New Zealand will maintain requirements to reduce contagion of Covid-19 until the case rate stabilizes at a new, low level, and only then consider removing some of them.

That is a wise approach. Furthermore, it would be wise to terminate measures one by one, and see what effect each one has on the rate of infections before going on to the next one.

It is a mistake to decide by counting deaths. Some percentage of the people who survive the initial infection will develop permanent disabilities. With Omicron, it may still be too early to get such data, since large numbers of people didn't catch Omicron until around 3 months ago.

It is important to remember also that a substantial fraction of people would probably die if they ever catch Covid-19, despite being vacciated, because they are immunocompromised or have other medical problems. To eliminate mask and vaccination requirements for everyone else would force theat fraction into permanent isolation, along with any family members who join them in isolation.

US immigration courts are so understaffed that asylum-seekers may not be notified before their hearings.

Fossil fuel companies are demanding billions of dollars in damages from countries that are blocking development of new oilfields, or even cutting down on the use of coal. They are doing this through a business-supremacy treaty, the "Energy Charter Treaty", which has an ISDS clause ("I Sue Democratic States")

It is hard for the victims of the treaty to cancel it; they would need to rebel against the global systems for enforcing the payments.

However, countries could pass laws that recognize that these companies are engaging in attempted mass murder -- which is the truth -- as well as any lawyers that represent them in the treaty cases. Then they could start a global manhunt to prosecute them. With luck, this will cause the treaty to become ineffective.

*Biden administration freezes new oil and gas drilling leases after court rules against key climate tool.*

That is the right thing to do, after all.

Republican states are deregulating the use of teenage workers, allowing employers to make them do dangerous jobs or work so many hours that it cuts into their education.

It's entirely congruent with the Republican philosophy that the wealthy should be able to pressure everyone else into something close to slavery.