Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- February 6, 2020

SCMP/AP: Coronavirus: how a luxury cruise became ‘a floating prison’ during virus quarantine

* Passengers on board the luxury liner have become caught up in the global coronavirus crisis
* The vessel that once had 3,711 passengers and crew is now a ghost ship of deserted reception areas, swimming pools and hallways

David Abel’s 50th wedding anniversary luxury cruise began with him eating his fill and enjoying the sights of East Asia.

It’s ending with him quarantined in his cabin aboard the Diamond Princess for two extra weeks, eating a “lettuce sandwich with some chicken inside” and watching 20 infected people escorted off the ship, heading for hospitals for treatment of a new virus.

Abel is among hundreds of passengers on two cruise ships in Japan and Hong Kong who are caught in the drama and fear about the little-understood, but fast-spreading new type of coronavirus. Tests are still pending on some passengers and crew who have symptoms or had contact with infected people.

“It’s not going to be a luxury cruise; it’s going to be like a floating prison,” Abel said on Facebook from the ship in the port of Yokohama, outside Tokyo.

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Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- February 6, 2020

The question I get asked the most: How much of what China is reporting on coronavirus is actually true? -- Bill Birtles, ABC News Online

Peak coronavirus? Epidemic forecasts are often wrong but can be useful -- Kate Kelland and Julie Steenhuysen, Reuters

Coronavirus spreads fear and racism worldwide -- France 24

U.S.-China Competition in Asia: Who Risks Wins. -- Sam Roggeveen, RCD

China Brought NATO Closer Together -- Jens Ringsmose and Sten Rynning, War On the Rocks

Can We Bomb Afghanistan Into Peace? -- Bonnie Kristian, RCW

Where is the Iranian opposition? -- Shabnam von Hein, RCD

Why Iraq Remains Ripe for a U.S.-Iran Confrontation. -- Omar Lamrani & Emily Hawthorne, RCD

How was a prominent Syrian Salafist allowed to study in France? -- AFP

German far-right political scandal reflects rise of Europe's populists -- Bernd Riegert, DW

Germany AfD: How far right caused political earthquake -- Jenny Hill, BBC

Trump acquitted: What's next for the president, Democrats? -- William Roberts, Al Jazeera

After impeachment acquittal, Teflon Trump appears an unstoppable force -- SCMP/AP

Tech Wars Are Complicated and Hard to Win -- Phillip Orchard, Geopolitical Futures

How a single locust becomes a plague -- BBC