Ukraine, many fear Moscow is preparing an invasion although Russia de- nies that. The U.S. and its allies are scrambling to present a united front to prevent that or coordinate a tough response if they can’t.
“We didn’t expect any major breakthroughs to happen today, but I believe we are now on a clearer path to understanding each other’s positions,” Blinken told reporters after the meeting.
Blinken said Lavrov repeated
US and Russia try to lower temperature
ALEXBRANDON/AP
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov move to their seats before their meeting Friday in Geneva, Switzerland. The two top diplomats traded demands in a meeting that lasted about 90 minutes.
Blinken and Lavrov meet at a ‘critical moment’ in standoff
BYMATTHEWLEE ANDJAMEYKEATEN
Associated Press
SEE STANDOFF ON PAGE 4 WASHINGTON — Short of an all-out inva-
sion, Russian President Vladimir Putin could take less dramatic action in Ukraine that would vastly complicate a U.S. and allied response.
He might carry out what President Joe Biden called a “minor incursion” — perhaps a cyber- attack — leaving the U.S. and Europe divided on the type and severity of economic sanctions to impose on Moscow and ways to increase support for Kyiv.
Biden drew widespread criticism for saying Wednesday that retaliating for Russian ag-
gression in Ukraine would depend on the de- tails. “It’s one thing if it’s a minor incursion and then we end up having a fight about what to do and not do,” he said.
Biden and top administration officials worked Thursday to clean up his comments.
Biden stressed that if “any assembled Russian units move across the Ukrainian border, that is an invasion” and it would be met with a “severe and coordinated economic response.”
But even if the “minor incursion” remark was seen as a gaffe, it touched on a potentially problematic issue: While the U.S. and allies
‘Minor incursion’ by Russia could complicate a response from the West
BYROBERTBURNS, ELLEN
KNICKMEYER ANDANGELACHARLTON Associated Press
PAVELBEDNYAKOV/AP
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends the talks with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in the Kremlin in Moscow on Wednesday.
SEE RESPONSE ON PAGE 4
UKRAINE CRISIS
BUSINESS/WEATHER
SAN RAMON, Calif. — Netflix delivered its latest quarter of dis- appointing subscriber growth during the final three months of last year, a trend that manage- ment foresees continuing into the new year as tougher competition is undercutting the video stream- ing leader.
The Los Gatos, Calif., company added 8.3 million worldwide sub- scribers during the October-De- cember period, about 200,000 fewer than management had
forecast. Besides releasing its fourth-quarter results Thursday, Netflix also projected an increase of 2.5 million subscribers during the first three months of this year, well below analysts’ expec- tations for a gain of 4 million, ac- cording to FactSet Research.
The disappointing news caused Netflix’s stock price to plunge by about 20% in extended trading af- ter the numbers came out, dee- pening a steep decline during the past two months.
It capped a challenging year
for Netflix after it reveled in eye- popping gains during the pan- demic lockdowns of 2020 that drove homebound people to its service.
Netflix picked up 18.2 million worldwide subscribers during 2021, its slowest pace of annual growth in five years. It came af- ter Netflix gained more than 36 million subscribers during 2020.
The service now boasts nearly 222 million subscribers world- wide, more than other video streaming leader.
Netflix stock plunges over subscriber growth news
Associated Press
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Morón
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SATURDAY IN EUROPE
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Iwakuni 45/40 Seoul
40/29
Osan 44/26
Busan 52/45
The weather is provided by the American Forces Network Weather Center, 2nd Weather Squadron at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb.
SUNDAY IN THE PACIFIC
WEATHER OUTLOOK
TODAY
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Military rates
Euro costs (Jan. 24) $1.11
Dollar buys (Jan. 24) 0.8588
British pound (Jan. 24) $1.32
Japanese yen (Jan. 24) 112.00
South Korean won (Jan. 24) 1162.00 Commercial rates
Bahrain(Dinar) 0.3769
Britain (Pound) 1.3569
Canada (Dollar) 1.2533
China(Yuan) 6.3373
Denmark (Krone) 6.5576
Egypt (Pound) 15.7139
Euro 0.8810
Hong Kong (Dollar) 7.7862
Hungary (Forint) 316.11
Israel (Shekel) 3.1427
Japan (Yen) 113.68
Kuwait(Dinar) 0.3024
Norway (Krone) 8.8773
Philippines (Peso) 51.25
Poland (Zloty) 4.00
Saudi Arabia (Riyal) 3.7515
Singapore (Dollar) 1.3445
South Korea (Won) 1192.61
Switzerland (Franc) 0.9111
Thailand (Baht) 32.95
Turkey (NewLira) 13.4349
(Military exchange rates are those available to customers at military banking facilities in the country of issuance for Japan, South Korea, Ger- many, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.
For nonlocal currency exchange rates (i.e., pur- chasing British pounds in Germany), check with your local military banking facility. Commercial rates are interbank rates provided for reference when buying currency. All figures are foreign currencies to one dollar, except for the British pound, which is represented in dollars-to- pound, and the euro, which is dollars-to-euro.)
INTEREST RATES
Prime rate 3.25
Interest Rates Discount rate 0.75 Federal funds market rate 0.09
3-month bill 0.18
30-year bond 2.14
EXCHANGE RATES
WASHINGTON — House law- makers unanimously voted to be- stow a Congressional Gold Medal to a secret U.S. military unit that fooled German troops with inflat- able tanks, audio recordings and other methods of military decep- tion during World War II.
The Ghost Army Congressional Gold Medal Act to award the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops and the 3133rd Signal Service Com- pany — colloquially known as the
“Ghost Army” — with the top award of appreciation from Con- gress passed the House on Wednesday and it will now go to President Joe Biden’s desk to be signed into law. The bill passed the Senate on Dec. 15 unanimously.
“What made the Ghost Army special was not just their extraor- dinary courage, but their creativ- ity,” Rep. Annie Kuster, D-N.H., said on the House floor. “Their sto- ry reminds us that listening to un- conventional ideas like using vi- sual and sound deception can help us solve existential challenges like defeating tyranny.”
The Ghost Army was kept se- cret for more than 50 years until its existence was declassified in 1996, according to the Ghost Army Leg- acy Project, a nonprofit organiza-
tion that has been advocating for the unit’s national recognition for seven years.
The tactical deception unit staged more than 20 operations
“often dangerously close to the front, in France, Belgium, Luxem- burg and Germany,” according to a statement by the project. The Ghost Army is credited with sav- ing approximately 30,000 lives with its tactics that diverted ene-
my attention from actual U.S. mil- itary advances.
The 1,100-person unit took cre- ative risks, faking Army convoys, headquarters and whole divisions, deceiving the Germans to believe its small unit was one of more than 20,000 troops, according to the project.
Their tactics included playing recordings of moving armored ve- hicles to simulate the sound of op-
erations at night, spoofing radio stations and sending out false Morse code “so that the enemy would never catch on that the real unit and its radio operator were long gone,” according to the pro- ject’s website.
In some cases, Ghost Army sol- diers would trick adversary spies by spinning stories in local cafes in hopes that they would believe the false intelligence, according to the
website.
One of their more notable oper- ations in the final days of the war helped the 9th Army safely cross the Rhine River in a ruse that led Germans to believe false intelli- gence about when the U.S. troops would do so, according to the web- site.
One of the nine remaining Ghost Army veterans in the United States, 98-year-old Pfc. Bernie Bluestein, called the decision Wednesday by Congress “an hon- or.”
“I never in my lifetime expected anything like this. It completely blasts me,” Bluestein said in the statement. “I’m just sorry that there are not more of my fellow soldiers still alive that can be en- joying this as much as I do.”
The Ghost Army Legacy Project said it expects Biden to sign the bill into law within the next two weeks.
“Today’s vote was a big moment for us,” said Rick Beyer, president of the project. “But the real cele- bration will come when President Biden signs the bill and later when the [medal] is actually placed in the hands of the Ghost Army vet- erans.”
Congress votes to honor WWII ‘Ghost Army’
BYCAITLINDOORNBOS Stars and Stripes
Ghost Army Legacy Project
A “Ghost Army” soldier stands before an inflatable tank used to deceive enemies in World War II.
Doornbos.caitlin@stripes.com Twitter: @CaitlinDoornbos
The Access to Contraception for Servicemembers and Dependents Act of 2021, which would elimi- nate the copays under TRICARE, made it into the House’s version of the National Defense Authoriza- tion Act. The NDAA sets annual spending and policy priorities for the Defense Department. Howev- er, it was not included in the final bill that passed through Congress in December.
The change could affect mil- lions of women. As of 2019, TRI- CARE covered about 1.6 million women of reproductive age, in- cluding military spouses and de- pendents. That year, there were about 1.7 million female veterans in the United States, though it’s not clear how many were of reproduc- tive age and received their medi- cal care from the VA.
“Ensuring our service mem- bers and their dependents receive basic health care services without cost barriers — just as civilians do
— is the least we can do for these brave individuals who put their lives on the line in defense of our country and freedoms,” the law- makers wrote.
WASHINGTON — Lawmakers urged Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Thursday to eliminate copayments for birth control for service members and their fam- ilies in order to “rectify the injus- tice” of troops paying for contra- ceptives that are free to most women through public and pri- vate insurers.
In total, 141 Democrats signed onto a letter to Austin. They asked him to designate health care visits related to contraceptives as pre- ventative services, which would waive the copayments through TRICARE, the military's health insurance provider.
Lawmakers have been attempt- ing for the past few years to elim- inate copays for birth control by passing a bill that would prohibit TRICARE from collecting them.
The bill has failed to pass through Congress. The Democrats asked Austin to take action now as they work to build support for a more comprehensive change.
“Given the urgency of the mat- ter, we encourage you to waive contraceptive copays that fall un- der your authority and continue working with Congress to elimi-
nate all cost sharing for contra- ception for service members and military families, as gaps will still remain in statute,” the lawmakers wrote.
The Women’s Democratic Cau- cus drafted the letter. The law- makers pointed out the discrepan- cy between the benefits offered to service members and their fam- ilies versus other Americans. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act guarantees that employ- er-sponsored health care and pub- lic insurance cover all contracep- tive methods without cost-shar- ing.
“These protections do not apply to coverage through TRICARE,”
they wrote. “As a result, military families have fewer rights than those they serve to protect.”
Like with TRICARE, female veterans using the Department of Veterans Affairs for their health care also face copays for their birth control.
Multiple bills have been intro- duced in Congress to eliminate the copayments. The Equal Access to Contraception for Veterans Act, which would waive copays for VA patients, passed the House last year. The Senate has not acted on the bill.
Dems urge defense secretary to eliminate copays for birth control
BYNIKKIWENTLING Stars and Stripes
Wentling.nikki@stripes.com Twitter: @nikkiwentling
MILITARY
WASHINGTON — Calls are growing on Capitol Hill for the Bi- den administration to release some of the billions of dollars in seized Afghan financial assets the United States is keeping frozen.
The calls from dozens of Demo- crats, and at least one Republican, have become more urgent in recent weeks as worries deepen about the massive hunger crisis confronting Afghanistan’s citizens — as well as how a local Islamic State group might exploit the dwindling condi- tions to capture more territory in the troubled South Asian country.
When the Taliban seized power in August, the Biden administra- tion responded by quickly taking control of the vast majority of the former Kabul central govern- ment’s foreign reserves — roughly
$9.4 billion. The overwhelming amount of that sum were held in U.S. banks, including $7 billion kept at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
On Wednesday, more than 40 House lawmakers, led by Reps. Ja- son Crow, D-Colo., Tom Malinow- ski, D-N.J., and Peter Meijer, R- Mich., urged President Joe Biden to release a “substantial share” of the frozen reserves to relevant U.N.
agencies. The group said those
funds could be used to relieve some of the Afghan people’s suffering.
The lawmakers argued the wors- ening food crisis is a significant contributor to Afghanistan’s mass migration problems and is some- thing that could be used by the local Islamic State affiliate, the Islamic State in Khorasan Province or ISKP, to destabilize the Taliban and seize more territory that could become a safe haven for terrorist groups.
“We have not just a moral obliga- tion to help the Afghan people, but a national interest in preventing Af- ghanistan from once again becom- ing a safe haven for our enemies,”
according to the letter. The group added, “We cannot allow Afghanis- tan to once again become a breed- ing ground for terrorist organiza- tions intent on killing Americans and attacking our nation, but that dreadful scenario will be made more likely if we fail to address the heart-wrenching humanitarian sit- uation unfolding there today.”
The letter also acknowledged that a portion of the frozen funds may need to be held back as part of an eventual payment to the families of some of the victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, who two decades ago won civil court judgments against the Taliban.
Calls growing for Biden to release frozen Afghan funds
CQ-Roll Call
Russia’s insistence that it has no plans to invade Ukraine but stressed that the U.S. and its allies were not convinced of that.
“We’re looking at what is visible to all, and it is deeds and actions and not words that make all the difference,” he said, adding that Russia should remove its troops from the Ukrainian border if it wanted to prove its point.
Lavrov, meanwhile, called the talks “constructive and useful”
and said the U.S. agreed to provide written responses to Russian de- mands on Ukraine and NATO next week. That could at least delay any imminent aggression for a few days.
But Lavrov declined to charac- terize the U.S. pledge.
“I can’t say whether we are on the right track or not,” he told re- porters. “We will understand that when we receive the U.S. written response to all of our proposals.”
Moscow has demanded that the NATO alliance promise that Uk-
raine — a former Soviet republic
— never be allowed to join. It also wants the allies to remove troops and military equipment from parts of eastern Europe.
The U.S. and its NATO allies have flatly rejected those de- mands and say that Russian Presi- dent Vladimir Putin knows they are nonstarters. They have said they’re open to less dramatic moves.
Blinken said the U.S. would be open to a meeting between Putin and U.S. President Joe Biden, if it would be “useful and productive.”
The two leaders have met once in person, in Geneva, and have had several virtual conversations on Ukraine that have proven largely inconclusive.
Washington and its allies have repeatedly promised “severe”
consequences such as biting eco- nomic sanctions — though not mil- itary action — against Russia if an invasion goes ahead.
Blinken repeated that warning Friday. He said the U.S. and its al-
lies were committed to diplomacy, but also committed “if that proves impossible, and Russia decides to pursue aggression against Uk- raine, to a united, swift and severe response.”
But he said he also wanted to use the opportunity to share di- rectly with Lavrov some “con- crete ideas to address some of the concerns that you have raised, as well as the deep concerns that many of us have about Russia’s ac- tions.”
Amid the diplomacy, more Rus- sian troops were moving into the neighborhood for training exer-
cises with neighboring Belarus, while Western allies were supply- ing weaponry and equipment to Ukraine.
“No one is hiding the fact that weapons are being handed over to Ukraine; that hundreds of military instructors are flocking to Uk- raine right now,” Lavrov said.
Russia has accused the West of plotting “provocations” in Uk- raine, citing weapons deliveries there by Britain.
Ukraine is already beset by con- flict. Russia’s Putin seized control of Ukraine’s Crimea Peninsula in 2014 and backed a separatist in- surgency in eastern Ukraine, part of a simmering but largely stale- mated conflict with Ukrainian forces that has taken more than 14,000 lives. Putin faced limited international consequences for those moves, but the West says a new invasion would be different.
Ahead of his meeting with Lav- rov, Blinken met Ukraine’s presi- dent in Kyiv and top diplomats from Britain, France and Germa-
ny in Berlin this week.
Adding to its repeated verbal warnings to Russia, the United States stepped up sanctions on Thursday. The U.S. Treasury De- partment slapped new measures on four Ukrainian officials. Blin- ken said the four were at the cen- ter of a Kremlin effort begun in 2020 to damage Ukraine’s ability to “independently function.”
The Russian Foreign Ministry reaffirmed its demands Friday that NATO not expand into Uk- raine, that no alliance weapons be deployed near Russian borders and that alliance forces pull back from Central and Eastern Europe.
The State Department, mean- while, put out three statements — two on Russian “disinformation”
and another entitled “Taking Ac- tion to Expose and Disrupt Rus- sia’s Destabilization Campaign in Ukraine.” The documents ac- cused Russia and Putin of trying to reconstitute the former Soviet Union through intimidation and force.
Standoff: Both sides continue to trade barbs in wake of talks
FROM PAGE 1
“I can’t say
whether we are on the right track or not.”
Sergey Lavrov Russian foreign minister
“There is a package of interna- tional sanctions ready to go that will make sure that the Russian government is punished if it cross- es the line,” but he didn’t define that line, other than warning against “any destabilizing action”
by Russia in Ukraine.
Asked Thursday about Biden’s comment on a “minor incursion,”
a French diplomat insisted it didn’t prompt any rethinking of the “European consensus” that any new attack on Ukrainian sov- ereignty would have “massive and severe consequences.” But the diplomat, commenting after meet- ing with Secretary of State Antony Blinken as he conferred with Eu- ropean counterparts on the Uk- raine crisis, wouldn’t elaborate on those consequences or what would constitute such an attack.
The official spoke on the condi- tion of anonymity to discuss his government’s take.
Putin faced limited internation- al consequences after he seized control of Ukraine’s Crimea Pen- insula in 2014 and backed the sep- aratist insurgency in eastern Uk- raine. His central demand to the West is that NATO provide a guar- antee that Ukraine never be al- lowed to join the alliance — a de- mand that Washington and its al- lies have roundly rejected.
Biden on Wednesday noted that coordinating a sanctions strategy is further complicated by the fact that penalties aimed at crippling Russian banking would also have a negative effect on the economies of the United States and Europe.
“And so, I got to make sure ev- erybody is on the same page as we agree on a strong response to a
Russian invasion, it’s unclear how they would respond to Russian ag- gression that falls short of that, like a cyberattack or boosted sup- port for pro-Russian separatists fighting in eastern Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volody- myr Zelenskyy was among those expressing concern about Biden’s
“minor incursion” remark.
“We want to remind the great powers that there are no minor in- cursions and small nations. Just as there are no minor casualties and little grief from the loss of loved ones,” he tweeted.
Complaints came quickly that Biden had made clear to Putin where and how to drive a wedge between the U.S. and its European allies, by using only a portion of the large military force he has as- sembled near Ukraine’s borders to take limited action. Russian of- ficials have said they have no in- tention of invading Ukraine, but the deployment of a large combat force along its borders, estimated at 100,000 troops, has created fear of a crippling land war.
“Deeply troubling and danger- ous,” Rep. Liz Cheney, a Wyoming Republican and a crucial ally of Democrats on some issues, tweet- ed about Biden’s remark.
“A green light for Putin,” said Republican Rep. Mike Garcia of California, one of many to use that phrase.
Among the possibilities for lim- ited Russian military action: Putin could move much of the Russian ground force away from the bor-
der but further bolster the separa- tists who control the Donbas re- gion of eastern Ukraine. That con- flict has killed more than 14,000 people in nearly eight years of fighting.
Biden noted Thursday that
“Russia has a long history of using measures other than overt mili- tary action to carry out aggression
— paramilitary tactics, so-called gray zone attacks and actions by Russian soldiers not wearing Rus- sian uniforms.”
European allies largely have been united with the United States
in demanding that Putin not move farther into Ukrainian territory and promising a tough response if he does. But the allies appear not to have united on what political and financial penalties to enact, or even what would trigger a re- sponse.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said “any kind of incur- sion into Ukraine on any scale whatever” would be a disaster for Russia and for the world, but he didn’t specify a Western response.
Likewise, his defense minister, Ben Wallace, told Parliament,
move along,” he said.
Democratic Sen. Jeanne Sha- heen of New Hampshire, a senior member of the Senate Foreign Re- lations Committee and one of the leaders of a bipartisan congres- sional delegation that visited Uk- raine last weekend, said she had seen no signs of a rift with the Eu- ropeans over how far Russia would have to go to trigger a re- sponse.
In an analysis of the Ukraine crisis, Seth Jones, a political scien- tist, and Philip Wasielewski, a for- mer CIA paramilitary officer, cit- ed several possible scenarios short of an all-out Russian inva- sion. This could include Putin sending conventional troops into the Donbas breakaway regions of Donetsk and Luhansk as “peace- keepers” and refusing to with- draw them until peace talks end successfully, they wrote in their analysis last week for the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
“All other options bring major international sanctions and eco- nomic hardship and would be counterproductive to the goal of weakening NATO or decoupling the United States from its commit- ments to European security,” they wrote.
Among those other options:
seizing Ukrainian territory as far west as the Dnieper River, which runs south through Kyiv to the Black Sea near the Crimean Pen- insula. Putin might seek to use this as a bargaining chip or incorpo- rate this territory fully into the Russian Federation, Jones and Wasielewski wrote.
Response: Critics say Biden gave Putin ‘green light’
FROM PAGE 1
ANDRIYDUBCHAK/AP
A Ukrainian soldier carries a package at the line of separation from proRussian rebels Thursday in Mariupol, Donetsk region, Ukraine.
EUROPE
VIRUS OUTBREAK
MADRID — When the coronavirus pan- demic was first declared, Spaniards were or- dered to stay home for more than three months. For weeks, they were not allowed outside even for exercise. Children were banned from playgrounds, and the economy virtually stopped.
But officials credited the draconian mea- sures with preventing a full collapse of the health system. Lives were saved, they ar- gued.
Now, almost two years later, Spain is pre- paring to adopt a different COVID-19 play- book. With one of Europe’s highest vaccina- tion rates and its most pandemic-battered economies, the government is laying the groundwork to treat the next infection surge not as an emergency but an illness that is here to stay. Similar steps are under consideration in neighboring Portugal and in Britain.
The idea is to move from crisis mode to control mode, approaching the virus in much the same way countries deal with the flu or measles. That means accepting that infec- tions will occur and providing extra care for at-risk people and patients with complica- tions.
Spain’s center-left prime minister, Pedro Sanchez, wants the European Union to con- sider similar changes now that the surge of the omicron variant has shown that the dis- ease is becoming less lethal.
“What we are saying is that in the next few months and years, we are going to have to think, without hesitancy and according to what science tells us, how to manage the pan- demic with different parameters,” he said Monday.
Sanchez said the changes should not hap- pen before the omicron surge is over, but offi- cials need to start shaping the post-pandemic world now: “We are doing our homework, an-
ticipating scenarios.”
The World Health Organization has said that it’s too early to consider any immediate shift. The organization does not have clearly defined criteria for declaring COVID-19 an endemic disease, but its experts have previ- ously said that it will happen when the virus is more predictable and there are no sustained outbreaks.
“It’s somewhat a subjective judgment be- cause it’s not just about the number of cases.
It’s about severity, and it’s about impact,”
said Dr. Michael Ryan, the WHO’s emergen- cies chief.
Speaking at a World Economic Forum pan- el on Monday, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top in- fectious diseases doctor in the U.S., said CO- VID-19 could not be considered endemic un- til it drops to “a level that it doesn’t disrupt so- ciety.”
The European Centre for Disease Preven- tion and Control has advised countries to transition to more routine handling of CO- VID-19 after the acute phase of the pandemic is over. The agency said in a statement that more EU states in addition to Spain will want to adopt “a more long-term, sustainable sur- veillance approach.”
Just over 80% of Spain’s population has re- ceived two vaccine doses, and authorities are focused on boosting the immunity of adults with third doses.
Vaccine-acquired immunity, coupled with widespread infection, offers a chance to con- centrate prevention efforts, testing and ill- ness-tracking resources on moderate- to high-risk groups, said Dr. Salvador Trenche, head of the Spanish Society of Family and Community Medicine, which has led the call for a new endemic response.
COVID-19 “must be treated like the rest of illnesses,” Trenche told The Associated Press, adding that “normalized attention” by health professionals would help reduce de- lays in treatment of problems not related to the coronavirus.
The public also needs to come to terms with the idea that some deaths from COVID-19
”will be inevitable,” Tranche said.
“We can’t do on the sixth wave what we were doing on the first one: The model needs to change if we want to achieve different re- sults,” he said.
The Spanish Health Ministry said it was too early to share any blueprints being drafted by its experts and advisers, but the agency con- firmed that one proposal is to follow an exist- ing model of “sentinel surveillance” current- ly used in the EU for monitoring the flu.
The strategy has been nicknamed “flu-iza- tion” of COVID-19 by Spanish media, al- though officials say that the systems for influ- enza will need to be adapted significantly to the coronavirus.
For now, the discussion about moving to an endemic approach is limited to wealthy na- tions that can afford to speak about the worst of the pandemic in the past tense. Their ac- cess to vaccines and robust public health sys- tems are the envy of the developing world.
It’s also not clear how an endemic strategy would coexist with the “zero-COVID” ap- proach adopted by China and other Asian countries, and how would that affect interna- tional travel.
Many countries overwhelmed by the re- cord number of omicron cases are already giving up on massive testing and cutting quarantine times, especially for workers who show no more than cold-like symptoms. Since the beginning of the year, classes in Spanish schools stop only if major outbreaks occur, not with the first reported case as they used to.
MICHELEULER/AP
People wearing face masks to protect against COVID19 line up to get a nasal swap at a mobile COVID19 testing site at in Paris, Jan. 14.
Spanish leaders call for endemic response
BYARITZPARRA Associated Press
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Cali- fornia would allow children age 12 and up to be vaccinated without their parents’ consent, the young- est age of any state, under a propos- al late Thursday by a state senator.
Alabama allows such decisions at age 14, Oregon at 15, Rhode Is- land and South Carolina at 16, ac- cording to Sen. Scott Wiener, a Democrat from San Francisco who is proposing the change. Only Washington, D.C., has a lower lim- it, at age 11.
Wiener argued that California already allows those 12 and up to consent to the Hepatitis B and Hu- man Papillomavirus (HPV) vac- cines, and to treatment for sexual- ly transmitted infections, sub- stance abuse and mental health disorders.
“Giving young people the auton- omy to receive life-saving vac- cines, regardless of their parents’
beliefs or work schedules, is essen-
tial for their physical and mental health,” he said. “It’s unconsciona- ble for teens to be blocked from the vaccine because a parent either re- fuses or cannot take their child to a vaccination site.”
Currently in California, minors ages 12 to 17 cannot be vaccinated without permission from their par- ents or guardian, unless the vac- cine is specifically to prevent a sex- ually transmitted disease.
Wiener’s bill would lift the pa- rental requirement for that age group for any vaccine that has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Cen- ters for Disease Control and Pre- vention.
That includes immunizations against the coronavirus, but Wien- er said vaccine hesitancy and mis- information has also deterred vac- cinations against measles and oth- er contagious diseases that can then spread among youths whose parents won’t agree to have them vaccinated.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom in October announced the nation’s first coronavirus vaccine mandate for schoolchildren. But it likely won’t take effect until later this year and allows exemptions for medical reasons, religious and personal beliefs — though law- makers may try to limit non-med- ical reasons.
Wiener’s legislation is permis- sive, not a mandate, but any vacci- nation legislation has been hugely controversial in California and elsewhere.
Even before the pandemic, bus- loads of opponents filled the capi- tal and lined up for hours to protest bills lifting religious and personal beliefs for the 10 vaccines already required of schoolchildren.
And in September, more than a thousand people rallied outside the state Capitol to oppose vaccine mandates, even though lawmak- ers had postponed their considera- tion of legislation requiring that workers either be vaccinated or
get weekly coronavirus testing to keep their jobs.
“This to me seems to be another example of Democrats wanting to remove parents from the equa- tion,” said Republican Assembly- man James Gallagher. “I think that’s flawed policy. I think par- ents are vital to these decisions.”
However, he thinks Wiener may
have difficulty even in a Legisla- ture overwhelmingly controlled by Democrats.
“I think there will be bipartisan support for the proposition that parents should be involved in their kids’ health care decisions, in de- ciding what types of medical care and drugs they should be taking,”
Gallagher said.
RICHPEDRONCELLI/AP
Protesters opposing vaccine mandates gather at the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif., Sept. 8. State Sen. Scott Wiener, DSan Francisco, has introduced a bill that would allow children age 12 and up to be vaccinated without their parents’ consent.
Calif. bill proposes preteens get vaccines without parents’ consent
BYDONTHOMPSON Associated Press
NATION
WASHINGTON — Democrats were picking up the pieces Thurs- day following the collapse of their top-priority voting rights legisla- tion, with some shifting their focus to a narrower bipartisan effort to repair laws Donald Trump ex- ploited in his bid to overturn the 2020 election.
Though their bid to dramatically rewrite U.S. election law failed during a high-stakes Senate floor showdown late Wednesday, Dem- ocrats insisted their brinksman- ship has made the new effort pos- sible, forcing Republicans to re- lent, even if just a little, and engage in bipartisan negotiations.
The nascent push is focused on the Electoral Count Act, an 1887 law that created the convoluted process for the certification of presidential election results by Congress. For more than 100 years, vulnerabilities in the law were an afterthought, until Trump’s unrelenting, false claims that voter fraud cost him the 2020 election culminated in a mob of his supporters storming the Capitol.
An overhaul of the Gilded Age statute could be Democrats’ best
chance to address what they call an existential threat to American de- mocracy from Trump’s “big lie”
about a stolen election. But with se- rious talks only beginning in the Senate and dwindling time before this year’s midterm elections, re- aching consensus could prove dif- ficult.
“We know history is on the side of voting rights, and we know that forcing leaders to take stands will ultimately move the ball forward,”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Thursday.
Just weeks ago, many Demo- crats were adamant that updating the Electoral Count Act was no substitute for their voting legisla- tion. Updating the 1887 law, they pointed out, would do nothing to counter the Trump-inspired push in 19 states to make it more difficult to vote.
They still hold that position, but after the defeat of their marquee elections bill, they are running out of options. Meanwhile, Trump loy- alists are girding for the next elec- tion, working to install sympathet- ic leaders in local election posts and, in some cases, backing politi- cal candidates who participated in
the riot at the U.S. Capitol.
Biden conceded this week that updating the electoral bill may be Democrats’ best opportunity to pass voting legislation through a 50-50 Senate, where much of his agenda has stalled.
“I predict to you they’ll get something done,” Biden told re- porters Wednesday.
Any legislation would have to balance Democrats’ desire to halt what they view as a GOP plan to make it more difficult for Black Americans and other minorities to vote with Republican’s en-
trenched opposition to increased federal oversight of local elections.
“What other things could be put in there?” said South Carolina Rep.
Jim Clyburn, the No. 3 House Democrat and a senior member of the Congressional Black Caucus.
“I want to deal with more than just counting the votes for the presi- dent. I want to be sure that we count the votes for everybody else.
So voter nullification like they’re doing in Georgia, I think it can be addressed.”
Republicans involved in the ef- fort to update the Electoral Count
Act acknowledge that the bill would need a wider focus.
Sen. Susan Collins of Maine is holding bipartisan talks with Re- publican Sens. Roger Wicker of Mississippi, Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Mitt Romney of Utah, as well as Democratic Sens.
Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Jeanne Shaheen of New Hamp- shire and Kyrsten Sinema of Ari- zona.
“It’s such a needed thing,” said Manchin, who added that the nar- rower scope was “the first place”
Democrats “should have started.”
Dems eye a new strategy after
voting bill stalls
Associated Press
AMANDAANDRADERHOADES/AP
From left, Rep. Joyce Beatty, DOhio, Rep. Steven Horsford, DNev. House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, DS.C., Rep. Bennie Thompson, DMiss., and Rep. Bobby Scott, DVa., alongside other members of the Congressional Black Caucus, speak outside the Senate chamber Wednesday at the Capitol in Washington.
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department dropped charges Thursday against a Massachu- setts Institute of Technology pro- fessor accused of concealing ties to the Chinese government, a fur- ther setback to a federal initiative that was set up to prevent econom- ic espionage and theft by Beijing of trade secrets and academic re- search.
The department revealed its de- cision in the case against Gang Chen in a filing in federal court in Boston, saying it could no longer meet its burden of proof.
U.S. Attorney Rachael Rollins, the top federal prosecutor in Mas- sachusetts, said the move was “in the interests of justice” and was the result of new information the government had received about the allegations.
“After a careful assessment of this new information in the con- text of all the evidence, our office has concluded that we can no long- er meet our burden of proof at trial,” Rollins said. “As prosecu- tors, we have an obligation in ev- ery matter we pursue to continual- ly examine the facts while being open to receiving and uncovering new information.”
The outcome, which had been
expected and was earlier recom- mended by prosecutors in Boston, is a blow to a Justice Department effort known as the China Initia- tive, which was set up in 2018 to crack down on Chinese economic espionage and trade secret theft.
A key prong of the initiative has fo- cused on academics in the U.S. ac- cused of concealing research ties to China on grant applications. But critics have long said the effort un-
duly targets researchers based on ethnicity and that it chills academ- ic collaboration.
The Justice Department is cur- rently reviewing the future of the program, a process expected to be complete in the coming weeks, said spokesperson Wyn Horn- buckle.
In a statement, Chen thanked his supporters and said he would have more to say soon.
US drops case against MIT professor accused of ties to China
Associated Press
ATLANTA — The Georgia prose- cutor looking into possible attempts to interfere in the 2020 general elec- tion by former President Donald Trump and others has asked for a special grand jury to aid the investi- gation.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis on Thursday sent a letter to Fulton County Superior Court Chief Judge Christopher Brasher asking him to impanel a special grand jury. She wrote in the letter that her office “has received informa-
tion indicating a reasonable probabil- ity that the State of Georgia’s admin- istration of elections in 2020, includ- ing the State’s election of the Presi- dent of the United States, was subject to possible criminal disruptions.”
Willis has declined to speak about the specifics of her investigation, but in an interview with The Associated Press earlier this month she con- firmed that its scope includes — but is not limited to — a Jan. 2, 2021, phone call between Trump and Geor- gia Secretary of State Brad Raffen- sperger, a November 2020 phone call
between U.S. Sen.
Lindsey Graham and Raffensperg- er, the abrupt re- signation of the U.S. attorney in Atlanta on Jan. 4, 2021, and com- ments made dur- ing December 2020 Georgia legisla- tive committee hearings on the elec- tion.
A Trump spokesman has previous- ly dismissed the investigation as a po- litically motivated “witch hunt.” Gra-
ham has also denied any wrongdoing.
In a statement Thursday, Trump said his call to Raffensperger was
“perfect.”
“I didn’t say anything wrong in the call, made while I was President on behalf of the United States of Amer- ica, to look into the massive voter fraud which took place in Georgia,”
Trump said. He ended his statement by saying, “No more political witch hunts!”
Federal and state officials have re- peatedly said there was no evidence of widespread voter fraud in Georgia
or elsewhere in the country during the 2020 election.
An AP investigation into cases of potential voter fraud in Georgia and the five other battleground states where Trump disputed his loss to Democratic President Joe Biden found fewer than 500 cases.
In Georgia, officials identified 64 potential voter fraud cases, repre- senting 0.54% of Biden’s margin of victory in the state. Of those, 31 were determined to be the result of an ad- ministrative error or some other mis- take.
Georgia district attorney asks for special grand jury in election probe
Associated Press
Willis
NATION
WASHINGTON — In the latest setback for abortion rights in Tex- as, the Supreme Court on Thurs- day refused to speed up the ongo- ing court case over the state’s ban on most abortions.
Over dissents from the three lib- eral justices, the court declined to order a federal appeals court to re- turn the case to a federal judge who had temporarily blocked the law’s enforcement.
The court offered no explana- tion for its action.
The Texas ban is thus likely to
remain in effect for the foreseea- ble future, following a decision by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Ap- peals in New Orleans to send the case to the Texas Supreme Court, which is entirely controlled by Re- publican justices and does not have to act immediately.
Abortion providers had asked the high court to countermand the appellate order, which they said in court papers has no purpose other than to delay legal proceedings and prevent clinics from offering abortions beyond around six weeks of pregnancy.
The law has devastated abor- tion providers in Texas, Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote. “Instead of stopping a Fifth Circuit panel from indulging Texas’ newest de- lay tactics, the Court allows the State yet again to extend the depri- vation of the federal constitutional rights of its citizens through pro- cedural manipulation,” Soto- mayor wrote, joined by Justices Stephen Breyer and Elena Kagan.
“The Court may look the other way, but I cannot.”
Chief Justice John Roberts joined the three liberals in De-
cember in a dissent that called for allowing a broader challenge to the law and a quick return to the lower federal court. Roberts did not note his position on Thursday.
Clinics fear that their challenge to the law might not be resolved before the justices rule in a Missis- sippi case that could roll back abortion rights across the country.
That decision, which could over- rule the landmark Roe v. Wade case from 1973, is expected by late June.
The Texas law that bans abor- tion once cardiac activity is de-
tected — usually around six weeks, before some women know they are pregnant — has been in effect since September. Last month, the high court kept the law in place and allowed only a narrow challenge against the restrictions to proceed.
The providers thought their best chance for a favorable out- come was before U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman in Austin.
Pitman issued an order in October blocking the law, though the ap- peals court put his ruling on hold just a couple of days later.
Court won’t speed challenge to Texas limits
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Anti-abor- tion protesters began to gather Friday in the nation’s capital with spirits high and a sense that the country has reached a pivotal mo- ment that could lead to a sweeping rollback of abortion rights in many states.
The March for Life, for decades an annual protest against abor- tion, arrives this year as the Su- preme Court has indicated it will allow states to impose tighter re- strictions on abortion with a ruling in the coming months — and pos- sibly overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that affirmed the constitutional right to an abor- tion.
“It doesn’t feel real. There’s so much hope and vibrancy and hap- piness and joy at this thing,” said Jordan Moorman of Cincinnati. “I really do believe that we’re in a post-Roe generation.”
The rally, held on the anniver- sary of the Roe decision, is taking place amid a COVID-19 surge that is expected to limit turnout at the National Mall. Some abortion op- ponents posted on the event’s Facebook page that they will not attend because of COVID-19 vac- cine mandates for people going to restaurants and other places in the District of Columbia.
The pandemic has not damp- ened the optimism of a resurgent anti-abortion movement that sees
a new Texas law banning most abortions as a sign of things to come, and who say they are not done fighting for restrictions even if the Supreme Court’s conserva- tive majority rules in their favor later this year.
At least 26 states are in line to further limit abortion access if Roe is weakened or overturned, according to abortion rights groups. In December, the court in- dicated in a major case that it would uphold a Mississippi ban on abortions after 15 weeks of preg- nancy, and allow states to ban abortion even earlier. The Missis- sippi case directly challenges Roe.
For months, courts have dealt Texas abortion providers a string of defeats over efforts to block a law that since September has banned abortions once cardiac ac- tivity is detected, which is usually around six weeks and before some women know they are pregnant.
Another loss for Texas clinics came Thursday, when the Su- preme Court refused to speed up the ongoing challenge over the law, which providers say is now likely to stay in effect for the fore- seeable future.
The Supreme Court was re- made by three nominees of former President Donald Trump, who in 2020 became the first sitting presi- dent to address the March for Life.
The schedule for President Joe Bi- den and Vice President Kamala
Harris included no events Friday connected to the march.
Lawmakers from both parties weighed in Friday to note the anni- versary of Roe v. Wade and reflect on the shifting political landscape surrounding abortion.
“It has been an eye-opening year for the cause of life in Amer- ica, and we have made significant progress in defending our young- est and most vulnerable,” said Rep. Kevin McCarthy, the Repub- lican leader in the House.
“The stakes are higher than ev- er, with the health and autonomy of women and families across the country hanging in the balance as Republicans work to methodically challenge and overturn Roe,” said
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H. “It’s time to sound the alarm and make clear: decisions about our bodies, our health care and our future be- long to us.”
Democrats and abortion pro- viders say that if Roe is toppled, they expect opponents to step up restrictions on access to abortion medication by mail.
“In terms of what the Republi- cans are planning, I wouldn’t put anything off the table. There is al- most an excitement, a kind of gid- diness within them,” Arizona Democratic state Sen. Rebecca Rios said.
Mississippi state Sen. Joey Fill- ingane, a Republican who pushed for the state’s strict abortion laws,
said he is not able to attend the March For Life in Washington but is pleased that he and two GOP colleagues will be recognized there. Mississippi has just one abortion clinic, and Fillingane said the state should next target access to abortion-inducing medi- cation.
If Roe were nullified, Fillingane said he expects states to take dif- ferent approaches to setting their own abortion laws.
“I think that’s the way it should be,” he said. “The laws in Califor- nia, based on their population and what they want, may be very dif- ferent than the laws in Mississippi based on what our population feels about the issue of life.”
‘March for Life’ may be last under Roe
RICKYCARIOTI/The Washington Post
March for Life participants make their way along Second Street NE in Washington last year.
Associated Press
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Prosecu- tors in the trial of three former Minneapolis police officers on civ- il rights charges in George Floyd’s killing asked the judge to open at least parts of a hearing Friday on the admissibility of some evi- dence.
A jury was seated in a single day Thursday for Tou Thao, J. Kueng
and Thomas Lane, who are charged with depriving Floyd of his rights while acting under gov- ernment authority. Opening state- ments are Monday.
Judge Paul Magnuson has limit- ed access to the trial to five media pool seats and a small number of family members for the defend- ants, with other media and the general public in an overflow
room with a closed-circuit feed that has limited views. Magnuson has cited the coronavirus pan- demic, and rejected earlier media attempts to expand access.
The prosecution filing said that Friday’s hearing deals with de- fense motions to exclude certain evidence, including still images from video of Floyd’s May 25, 2020, arrest; side-by-side exhibits
that will play two videos at once;
and dispatch and 911 calls.
Prosecutors said they were noti- fied that the hearing would be closed because the parties would be reviewing evidence that would be shown but might not be admit- ted at trial. But they said both sides have agreed that the visual content is admissible, and the mo- tion for exclusion is only over
prosecutors’ proposal for how it is displayed.
Under long-standing federal court rules, the proceedings are not being livestreamed or broad- cast to the public, in contrast to last year’s murder trial in state court of Derek Chauvin, the white former Minneapolis officer who kept Floyd pinned to the pave- ment with his knee on his neck.
Open hearing sought on trial evidence in Floyd’s killing
Associated Press
NATION
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Fri- day used their first formal meet- ing to discuss concerns about China’s growing military assert- iveness that’s spurring increas- ing disquiet in the Pacific.
Kishida said that the two lead- ers spent a “significant amount”
of their 80-minute call on issues surrounding China, including shared concerns about China’s increasing aggression toward Taiwan. China claims self-gov- erning Taiwan as its own territo- ry, to be annexed by force if nec- essary.
In recent months, China has stepped up military exercises
near the island, frequently send- ing warplanes near Taiwan’s air- space.
Biden and Kishida also dis- cussed the situa- tions in Hong Kong and Chi- na’s Xinjiang province. Biden has repeatedly called out Beij- ing over its
crackdown on democracy activ- ists in Hong Kong and forced la- bor practices targeting China’s Uyghur Muslims and other eth- nic minorities in Xinjiang.
“President Biden and I were able to exchange views frankly, in a very calm and quiet manner, about how Japan and the United States together cooperate and
lead the international society, which I believe will lead to fur- ther strengthening of the Japan- U.S. alliance,” Kishida said after the meeting.
Japan remains concerned about China intentions in the South China Sea, where it has stepped up its military presence in recent years, and the East Chi- na Sea, where there is a long-run- ning dispute about a group of un- inhabited islets administered by Tokyo but claimed by Beijing.
Kishida said after the meeting that he expressed his determina- tion to drastically strengthen Ja- pan’s defense power while Biden spoke of the U.S. commitment to abiding by the 1960 Japan-U.S.
security treaty and made it clear it covers the Japanese-controlled disputed islands of Senkaku,
which China refers to as Diaoyu.
Later, Japanese Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Seiji Kihara said Kishida explained his com- mitment to strengthening Ja- pan’s military capability, saying that the prime minister would consider “all options including acquiring preemptive strike ca- pability.”
The virtual meeting came as North Korea earlier this week suggested it might resume nucle- ar and long-range missile testing that has been paused for more than three years.
North Korea’s Kim Jong Un on Thursday presided over a Polit- buro meeting of the ruling Work- ers’ Party at which officials set policy goals for “immediately bolstering” military capabilities to counter what were described
as the Americans’ “hostile moves,” according to the Korean Central News Agency.
The two leaders discussed on- going efforts in the COVID-19 pandemic and the brewing crisis in eastern Europe, where Russia has massed some 100,000 troops near its border with Ukraine. Bi- den earlier this week said he be- lieved Russian President Vladi- mir Putin is likely to order a fur- ther invasion of Ukrainian terri- tory but he did not think Putin wanted an all-out war.
Kishida, who is from Hiroshi- ma, on which the U.S. dropped an atomic bomb at the end of the World War II, also said he raised to Biden concerns about nuclear security and the idea of achieving
“a world without nuclear weap- ons.”
Biden, Kishida discuss China, North Korea
BYAAMERMADHANI ANDMARIYAMAGUCHI
Associated Press
Kishida
NEW YORK — Ghislaine Max- well has formally requested a new trial, less than a month after her conviction on sex trafficking charges.
In a Wednesday letter to U.S.
District Judge Alison J. Nathan, Maxwell lawyer Bobbi Sternheim said the motion for a new trial had been filed under seal and request- ed that all submissions related to
“Juror No. 50 remain under seal until the Court rules.”
The motion for a new trial had been promised by Maxwell’s law- yers, who had raised concerns about interviews following the verdict in which the juror said he had been sexually abused as a child. The juror told The Inde- pendent and The Daily Mail that his experience helped him con- vince some jurors that a victim’s imperfect memory of sex abuse doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.
Maxwell, 60, was convicted in late December of conspiring to recruit and groom teenage girls to
be sexually abused by her long- time companion Jeffrey Epstein.
Her sentencing date has yet to be set.
Maxwell’s lawyers had previ- ously said the request for a new trial would include all known un- disputed remarks of the juror, along with recorded statements and the questionnaire all jurors filled out. Potential jurors were asked to fill out a questionnaire asking: “Have you or a friend or family member ever been the vic- tim of sexual harassment, sexual
abuse, or sexual assault?”
Quoting from the press reports in a letter, prosecutors said the ju- ror asserted that he “flew through” the questionnaire and didn’t recall being asked if he’d been a victim of sex abuse. Prose- cutors called for any juror investi- gation to be “conducted exclusive- ly under the supervision of the Court.” The juror himself has re- tained a lawyer.
Maxwell has maintained she’s innocent, and her family promised an appeal of her conviction.
ELIZABETHWILLIAMS/AP
A sketch shows Ghislaine Maxwell entering the courtroom in New York in November.
Maxwell requests new trial
Associated Press
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Intel will invest $20 billion in a new comput- er chip facility in Ohio amid a global shortage of microproces- sors used in everything from phones and cars to video games.
After years of heavy reliance on Asia for the production of comput- er chips, vulnerability to shortag- es of the crucial components was exposed in the U.S. and Europe as they began to emerge economical- ly from the pandemic.
The U.S. share of the worldwide chip manufacturing market has declined from 37% in 1990 to 12%
today, according to the Semicon- ductor Industry Association, and shortages have become a potential risk.
Two chip factories on the 1,000- acre site in Licking County, just east of Columbus, are expected to create 3,000 company jobs and 7,000 construction jobs, and to support tens of thousands of addi- tional jobs for suppliers and part- ners, the company and local and state officials announced Friday.
Construction is expected to be- gin later this year, with chip pro- duction coming online at the end
of 2025.
Shortages of chips have crimped the ability of U.S. auto- makers to produce vehicles and last year, General Motors was un- seated by Toyota as the nation’s top-selling automaker for the first time.
The U.S. and Europe are push- ing to aggressively to build chip making capacity and reduce re- liance on producers that are now mostly based in Asia.
Several chipmakers last year signaled an interest in expanding their American operations if the U.S. government is able to make it easier to build chip plants.
Chipmakers are diversifying their manufacturing sites in re- sponse to the shortages. Samsung said in November it plans to build a $17 billion factory outside of Austin, Texas.
Micron Technology, based in Boise, Idaho, said it will invest
$150 billion globally over the next decade in developing its line of memory chips, with a potential U.S. manufacturing expansion if tax credits can help make up for the higher costs of American man- ufacturing.
Intel plans $20B chip facility amid shortage
Associated Press
NORFOLK, Va. — Several schools have canceled classes in coastal areas of the Carolinas and Virginia and authorities are urg- ing drivers to stay off potentially icy roads amid forecasts of snow, sleet and freezing rain.
The governors of North Caroli- na, South Carolina and Virginia declared states of emergency
ahead of the latest winter storm system sweeping into the region Thursday and a round of snow ex- pected to follow Friday night into Saturday. The winter blast could ice over a large swath of eastern North Carolina and the northeast- ern corner of South Carolina, while dumping snow around Nor- folk, Virginia, the National Weath- er Service said.
North Carolina Gov. Roy Coop- er signed a state of emergency at midweek, awaiting the second storm to hit the state in days. He said 114 National Guard troops were staging in central and east- ern North Carolina to prepare to move to the affected areas. He said ice accumulations could cause extended power outages and warned temperatures could
dip below freezing in coming days.
In South Carolina, where Gov.
Henry McMaster also declared a state of emergency, schools and government offices around Char- leston and other places that don't see much frozen precipitation closed or announced shortened hours Friday. Freezing rain, sleet and snow were expected to start spreading across the state around
sunrise. And utilities in the north- eastern part of the state warned power outages were possible.
An ice storm warning was is- sued in northeastern South Caroli- na and southeastern North Caroli- na, where rain was expected to change to mixed precipitation that includes freezing rain. The area could receive up to a quarter inch of ice before Sunday.
Parts of Southeast await a blast of snow, ice, freezing rain
Associated Press
