Brett Kavanaugh, Thai Rescue, World Cup: Your Tuesday Briefing

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/10/briefing/brett-kavanaugh-immigration-world-cup.html

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Good morning.

Here’s what you need to know:

• Judge Brett Kavanaugh, a federal appeals court judge for the District of Columbia Circuit and a Washington insider, was nominated by President Trump on Monday to fill Justice Anthony Kennedy’s seat on the Supreme Court. (Watch the announcement and read a transcript here.)

Judge Kavanaugh, 53, was an aide to President George W. Bush and a onetime investigator of President Bill Clinton. If confirmed, he could cement the court’s rightward tilt for a generation. We looked at where he might fit on the ideological spectrum.

• Our Supreme Court reporter’s take: “He has written countless decisions applauded by conservatives on topics including the Second Amendment, religious freedom and campaign finance. But they have particularly welcomed his vigorous opinions hostile to administrative agencies, a central concern of the modern conservative legal movement.” Read more here.

• If Judge Brett Kavanaugh is confirmed, it could validate a three-decade effort by a network of activists and organizations to install a reliably conservative majority on the Supreme Court.

President Trump, who has deviated from conservative positions in many ways, has stuck closely to the options presented to him in his two Supreme Court nominations. Our chief White House correspondent puts the pick in historical context.

Conservative and liberal groups are mobilizing for a confirmation fight. Democrats are likely to lose it, given the Republican majority in the Senate and the pressure on Democratic senators facing re-election in states that Mr. Trump won.

• Speaking of the midterm elections, we looked at how the voting in November could affect the nomination process — and vice versa.

• After an 18-day drama that captured the world’s attention, all 12 boys and their soccer coach have been evacuated from the flooded cave where they were trapped. Here are the latest updates.

Four members of the Thai military who had been staying with the boys are also being brought out.

“We are not sure if this is a miracle, a science, or what. All the thirteen Wild Boars are now out of the cave,” a post on the Thai Navy SEAL Facebook page announced today, referring to the soccer team’s nickname.

• Our reporter John Ismay, a former U.S. Navy diver, explains the rescue operation.

• In a significant legal setback to President Trump’s immigration agenda, a federal judge in Los Angeles refused on Monday to amend the agreement that restricts how long and under what conditions undocumented children can be confined.

Under the so-called Flores agreement of 1997, children must be released to licensed care programs within 20 days. The government had argued that long-term confinement was the only way to avoid separating families when parents were detained on criminal charges.

• Judge Dolly Gee’s decision comes as 54 young migrants are scheduled to be returned to their parents today as a result of an earlier court ruling.

• Eight months before Britain is scheduled to leave the European Union, Prime Minister Theresa May’s government is in disarray, with two ministers resigning within 24 hours over her plans for Brexit.

Boris Johnson, the foreign secretary and one of the most ardent advocates of leaving the bloc, joined the Brexit secretary, David Davis, in stepping down after Mrs. May pushed ahead with a proposal that would keep Britain more closely tied to the Continent than hard-line conservatives want.

The resignations reveal the intensity of the split in the prime minister’s cabinet and renewed questions about whether her leadership would be challenged.

• Separately, President Trump leaves this morning for a NATO summit meeting after having pressured some member countries to increase their military spending. (The first lady, Melania Trump, will also re-enter the spotlight.) After the two-day meeting in Brussels, Mr. Trump will travel to Britain and then to Finland to meet with President Vladimir Putin of Russia.

• Soybeans could be a weak spot for China’s trade dispute with the U.S.

Beijing’s retaliatory tariffs make American soy pricier, but China’s huge demand for the product makes it tough to stop importing overnight.

• In a global economy facing many threats, Turkey may have the most immediate cause for alarm.

The country’s economy is one of the world’s fastest-growing, but that growth has been fed by potentially unsustainable borrowing, both public and private.

• Facebook is aggressively spreading its facial-recognition tools even as it faces heightened scrutiny from regulators and legislators in Europe and North America.

• Starbucks will stop using disposable plastic straws by 2020, eliminating more than one billion straws a year.

• U.S. stocks were up on Monday. Here’s a snapshot of global markets today.

Tips for a more fulfilling life.

• Your brain tricks you into doing less important tasks. Here’s why.

• Ready for vacation? We suggest the best tech for trip planning.

• Recipe of the day: Make a bacon-wrapped meatloaf for dinner tonight, and enjoy the leftovers later.

• Dying organs restored to life

An unusual transplant may revive tissues thought to be hopelessly damaged, including in the heart and brain.

Here’s more from this week’s Science section.

• “I couldn’t tell anyone.”

Even in countries where abortion is legal, it can be hard to talk about. More than 1,300 readers from some 30 countries shared their stories with us. Here’s a selection.

• Maybe there is accounting for taste

The field of “experimental aesthetics” boils down to efforts to solve two age-old enigmas: What is art, and why do we like what we like?

• Today at the World Cup

Belgium plays France as the semifinals begin. We’ll have live coverage starting at 2 p.m. Eastern.

Our columnist looked at Belgium’s blueprint for soccer success, as well as the unconventional path taken by Croatia, which plays England on Wednesday.

(If tennis is more your thing, we’ve got Wimbledon updates, too.)

• Best of late-night TV

Jimmy Kimmel returned from vacation with a mind to settle some scores.

• Quotation of the day

“2 days, 8 Boars.”

— The Thai Navy SEALs, in a Facebook update on the number of players from the Wild Boars soccer team they helped to rescue.

• The Times, in other words

Here’s an image of today’s front page, and links to our Opinion content and crossword puzzles.

• What we’re reading

Maira Garcia, an editor on the Culture desk, recommends this article from GQ: “It’s about the loosely pejorative term ‘washed,’ which means no longer being at the top of your game. Zach Baron argues that more of us should embrace the idea, and that it’s perfectly fine to be content with your current state.”

He took a vow of silence on July 10, 1925, and he kept it for 44 years.

From India to South Carolina, followers of Meher Baba, a spiritual leader born in Pune, India, in 1894, will observe silence in his honor today.

When Baba was 19, a holy woman kissed him, transforming his life. He began studying with religious masters, gained devotees, took a new name (Meher Baba means “compassionate father”) and worked to alleviate suffering.

Baba never fully explained why he stopped talking. He started communicating in written form, and later in gestures. But his reputation as a “god-man” soared. He met Hollywood stars like Tallulah Bankhead and leaders like Gandhi (whom he told to renounce politics). He corresponded with Richard Alpert, later known as Ram Dass. (He told Alpert to renounce LSD.) Pete Townshend of The Who titled “Baba O’Riley” after him, and dedicated “Tommy” to him. The Bobby McFerrin song “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” is based on words Baba used.

Baba promised miraculous things would happen when he finally spoke: “There will be unfaltering love and unfailing understanding and men shall be united in an inviolable brotherhood.”

But he died in 1969 without uttering a word.

Nancy Wartik wrote today’s Back Story.

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