Bangladeshi fighter jet crashes into school

AN F-7 MILITARY jet crashed into the Milestone School and College in Dhaka on Monday, killing at least 31 people and injuring 160, mostly students. The Bangladeshi military said that the fighter jet had suffered a mechanical fault, and the pilot, Flight Lieutenant Md Taukir Islam, had tried to steer it to a less crowded area. He was among those killed. The Pope prayed for the families affected. Cardinal Patrick D’Rozario, who was Archbishop of Dhaka from 2011 to 2020, told Crux that he was “deeply saddened” to hear of “the tragic loss of lives, mostly students and children”.

Christians in Iran face persecution

FORTY-THREE Christians in Iran are believed to have been arrested since 25 June, for charges in connection with their faith, Open Doors reports. In a statement, the charity said that “the exact charges facing those arrested have not been made public”, and that some cases involved “possession of Bibles” and “alleged collaboration with so-called ‘hostile states’, such as the United States or Israel”.

Pledge from trustees of Saint Augustine’s University

SAINT AUGUSTINE’S UNIVERSITY, North Carolina, in the United States, has vowed to remain open for the next academic year, despite losing an appeal to keep its accreditation, ENS reports. University officials have said that they will seek a court injunction against its accrediting agency, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges. The university estimates that it will need to raise $1 million for legal costs and, in total, about $2.35 million by 12 August to maintain its open and accredited status. The chairman of its trustees, Brian Boulware, said that they “will stop at nothing” to retain accreditation and serve the students. More than one third of all black priests in the Episcopal Church, including three African American bishops, are graduates of the university, which is one of the two historically Black colleges affiliated to the Episcopal Church.