US memo to colleges proposes terms on ideology, foreign enrollment for federal funds

US memo to colleges proposes terms on ideology, foreign enrollment for federal funds

By Kanishka Singh WASHINGTON (Reuters) -PresidentDonald Trump's administration has asked U.S. colleges to sign a deal on some sweeping terms - ranging from foreign enrollment and diversity to ideological values of students and staff - to get preferential access to federal funds, according to a 10-point memo sent on Wednesday by the government. The memo shared with Reuters by a White House official demands that schools cap international undergrad enrollment at 15%, ban the use of race or sex in hiring and admissions, freeze tuition for five years, require that applicants take the SAT or a similar test and quell grade inflation. Trump has threatened to cut federal funding for universities over a range of issues such as pro-Palestinian protests against U.S. ally Israel's war in Gaza, transgender policies, climate initiatives and diversity, equity and inclusion programs. Rights advocates have raised free speech and academic freedom concerns over actions that they say are aimed at aligning universities with Trump's political agenda. Trump alleges that universities harbor "anti-American" and anti-conservative values. MEMO DETAILS The 10-point memo urged viewpoint diversity in faculty, students and staff, including revising governance structures and "transforming or abolishing institutional units that purposefully punish, belittle, and even spark violence against conservative ideas." The memo said foreign students should be supportive of "American and Western values" and urged colleges "to screen out students who demonstrate hostility to the United States, its allies, or its values." It also says universities should share all known information about foreign students, including discipline records, upon request with the Department of Homeland Security and the State Department. The guidance is likely to raise due process and privacy concerns in light of the Trump administration's recent attempts to deport pro-Palestinian students. The attempts have faced legal challenges. The memo says "no more than 15% of a university's undergraduate student population shall be participants in the Student Visa Exchange Program, and no more than 5% shall be from any one country." For schools presently over the 15% population, incoming matriculating classes should meet the 15% cap, it adds. Letters were sent Wednesday to solicit agreement and feedback from Vanderbilt University, Dartmouth College, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Southern California, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Texas, the University of Arizona, Brown University and the University of Virginia, the White House official said. Universities that sign on will get "multiple positive benefits," including "substantial and meaningful federal grants," a letter addressed to university leaders said. The Wall Street Journal first reported the news. The memo said that adherence to its agreement will be subject to review by the U.S. Justice Department and universities found to be in violation would "lose access to the benefits of this agreement." RECENT PROBES INTO UNIVERSITIES AND SOME SETTLEMENTS The Trump administration has launched probes into multiple colleges, particularly over pro-Palestinian protests against Israel's assault on Gaza. The government has reached settlements to resolve probes with Columbia and Brown universities, both of which accepted certain government demands. Columbia agreed to pay more than $220 million to the government and Brown said it will pay $50 million to support local workforce development. Trump said on Tuesday his administration was close to a deal with Harvard University that would include a $500 million payment by the university. Trump has said universities allowed antisemitism during pro-Palestinian protests. Protesters, including some Jewish groups, say the government wrongly equates criticism of Israel's assault on Gaza and its occupation of Palestinian territories with antisemitism, and advocacy for Palestinian rights with support for extremism. (Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Kim Coghill and Michael Perry)

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October 02, 2025

US memo to colleges proposes terms on ideology, foreign enrollment for federal funds

US memo to colleges proposes terms on ideology, foreign enrollment for federal funds By Kanishka Singh WASHINGTON (Reuters) -PresidentDonal...

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Jane Goodall's Message of Hope Lives On

Jane Goodall's Message of Hope Lives On

Credit - Marco Grob—Trunk Archive There are few people in human history whose last names alone are sufficient to conjure up kindness, goodness, wisdom, grace—Mandela, Gandhi, King, Lincoln. Add to that list Goodall. The other four left us years ago. Jane Goodall—primatologist, zoologist, anthropologist, conservationist, winner of the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom, and Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE)—joined them today, dying at age 91. "Dr. Jane Goodall DBE, U.N. Messenger for Peace and founder of the Jane Goodall Institute, has passed away, due to natural causes. She was in California as part of her speaking tour in the United States" the Jane Goodall Instituteposted on Instagram. "Dr. Goodall's discoveries as an ethologist revolutionized science, and she was a tireless advocate for the protection and restoration of our natural world." The spare prose of the announcement was a fitting reflection of the quiet, austere, deliberate way Goodall lived her remarkable life—qualities that were essential for work that required hours, months, and years crouched in the jungles and clearings of Africa, most notably in the Gombe National Park in Tanzania, observing chimpanzees from a sort of intimate distance and discovering their sometimes loving, sometimes violent, sometimes ingenious lives. It was in 1960 that Goodall first arrived in Gombe, part of a group of three young naturalists—includingDian FosseyandBiruté Mary Galdikas—whom famed anthropologistLouis Leakeydispatched to Africa to study primates in their natural environment. Leakey playfully dubbed themThe Trimates. All three women distinguished themselves. Galdikas spent 50 years studying the orangutans of Indonesian Borneo in their native habitat. Fossey dedicated herself to studying mountain gorillas in their Congo homeland, and lost her life in their cause:in 1985 she was murderedin her cabin in Rwanda while working to protect the gorillas from poachers. Goodall had the gift of years—and the gift of patience—and over the decades her discoveries spilled forth. In 1960, she witnessed a group of chimpanzees eating a bushpig, doing away with the previous belief that chimps were strictly vegetarians. That same year she made the startling observation that chimps strip the bark from twigs and use the denuded stick to fish for termites in rotting logs—overturning the even more closely held belief that humans are the only animal to use tools. Chimps, she discovered, mirror humans in other, decidedly less benign ways. From 1974 to 1978 she observed what she dubbed "the four year war," an extended, bloody conflict between two groups of rival chimpanzees in Gombe—groups she called the main Kasakela group and the Kahama splinter group. That same year she observed cannibalism among chimpanzees, when a mother and daughter pair stole, killed, and ate babies in their own community—likely to eliminate a line of rival females. But Goodall discovered agentle sideto chimpanzees too. They play, they tickle, they kiss, they grieve. They make submissive, gestural apologies after a quarrel. And, in powerful moments of cross-species care, they sometimes accepted her—the quiet, comparatively hairless, human observer—as part of their band. In 2009,Goodall spoke to TIME's Andrea Sachsabout her time in the field, and shared some of her most treasured exchanges with the chimps. In one such moment she was following a young male through the jungle, fighting her way through the brush and the scrub and catching thorns in her hair as the chimp hurried ahead. Finally she reached a clearing—an open space across which the chimp could have easily hurried if he was trying to leave his pursuer behind. Instead, she found him sitting quietly, apparently waiting for her. Touched by the gesture, she found a palm nut on the ground—something chimps love—picked it up and held it out to him. At that moment, however, the chimp wasn't hungry. "He turned his face away," she recalled. "So I put my hand closer. And he turned, he looked directly in my eyes, he reached out, he took the nut … he dropped it, but he very gently squeezed my hand, which is how chimpanzees reassure each other. That was a communication that, for us, pre-dates words." On another occasion, she was observing a young mother she named Flo and her five-month-old baby, who was just learning to walk. "[Flo] trusts me so much that when he totters towards me, and reaches out, she doesn't snatch him away like she used to, but she just keeps her hand protectively around him and she lets him reach out to touch my nose. And this was just so magic." Flo wasn't alone in trusting Goodall. The billions of members of Goodall's own species did too. We trusted her to be something of an ambassador between the human nation and that of our closest genetic kin. We trusted her to be an advocate for nature and for conserving the wild world. And it was a trust that was rewarded. In herfinal article for TIME, in 2021, Goodall took up the cause not of fauna, but flora, writing about the devastating consequences the planet could suffer asmillions of acresof trees are cut, razed, and burned every year. At one time, she wrote, the planet was home to six trillion trees. Now that number has been halved—mostly in the last 100 years. She called on readers to support theTrillion Treescampaign—a drive to plant one trillion trees by 2030. And she lent her name to a similar effort—theTrees for Janeinitiative. From space, Goodall wrote, our planet is a palette of white and blue and brown and green—and the green is in retreat. "One trillion trees planted and protected is a big number, even over a ten-year period," she wrote. "But if everyone pitches in, we have a fighting chance to make a difference. Together, let's create a sustainable planet for generations to come. Join us today. Let's give our planet a new reason for hope." In her near-century of life, Goodall was all about the hope. In herfinal conversation with TIME, also in 2021, she said, "I'm about to leave the world with all the mess, whereas young people have to grow up into it. If they succumb to the doom and gloom that's the end. If you don't hope you sink into apathy; hope is a crucial way to get through this." Goodall's long, heartening campaign ended today. Let's now see if we're all worthy of her work. Write toJeffrey Kluger atjeffrey.kluger@time.com.

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October 02, 2025

Jane Goodall's Message of Hope Lives On

Jane Goodall's Message of Hope Lives On Credit - Marco Grob—Trunk Archive There are few people in human history whose last names alone a...

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South Africa calls on Israel to free Gaza flotilla activists including Mandela grandson

South Africa calls on Israel to free Gaza flotilla activists including Mandela grandson

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) -South Africa on Thursday called on Israel to release activists on the Global Sumud Flotilla including Nelson Mandela's grandson, saying Israel's interception of the Gaza-bound aid boats was a grave offence and violation of international law. South Africa has taken Israel to the International Court of Justice, accusing it of genocide over its devastating war in Gaza, an allegation Israel vehemently denies. "The interception of the Global Sumud Flotilla is another grave offence by Israel (against) global solidarity and sentiment that is aimed at relieving suffering in Gaza and advancing peace in the region," President Cyril Ramaphosa said in a statement. Ramaphosa said Israeli forces' interception of the flotilla in international waters violated an ICJ injunction that humanitarian aid must be allowed to flow unimpeded. Before leaving South Africa to join the flotilla, Mandela's grandson Nkosi Zwelivelile "Mandla" Mandela told Reuters that Palestinians' lives under Israeli occupation were worse than anything Black South Africans experienced under apartheid. Israel rejects comparisons between the lives of Palestinians who have lived under Israeli occupation or economic blockade for over half a century and the apartheid era in South Africa, when the Black majority was ruled by a repressive white minority government. (Reporting by Anathi Madubela; editing by Alexander Winning and Mark Heinrich)

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October 02, 2025

South Africa calls on Israel to free Gaza flotilla activists including Mandela grandson

South Africa calls on Israel to free Gaza flotilla activists including Mandela grandson JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) -South Africa on Thursday cal...

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Morgan Wallen's arrest footage reveals his song playing inside cop car: 'Turn it up!'

Morgan Wallen's arrest footage reveals his song playing inside cop car: 'Turn it up!'

Brett Carlsen/Getty New police footage shows Morgan Wallen's 2024 arrest in Nashville. The country star is shown denying throwing a chair from the roof of a bar. "Turn it up!" he excitedly hollers upon hearing his own song playing in the cop car. New police footage of country singerMorgan Wallen's 2024 arrest at a Nashville bar shows that when he was loaded into a cop car, he heard his own song playing on the radio. "This is me andThomas Rhett," Wallen can be heard exclaiming from the back seat in the video. "Turn it up! That's me and T.R." He laughs, adding, "That's me right there! Come on now, me and T.R." The Grammy nominee and Rhett duetted on the 2023 song "Mamaw's House." However, the officer for the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department isn't so surprised. He mentions that Wallen's songs are frequently on the radio. "T.R. is one of the best. He's one of the best there is in the world," Wallen replies to the officer. "He would definitely not be getting arrested." Metropolitan Nashville Police Department Earlier in the video, Wallen is seen attempting to leave the bar when he's stopped by officers, and told, "You're not free to go." They're investigating how a chair moved from the roof of the bar Chief's, which is co-owned by Wallen's fellow country singer,Eric Church, to the ground near a patrol car. Wallen initially denied having done it, and, when he still wasn't allowed to leave, he called Church. "These motherf---ers are trying to take me to jail outside of your f---ing bar," Wallen said into the phone. He then appeared to be answering questions when he said, "the cops" and "I'm not sure," before adding that they wouldn't let him leave." Wallen held up his phone to the officers, and told them Church was on the other end. They explained to Church what they were looking into, and that they have to enforce the law. "Got to treat it like we would with anybody else," one of them said. Then, Wallen is told, "I just watched camera footage of you throwing a chair," before he's handcuffed. The musician later insists, "I ain't done nothing wrong." Entertainment Weeklyhas reached out to Metropolitan Nashville Police Department. Jason Kempin/Getty The "What I Want" singer later pleaded guilty to charges of reckless endangerment and, in December, wassentenced to two years probationand one week at a DUI education center, as well as ordered to pay a $350 fine and court fees. Sign up forEntertainment Weekly's free daily newsletterto get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more. His attorney, Worrick Robinson IV, said in a statement at the time: "Earlier today (12/12/24), Morgan Wallen appeared in Davidson County Circuit Court with Judge Cynthia Chappell presiding where he entered a conditional plea pursuant to Tennessee's Diversion Statute that does not result in a conviction. The plea agreement with the Office of the District Attorney requires Mr. Wallen to spend 7 days at a DUI Education Center, be on probation for 2 years — one year for each of the misdemeanor charges for reckless endangerment — pay a $350 fine and court fees. Upon the successful completion of his probation, the charges will be eligible for dismissal and expungement." Wallen also publicly apologizedabout two weeks after the incident. "I didn't feel right publicly checking in until I made amends with some folks," he wrote on social media. "I've touched base with Nashville law enforcement, my family, and the good people at Chief's. I'm not proud of my behavior, and I accept responsibility. I have the utmost respect for the officers working every day to keep us all safe." Read the original article onEntertainment Weekly

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October 02, 2025

Morgan Wallen's arrest footage reveals his song playing inside cop car: 'Turn it up!'

Morgan Wallen's arrest footage reveals his song playing inside cop car: 'Turn it up!' Brett Carlsen/Getty New police footage sho...

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Nicole Kidman wished Keith Urban was more supportive of her career before filing for divorce, report says: The latest on the estranged couple

Nicole Kidman wished Keith Urban was more supportive of her career before filing for divorce, report says: The latest on the estranged couple

BeforeNicole Kidman filed for divorce from Keith Urban, the country singer-songwriter had reportedly become less supportive of her acting career, according to anew report from People. TheBabygirlstar, 58, filed for divorce from the "Somebody Like You" singer, 57, in Nashville,court records from this week show. Kidman listed their date of separation as the date of filing, Sept. 30, and cited irreconcilable differences as the reason for their breakup. Kidman and Urban were married for nearly 20 years. According to People, Kidman "truly thrived working again. She's been feeling amazing and very happy about having a career again." Urban, however, seemed to respond differently to Kidman's busy schedule, with People's source adding, "Keith was used to her being supportive of his career. He's not been as supportive as she hoped." Kidmanwrapped production onPractical Magic 2, in which she stars alongside Sandra Bullock. The film is a sequel to 1998'sPractical Magic, with Kidman and Bullock reprising their starring roles as sisters Sally and Gillian Owens, who descend from a long line of powerful witches. She's set to star in the forthcoming filmHolland, as well as the Prime Video seriesScarpettaand Apple TV+ seriesMargo's Got Money Troubles,while Urban embarked on his High and Alive world tour earlier this year. TheLionessactress reportedly did not want this split to happen, though it seemed Urban no longer wanted to make it work, as a sourcerecently told People: "Their split is turning dramatic. Nicole's hurt and feels betrayed. … She wanted to save their marriage and believed that she could, but it seems he's already moved on." People within Kidman and Urban's social circle believe that the Australian country singer is already involved with a new woman, according toTMZandDaily Mail. Sources connected to Kidman, per TMZ, said, "all the signs point to the fact Keith is with another woman. Let's just say Nicole doesn't dispute that, but she's still shocked over it." The rumor is reportedly "all over Nashville," where the estranged couple resides. Urban is "with a younger woman in the business," a source told Daily Mail. "It's all everyone is talking about. Everyone wants to know who, but so far, that's a mystery." A separate source also told the British tabloid that the couple's dynamic could've also contributed to the end of their marriage. Kidman, per the source, "takes charge, makes major decisions and Keith doesn't seem to like it." Speculation that Urban has moved on coincides with a recently shared video in which he alters the lyrics to the song "The Fighter" during a live performance. The track, released in 2016, is famouslyinspired by Kidman. Maggie Baugh, a multi-instrumentalist in Urban's band, shareda video of the performance on Sept. 27.In the clip, Urban, who sings alongside Baugh, changes a lyric from the song to include her name instead. The original line, "When they're tryna get to you/Baby, I'll be the fighter, was swapped out forWhen they're tryna get to you/Maggie, I'll be your guitar player." Kidman, meanwhile, has become the "primary residential parent" to daughters Sunday, 17, and Faith, 14, whom she shares with Urban, according to a People report from earlier this week. Kidman, per court documents, will reportedly spend 306 days with their daughters, while Urban will spend 59 days with them. While neither party will receive monthly child support, Urban has reportedly "already prepaid all child support obligations," per People. This agreement, the outlet added, doesn't appear to be new information, either. The estranged couple had seemingly agreed upon these terms weeks before their separation was made public. Kidman reportedly signed the documents on Sept. 6, while Urban signed them on Aug. 29.

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October 02, 2025

Nicole Kidman wished Keith Urban was more supportive of her career before filing for divorce, report says: The latest on the estranged couple

Nicole Kidman wished Keith Urban was more supportive of her career before filing for divorce, report says: The latest on the estranged coupl...

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The One Big Change SNL Is Making

The One Big Change SNL Is Making

The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture.Sign up for it here. AsSaturday Night Livecelebrated its 50th anniversary earlier this year, the discussion about the show's legacy rarely focused on its comedy. Instead, the emphasis was placed on its lore and rituals as well as the Sphinx-like decision making of the show's creator, showrunner, and executive producer, Lorne Michaels. Unlike that of any other TV program,SNL's mystique—behind the hiring process, how to break out on-air, the clockwork nature of the production schedule—has become ingrained in the public imagination. So when the announcement of severalcast departures and additionsarrived ahead of Season 51, which premieres this Saturday, viewers tried to read the tea leaves. Their question: Had Michaels decided that now was the time to wipe the slate clean? Such a move wouldn't be unprecedented. In 1986, for Season 12, the showrunner retained only three members of the previous season's group, including the Season 11 standout Jon Lovitz; he nixed all but five performers in fall 1995, following thenotoriously stagnantSeason 20. (Among those cut: Chris Farley and Adam Sandler.) Michaels's approach has been gentler in recent times, however. The phaseout of the beloved 2010s lineup happened more slowly, with key members leaving in smaller waves. The ensemble swelled to a historic size for Season 50, presumably so that everyone could hang around for a year of celebrations. A revamp following that landmark year seemed essential. Yet whispers of a big shake-up have proved to be little more than … whispers. That's not to suggest that some of the departures weren't surprising: The eight-season veteran Heidi Gardnermay or may notbe leaving of her own volition. Ego Nwodim'slate-breaking exitwas another significant blow; she had been the most talented rising star of recent years, rivaled only by the Emmy-nominated Bowen Yang. Plenty of the show's current stalwarts will remain, however, including Yang, Sarah Sherman, and Chloe Fineman. The recent breakout Marcello Hernández, who got a lot of screen time last season, will likely be afforded plenty more room to grow. James Austin Johnson remains the show's key impressionist; Colin Jost and Michael Che will extend their record-setting run as "Weekend Update" hosts; the institution that is Kenan Thompsonisn't going anywhere. [Read: What the biggest Saturday Night Live fans know] What could signal a meaningful change are the show's newcomers—a gaggle of mega-online youngsters (I kid, somewhat). It's notable how immediately newSNLcast members can now be evaluated by the public, thanks to the internet. For most of the show's existence, Michaels and his team would gather folks from the country's most acclaimed improv troupes and sketch-comedy theaters: the Second City in Chicago, the Groundlings in L.A., New York's Upright Citizens Brigade. TheSNLdiehards would gather information about the upcoming performers' live acts: a character that had stood out, perhaps, and whether they might fill the role of, say, a utility player or an impressionist. Most of this year's five additions, by contrast, have résumés that reflect the collective shift of comedy production in recent years. They've found their footing not onstage but on podcasts, TikTok, and streaming platforms. This direction—padding the ensemble with social-media-friendly faces—represents more of a nudge toward the future than a massive overhaul. Taken together, though, the show's freshest players look to be a more internet-savvy crowd than the veterans around them. Jane Wickline, who had built up her rep on TikTok during the coronavirus pandemic, is staying on for a second year. Ben Marshall, the most appealing member ofSNL's digital-short-making sketch groupPlease Don't Destroy, is moving into a performing role. And of the new names, I best recognized the ones whose work in short-form comedy has spread across the internet. Like Wickline, Jeremy Culhane has a gift for constructingstrange, sub-two-minute videos; his catalog consists mostly of him chipperly ranting at the camera while the scene's premise disintegrates. Culhane made a name for himself by appearing on Dropout, a subscription-based streaming service that features a lot of cheaply made improv-comedy games. Although likely unknown to older audiences, the platform is hugely popular with younger comedy fans, and has become a bubbling cauldron for emergent voices. Veronika Slowikowska, the sole new female hire this season, has also found an audience by leaning into her particular personality. She's gained a following on TikTok and elsewhere by spoofingvery specific types of people—like anunpredictable roommateor asocially awkward hanger-on—in micro-format. [Read: The weirdos living inside our phones] The other two members of their cohort are best known as stand-up comedians, a role that often makes for a less versatile kind of sketch performer; Michaels tends to sprinkle them into the cast with segments such as "Weekend Update" in mind. One of the newbies, Tommy Brennan, took a fairly traditional route to the show: working in Chicago and performing at Montreal's Just for Laughs festival (a classic springboard for young comics). Brennan's journey to Studio 8H, however, marks him as an outlier, especially when pitted against the other stand-up in the mix: Kam Patterson, who is arriving from the Austin scene, a thriving-but-controversial branch of the comedy world loosely organized aroundJoe Roganand his imitators. Patterson's rise to fame follows the trajectory of perhaps the most fearsomely popular online comics. His appearances onKill Tony, a podcast hosted by the comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, helped raise his profile; the show has achieved both ahuge listenershipand notoriety for itscrude, taboo-bustingsensibility. Hinchcliffegenerated headlinesforan inflammatory jokeabout Puerto Ricans he made at a Trump rally in 2024; to his nearly 2.5 million YouTube subscribers, he's akin to a cruel demigod.Patterson's most popular material, meanwhile, includes lots oftacit admiration for Trumpand casual use ofslursin front of guests, such as Tucker Carlson—some of the simplest forms of provocation. Until now, Michaels has almost entirely avoided recruiting performers of this ilk. Perhaps he was discouraged by thefirestorm that eruptedafter he hired the buzzy stand-up Shane Gillis in 2019. After his past racist and homophobic comments surfaced online, the comic was let go before his tenure even began. Gillis has since become a megastar on the live circuit (andhostedSNLtwice), while Michaels hasexpressed frustrationwith the network's insistence that he nix the stand-up. Six years later, Michaels seems ready to take another swipe at the hot stove by bringing on Patterson—whose relationship to right-wing personalities may make him more polarizing amongSNLfans than Gillis did. For all these internet-savvy newcomers, though, making it toSNLis just the first part of the battle. The real challenge is fitting their personal stylings—be it front-facing-camera weirdness, bizarre improv, specific impressions, or baroque insults—into a strict format. Although the show's sense of humor may have changed over the years, the way Michaels does business mostly hasn't. Simply plucking young stars from viewers' social-media feeds won't radically alter or refreshSNL. But if any of these performers can find a way to stand out, they'll be earning the kind of recognition that even the most outrageous podcast host can only dream of. Article originally published atThe Atlantic

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October 02, 2025

The One Big Change SNL Is Making

The One Big Change SNL Is Making The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover...

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'Maybe there's hope': Indonesian rescuers race against time to save students trapped under rubble of collapsed school

'Maybe there's hope': Indonesian rescuers race against time to save students trapped under rubble of collapsed school

By Johan Purnomo and Stanley Widianto SIDOARJO, Indonesia (Reuters) -Rescuers were racing against time on Thursday to extricate some 60 teenagers trapped under the remains of an Islamic boarding school that collapsed earlier this week due to foundation failure, disaster authorities said. The Al Khoziny school, located in the East Java town of Sidoarjo some 480 miles east from the capital Jakarta, collapsed when its foundations could not support ongoing construction work on the upper floors, cratering upon dozens of students who were praying and trapping them under rubble. Abdul Muhari, spokesperson with the disaster mitigation agency, said in a statement on Thursday that 59 people remained trapped under the rubble, based on the school's list of absence and missing person reports filed by families. Rescuers are still assessing on Thursday whether there are signs of life by calling out the names of the victims, having found no such signs late on Wednesday, search and rescue agency official Nanang Sigit told Reuters. He added that the assessment will be used to determine further evacuation efforts. In signature orange uniform, rescuers crawled through narrow tunnels to find students trapped under rubble, according to photos distributed by the country's search and rescue agency. Late on Wednesday, Yudhi Bramantyo, operations director at the agency, said the total death toll from the collapse had reached six, although the country's disaster mitigation agency said on Thursday it was still at five. "We can't let our minds wander. Maybe there is still hope for our little brothers," Bramantyo said. An excavator and a crane were on-site to help rescuers shift the debris, but disaster officials ruled out their use for fear it could set off a wider collapse. Al Khoziny is an Islamic school known locally as a pesantren. Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim-majority nation, has a total of about 42,000 pesantren, serving 7 million students, according to data from the country's religious affairs ministry. (Reporting by Johan Purnomo in Sidoarjo and Stanley Widianto in Jakarta; Editing by David Stanway)

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October 02, 2025

'Maybe there's hope': Indonesian rescuers race against time to save students trapped under rubble of collapsed school

'Maybe there's hope': Indonesian rescuers race against time to save students trapped under rubble of collapsed school By Johan P...

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