Articles about Policy

• The Trump White House issued a March 20, 2026, AI policy framework calling on Congress to preempt state laws regulating AI model development and avoid new federal agencies. • It recommends codifying Trump's ratepayer protection pledge by Amazon, Google, and OpenAI for data center electricity, plus age-gating for child-accessible models and skills training legislation. • The blueprint seeks to balance innovation with child protections but faces bipartisan hurdles, as Senate Majority Leader John Thune eyes bundling with KOSA by April end.

Badr Albusaidi claims Israel convinced Donald Trump to make the ‘grave miscalculation’ of waging war on IranMiddle East crisis – live updatesOman’s foreign minister has claimed the US has “lost control of its own foreign policy” and accused Israel of persuading Donald Trump’s administration to go to war with Iran – a conflict he described as a “catastrophe” and “grave miscalculation”.Writing in the Economist, Badr Albusaidi, the Omani minister who mediated the latest nuclear talks between Iran and the US, offered an unusually damning assessment of events leading up to the US and Israel’s bombing of Iran and the war that it has triggered across the Middle East. Continue reading...

• A federal judge on Monday blocked HHS from implementing vaccine policy changes made by RFK Jr.'s revamped CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), reversing all recent decisions. • The ruling leaves unresolved the status of the RSV vaccine for infants, potentially making it no longer free for children who need it, as its inclusion was authorized by the current advisers. • Public health experts are scrambling to understand ramifications, with health groups concerned about unintended harms and weakened vaccination recommendations for hepatitis B and COVID-19.

PM will consider exempting large numbers from proposed changes, which would leave people waiting 10 years for settled statusKeir Starmer is hoping to soften the impact of his government’s changes to the immigration system after a backlash from Labour MPs and a dramatic intervention from his former deputy Angela Rayner.The prime minister is considering exempting large numbers of people from the proposed changes, which would make it harder to achieve settled status in the UK, as he attempts to keep his restive party onboard. Continue reading...

Offer to reform taxes, tackle ‘rip-off Britain’ and overhaul fiscal rules could tempt exasperated Labour supportersZack Polanski says Greens would ditch GDP targets and focus on wellbeing insteadThe venue for Zack Polanski’s economic speech on Wednesday – a sunny north London garden centre – could hardly have been more different to the sombre City backdrop for Rachel Reeves’s Mais lecture on Tuesday.The chancellor was, as it happens, the last politician to give a major economic speech at the New Economics Foundation (NEF), the leftwing thinktank that invited the Green party leader, Polanski, to set out his stall as part of its 40th anniversary celebrations. Back in 2018 it hosted the speech in which, as a backbencher, Reeves called for an “everyday economics” that would prioritise the needs of low-paid workers. Continue reading...

• The Center for Technological Responsibility, Reimagination, and Redesign (CNTR) at Brown University has created a new portal to help the public, journalists, researchers, and policymakers understand the complex landscape of AI-related legislation in the United States. • The portal contains 5,000 bills with detailed profiles on 100, created with a framework evaluating policies on transparency, data protection, bias, education, content, and labor. • More than 1,000 AI-related bills have been introduced in the US over the past three years, with the majority of Americans favoring greater AI regulation despite the overwhelming volume of proposals.

• The Federal Reserve opened a two-day monetary policy meeting this week with a rate decision expected Wednesday, as officials evaluate the impact of surging oil prices and Middle East conflict on inflation trajectories. • Uncertainty around geopolitical fallout is deepening divisions within the central bank over the interest rate path forward; officials are widely expected to leave rates unchanged on Wednesday despite elevated crude prices. • Rising oil and gasoline prices are weighing on earnings estimates and consumer spending forecasts, creating additional complexity for Fed policymakers balancing inflation and growth concerns.

A letter from 15 critics to the Royal Lyceum in Edinburgh condemns ‘divisive move’ that saw non-Scottish publications excluded from reviewing the musical’s press nightTheatre critics in Scotland have written to the Royal Lyceum theatre in Edinburgh condemning a “divisive” and “London-centric” decision to not invite reviews from UK national publications for its new musical version of One Day.The show, based on the 2009 novel by David Nicholls, held a press night on Wednesday but only critics writing for Scottish publications were invited to review it. A separate press night for other critics is planned for a later date, when the show opens in London. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Senior party figures conclude outsiders or existing senior staff deemed more suitable should take over from current permanent secretariesA Reform UK government would expect to dismiss the top civil servant in every government department and replace them with people seen as more likely to implement the party’s priorities, the Guardian has learned.Senior Reform figures have concluded that the current crop of permanent secretaries, the lead civil servant in each department, are not up to the necessary standard. Some would be replaced by outsiders, and others by existing officials viewed as more suitable. Continue reading...

US 10-year Treasury yields approached 4.5% on March 13, 2026, fueled by inflation worries and oil-driven pressures. This climb raises questions on potential changes to President Trump's economic policies if thresholds are breached. Markets eye bond market stress alongside equity declines for signals. Upcoming data releases could dictate Federal Reserve responses in coming months.

Stanley McChrystal said White House has a ‘we should do because we can’ approach to international relationsThe retired US army general who once led Nato forces in Afghanistan says the bellicose foreign policy Donald Trump has pursued during his second presidency can be summed up as “we should do because we can” – invoking the lyrics of the Dolly Parton classic Jolene to emphasize the point.Stanley McChrystal delivered those remarks on Friday at Tulane University’s New Orleans book festival during a fireside chat hosted by the editor-in-chief of the Atlantic, Jeffrey Goldberg, who asked in part about US military strikes Trump has ordered in Nigeria, Venezuela and Iran since Christmas. Continue reading...

The American Lung Association's 24th annual State of Tobacco Control report warns of potential cuts to federal tobacco programs in 2026, as smoking remains the top preventable killer with 490,000 U.S. deaths yearly. Adult smoking rates fell to 11.6% in 2022 per CDC data, but policy changes could limit quitlines and youth protections. ALA CEO Harold Wimmer stated, 'These decisions directly affect whether people can access quitline counseling and kids are protected from next-generation products.' States are urged to bolster local efforts amid federal uncertainties.

A University of Pennsylvania Annenberg survey reveals only 11% of Americans would follow CDC over American Academy of Pediatrics on vaccine recommendations, signaling severe public health alarm fatigue. RFK Jr.'s leadership gutted the childhood immunization schedule from 17 to 11 vaccines, terminated $500 million in mRNA research contracts, and oversaw 2,200 measles cases with three deaths in 2025, risking loss of elimination status achieved in 2000. CDC trust plummeted from 75% to 60% in one year due to political leadership, though two-thirds still trust career scientists. Protocols are shifting as 77% prefer AAP guidance on vaccinations.