Spain to Grant Legal Status to Undocumented Immigrants Amidst Global Tech and Sustainability Developments
Spain announced Tuesday it would grant legal status to potentially hundreds of thousands of immigrants living and working in the country without authorization, a move contrasting with increasingly restrictive immigration policies in the United States and much of Europe, according to NPR. The decision comes as other global developments unfold, including advancements in sustainable aviation fuel in Asia and predictions about the future of technology interfaces.
The Spanish government's decision marks a significant departure from the trend of stricter immigration controls seen elsewhere. The Associated Press, reporting via NPR, noted that this initiative is the "latest way the country has bucked a trend" toward harsher immigration policies.
Meanwhile, in Asia, Singapore is positioning itself as a hub for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). Fortune reported that the world's largest SAF refinery, operated by Finnish fuel producer Neste, is located in Singapore's Tuas district. The facility, which underwent a 1.9 billion expansion in 2019 and reopened in 2023, can produce up to a million tonnes of SAF annually. While much of Singapore's SAF is exported to Australia and Europe, Neste executive Mario Mifsud told Fortune that "Asia is the next big frontier for SAF," as Asian governments begin making regulatory commitments to SAF.
In the tech world, SAP CEO Christian Klein predicted a shift away from traditional keyboard input. According to Fortune, Klein believes "the end of the keyboard is near," citing advancements in voice recognition technology. He stated that while voice recognition is becoming "super strong," further work is needed to "translate voice into business language and business data."
Separately, in Queensland, Australia, 17-year-old Neth Dharmasiri developed a coding app designed to teach coding to beginners, aiming to bridge the digital divide. According to ABC News, Dharmasiri was inspired by Bill Gates and set out to build his own basic programming language. "It is difficult... but that appeals to me because I have a curiosity within myself to fix problems," Dharmasiri said.
In the United States, some educators are taking a different approach to technology in the classroom. Chanea Bond, a high school English teacher in Fort Worth, Texas, has banned AI from her classroom, opting for analog methods like handwritten assignments and journaling. NPR reported that Bond replaced computers with "pencils and paper lots of paper" to keep AI out of her composition and American literature classes. "If you walk into her classroom, you will see stacks of worksheets atop desks and tables," NPR noted.
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