Children Were on Their School Lunch Break. Then a Plane Hit.
A fighter jet had suddenly flipped in midair moments before it slammed into the two-story building, said Abu Sayed Mohammad Waliullah, a teacher at the school in Bangladesh's capital, Dhaka, who had been chatting with other teachers outside. The plane exploded with a bang so loud it sounded like a bomb had gone off, he said.
'My mind went blank. I couldn't understand what had just happened,' Mr. Waliullah said. Then, after what seemed like 10 seconds, he heard another blast as the plane's jet fuel ignited.
'This time, it created a big, big fire,' Mr. Waliullah recalled. 'I saw at least two students flung away by the force.'
At least 31 people were killed, including the pilot. The tragedy at the Milestone School and College has led to a national outpouring of grief. Most of those who died were schoolchildren. Another 165 people were wounded, according to a statement the military issued on Tuesday afternoon.
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Green Bay Southwest has a new logo. Here's the 60-year old inspiration for the Trojans' new colors
Going into next school year, Green Bay Southwest High School merchandise will sport a shiny new logo — inspired by a yellow-paged time capsule. Southwest's official old logo, a white "Trojan" soldier outline over a gray "S" and navy blue square, is no more after the Green Bay School Board approved a new logo on July 28. "Official" carries a lot of weight there: there's several different versions of the logo across the building, Southwest principal Michael Whisler said. As the district sets off on its high school continuous improvement plan, which includes a proposal to change school start times in 2026, Whisler wanted consistency. Southwest had been working on its vision and mission this past year, and it lined up, he said. He worked alongside the district's communications team to adapt its logo, using Southwest's history as a guide. "We're just recommitting ourselves to what we want to be as the school, and what we want for our kids," Whisler said. How did Southwest come up with its new logo? To set up Southwest's new logo, Whisler and the communications team looked to the past — all the way back to the 1960s, when Southwest opened for students grades seven through 12. At that point, the school was still settling on its identity, which also meant its logo and mascot were up for debate. Fun fact: the reason Southwest's students are called Trojans is because the school held a contest to name the mascot, and a University of Southern California Trojans fan won. The district also looked to the logo's original colors, which were changed in the 2000s, Whisler said. The new logo brings back the school's royal blue, which Whisler said will also be easier to match to uniforms and other products. The blue now outlines the white "Trojan" soldier and same gray "S," cutting the dark blue box. What did Southwest students say? The team also asked students about their perspective. They agreed that the blue box was an issue, Whisler said — the box is part of the logo's trademark, which means it has to be included as part of the official logo. They also supported the new blue. Staff and families also gave positive feedback, Whisler said. Where can I see Southwest's new logo? Overall, the transition to the new logo will be gradual. Southwest won't replace every logo in its building now that the new version's been approved; instead, as things are replaced, they'll have the new logo rather than the old. Now that the logo's been approved, the district will start the process of trademarking it. Once that change is made, the district will start selling apparel with the new logo. A trademark prevents external vendors from selling school-specific merchandise, district legal counsel Melissa Thiel Collar said. Still, there's one place you'll be able to see Southwest's new logo soon: the school's basketball court, which is currently being installed. Workers were waiting for the logo to be approved to put down the lines, Whisler said. This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Green Bay Southwest has a new logo. The inspiration? Its 1965 students Solve the daily Crossword
Washington Post
18 hours ago
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What if we need spiritual revival, not technology, to address climate change
When I lived in Cambodia, I meditated at a pagoda every week. Sitting on a pillow, the numbness creeping up my legs, I tried to master control of my mind. I never succeeded. But I did discover a dawning awareness of it. Even when not sitting cross-legged in Phnom Penh, that has served me well. At times, I can deeply observe moments or myself, catching what I would have otherwise missed. In journalism, where observing is the job, it has helped me follow the questions wherever they lead, trusting the answer is not what I already (think I) know. For American scholar and activist Joanna Macy, who died at age 96 this month, early encounters with Buddhism changed not only the course of her career, but popular understanding of how we might solve the most urgent environmental issues of our time. Today, her ideas are everywhere: in the language of protesters, in discussions at scientific conferences, even at the Vatican, where Pope Francis wrote his unprecedented 2015 encyclical on the environment, 'Laudato si.' Macy applied Buddhist teachings to help people understand that they were not free-floating individuals, but integral to a much larger whole composed of every living being across time, a network as real as our veins and arteries. She encouraged people to acknowledge their feelings about the destruction of the natural world and turn their anxiety and despair into positive action. 'The key is in not being afraid for the world's suffering,' she told an interviewer. 'Then nothing can stop you.' It was a philosophy she came to call the 'Work That Reconnects,' a practice, and an organization, that thousands around the world have turned to when overwhelmed by seemingly insurmountable problems. Macy's blueprint for climate action holds that we will not be able to solve the climate issue, and its intertwined problems, with technology and policy alone. We need spiritual renewal. It's notable that a dean of the modern environmental movement has come to an identical conclusion. Gus Speth, the co-founder of the Natural Resources Defense Council and the World Resources Institute, as well as the former dean of Yale's School of the Environment (where I studied), once considered biodiversity loss, ecosystems collapse and climate change to be the century's top environmental problems. 'I thought with 30 years of good science, we could address those problems,' Speth recently wrote by email. 'But I was wrong. The top environmental problems are selfishness, greed and apathy … and to deal with those we need a spiritual and cultural transformation, and we lawyers and scientists don't know how do that.' Macy's own transformation began in the Himalayan foothills of northwest India. 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Human identity, she argued, can't be separated from the natural world — with profound moral and practical implications for how we live. During the Cold War, as nuclear weapons and waste spread around the world, Macy founded the Nuclear Guardianship project. Beyond opposing nuclear proliferation, she advocated for treating radioactive waste as a moral and cultural commitment that spanned generations. Rather than bury waste in underground tombs, she argued that societies should keep the waste in retrievable, visible storage, so future generations could monitor and maintain the safety of 'humanity's most enduring artifact' — expected to remain lethal for more than 10,000 years. As environmental crises mounted, she saw despair and fear rising in those around her. Rather than escaping into what she called a false and premature peace of mind, she accepted the reality of suffering, even embracing it, as the only way to reclaim the freedom to act. 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a day ago
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'Absolute madness': Thailand's pet lion problem
Behind a car repair business on a nondescript Thai street are the cherished pets of a rising TikTok animal influencer: two lions and a 200-kilogram lion-tiger hybrid called "Big George." Lion ownership is legal in Thailand, and Tharnuwarht Plengkemratch is an enthusiastic advocate, posting updates on his feline companions to nearly three million followers. "They're playful and affectionate, just like dogs or cats," he told AFP from inside their cage complex at his home in the northern city of Chiang Mai. Thailand's captive lion population has exploded in recent years, with nearly 500 registered in zoos, breeding farms, petting cafes and homes. Experts warn the trend endangers animals and humans, stretches authorities and likely fuels illicit trade domestically and abroad. "It's absolute madness," said Tom Taylor, chief operating officer of conservation group Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand. "It's terrifying to imagine, if the laws aren't changed, what the situation is going to be in 10 years." The boom is fueled by social media, where owners like Tharnuwarht post light-hearted content and glamour shots with lions. "I wanted to show people... that lions can actually bond well with humans," he said, insisting he plays regularly with his pets. He entered Big George's enclosure tentatively though, spending just a few minutes being batted by the tawny striped liger's hefty paws before retreating behind a fence. Since 2022, Thai law has required owners to register and microchip lions, and inform authorities before moving them. But there are no breeding caps, few enclosure or welfare requirements, and no controls on liger or tigon hybrids. Births of protected native species like tigers must be reported within 24 hours. Lion owners have 60 days. "That is a huge window," said Taylor. "What could be done with a litter of cubs in those 60 days? Anything." - Illicit trade - Taylor and his colleagues have tracked the rise in lion ownership with on-site visits and by trawling social media. They recorded around 130 in 2018, and nearly 450 by 2024. But nearly 350 more lions they encountered were "lost to follow-up" after their whereabouts could not be confirmed for a year. That could indicate unreported deaths, an animal removed from display or "worst-case scenarios", said Taylor. "We have interviewed traders (in the region) who have given us prices for live and dead lions and have told us they can take them over the border." As a vulnerable species, lions and their parts can only be sold internationally with so-called CITES permits. But there is circumstantial evidence of illicit trade, several experts told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity to avoid angering authorities. Media reports and social media have documented lions, including cubs, in Cambodia multiple times in recent years, though CITES shows no registered imports since 2003. There is also growing evidence that captive lion numbers in Laos exceed CITES import licences. In Thailand, meanwhile, imports of lion parts like bones, skins and teeth have dropped in recent years, though demand remains, raising questions about how parts are now being sourced. Thai trader Pathamawadee Janpithak started in the crocodile business, but pivoted to lions as prices for the reptiles declined. "It gradually became a full-fledged business that I couldn't step away from," the gregarious 32-year-old told AFP in front of a row of caged cubs. She sells one-month-olds for around 500,000 baht ($15,500), down from a peak of 800,000 baht as breeding operations like hers increase supply. Captive lions are generally fed around two kilograms (4.4 pounds) of chicken carcasses a day, and can produce litters of two to six cubs, once or twice a year. Pathamawadee's three facilities house around 80 lions, from a stately full-maned nine-year-old to a sickly pair of eight-day-olds being bottle-fed around the clock. They are white because of a genetic mutation, and the smaller pool of white lions means inbreeding and sickness are common. Sometimes wrongly considered a "threatened" subspecies, they are popular in Thailand, but a month-old white cub being reared alongside the newborns has been sick almost since birth. It has attracted no buyers so far and will be unbreedable, Pathamawadee said. She lamented the increasing difficulty of finding buyers willing to comply with ownership rules. "In the past, people could just put down money and walk away with a lion... Everything has become more complicated." - Legal review - Pathamawadee sells around half of the 90 cubs she breeds each year, often to other breeders, who are increasingly opening "lion cafes" where customers pose with and pet young lions. Outside Chiang Mai, a handler roused a cub from a nap to play with a group of squealing Chinese tourists. Staff let AFP film the interaction, but like all lion cafes contacted, declined interviews. Pathamawadee no longer sells to cafes, which tend to offload cubs within weeks as they grow. She said several were returned to her traumatised and no longer suitable for breeding. The growing lion population is a problem for Thailand's Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP), admitted wildlife protection director Sadudee Punpugdee. "But private ownership has existed for a long time... so we're taking a gradual approach," he told AFP. That includes limiting lion imports so breeders are forced to rely on the domestic population. "With inbreeding on the rise, the quality of the lions is also declining and we believe that demand will decrease as a result," Sadudee said. Already stretched authorities face difficult choices on enforcing regulations, as confiscated animals become their responsibility, said Penthai Siriwat, illegal wildlife trade specialist at WWF Thailand. "There is a great deal of deliberation before intervening... considering the substantial costs," she told AFP. Owners like Tharnuwarht often evoke conservation to justify their pets, but Thailand's captive lions will never live in the wild. Two-year-olds Khanom and Khanun live in a DNP sanctuary after being confiscated from a cafe and private owner over improper paperwork. They could survive another decade or more, and require specialised keepers, food and care. Sanctuary chief vet Natanon Panpeth treads carefully while discussing the lion trade, warning only that the "well-being of the animals should always come first". Big cat ownership has been banned in the United States and United Arab Emirates in recent years, and Thailand's wildlife rules are soon up for review. Sadudee is hopeful some provisions may be tightened, though a ban is unlikely for now. He has his own advice for would-be owners: "Wild animals belong in the wild. There are plenty of other animals we can keep as pets." ci-sah/sco/lb
