Foreign student enrolment at US universities falls by 20% amid ‘restrictive gov. policies’

US universities are seeing a fall in foreign student enrolment, with experts warning the decline could deepen further as Donald Trump’s hardline immigration policies continue to reshape country’s higher education system.A new report released on Monday found that international student enrolment for the spring 2026 semester fell by 20% compared with the same period last year. The study was conducted by international education groups including NAFSA and surveyed 149 universities and colleges across US.More than 60% of the institutions said they had recorded lower numbers of foreign students in both undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. Graduate enrolment was hit even harder, with universities reporting an average decline of 24%.The figures have alarmed educators, who fear US is becoming a less welcoming destination for overseas students under Trump’s increasingly restrictive immigration agenda.Already, international student arrivals into US in August fell by 19% from the previous yea..

Continue Reading

Major ICE crackdown on 10,000 foreign students on OPT; ‘fake companies’ being operated from India

ICE announced a major crackdown on OPT program meant for foreign students who are F-1 visa holders.

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced a major crackdown on an immigration program that allows international students to work temporarily in the country. Calling the OPT program a 'magnet for fraud', ICE director Todd M Lyons said the agency uncovered irregularities involving nearly 10,000 foreign students participating in the federal government’s Optional Practical Training program. When the OPT was created under the Bush administration and expanded under the Obama administration, the Department of Homeland Security anticipated only a few thousand foreign students would receive training approval before returning home, Lyons said, giving a background of the program.But instead of what was expected, OPT ballooned into an uncontrolled guest worker pipeline with hundreds of thousands of foreign students working in the United States, the director said in a press ..

Continue Reading

Kash Patel testifies about FBI’s budget as controversies surround leadership: Live updates

Hegseth won’t say if he advised Trump to attack Iran during heated hearingDefense Secretary Pete Hegseth is testifying before the House and Senate subcommittees Tuesday morning to justify President Donald Trump’s $1.5 trillion budget request for the U.S. military.
While the testimony is focused on the massive investment in the Defense Department, the ongoing war with Iran is likely to become a major topic. Lawmakers may also question Hegseth about drawing down the number of U.S. troops in Europe, as well as about support for the war in Ukraine.
General Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is joining Hegseth.
During opening remarks, Hegseth called the budget “historic” but contended it was “fiscally responsible.”
The budget testimony comes a month after Hegseth gave a combative testimony to the House and Senate Armed Services Committee in which he accused congressional lawmakers of being “the biggest adversary.”
Ahead of Hegseth’s opening remarks, Rep. Betty McCollum ..

Continue Reading

Putin hails Russia’s test of new nuclear-capable ICBM, calls it world’s most powerful

Russia on Tuesday test-fired a new intercontinental ballistic missile as part of efforts to modernise the country’s nuclear forces, a launch hailed by President Vladimir Putin just days after his claim that the fighting in Ukraine is nearing an end.
Putin said that the nuclear-armed Sarmat missile would enter combat service at the end of the year. It was built to replace the ageing Soviet-built Voyevoda.
“This is the most powerful missile in the world,” Putin declared, adding that the combined…

Continue Reading

Epstein survivors demand justice from Trump’s DOJ in devastating testimony near Mar-a-Lago: ‘Who will be the next Jeffrey?’

Survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse returned to West Palm Beach to demand prosecutions from Donald Trump’s Department of Justice, steps away from where Florida prosecutors brokered the dead sex offender’s infamous “sweetheart” deal nearly 20 years ago.
An unofficial hearing with Democrats on the House Oversight Committee — only a few miles from the president’s Mar-a-Lago estate, where many survivors were introduced to Epstein — heard testimony from five women who recounted their abuse and years of failures from state and federal officials to investigate their claims or the alleged network of powerful figures connected to him.
Dani Hannah Bensky said Epstein abused her in 2004 and 2005, eight years after Maria Farmer first reported him to the FBI. When she was first subpoenaed in 2008 at age 20, no one told her she was entitled to a victims’ rights advocate or a lawyer, she told the panel on Tuesday.
“For many parts of my interview, it felt like an interrogation,” she said.
“Our entren..

Continue Reading

No sign of larger hantavirus outbreak, says UN health agency

No sign of larger hantavirus outbreak, says UN health agency 27 minutes agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleJaroslav Lukiv and Jessica RawnsleyAndres Gutierrez/Anadolu via Getty ImagesThe first passengers from the MV Hondius depart for Tenerife Airport on 10 MayThere is “no sign” of a larger hantavirus outbreak after the evacuation of the last passengers from a disease-stricken cruise ship, the head of the UN health agency has said.
But the World Health Organization's (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned “the situation could change” and there could be more confirmed virus cases.
The MV Hondius left Tenerife on Monday and is sailing to the Dutch port of Rotterdam. Two flights carrying the final 28 passengers landed in nearby Eindhoven on Tuesday.
Three people have died after travelling on the ship. A French national and a Spaniard who previously returned home have tested positive. The WHO has confirmed nine cases, with two others suspected.
The French woman is in intensi..

Continue Reading

US first lady not travelling to China with Trump

First lady Melania Trump will not accompany US President Donald Trump on his trip to China, the Office of the First Lady told the South China Morning Post.
“First Lady Melania Trump is not travelling this time,” a spokesperson said in an email response.
Unlike his 2017 visit, the US leader will travel without his wife for a three-day trip to China, beginning on Wednesday.
In November 2017, Melania Trump accompanied the president on a high-profile state visit to Beijing, a trip characterised by…

Continue Reading

Trump says Iran ceasefire is on ‘massive life support’

Trump says Iran ceasefire is on 'massive life support'17 hours agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleElla KiplingWatch: Trump says ceasefire with Iran is on “life support”US President Donald Trump has said the month-long ceasefire between the US and Iran is on “massive life support”.
He told reporters in the Oval Office on Monday that while the ceasefire remained in place, it was “unbelievably weak”.
Following Trump's comments, Iranian parliamentary speaker Mohammad Ghalibaf wrote on X that Iran's armed forces were, “ready to respond and to teach a lesson for any aggression.”
Iran laid out its demands to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz in a counter-offer sent to the US on Sunday. Trump rejected the proposal, calling it “totally unacceptable” and a “piece of garbage”.
After Trump's comments, Esmail Baghaei, a foreign ministry spokesperson for Iran, said Tehran's proposals were “responsible” and “generous”.
After his comments saying Iran's a..

Continue Reading

‘Crazy’: US denies OPT extension citing police record; applicant called police after being assaulted

Can calling the police to report a crime be considered as a law and enforcement record in the US?

Immigration attorney Scott Decker highlighted a case in which the US Citizenship and Immigration Services denied an applicant's STEM OPT extension, citing that the individual had a “law enforcement interaction”. The agency did not say what the law enforcement interaction was but Decker said that he was aware that his client once called the police after being assaulted on the street.”In short, USCIS is taking the position that being a crime victim and calling the police for help is such a bad thing that it makes you ineligible for any discretionary benefit, such as obtaining an extension of status in the US,” Decker wrote in his LinkedIn post.”I suspect/hope that the USCIS officer was just being lazy, saw in their system that the client’s name appeared in a police report, and never looked any further. Hopefully, upon receiving the response to the NOID, USCIS will come to its senses. ..

Continue Reading

‘One last wish’: Why Napoleon Bonaparte wanted his hair preserved after death

When Napoleon Bonaparte died in exile on Saint Helena in 1821, he left behind more than a military legacy and a political legend. In his will, he instructed that his hair be preserved and turned into a bracelet, with strands sent to members of his family, including his mother, siblings and son. That request reflected a wider 19th-century custom in which hair was kept as a personal memorial after death. Napoleon’s hair was cut before the autopsy, and the locks that survived became some of the most curious relics linked to him.
Napoleon Bonaparte’s final wish written into the willNapoleon’s will makes the request unusually plain. It states that his valet Marchand should preserve his hair and have it made into a bracelet, with pieces sent to close family members and other members of his inner circle, including the Empress Marie-Louise, his mother and his brothers and sisters, with a larger bracelet intended for his son. In other words, this was not an offhand legend that grew up later; it..

Continue Reading