New Zealand will lift Covid-19 vaccine mandates and social distancing measures after the Omicron peak has passed, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said today, as protesters occupying the Parliament grounds again clashed with police.

Inspired by truckers' demonstrations in Canada, thousands of protesters have blocked streets near the Parliament in the capital Wellington for two weeks with trucks, cars, and motorcycles, piling pressure on the government to scrap vaccine mandates.

Ardern refused to set a hard date but said...