Latest Government policy News

Bank of England keeps main interest rate at 16-year high of 5.25% despite inflation fall

Jun. 20, 2024 09:57 AM EDT

LONDON (AP) — The Bank of England on Thursday kept its main interest rate at a 16-year high of 5.25% even though inflation has fallen to its target of 2%, with several policymakers warning that a premature cut could stoke another bout of price rises. For the second meeting in a...

Swiss central bank cuts its main interest rate by 1/4 point, citing easing inflationary pressures

Jun. 20, 2024 05:05 AM EDT

GENEVA (AP) — The Swiss National Bank said Thursday it has lowered its main policy rate by a quarter of a percentage point, citing a drop in “underlying inflationary pressure” despite an uptick in some costs like rents, tourism services and oil products. The central bank...

New Petrobras chief is sworn in as market worries Brazil's government will have heavier hand

Jun. 20, 2024 02:14 AM EDT

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — The head of Brazil’s state-run oil giant Petrobras, Magda Chambriard, was sworn in Wednesday amid market concerns of increased government intervention in the company. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva — who nominated Chambriard — attended the ceremony...

EU criticizes France for excessive debt, putting pressure on Macron during election campaign

Jun. 19, 2024 10:08 AM EDT

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union's executive arm on Wednesday criticized France for running up excessive debt, a stinging rebuke at the height of an election campaign where President Emmanuel Macron is facing a strong challenge from the extreme right and the left. The EU...

Australian opposition puts nation's first nuclear power plants in its energy plan ahead of elections

Jun. 19, 2024 00:28 AM EDT

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australia’s main opposition party on Wednesday announced plans to build Australia’s first nuclear power plants as early as 2035, arguing the government’s policies for decarbonizing the economy with renewable energy sources including solar, wind turbines and green...

Biden is offering some migrants a pathway to citizenship. Here's how the plan will work

Jun. 18, 2024 18:31 PM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — A new Biden administration policy announced Tuesday will give roughly half a million immigrants who are married to American citizens but lack legal status in the United States a pathway to citizenship for them and their children. It is one of President Joe Biden's...

For Trump it's MAGA, but Hungary's Orbán is going MEGA at the European Union's helm for six months

Jun. 18, 2024 10:23 AM EDT

BRUSSELS (AP) — Hungary’s populist government announced on Tuesday that its upcoming presidency of the European Union will be held under the motto “Make Europe Great Again,” but played down any parallels with Donald Trump’s MAGA movement in the United States. “This is a...

Biden will announce deportation protection and work permits for spouses of US citizens

Jun. 17, 2024 21:51 PM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is planning to announce a sweeping new policy Tuesday that would lift the threat of deportation for hundreds of thousands of people married to U.S. citizens, an aggressive election-year action on immigration that had been sought by many Democrats. ...

California Senate approves ban on requiring schools to notify parents of child's pronoun change

Jun. 17, 2024 18:39 PM EDT

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — School districts in California would be barred from requiring teachers to notify parents if their child asks to go by a new pronoun at school under a bill the state Legislature is weighing amid legal battles over the rights of parents and gender-nonconforming students. ...

Chinese premier agrees with Australia to 'properly manage' differences

Jun. 17, 2024 04:46 AM EDT

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Chinese Premier Li Qiang said he agreed with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Monday to properly manage their nations' differences as they emerge from a hostile era in which minister-to-minister contacts were banned and trade barriers cost Australian...