Spain eases visa rules to draw foreign students barred from US by Trump
Students who can't complete their studies in the United States due to visa suspensions will be able to switch to Spain instead, the Migration Ministry said in a statement. The visas will also allow the students to work part-time, the ministry said.
Trump has clashed with several top-level US universities accusing them of becoming bastions of antisemitism after large-scale student protests advocating for Palestinian rights amid the Gaza war. In his clash with Harvard, he has frozen funding for investigations and threatened to remove its tax-exempt status, prompting several European nations, including Spain, to increase research grants to attract talent.
While Trump has sought to limit immigration into the US, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is actively encouraging it, touting its economic benefits.
Spain ranks third among the top choices for students in the US seeking to study abroad, behind the United Kingdom and Italy, according to the Open Doors website, and at least 20,000 apply for visas each year to pursue part of their academic studies in Spain. — Reuters
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
GMA Network
2 hours ago
- GMA Network
US withdraws from tomatoes agreement with Mexico
WASHINGTON - The US Commerce Department said on Monday it was withdrawing from a 2019 deal suspending an anti-dumping duty investigation on fresh tomatoes from Mexico, and that it will issue duties of 17.09% on most of those imports from the US neighbor. Antidumping duties are calculated to measure the percentage by which Mexican tomatoes have been sold in the United States at "unfair prices," the Commerce Department said in its statement. President Donald Trump on Saturday had separately threatened to impose a 30% tariff on imports from Mexico starting on August 1, after weeks of negotiations with the major U.S. trading partner failed to reach a comprehensive trade deal. Mexico's agriculture ministry and economy ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Mexico said in April it was confident that it can renew the tomato agreement with the United States. Washington had said in April that it intended to withdraw from the deal. The agreement, which regulates Mexican tomato exports to the U.S. in a bid to allow U.S. producers to compete fairly, was first struck in 1996 and last renewed in 2019 to avert an anti-dumping investigation and end a tariff dispute. U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said on Monday that "for far too long our farmers have been crushed by unfair trade practices that undercut pricing on produce like tomatoes." According to official figures, Mexico exported $3.3 billion of tomatoes last year, the vast majority to the U.S. — Reuters
GMA Network
3 hours ago
- GMA Network
Bitcoin climbs to record $123,000 as investors eye U.S. policy boost
NEW YORK - Bitcoin vaulted past $120,000 for the first time on Monday, the latest milestone for the world's largest cryptocurrency as investors bet on long-sought policy wins for the industry this week, which has been dubbed "crypto week" by U.S. Republicans. Bitcoin BTC= rose more than 3% to register a record high of $123,153.22 before easing, and was last up 0.5% at $119,750.86. The cryptocurrency is now up more than 27% on the year. The U.S. House of Representatives is set to debate and likely pass a series of crypto-related bills this week. The bills could provide the digital asset industry with the nation's regulatory framework it has long sought. Those demands have resonated with U.S. President Donald Trump, a Republican who has called himself the "crypto president" and urged policymakers to revamp rules in favour of the industry. "It's riding a number of tailwinds at the moment," said IG market analyst Tony Sycamore, citing institutional demand, expectations of further gains and support from Trump as reasons for the bullishness. "It's been a very, very, strong move over the past six or seven days and it's hard to see where it stops now. It looks like it can easily have a look at the $125,000 level," he said. Trump and his family have made a series of forays into cryptocurrencies in the past year, including a new crypto project, World Liberty Financial, and the launch in January of his own meme coin. Last week, crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun, who was already a major investor in the $TRUMP coin, announced that he was buying another $100 million. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Sun's investment in the president's meme coin. The coin, which hit a high of around $75 in the days after its January launch, fell 3.4% on Monday to $9.45, CoinMarketCap data showed. The surge in bitcoin has sparked a broader rally across other cryptocurrencies over the past few sessions even as Trump's chaotic tariff policies have knocked sentiment in other markets. Ether ETH=, the second-largest token, reached a high of $3,081.94, its highest level since February 2, but is still down more than 10% on the year. XRP XRP= advanced 2.7% after climbing as much as 6.4% on the day. The sector's total market value has swelled to about $3.8 trillion, according to data from CoinMarketCap. Simon Peters, analyst at eToro, noted that bitcoin's price had not hit a record high in other currencies such as the euro, suggesting that dollar weakness was behind some of the rise to a new record on Monday. Crypto Week U.S. Republicans have declared the week of July 14 "crypto week," during which members of Congress are set to vote on the Genius Act, the Clarity Act, and the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act. The most significant bill is the Genius Act, which would create federal rules for stablecoins. "Developments around these pieces of crypto legislation could provide a further tailwind to the current rally. We wait to see," eToro's Peters said. Elsewhere, prices of crypto stocks and exchange-traded funds advanced. Shares of crypto exchange Coinbase were up 1.8%, while bitcoin holder Strategy climbed 3.5%. Crypto miner Mara Holdings was up 0.1% in U.S. trading. Analysts at Oppenheimer said they are cautious on Coinbase ahead of its quarterly results scheduled for July 31, but believe a more attractive entry point could happen after the earnings, and increased their price target on the stock to $417 from $395 per share. Hong Kong-listed spot bitcoin ETFs launched by China AMC Harvest and Bosera all hit record highs. — Reuters
GMA Network
7 hours ago
- GMA Network
Hacked Elmo X account called for extermination of Jews — US media
WASHINGTON - The X account of Sesame Street's Elmo, a beloved children's TV character, shared antisemitic and anti-Donald Trump posts after being hacked, US media reported Monday. A slew of messages calling for the extermination of Jewish people and labeling the US president a "puppet" of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were shared on the account, according to the reports. Around 650,000 users follow Elmo, the fuzzy red monster who teaches his young audience about kindness and patience. Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit behind Sesame Street, said that an unidentified hacker was behind the posts, which were published on Sunday afternoon before being removed. "Elmo's X account was compromised today by an unknown hacker who posted disgusting messages, including antisemitic and racist posts," it said in a statement carried by the New York Times. The hacking on Elon Musk's X platform is the latest in a string of hate speech incidents since the billionaire bought then-Twitter in 2022 and axed moderation policies that he considers censorship. On Saturday, his xAI startup apologized for antisemitic posts published on X by its artificial intelligence assistant Grok, which praised Nazi leader Adolf Hitler. Antisemitism in particular is facing scrutiny in the United States after two Israeli embassy staffers were killed outside a Jewish museum in Washington in May. Meanwhile, a firebombing attack at a protest in Colorado supporting Israeli hostages held in Gaza left over a dozen people wounded in June, and an 82-year-old woman later died from her injuries. — Agence France-Presse
