- Tim Loh discusses how Europe's premature end to public health measures is resulting in another COVID wave. Lei Lei Wu notes that nearly two-thirds of U.S. children hospitalized with the Omicron variant had no other underlying condition, while Natalie Huet reports on the substantial proportion of children whose symptoms lead to long COVID. Juliet Pulliam et al. study the growing risk of re-infection by the new variants, while Gili Regev-Yonchay et al. find that a fourth dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine is both safe and effective in protecting against symptoms. And Gideon Meyerowitz-Katz discusses why any "focused protection" theory (i.e. letting the pandemic run rampant other than seeking to protect only the most vulnerable) has always been doomed to fail.
- Anna Bawden reports on new research showing the connection between air pollution and auto-immune diseases.
- Anne Applebaum discusses how the U.S.' coddling of kleptocratic governments in Russia and elsewhere has undermined any goal of promoting democracy around the globe.
- Meanwhile, Thomas Piketty writes that we would have little trouble identifying and seizing the assets of Russia's oligarchs through an international financial registry if the wealthiest few weren't determined to avoid having their own riches known (and potentially taxed). Transparency International Canada examines (PDF) how secrecy is at the core of Canadian "snow-washing" of offshore wealth. And Rita Trichur discusses how transparency is the only way to avoid being a haven for financial crime.
- Adam Johnson calls out the U.S. media's eagerness to cheerlead for war - thereby serving the interests of the military-industrial complex in the name of holding politicians to account.
- Finally, Anne Helen Pedersen examines how to marshal collective strength in response to the U.S.' seemingly relentless stream of individual-level stress and social regression.
