Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- March 19, 2021

Erika Edwards, NBC: When will it be over? 3 key numbers scientists are watching to track the pandemic 

There won't be an on/off switch for the pandemic, but epidemiologists are watching certain metrics for signs of improvement. 

Last week, President Joe Biden said his administration's goal is to get the country "closer to normal" by the Fourth of July. 

While it appears the U.S. is moving in the right direction — a majority of people over age 65, for example, have received at least one dose of a vaccine — scientists tracking the pandemic say that to get a national view, it's critical to look separately at each state, even each city. 

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 Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- March 19, 2021 

Analysis: Europe's COVID-19 setbacks risk another summer travel washout -- Sarah Young and Laurence Frost, Reuters 

Europe has missed its chance to stop the third wave. The US could be next -- Ivana Kottasová and Valentina Di Donato, CNN 

'Tough' U.S.-China talks signal rocky start to relations under Biden -- Humeyra Pamuk, David Brunnstrom and Michael Martina, Reuters 

Joe Biden sent his lieutenants to Asia to build a wall of friendship against China. Then came an awkward showdown with Beijing -- Carrington Clarke (ABC News Australia) 

Alaska talks: Is the US trying to turn China into a pariah? -- Wesley Rahn, DW 

Can China and the US mend strained diplomatic ties? -- Al Jazeera 

Biden vs. Putin: Round One -- Janusz Bugajski, The Hill 

What Biden and Blinken don't want to tell Americans about Afghanistan -- David A. Andelman, CNN 

Lebanon’s political class ‘squabbling over a field of ruins’ as economic crisis rages -- Marc Daou, France 24 

What It Will Take to Break the U.S.-Iran Impasse: A Q&A With Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif -- Politico 

Fact check: Are other nations involved in the war in Tigray? -- Eshete Bekele and Uta Steinwehr, DW 

Will Egypt go to war with Ethiopia over the Grand Renaissance Dam? -- Mustafa Salama, Middle East Eye 

Will Libya Crush OPEC’s Plans For A Tighter Oil Market? -- Irina Slav, OilPrice.com 

Libya still plagued by conflict, 10 years after NATO intervention -- Kersten Knipp, DW 

Samia Suluhu Hassan: Who is Tanzania's new president? -- Wesley Rahn, DW