European consumer group Euroconsumers along with Football Supporters Europe have filed a complaint with the European Commission accusing FIFA of abusing its monopoly over World Cup ticket sales to impose excessive prices and unfair conditions on fans. The complaint, obtained by POLITICO, alleges breaches of Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, which prohibits abuses of a dominant market position. “FIFA has a complete monopoly over World Cup ticket sales,” said Romane Armangau, a spokesperson for Euroconsumers. “They are using that power to charge prices that would not exist in a normal competitive market, while hiding information from buyers and manipulating them into rushed decisions.” The groups point to a range of alleged abusive practices, including limited transparency on ticket categories and seat allocation, a “variable pricing” system that can push prices higher over time, and the actual scarcity of tickets advertised from $60. “When you buy that ticket, you don’t actually know what you’re buying,” Armangau said. “It means attending the 2026 World Cup has become financially out of reach for most ordinary supporters,” she added, pointing to tickets to the final that now start at more than $4,000. Fans can also face additional costs, including resale fees of around 15 percent, according to the complaint. The groups further accuse FIFA of using “dark patterns” — design and marketing tactics that create artificial urgency — to pressure fans into buying tickets. The filing lands as pressure on FIFA is already building in Brussels. In an interview with POLITICO earlier this month, EU Sports Commissioner Glenn Micallef warned of the safety risks for fans travelling to the 2026 World Cup, citing concerns linked to the war in Iran. He said FIFA had yet to provide renewed assurances for supporters, stressing that “since one of the hosts of this biggest sporting event in the world is party to a war, it’s only legitimate that assurances are given.” Micallef also criticized FIFA’s partnership with U.S. President Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace,” a body widely seen in Europe as an attempt to sidestep the United Nations. The complaint to the EU leans on a December 2023 Super League court ruling, which said FIFA and UEFA can fall under EU competition law when they organize and market competitions as economic activities. The filing argues that reasoning applies here too, because FIFA is the sole seller of World Cup tickets and is allegedly abusing that dominant position. While Brussels has previously scrutinized sports governing bodies, targeting FIFA’s ticketing and pricing practices would open a new front. Euroconsumers and its partners are urging the European Commission to intervene, including by imposing price caps and forcing greater transparency over ticket sales. “We are asking the Commission to act immediately with interim measures,” Armangau said. “Once those matches are played, the harm to fans cannot be undone.”

U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday threatened to send federal immigration agents to airports across the country on Monday if Democrats don’t agree to end the Department of Homeland Security shutdown, now approaching five weeks. “If the Radical Left Democrats don’t immediately sign an agreement to let our Country, in particular, our Airports, be FREE and SAFE again, I will move our brilliant and patriotic ICE Agents to the Airports where they will do Security like no one has ever seen before, including the immediate arrest of all Illegal Immigrants who have come into our Country,” he wrote. “Illegal Immigrants who have come into our Country, with heavy emphasis on those from Somalia” would be targeted with an especially firm hand, the president wrote on Truth Social. Shortly thereafter, Trump followed up to say he plans to send ICE to airports in just days. “I look forward to moving ICE in on Monday, and have already told them to, ‘GET READY.’ NO MORE WAITING, NO MORE GAMES!” he wrote in a separate Truth Social post on Saturday. It’s his latest bid to push Democrats, who have refused to greenlight DHS funding without changes to how it carries out immigration enforcement, pointing to deadly incidents as Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents descended en masse on major American cities. Increased callouts among TSA agents and airport staffers are expected to roil airports in the coming weeks, with major interruptions to airport procedure likely to follow. Both sides have seemingly made progress in recent days toward ending the shutdown. The White House made several concessions on immigration enforcement policies in a proposal shared with Senate Democrats on Friday. But the ICE agent masking ban Democrats are seeking in exchange for their support on a funding package remains a bridge too far, Republicans argue. Trump’s latest threat isn’t likely to make the prospects of a truce any more viable, especially given his focus on Minnesota, where tensions flared after federal immigration agents killed two protesters during a major surge of personnel in January. In a post on X following Trump’s threat, Rep. Lauren Boebert said, “The airport in Minnesota is about to be a ghost town.” The president’s threat Saturday lands squarely in the middle of a confirmation fight over his pick to run DHS, Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), a process that has quickly become a proxy battle over the future of ICE itself. At his hearing this week, Mullin tried to strike a more measured tone than in some of his past remarks, pledging to rein in some enforcement tactics and lower the agency’s public profile. But he repeatedly defended ICE agents amid mounting scrutiny, including backing officers involved in high-profile civilian deaths and arguing Democrats are tying the agency’s hands. Republicans — including Mullin — have instead pushed to expand ICE’s resources and authority, framing the standoff as a fight over public safety. The backdrop is the messy ouster of Kristi Noem, whose tenure was defined by aggressive deportation policies, costly PR campaigns and a series of controversies that ultimately led Trump to push her out after a bruising round of congressional hearings. The enforcement-heavy approach Trump threatened Saturday sets up a preview for what Mullin will perhaps be asked to defend — and potentially formalize — as the next head of DHS. ICE and the Transportation Security Administration did not immediately respond to requests for comment from POLITICO.

Biotechnology is central to modern medicine and Europe’s long-term competitiveness. From cancer and cardiovascular disease to rare conditions, it is driving transformative advances for patients across Europe and beyond . 1         Yet innovation in Europe is increasingly shaped by regulatory fragmentation, procedural complexity and uneven implementation across  m ember s tates. As scientific progress accelerates, policy frameworks must evolve in parallel, supporting the full lifecycle of innovation from research and clinical development to manufacturing and patient access.  The proposed EU Biotech Act seeks to address these challenges. By streamlining regulatory procedures, strengthening coordination  and supporting scale-up and manufacturing, it aims to reinforce Europe’s position in a highly competitive global biotechnology landscape .2       Its success, however, will depend less on ambition than on delivery. Consistent implementation, proportionate oversight and continued global openness will determine whether the  a ct translates into faster patient access, sustained investment and long-term resilience.  Q: Why is biotechnology increasingly seen as a strategic pillar for Europe’s competitiveness, resilience and long-term growth?  Gilles Marrache, SVP and regional general manager, Europe, Latin America, Middle East, Africa and Canada, Amgen:  Biotechnology sits at the intersection of health, industrial policy and economic competitiveness. The sector is one of Europe’s strongest strategic assets and a leading contributor to  research and development  growth . 3    At the same time, Europe’s position is under increasing pressure. Over the past two decades, the EU has lost approximately 25  percent of its global share of pharmaceutical investment to other regions, such as the  United States  and China.   The choices made today will shape Europe’s long-term strength in the sector, influencing not only competitiveness and growth, but also how quickly patients can benefit from new treatments.  > Europe stands at a pivotal moment in biotechnology. Our life sciences legacy > is strong, but maintaining global competitiveness requires evolution .” 4   > >  Gilles Marrache, SVP and regional general manager, Europe, Latin America, > Middle East, Africa and Canada, Amgen. Q: What does the EU Biotech Act aim to do  and why is it considered an important step forward for patients and Europe’s innovation ecosystem?  Marrache: The EU Biotech Act represents a timely opportunity to better support biotechnology products from the laboratory to the market. By streamlining medicines’ pathways and improving conditions for scale-up and investment, it can help strengthen Europe’s innovation ecosystem and accelerate patient access to breakthrough therapies. These measures will help anchor biotechnology as a strategic priority for Europe’s future  —  and one that can deliver earlier patient benefit  —  so long as we can make it work in practice.  Q: How does the EU Biotech Act address regulatory fragmentation, and where will effective delivery and coordination be most decisive? Marrache: Regulatory fragmentation has long challenged biotechnology development in Europe, particularly for multinational clinical trials and innovative products. The Biotech Act introduces faster, more coordinated trials, expanded regulatory sandboxes and new investment and industrial capacity instruments.   The proposed EU Health Biotechnology Support Network and a  u nion-level regulatory status repository would strengthen transparency and predictability. Together, these measures would support earlier regulatory dialogue, help de-risk development   and promote more consistent implementation across  m ember  s tates.   They also create an opportunity to address complexities surrounding combination products  —  spanning medicines, devices and diagnostics  —  where overlapping requirements and parallel assessments have added delays.5 This builds on related efforts, such as the COMBINE programme,6 which seeks to streamline the navigation of the In Vitro Diagnostic Regulation , 7 Clinical Trials Regulation8 and the Medical Device Regulation9 through a single, coordinated assessment process. Continued clarity and coordination will be essential to reduce duplication and accelerate development timelines .10 Q: What conditions will be most critical to support biotech scale-up, manufacturing  and long-term investment in Europe?  Marrache: Europe must strike the right balance between strategic autonomy and openness to global collaboration. Any new instruments under the Biotech Act mechanisms should remain open and supportive of all types of biotech investments, recogni z ing that biotech manufacturing operates through globally integrated and highly speciali z ed value chains.   Q: How can Europe ensure faster and more predictable pathways from scientific discovery to patient access, while maintaining high standards of safety and quality?   Marrache: Faster and more predictable patient access depends on strengthening end-to-end pathways across the lifecycle.  The Biotech Act will help ensure continuity of scientific and regulatory experti z e, from clinical development through post-authori z ation. It will also support stronger alignment with downstream processes, such as health technology assessments, which  are  critical to success.   Moreover, reducing unnecessary delays or duplication in approval processes can set clearer expectations, more predictable development timelines and earlier planning for scale-up.    Gilles Marrache, SVP and regional general manager, Europe, Latin America, Middle East, Africa and Canada, Amgen. Via Amgen. Finally, embedding a limited number of practical tools (procedural, digital or governance-based) and ensuring they are integrated within existing  European Medicines Agency and EU regulatory structures can help achieve faster patient access . 11 Q: What role can stronger regulatory coordination, data use and public - private collaboration play in strengthening Europe’s global position in biotechnology?  Marrache: To unlock biotechnology’s full potential, consistent implementation is essential. Fragmented approaches to secondary data use, divergent  m ember   state interpretations and uncertainty for data holders still limit access to high-quality datasets at scale. The Biotech Act introduces key building blocks to address this.   These include Biotechnology Data Quality Accelerators to improve interoperability, trusted testing environments for advanced innovation, and alignment with the EU AI Act ,12  European Health Data Space13 and wider EU data initiatives. It also foresees AI-specific provisions and clinical trial guidance to provide greater operational clarity.  Crucially, these structures must simplify rather than add further layers of complexity.   Addressing remaining barriers will reduce legal uncertainty for AI deployment, support innovation and strengthen Europe’s competitiveness.  > These reforms will create a moderni z ed biotech ecosystem, healthier > societies, sustainable healthcare systems and faster patient access to the > latest breakthroughs in Europe .” 14 > > Gilles Marrache, SVP and regional general manager, Europe, Latin America, > Middle East, Africa and Canada, Amgen.  Q: As technologies evolve and global competition intensifies, how can policymakers ensure the Biotech Act remains flexible and future-proof?  Marrache:  To remain future-proof, the Biotech Act must be designed to evolve alongside scientific progress, market dynamics and patient needs. Clear objectives, risk-based requirements, regular review mechanisms and timely updates to guidance will enhance regulatory agility without creating unnecessary rigidity or administrative burden.  Continuous stakeholder dialogue combined with horizon scanning will be essential to sustaining innovation, resilience and timely patient access over the long term. Preserving regulatory openness and international cooperation will be critical in avoiding fragmentation and maintaining Europe’s credibility as a global biotech hub.  Q: Looking ahead, what two or three priorities should policymakers focus on to ensure the EU Biotech Act delivers meaningful impact in practice?  Marrache: Looking ahead, policymakers should focus on three priorities for the Biotech Act:    First, implementation must deliver real regulatory efficiency, predictability and coordination in practice. Second, Europe must sustain an open and investment-friendly framework that reflects the global nature of biotechnology.  And third, policymakers should ensure a clear and coherent legal framework across the lifecycle of innovative medicines, providing certainty for the use of  artificial intelligence   —  as a key driver of innovation in health biotechnology.  In practical terms, the EU Biotech Act will be judged not by the number of new instruments it creates, but by whether it reduces complexity, increases predictability and shortens the path from scientific discovery to patient benefit. An open, innovation-friendly framework that is competitive at the global level will help sustain investment, strengthen resilient supply chains and deliver better outcomes for patients across Europe and beyond. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- References 1. Amgen Europe, The EU Biotech Act Unlocking Europe’s Potential, May 2025. Retrieved from https://www.amgen.eu/media/press-releases/2025/05/The_EU_Biotech_Act_Unlocking_Europes_Potential 2. European Commission, Proposal for a Regulation to establish measures to strengthen the Union’s biotechnology and biomanufacturing sectors, December 2025. Retrieved from https://health.ec.europa.eu/publications/proposal-regulation-establish-measures-strengthen-unions-biotechnology-and-biomanufacturing-sectors_en 3. EFPIA, The pharmaceutical sector: A catalyst to foster Europe’s competitiveness, February 2026. Retrieved from https://www.efpia.eu/media/zkhfr3kp/10-actions-for-competitiveness-growth-and-security.pdf 4. The Parliament, Investing in healthy societies by boosting biotech competitiveness, November 2024. Retrieved from https://www.theparliamentmagazine.eu/partner/article/investing-in-healthy-societies-by-boosting-biotech-competitiveness#_ftn4 5. Amgen Europe, The EU Biotech Act Unlocking Europe’s Potential, May 2025. Retrieved from https://www.amgen.eu/docs/BiotechPP_final_digital_version_May_2025.pdf   6. European Commission, combine programme, June 2023. Retrieved from https://health.ec.europa.eu/medical-devices-topics-interest/combine-programme_en  7. European Commission. Medical Devices – In Vitro Diagnostics, March 2026. Retrieved from https://health.ec.europa.eu/medical-devices-vitro-diagnostics_en 8. European Commission, Clinical trials – Regulation EU No 536/2014, January 2022. Retrieved from https://health.ec.europa.eu/medicinal-products/clinical-trials/clinical-trials-regulation-eu-no-5362014_en 9. European Commission, Simpler and more effective rules for medical devices – Commission proposal for a targeted revision of the medical devices regulations, December 2025. Retrieved from https://health.ec.europa.eu/medical-devices-sector/new-regulations_en#mdr 10. Amgen Europe, The EU Biotech Act Unlocking Europe’s Potential, May 2025. Retrieved from https://www.amgen.eu/docs/BiotechPP_final_digital_version_May_2025.pdf   11. AmCham, EU position on the Commission Proposal for an EU Biotech Act 12. European Commission, AI Act | Shaping Europe’s digital future, June 2024. Retrieved from https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/regulatory-framework-ai 13. European Commission, European Health Data Space, March 2025. Retrieved from https://health.ec.europa.eu/ehealth-digital-health-and-care/european-health-data-space-regulation-ehds_en 14. The Parliament, Why Europe needs a Biotech Act, October 2025. Retrieved from https://www.theparliamentmagazine.eu/partner/article/why-europe-needs-a-biotech-act -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Disclaimer POLITICAL ADVERTISEMENT * The sponsor is Amgen Inc * The ultimate controlling entity is Amgen Inc * The political advertisement is linked to advocacy on the EU Biotech Act. More information here.

LONDON — The U.K.’s media regulator Ofcom fined 4chan £450,000 on Thursday for failing to comply with age check requirements under the Online Safety Act. The regulator also levied two additional fines of £50,000 and £20,000 on the company for not assessing the risk of users encountering illegal material and failing to specify in its terms of service how they are to be protected from such content, respectively. Ofcom previously fined 4chan £20,000 for failing to respond to to requests for information from the regulator. 4chan has until 2 April to implement age assurance, carry out a “suitable and sufficient” illegal harms risk assessment, and rewrite its terms of service or face a daily penalty of £200. “Companies – wherever they’re based – are not allowed to sell unsafe toys to children in the U.K. And society has long protected youngsters from things like alcohol, smoking and gambling. The digital world should be no different,” Suzanne Cater, Ofcom’s director of enforcement, said in a statement. 4chan did not immediately respond when contacted for comment.

LONDON — Two men have been charged Wednesday evening with spying on locations and individuals linked to the Jewish community on behalf of Iran. Nematollah Shahsavani, a 40-year-old dual British and Iranian national, and Alireza Farasati, a 22-year-old Iranian national, were charged under the National Security Act with engaging in conduct likely to assist a foreign intelligence service between July 9 and Aug. 15 last year. The Crown Prosecution Service confirmed the charges related to Iran. The Metropolitan Police’s Deputy Assistant Commissioner Vicki Evans described the charges as “extremely serious” after counter terror Police investigated alleged surveillance of places and people in London’s Jewish community. “We fully recognise that the public — and in particular the Jewish community — will be concerned,” Evans said. “I hope this investigation reassures them that we will not hesitate to take action if we identify there may be a threat to their safety, and will be relentless in our pursuit of those who may be responsible.” The men were originally arrested and detained on March 6 while two other men arrested on the same day were released without charge. The head of the Crown Prosecution Service’s Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division Frank Ferguson said “the charge relates to carrying out activities in the U.K. such as gathering information and undertaking reconnaissance of targets.” Shahsavani and Farasati will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court Thursday March 19.

The EU has sent assistance to Moldova after a Russian attack on a Ukrainian hydroelectric station, which is suspected of polluting the Dniester River, left hundreds of thousands without safe drinking water. The river, also known as the Nistru river, flows through both countries. The Russian attack took place upstream of Moldova. “Russia’s attack on Ukraine’s Novodnistrovsk hydropower plant has spilled oil into the Nistru River, threatening Moldova’s water supply,” wrote President Maia Sandu. “Russia bears full responsibility,” she added. The city of Bălți and the surrounding areas in northern Moldova have been without running water for several days, according to Prime Minister Alexandru Munteanu.  “Our teams are working around the clock on the ground, using all available resources, and our priority is to restore the water supply. However, this will only be done under conditions that fully ensure people’s safety and health,” wrote Munteanu. Russia’s ambassador to Moldova, Oleg Ozerov, was summoned by the government on Monday to answer for the damage, and was “gifted” a plastic bottle filled with polluted water from the Dniester River. Brussels triggered its Civil Protection mechanism on Tuesday to provide emergency assistance to the affected areas of the Moldova, which is an EU candidate country. Luxembourg and neighboring Romania have sent rescue supplies, it was announced today. Russia has frequently targeted Ukraine’s energy infrastructure since invading the country more than four years ago. Neighboring countries have been affecting previously, too, with Russian drones sometimes violating EU countries’ airspace.

LONDON — Scottish lawmakers on Tuesday evening rejected a bill allowing terminally ill adults to access assisted dying. Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) opposed Liberal Democrat Liam McArthur’s legislation which would have given terminally ill adults with fewer than six months to live assistance to end their lives. The bill fell by 69 votes to 57, with Scottish Health Secretary Neil Gray abstaining. MSPs previously backed the initial principles of the bill and allowed it to progress through the parliament last May by 70 votes to 56. First Minister John Swinney, Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes, Scottish Labour Leader Anas Sarwar and Scottish Tory Leader Russell Findlay all rejected the bill, although Findlay voted in favor last May. Former Scottish First Ministers Humza Yousaf and Nicola Sturgeon also opposed the bill. McArthur told reporters he was “devastated” by the result as the current system “has been failing dying Scots for too long.”  But he told ITV News the vote against appeared “inevitable” as “the closer you get to that final vote, the enormity, the significance of what MSPs will be asked to do weighs more and more heavily.” A dozen MSPs from the Conservatives, Labour and SNP switched sides between the two votes to reject the bill. As a matter of conscience, parliamentarians were given a free vote and did not have to follow a whip. It marks the third time the Scottish parliament has rejected assisted dying since 1999, though previous bills fell at the first hurdle by far higher margins. McArthur predicted the issue would return to Holyrood after the May election “for so long as dying Scots continue to suffer as a result of the lack of choice and safety afforded to them by the current law,” which prohibits assisted dying. The vote followed an evening of impassioned debate, with supporters and opponents offering emotional personal testimonies. Both sides praised McArthur’s handling of the bill and agreed on the need for improved palliative care. The Scottish government, which retained a neutral position on the bill, said it “remains committed to ensuring that everyone in Scotland who needs it can access well-coordinated, compassionate and high-quality palliative and end of life care.”

President Donald Trump is demanding that the Federal Reserve immediately lower borrowing costs. But the war in the Middle East has now made any interest rate cuts much less likely in 2026 — not just in the U.S. but around the world. With oil prices surging past $100 a barrel and Gulf shipping routes disrupted by Iran, governments and investors are bracing for a repeat of the 2022 energy shock from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. And from Washington to Frankfurt, and London to Tokyo, the world’s central banks are likely to strike a more wary tone on inflation while assessing the fallout during a flurry of policy meetings taking place this week. The effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a channel through which roughly a fifth of global oil passes, is pushing up costs not only for energy and transportation, but also for other key goods that are shipped through the waterway. The result could be a toxic mix for central banks: higher prices and lower employment, two problems they’re not equipped to address simultaneously. “My best guess, but spoken with no conviction at all, is that this gets sorted out somehow in the next few weeks, and by the middle of the year, oil prices have come back down a fair amount,” said William English, a former top staffer at the Fed who is now a professor at Yale University. “But there’s a real risk, of course, that things go on for longer and are more damaging. And in that case, all bets are off.” The specter of a prolonged global energy crunch could dash the hopes of consumers, businesses and investors worldwide for rate cuts this year — and in some cases, throw those plans in reverse. No immediate moves are likely except in Australia, which raised its target rate by a quarter-point on Tuesday. But markets have already repriced their bets on what comes next from monetary policymakers. Indeed, if the Fed does cut rates later this year, it might be one of the few major central banks that does so, given that other economies like Europe are more exposed to higher energy costs than the U.S. Before the war, investors saw a chance of cuts from the Fed, the European Central Bank and the Bank of England. Now they’re pricing in an altogether tighter policy stance: at least one ECB rate hike this year, a 60 percent chance of a BoE increase, fewer and later cuts from the Fed and more urgency in raising rates from the Bank of Japan. Central bankers will prefer to wait until they get a better gauge of the economic repercussions from the conflict because “the shock could turn out to be negligible or very large,” said EFG chief economist Stefan Gerlach. But few doubt the need for strong messaging as central banks are wary of repeating 2022, when energy price shocks combined with the after-effects from Covid and fiscal stimulus to morph into the worst inflation spike in half a century. “There will be a significant contingent worrying about upside inflation risks in light of the 2022 experience,” J.P. Morgan economist Greg Fuzesi said ahead of the ECB’s policy-making council’s meeting on Thursday. The Iran conflict is further complicating efforts by Trump to demonstrate to voters that the GOP is addressing cost-of-living concerns before this year’s midterm elections. Already, the war has caused a surge in politically salient gas prices and erased some of the progress toward more affordable mortgage rates. And it’s further muddied the picture for a central bank that the president has been pressing hard to take decisive action toward rate cuts. Now, when Chair Jerome Powell and other Fed officials meet on Wednesday, they’re expected to be more open to the idea of rate increases later this year, though that’s still not the likeliest outcome. As Yale’s English pointed out, higher costs might ultimately increase the case for rate cuts if they slow the economy significantly. “With the higher oil prices and the shock to the global economy, the likelihood of overheating seems reduced now, so that’s one of the reasons you might be comfortable waiting through some period of higher inflation,” rather than hiking rates in response, English said. “This might be enough to push the economy into real weakness, and in that case, they might well have to cut.” But if households and businesses start to worry about a new acceleration in inflation and start expecting higher prices, that dynamic can be self-fulfilling and might call for rate hikes. Hawkish policymakers are already signaling the ECB won’t hesitate this time. “A reaction by the ECB is potentially closer than many people think,” Peter Kažimír, Slovakia’s central bank governor, told Bloomberg last week. “We will be ready to act if needed.” President Christine Lagarde pledged to ensure that consumers “don’t suffer the same inflation increases like those we saw in 2022 and 2023.” Back then, the ECB was slow to react, helping inflation surge past 10 percent. Economists say today’s backdrop looks very different: In 2022, rates were near or below zero, balance sheets were bloated and fiscal policy was highly expansionary. “When inflation rose, it did so in an environment of strong demand supported by both fiscal and monetary stimulus,” said Gerlach. Now, tighter monetary and fiscal policy should limit the risk of energy shocks spilling through the economy into second-round effects. Still, Barclays analyst Silvia Ardagna says that if medium-term inflation expectations “deteriorate significantly,” she expects “the ECB to act more swiftly than in 2022, but to tighten policy gradually.” Nick Kounis, of Dutch bank ABN AMRO, also sees a more hawkish tone. “Uncertainty on the conflict is high, but if the current situation persists through to the April meeting, a hike becomes a distinct possibility,” he said. Many analysts say the first obvious central bank casualty of the war is likely to be the Bank of England, which was widely expected to cut this week but is now seen firmly on hold. That’s because the U.K. still hasn’t quite gotten on top of the inflation that was unleashed four years ago. Andrew Benito, an economist with hedge fund Point72 in London, reckons that the inevitable increase in fuel prices and household energy bills alone will add a full percentage point to headline inflation by summer, with “second-round” impacts on other prices pushing it even further away from the BoE’s target. That, says Deutsche Bank’s Sanjay Raja, will force the bank into some “uncomfortable trade-offs”: The U.K. economy has already slowed over the last year due to global trade uncertainty and various government tax hikes to close the budget deficit. Hiking rates when the economy is already struggling could risk needlessly making things worse. But any sign of complacency could be disproportionately punished by the markets, given that the BoE performed worse than any other major central bank during the last inflation shock (the headline rate peaked at over 11 percent). Raja expects BoE Governor Andrew Bailey to highlight the differences with 2022 — when inflation was accelerating rather than slowing — as one reason not to overreact to today’s price spike. However, he expects that Bailey, like the ECB and others, will talk tough about not letting business and households develop an inflationary mindset again. More important will be the Bank of Japan’s decisions and press conference on Thursday, due to the outsized influence of Japanese interest rates on global financial markets. For decades, Japan kept interest rates low and printed money furiously to escape deflation. As long as it did so, Japanese and foreign investors borrowed yen cheaply to throw at higher-yielding markets such as the U.S. Now, however, the BoJ’s concerns have finally switched from deflation to inflation, and BoJ Governor Kazuo Ueda is now in a hurry to “normalize” policy. Its key interest rate, at 0.75 percent, is the lowest in the developed world outside Switzerland. But Japan, too, faces a big headwind from higher energy prices because of its dependence on imports, and Gregor Hirt, chief investment officer for Multi Asset at Allianz Global Investors, argues that the BoJ will hesitate before raising rates again. The trouble with waiting and seeing is that the yen has already lurched lower, prompting alarm in Washington and sparking rumors of possible intervention to support it. “In order to stop further weakness, the BoJ may have to move up a rate hike to stabilize the currency,” Hirt said. Meanwhile, the war has presented the Swiss National Bank, which has kept interest rates at zero since June 2025, with a different kind of conundrum. One risk is that a global “flight to safety” drives the Swiss franc to even greater heights against the euro and others. That could make so many imports cheaper that the overall inflation rate could turn negative. Alternatively, the boost in energy prices could have the same malign impact on inflation as it will elsewhere. “The SNB will probably prefer to wait and see which of the two effects will have the greater impact on inflation prospects before acting in one direction or the other,” said ING economist Charlotte de Montpellier, who expects the Swiss central bank to stay on hold. That response, shot through with varying degrees of nervousness, looks likely to be the dominant one this week. But things will look very different if the war situation hasn’t improved by the next round of meetings.

The Trump administration quietly shifted its immigration messaging in the weeks after its violent operation in Minneapolis that included the fatal shooting of two Americans, largely dropping mentions of “mass deportations” as public sentiment shifted against the aggressive tactics. A POLITICO review of social media posts from major official administration accounts shows only one mention of the term in the past month, compared to more than a dozen in the four weeks prior. The analysis examined the social media accounts of top Trump officials and White House-run pages the administration has leveraged to push support for its immigration agenda. The findings suggest an administration recalibrating its message in the wake of wavering poll numbers on what had been one of President Donald Trump’s signature issues. It comes as Republicans have grown worried about the 2026 midterms, with calls for large-scale deportations — a hallmark of Trump’s campaign — now seen by some in the party as a vulnerability, particularly with Hispanic voters who had shifted toward the president just two years ago. “Deportations have a different look after Minneapolis, and we need to reclaim immigration as an issue,” said Michigan-based GOP strategist Jason Roe. “Deporting criminals remains popular, and the fact that the Democrats reflexively take the opposite side of Trump puts them, once again, on the side of criminals.” For months, calls for “mass deportation” were a frequent feature of the Trump administration’s aggressive social media strategy. On X, the White House’s prolific Rapid Response account spent days in mid-January linking “mass deportations” to lower crime, more jobs and lower housing costs. But that account hasn’t used the phrase “mass deportation” since Feb. 12, when it shared clips from a press conference during which border czar Tom Homan, who was dispatched to Minneapolis to deescalate tensions, said mass deportations were still on but emphasized more targeted enforcement. “The message focus is a reflection on where the administration’s strongest arguments have always been, which is an emphasis on border security policies that draw a contrast with the Biden-Harris administration, and a more prioritized and precise focus on illegal immigrants with criminal offenses,” said Kevin Madden, a Republican strategist who has worked for House GOP leadership and on presidential campaigns. Last week, Trump picked Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) to be the next Homeland Security secretary, moving current DHS chief Kristi Noem to a special envoy role in the face of growing frustrations with her tenure. The official White House account, along with social media accounts tied to other top Trump officials, including deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller and press secretary Karoline Leavitt, have also eschewed the phrase after highlighting mass deportations in the past — even as they continue to post when immigrants accused of violent crimes are arrested. A White House official, granted anonymity to discuss internal strategy, said the rapid response page is not indicative of any policy changes. The account amplifies and engages with major news stories, the official said, noting that there has been less news coverage about immigration since early February. The official said the same applies to other officials’ X accounts. The Department of Homeland Security’s public ad campaign has also started to take a different tact: An ad that began running in February, weeks after the Minnesota shootings, sought to highlight “victims of illegal immigration,” in contrast with ads the agency had previously run that featured footage of arrests. A DHS spokesperson said the agency “remains committed to arresting and deporting the worst of the worst illegal aliens to keep the American people safe, just as President Trump promised.” The spokesperson also shared several DHS press releases from this week highlighting arrests of immigrants who had committed crimes. White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said the administration’s immigration enforcement isn’t changing, and that the president’s “highest priority has always been the deportation of illegal alien criminals who endanger American communities.” She also said that 70 percent of deportations to date have been unauthorized immigrants with criminal records, and said the administration has had the “most secure border in U.S. history for nine straight months.” This week, White House deputy chief of staff James Blair privately urged House Republicans at their annual policy retreat in Doral, Florida, to focus their immigration message on removing violent criminals instead of “mass deportations.” Blair’s message was first reported by Axios. A senior White House official said Blair’s comments were taken “out of context.” The official said the administration can highlight deportations but that the White House also has to tout the president’s success at the border. “Like the border numbers are astronomical — zero, right?” the senior official said. “Zero people coming in. That’s a great message to push.” A person close to the White House, granted anonymity to speak candidly about the strategy, said among crucial voting blocs, including Latino voters, moderate Republicans, Independents, and young voters, “mass deportations” is associated with sweeping round-ups in community gathering places. If candidates instead focus on criminal arrests, public safety, and the president’s success in securing the southern border, the person argued, they can turn the issue against Democrats. “Just have to message it a little bit better,” the person said. “If you can go on a campaign, and you can contrast and say, ‘OK, this person wants open borders, this person wants amnesty for criminal illegal aliens — it’s madness.’ It’s just not where the majority of the American people are.” The president, during the State of the Union address, sought to draw that contrast when he asked members of Congress to stand if they agreed that “the first duty of the American government is to protect American citizens, not illegal aliens” — a standout moment Vice President JD Vance amplified again during a speech in North Carolina on Friday. In the February address, the president only said “deporting” once to emphasize his focus on deporting “criminal illegal aliens.” It was part of a section in which Trump introduced the mother of Lizbeth Medina, a teenager killed by an unauthorized immigrant. It was a departure from Trump’s 2025 address when the president reiterated his vow to conduct the “largest deportation operation in U.S. history.” Promises of “mass deportations” were also a recurring feature of his 2024 campaign — a vow he and his top officials repeatedly amplified during his first year back in the White House. “People know where President Trump stands on immigration, on deportation,” the senior official said, when asked about the president’s SOTU address. “It was a hallmark of his campaign. … We don’t need to explain our immigration position.” The White House’s shift in messaging is infuriating some Trump allies who have launched a lobbying effort to reverse that reversal. Those concerns underscore the GOP divide on how aggressive to be on immigration enforcement. Immigration hardliners want Trump to ramp up deportations but many Republicans worry that would risk a further loss of public support. Recent immigration polling, including a January POLITICO poll conducted before 37-year-old Alex Pretti was killed, has shown growing unease with the president’s deportation campaign. Even among his base, the poll found that more than 1 in 3 Trump voters said that while they supported the goal of his policy, they disapproved of its implementation. Eli Stokols and Alex Gangitano contributed to this report.

Formula 1 has canceled races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia scheduled for April, as the ongoing war between Iran and the U.S. and Israel disrupts international sports throughout the Middle East. “Due to the ongoing situation in the Middle East the Grands Prix, alongside F2, F3, and F1 Academy rounds, will not take place as scheduled,” Formula 1 said in a post on X. The grands prix, marquee events at the top of the F1 calendar, were scheduled to be the fourth and fifth races of the season, which kicked off during the first weekend of March in Melbourne. Last year, both were won by Australian driver Oscar Piastri, who rode a strong start in the campaign to a third-place finish in the F1 season standings. Iran targeted both Gulf countries in the early days of the conflict in a retaliatory campaign that saw Tehran take shots at Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Iraq, Jordan, Turkey, Cyprus and Israel. On Friday, NATO defense systems in the eastern Mediterranean shot down a missile about to breach Turkish airspace. It isn’t the first global sporting event interrupted by Middle Eastern hostilities since President Donald Trump and Israel launched their attack on Iran in February, killing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The Fanatics Flag Football Classic, an exhibition matchup featuring NFL legend Tom Brady and athletes including Joe Burrow, Jalen Hurts and Myles Garrett, was moved from Saudi Arabia to Los Angeles this week. The Iranian national team, meanwhile, is unlikely to make the trip to North America for this summer’s World Cup, hosted jointly by the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Trump said he doesn’t “believe it is appropriate that they be there, for their own life and safety,” in a Thursday Truth Social post that came after Tehran’s sports minister cast doubt on his country’s participation in the event.