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The Week in Good News: Thai Cave Rescue, a Rehabilitating Restaurant, Sea Turtles

Classmates of one of the young soccer players who was trapped in the Tham Luang Cave visited a tribute to the team.Credit...Lauren Decicca/Getty Images

Sometimes it seems as if we’re living under a constant barrage of heavy news. But it isn’t all bad out there. This feature is meant to send you into the weekend with a smile, or at least a lighter heart. Want to get The Week in Good News by email? Here’s the sign-up.

Here are seven great things we wrote about this week:

It was the good news we were waiting for after 18 days that gripped the world.

Twelve boys and their 25-year-old soccer coach had vanished inside Tham Luang Cave in Thailand. A painstaking rescue operation ensued. Divers found the team (a feat in itself) after 10 days, weak but alive. But the rescuers faced a daunting task — moving a group of children, many of whom couldn’t swim, out of a flooded cave network that even the most seasoned cave divers found dangerous. Some of the openings were as small as 3 feet wide and 2 feet tall.

A volunteer diver, Saman Gunan, a former member of the Thai Navy SEALs, died after running out of air while helping prepare the boys’ evacuation.

“I call him the hero of Tham Luang Cave,” the chief of the rescue operation said.

To help clear the way, some of the water was drained from the cave with massive pumps. The rescuers carried the boys, who wore full face masks, as they squeezed through flooded crevices. The final trek to freedom took four hours or more for each child.

The boys and their coach are on the mend and being watched in the hospital for possible infections or other ailments.

We can’t say enough about the bravery, resilience and sacrifice of those involved in the rescue. Read more »

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Dan Rison, center, works at DV8 Kitchen. He’s studying for a bachelor’s degree in social work.Credit...Luke Sharrett for The New York Times

Rob and Diane Perez have a restaurant in Lexington, Ky., whose entire business model is based on recovery.

DV8 Kitchen hires people who are in treatment for addiction. It has a simple menu, focusing on breakfast and lunch so its employees can attend support meetings at night. Every Tuesday, a mandatory workshop addresses issues like prior convictions, personal finance and teamwork. Read more »

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Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed of Ethiopia, front left, welcoming Eritrea’s foreign minister, Osman Saleh, front right, in June.Credit...Mulugeta Ayene/Associated Press

Ethiopia and Eritrea officially ended their “state of war” on Monday after a two-decade-long standoff that followed a brutal war over their shared border.

The announcement came after the prime minister of Ethiopia visited Eritrea, embracing its president on the airport runway. The leaders said the countries would resume trade, economic and diplomatic ties. Read more »

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Sambonn Lek telling patrons a joke at the St. Regis hotel in Washington.Credit...Al Drago for The New York Times

Sambonn Lek (known as Sam to his customers) is a bartender at the St. Regis hotel near the White House in Washington. He’s a Vietnam-era Cambodian refugee, and at 66, he’s been mixing drinks since the Carter administration.

With the help of his affluent customers, he collects spare change and big checks for Sam Relief, which provides aid to Cambodia. Since 2000, his nonprofit has built 27 schools, dug nearly 400 wells, delivered 290 tons of rice and awarded 120 scholarships.

Mr. Lek, who said he escaped genocide and poverty because America opened its doors to him, believes that human generosity transcends politics. Over two decades, his patrons from both parties have proved him right. Read more »

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Turtle hatchlings inching their way toward the ocean. Some tourists got to help.Credit...Hannah Reyes Morales for The New York Times

Turtle eggs left to hatch on their own in Bali face many threats. They can be crushed, swept away, dug up by dogs or stolen by poachers.

But volunteers are raising awareness of the turtles’ plight, and they’ve built a network of lookouts who report turtle sightings. The eggs are then recovered and taken to a hatchery.

Last year, the Bali Sea Turtle Society retrieved eggs from 761 nests and released some 70,000 hatchlings. Read more »

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The family of Georgia Bowen, a baby who was given a mitochondrial transplant.Credit...Katherine Taylor for The New York Times

Mitochondria are tiny organelles that fuel the operation of a cell. They’re among the first parts to die when a cell is deprived of oxygen-rich blood. When they are lost, the cell dies.

But a series of experiments has found that fresh mitochondria transplants can revive flagging cells.

These transplants appeared to revive and restore heart muscle that was injured in infants when they underwent operations. Researchers are planning to expand the experiments to adults who have survived heart attacks. Read more »

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“I still can’t believe it,” Brehanna Daniels said. “I finally got a Cup race, and I did it in a little under two years.”Credit...Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images

Brehanna Daniels, 24, is the first African-American woman to work a pit crew in Nascar’s top series. She changed tires during last Saturday night’s Coke Zero Sugar 400.

“It feels great,” she said amid high-fives from team members. “It’s breaking down barriers, opening doors for other people who look like me.”

With Breanna O’Leary, 26, she’s also half of the first female duo in the modern era to work in a pit crew together at a Cup race. Before them, only five women had ever worked on a Nascar Cup pit crew.

Ms. Daniels is a graduate of Nascar’s Drive for Diversity program, the goal of which is to broaden the sport’s fan base. Read more »

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Feel the burn: A contestant lying in a pool of red chilis during a chili-eating competition in Hunan Province, China, on Sunday.Credit...CHINATOPIX, via Associated Press

What would you like to see here? Email us at goodnews@nytimes.com. You can enjoy more of this feature at nytimes.com/goodnews.

Follow Des Shoe on Twitter: @DesNYT.

A version of this article appears in print on  , Section A, Page 2 of the New York edition with the headline: The Week in Good News. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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