海角大神

Recent days have produced a squabblers鈥� trifecta.

We鈥檒l get to the stir around in a minute. On Capitol Hill, a House committee hearing聽. And in a literally more juvenile setting, Build-a-Bear Workshops a pay-your-age promotion after it triggered hordes of budget bear-builders.

Draw the curtain over all of that.

What do the Thai cave story (which ended this week) and the World Cup saga (which will end Sunday with cheering in Paris or Zagreb) have in common?聽Both have refugees from conflict at the heart of mostly happy outcomes.

Croatian team captain Luka Modric grew up during the Balkans breakup in the early 1990s. The family home destroyed, his grandfather killed, young Luka fled with surviving relatives to the coast and threw himself into soccer. He excelled, making his way to the pro game, first with a Croatian team, then in the English Premier League and with Real Madrid. Now he leads his homeland鈥檚 team in a reach for the Cup.

Adul Sam-on, who along with his Wild Boars soccer teammates endured weeks in a watery cave in northern Thailand, showed a different kind of stardom: drawing on to interpret for British divers who found the boys. Adul, born stateless, had been taken to Thailand by his parents from a part of Myanmar torn by drug violence and guerrilla warfare. He鈥檚 a student now, and at the top of his class.

We鈥檙e following news of the indictment, by special counsel Robert Mueller鈥檚 team, of 12 Russian intelligence officials for a 鈥渟ustained effort鈥� to hack into US computer networks. It comes two days before President Trump and President Putin are scheduled to meet in Helsinki, Finland. Read our first take here. Watch for further analysis on Monday. Now to our five stories for your Friday.