US bans humanoid robots from China, citing ‘unacceptable risks’

“Advanced robotic devices collect data that could be leveraged by malign actors to surveil Americans, enhance the capabilities of foreign intelligence services, or to remotely commandeer the robots,” FCC officials wrote in their determination of the threat posed by robots. 

In addition to the humanoid robots, the FCC also barred connected power inverters, which enable renewable energy sources and batteries to connect to grids and datacenter equipment. 

The restrictions point to the Trump administration’s goal of elevating technology made in the US, along with driving firms to shift manufacturing to be done locally...

 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jul/28/fcc-ban-humanoid-robots-china

 

Ted Cruz eyes bill to address ‘catastrophic risk’ caused by AI - Live Updates - POLITICO

It could be included on the agenda of a pending Commerce Committee markup of AI legislation...

 https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2026/07/23/congress/cruz-eyes-catastrophic-risk-01010231 

Kaiser therapists claim new screening system puts patients at higher risk

"Human work needs to stay with human beings," Marcucci-Morris said. 

Five licensed Kaiser therapists also said that since the California healthcare giant began rolling out its new patient assessment process, they've seen patients with high-risk cases wait longer for care. At the same time, these therapists say lower-risk patients are sometimes being fast-tracked to appointments with clinicians and clogging up an already strained system. Since January 2025, therapists have reported more than 70 examples of Kaiser's mental health screening system resulting in negative care outcomes, according to an administrative complaint with the California Department of Managed Health Care that the NUHW in northern California filed against Kaiser...

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/mar/21/kaiser-permanente-therapists-ai-strike

 

Why the $3T 'private credit' industry is Wall Street’s latest worry : NPR

"It's [only] March, and we've had AI angst, private credit angst, and now we have a war. So there's a lot of angst," Aganga says...

https://www.npr.org/2026/03/19/nx-s1-5747128/private-credit-equity-jamie-dimon-wall-street 

 

Kill line v Chinamaxxing

In China, one social media trend hangs on the idea that a life in the US is always one step from disaster, while another in the US has gen Z revelling in Chinese lifestyle hacks…

https://www.theguardian.com/world/ng-interactive/2026/mar/13/chinamaxxing-social-media-trend-gen-z-china-us

 

Top US banks weigh suing federal regulator over crypto banking rules

…banks say giving these firms the OCC's stamp of approval means letting firms loose into the US financial system without the same rigorous supervision and controls required of fully fledged banks…

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/mar/09/bank-policy-institute-regulator-lawsuit

 

‘I feel like I’m in a financial prison’: Trump Wall Street plan puts ‘mom and pop’ investors at risk, advocates say

…Trump commuted the prison sentence of the former GPB Capital Holdings CEO David Gentile, who was found guilty in 2024 for his role in a years-long scheme that involved alternative investments. Investor advocates criticized Trump for freeing Gentile, who was at the center of the $1.6bn fraud that harmed thousands of teachers, nurses and other less experienced investors. 

"It's a signal that it is not a priority to protect your mom and pop investors," said Adam Gana, a lawyer at the Chicago firm Gana Weinstein who has represented hundreds of clients who lost money in private equity deals set up by GPB. "It's unbelievable. People's lives were ruined, ruined by their investments in GPB."… 

In his executive order, Trump's bid for putting more 401(k) money into alts is paired with a call to make it harder for investors to pursue compensation for wrongdoing by employers, advisers and other players that control those plans…

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2026/feb/17/trump-wall-street-plan-mom-and-pop-investors-risks

 

Meet the AI workers who tell their friends and family to stay away from AI

When the people making AI seem trustworthy are the ones who trust it the least, it shows that incentives for speed are overtaking safety, experts say…

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/nov/22/ai-workers-tell-family-stay-away

 

How a Warming Planet Has Made Home Insurance Increasingly Unaffordable – Mother Jones

The markets for property and flood insurance are already in crisis, and in some high-risk areas are broken, analysts say. Dozens of insurers in Florida, Louisiana, Texas, and California have collapsed or been declared insolvent following searing wildfires and catastrophic hurricanes. Meanwhile, prominent national insurers, including Progressive, Allstate, and State Farm, have fled high-risk states or scaled back on writing new policies…

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/09/home-insurance-premiums-flood-fire-climate-risk/ 

 

‘The Airport Said Don’t Do It. And They Did It.’ - POLITICO

For years, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority warned Congress that the region's airports were at capacity, DeFazio said in an interview with POLITICO Magazine. But their pleas for restraint fell short among lawmakers, who voted to add more flights to an airport already struggling with its heavy load and a shortage of air traffic controllers caused by previous government shutdowns and pandemic-era hits to its workforce...

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2025/01/31/defazio-plane-crash-blame-00201767

How climate risks are driving up insurance premiums around the US

'Tight correlation' between premium rises and counties deemed most at risk from climate crisis, experts say…

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/dec/05/climate-crisis-insurance-premiums

DEA plans to reclassify marijuana as a lower-risk drug, officials say - The Washington Post

The measure, if enacted, would not legalize marijuana at the federal level but still represents a milestone that could prove to be a political win for President Biden, who is campaigning for reelection and has sought to ameliorate racial and criminal justice inequities wrought by the nation's long war on drugs...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2024/04/30/marijuana-restrictions-loosen/

Coronavirus FAQs: Outdoor risks, one-way masking, boosters, faint test lines : Goats and Soda : NPR

Omicron variants are more contagious — even outdoors. Here's how to protect yourself.

https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2022/12/20/1142006506/popular-covid-faqs-in-2022-outdoor-risks-boosters-1-way-masking-faint-test-lines

Doctors who would like to defy abortion laws say it's too risky : NPR

Doctors in states with abortion bans can face prison time and lose their licenses if they violate the laws. Some are calling on doctors to openly defy the bans...

https://www.npr.org/2022/11/22/1138558392/doctors-who-would-like-to-defy-abortion-laws-say-its-too-risky

Debunking the vegan myth: The case for a plant-forward omnivorous whole-foods diet (ScienceDirect)

Abstract 

Vegan diets are widely promoted as protective against cardiovascular disease (CVD); however, removing all animal foods from a human's diet usually causes unfavorable health consequences. Our hominin ancestors began consuming meat, fish, seafood, and eggs >2 million years ago. 

Consequently, humans are genetically adapted to procure nutrients from both plant and animal sources. In contrast, veganism is without evolutionary precedent in Homo sapiens species. Strict adherence to a vegan diet causes predictable deficiencies in nutrients including vitamins B12, B2, D, niacin, iron, iodine, zinc, high-quality proteins, omega-3, and calcium. 

Prolonged strict veganism increases risk for bone fractures, sarcopenia, anemia, and depression. A more logical diet is a plant-forward omnivorous eating pattern that emphasizes generous consumption of natural, unprocessed foods predominantly from plants. To balance this diet, modest amounts of wholesome animal foods, such wild-caught fish/seafood, pasture-raised meat and eggs, and fermented unsweetened dairy should be consumed regularly.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0033062022000834

Plane Passenger Risk of Contracting COVID May Be Higher, MIT Research

Barnett told Insider that due to the contagiousness of the BA.5 variant, lack of mask mandates on public transit, and much fuller planes than in 2020, he expects infection risk is higher now than what was found in the study…

https://www.insider.com/plane-travel-covid-passengers-risk-probably-higher-now-research-2022-7

Missing from Roe debate: Pregnancy is not health-neutral | The Hill

…even low-risk, healthy individuals may have any number of complications specific to pregnancy and birth such preeclampsia, gestational diabetes, hemorrhage, preterm birth, blood clots, serious depression and more. Common experiences in pregnancy translate to long-term health outcomes. For example, about one-third of all births in the United States happen by C-section, which is a major abdominal surgery. Preeclampsia and hypertensive disorders in pregnancy are common and associated with cardiovascular disease and a five times higher risk of high blood pressure. 

In contrast to pregnancy, abortion is safe: The risk of death with continued pregnancy and birth is 14 times higher than induced abortion. Medical complications associated with termination of pregnancy are overwhelmingly mild and lower than those reported with common dental procedures like wisdom teeth removal…

https://thehill.com/opinion/healthcare/3480720-missing-from-roe-debate-pregnancy-is-not-health-neutral/

Covid-19 is killing more people now than during most of the pandemic. Here's who's still at risk - CNN

The people dying from Covid-19 now tend to be younger than before, and they're overwhelmingly unvaccinated, experts say…

https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/24/health/covid-deaths-now-younger-unvaccinated/index.html

EPA Withheld Reports of Risk Posed by 1,240 Chemicals

"The TSCA program is underfunded. The previous Administration never asked Congress for the necessary resources to reflect the agency's new responsibilities under amended TSCA. These shortfalls have implications that matter to all stakeholders, not just industry." Despite the funding challenges, the EPA pledged to try to rectify the situation…

https://theintercept.com/2021/11/01/epa-toxic-chemicals-reports-withheld/

EPA is falsifying risk assessments for dangerous chemicals, say whistleblowers

Agency scientists say management silences and harasses them to appease chemical industry…

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/aug/27/epa-whistleblowers-falsifying-risk-assessments-dangerous-chemicals