Feelgood Story of the Year 2018

Thai Cave Rescue

It took an international team of 100 divers from Thailand and 15 other countries 18 days to find and then perform the herculean task of retrieving 13 members of a Thai soccer team aged 11 to 17 who were trapped 4km underground in a flooded cave system.  The remarkable courage, cooperation and fortitude of both the rescuers (one of whom would make the ultimate sacrifice) and the rescued made this a very rare “good” news story that stands out in a year that seemed dedicated to bad news, bad behavior, conflict and caveman politics as opposed to cooperation of any kind on the international front.

Runner-up:  “Science and international cooperation trump hole in ozone.”   

NASA reveals first direct proof that the hole in the earth’s ozone layer is recovering as a result of 1985’s international treaty to ban CFC chemicals.

Honourable Mention: “Robocop kicks some ass in America”

The US Federal Communications Commission fined a Miami telemarketer a record $120M for making 96,758,223 unsolicited robocalls in an attempt to sell holidays and timeshare property.