Nominee Kavanaugh makes case to senators
A daring rescue mission in the treacherous confines of a flooded cave in northern Thailand has saved all 12 boys and their soccer coach who were trapped deep within the labyrinth, ending a grueling 18-day ordeal that claimed the life of an experienced volunteer diver and riveted people around the world.
Thailand’s Navy SEALs, who were central to the rescue effort, said on their Facebook page that the remaining four boys and their 25-year-old coach were all brought out safely Tuesday.
Eight of the boys were rescued by a team of Thai and international divers on Sunday and Monday.
“We are not sure if this is a miracle, a science, or what. All the thirteen Wild Boars are now out of the cave,” the SEALs said, referring to the name of the boys’ soccer team. “Everyone is safe.”
They said they were waiting for a medic and three SEALs who had stayed with the boys in their dark refuge deep inside the cave complex to come out.
Cheers erupted at a local government office where dozens of volunteers and journalists were An ambulance believed to be carrying one of the rescued boys from the flooded cave heads to the hospital in Chiang Rai Tuesday.
awaiting news of whether the intricate and high-risk rescue mission had succeeded. Helicopters taking the boys to a hospital roared overhead.
People on the street cheered and clapped when ambulances ferrying the boys arrived at the hospital in Chiang Rai city.
Payap Maiming, 40, who helped provide food and necessities to rescue workers and journalists, said a “miracle” had happened.
“I’m happy for Thais all over the
country, for the people of Mae Sai, and actually just everyone in the world because every news channel has presented this story and this is what we have been waiting for,” she said. Mae Sai is the district where the cave is located, in the northern part of Chiang Rai province, near the border with Myanmar. The plight of the boys and their coach has captivated Thailand and much of the world — from the heart-sinking news that they were missing to the first
flickering video of the huddle of anxious yet smiling boys when they were found 10 days later by a pair of British divers.
They were trapped in the Tham Luan Nang Non cave on June 23, when they were exploring it after a soccer practice and it became flooded by monsoon rains.
Each of the boys, ages 11 to 16 and with no diving experience, was guided out by a pair of divers in three days of intricate and high-stakes operations.
President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, mapped out strategy with Republican leaders Tuesday, launching a fierce confirmation battle that could remake the court for decades and roil the midterm elections in the meantime.
Kavanaugh, a favourite of the GOP establishment, first huddled with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.
Joining him were VicePresident Mike
Pence and former Sen. Jon
Kyl. He also Kavanaugh met for roughly
30 minutes with Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, chairman of the Judiciary Committee that is taking the first close look at the nomination.
While Republicans have set a goal of confirming Kavanaugh this fall, Grassley said speed isn’t the goal. The vetting process, he said, is “going to be thorough and going to be done right.” He did not offer a timeline for confirmation hearings.
Republicans have reacted positively to Trump’s pick, but McConnell has little margin of error for the final vote unless a few Democrats can be brought onboard.
Republicans hold a slim 51-49 Senate majority, but they hope to gain support for Kavanaugh from a handful of Democrats who are up for reelection in states where Trump is popular.
McConnell called Kavanaugh “one of the most thoughtful jurists” in the country and blasted Democrats as “eager to try and turn judicial confirmations into something like political elections.”
The GOP leader warned against engaging in “cheap political fearmongering.”
Democrats are uniting behind a strategy to turn the confirmation fight into a referendum on conservatives’ efforts to undo abortion access and chip away at other health care protections under the Affordable Care Act.