this is bbc news, our top stories: officials in thailand say four boys have been rescued from a flooded cave system and have been taken to a local hospital. translation: today is the day we have been waiting for, we are seeing the boys in the flesh now. the boys and their football coach have been trapped in the complex cave system for more than a fortnight and were found by rescue divers earlier this week. a team of 90 divers helped the boys through a difficult part of the route. the rescue effort has been suspended until tomorrow. this is the entrance to the cave in northern ireland and that is where five hours ago ambulances started leaving with the first boys to be rescued. hello and welcome to the bbc news

special programme on the mission to rescue the boys trapped in a cave in northern thailand for the last two weeks. rescue teams in thailand say four out of the 12 boys trapped in a cave complex in the north of the country have been rescued. the boys and their coach have spent two weeks underground. a major rescue operation, involving a team of international divers and military personnel, will resume early on monday morning, local time. the complicated operation escorting each child through submerged and narrow caves didn't take as long as expected, but there will now be a gap of about ten hours as the rescue teams rest with this report from simonjones. and preparations are made for the next phase. the efforts to bring them out

is on pause overnight, as rescue teams replenish their supplies of oxygen. it's the result of a complicated and delicate operation involving international divers and elite members of the thai navy, which began at 10am local time. the goal is to bring the boys safely through the four—kilometre passage. eight of them, along with their coach, remain inside the cave, but after the rescue of their teammates, there's hope that the narrowest point of theirjourney is easier to pass than previously thought. we'll talk live to our correspondents in thailand injust a moment. but we begin our coverage with this report from simon jones, ambulances arrived at hospital, one of the first signs that hours into this operation the first boys have been rescued after being trapped for more than two weeks. these are rescuers emerging into the darkness, the first part of their mission accomplished. this had been named d—day by the authorities, who declared the boys and their coach were ready to move and amid fears of rising waters, officials decided they could wait no longer. translation: i would like to inform

the public and those giving us support all along, after 16 days, today is the day we have been waiting for, we are seeing the boys in the flesh now. the boys were said to be determined and focused, physically and mentally fit. expert divers guided them out through darkness and passageways towards the mouth of the cave. it involved a mixture of walking, wading, climbing and diving. their families agreed they should be moved as soon as possible. emergency vehicles showed progress had been made. the first group out quicker than expected. the operation is over for the day but will resume come daylight, relief the first boys have been rescued, tempered with the knowledge of challenges ahead. our correspondent, nick beake is at the hospital where the boys have been taken to in chiang rai. what do we know about the boys,

their condition and what treatment they are receiving? duncan, it is midnight here in thailand where we presume these four boys are now reunited with their families at the hospital behind me. we saw two ambulances arrive here earlier this evening, we had two helicopters overhead and we think two other boys we re overhead and we think two other boys were bought through a different entrance. doctors and nurses were waiting for them. they knew these boys individually, they knew their wea knesses boys individually, they knew their weaknesses and they knew how they have been coping underground for the past two weeks. in terms of any official word from the doctors and nurses that has not been forthcoming, but the indications we are getting have been that the boys are getting have been that the boys are doing pretty well considering what they have gone through. apart from the rescue part of this mission, their condition is a

com plete mission, their condition is a complete surprise because medical experts and divers have been feeding information back as they have been visiting the boys, is that right? absolutely. we believe that yesterday they drew up a list of the strongest and the weakest boys and we understand that the four boys in the least good a medical condition we re the least good a medical condition were sent out the first of all. i think there is a sense of relief there that this method has worked so far. of course it is highly dangerous, the fact they are moving out boys between 11 and 16, and some of them have no swimming knowledge whatsoever. when you think about the visibility and the murky water and the fact these passages and corridors were so tight in places they had to go up and down in some particular parts of the cave. this was a place where experienced divers with 30 years experience of diving said it was really tough. the fact these first four have got out has

given hope that this rescue operation can be successful. i mentioned fourfamilies operation can be successful. i mentioned four families here tonight, that leaves and nine other families who have a dreadful wait for the return of their families to be brought through the cave. what is the mood like there? in some pious people are very happy but that is tempered by the fact that some people have this ordeal yet to go through. yes, absolutely, it is mixed. you have got real relief. when you talk to people here they are hugely relieved, the fact four boys have got out and their condition seems to be pretty good. but that is less than a third of this young football team that went in there and their coach as well. there is a sense of cautious optimism here but a reality that this is an extremely difficult operation. i was talking to one caving expert earlier today and he said this sort of rescue underground

where passages are submerged if they go wrong, to be frank they go wrong ina bad go wrong, to be frank they go wrong in a bad way. until the very last boy or the coach is out from this cave, that will be the only moment when people will truly believe a sigh of relief and believe as a nation that their players have been answered. i know it is very late where you are, but do we have any sense of what is happening overnight before the next day's missionary stars ? before the next day's missionary stars? eight o'clock in the morning is the time we are given that they will embark on this once again. think about the expert leading this. we know 90 divers have been involved in some way today, but it seems the case that there is this core of divers who really have the expertise and the skill to lead this operation. for them we presume it is another night of a few hours' sleep

before they start once again the next leg of this operation. nick, thank you very much. nick, thank you very much. our correspondent dan johnson is in tham luang near the exit of the tunnel. this incredibly complex rescue mission is off to what seems like a very positive start. yes, it is incredible, it has been fantastic news that has been well received. the fact that this method of extracting the boys, of getting out by having taught them the most difficult part of scuba diving, the fa ct difficult part of scuba diving, the fact that has succeeded has raised hopes that there will be a happy ending for this story all round, but there is more work to do, although things have gone quiet here now. this evening we saw the majority of workers leave the site early, people go home to get rest so they can

return tomorrow, but there is a team here overnight taking care of things. the man in charge of the rescue operation said this was the right time to take a pause. translation: as for right time to take a pause. translation: as for when the next operation can be carried out i cannot give an exact time, but it will be in about ten hours or so. we will see those rescue workers back here tomorrow in force, ready to resume the operation. they have got a lot more work to do, it is complex and tricky and it is delicate and careful work that has to be done very cautiously. but having shown that four boys have been able to make it out alive, there is a great deal of hope that there is a great deal of hope that the rest will follow by the same route. everyone impressed with the technical skills that have been employed by that team of international diving experts who have come together to work on this impossible puzzle, but a great sense

of relief that it does now appear to be working. the man in charge of the operation this morning said this was d—day and it seems a dying very successfully so far. we know how large and complex that cave system is with long, winding passages, and it is difficult for experienced cave divers. do we know the detail of physically how they got the boys through those passages and out to safety? we got a few details earlier in the day of exactly what the plan was. we do not know if the plan entirely worked as they thought, but it appears they were able to bring the boys out quicker than expected. they thought it might take about 11 hours to get from where they were stranded to the entrance because it isa stranded to the entrance because it is a tricky and tortuous route. it is a tricky and tortuous route. it is about a mile and a half and parts are flooded and pies are above water and dry. there are bits where they

have to scuba drive and there are parts where it is too narrow to use the tanks and they have to take the ta nks the tanks and they have to take the tanks away from them and they have to be pushed through the narrow funnels to the bits where it gets wider and bits where they have to emerge from the water and walk for a little mile and then they go back under water and reach the surface. it is an incredibly trickyjourney. it is an incredibly trickyjourney. it takes the experienced divers about six hours to cover that route. it took the first boys about nine hours to reach the surface and that is quicker than they were thinking and it shows the method they have been working on and planning for and the training they have done with these boys in the cave over the last few days, teaching some of them how to swim, even to make them confident to swim, even to make them confident to go into the water, and then teaching them the techniques of scuba diving, how to be comfortable moving in the water with the airtime on your back with a different weighting and the way it affects

your buoyancy in the water, it is a strange technique. some people do not learn scu ba—diving that strange technique. some people do not learn scuba—diving that well in the swimming pool because they cannot get used to equalising their breath underwater. it is a strange technique that people do not get used to and these boys have had to learn very quickly in the worst of circumstances. they have certainly beenin circumstances. they have certainly been in at the deep end, but it looks like the first four have pulled it off and hopefully the rest will follow them tomorrow. the challenge is the obstacles that the divers and the boys have overcome and they are quite incredible. you have been there all week. was that operation meant to get started as early as it did or was this something that happened because of the weather? i can see the rain coming down behind you. yes, it has been raining heavily for the last couple of hours and that has been the overarching fear all week ever since the boys were discovered alive

and when the team found exactly where they were. the threat was that heavy rain would increase the water level in the cave and they would run out of space, that the covering they we re out of space, that the covering they were taking shelter in wood become flooded and the boys would drown. it has always been a race against time and the rain, but nobody wanted to rush this and nobody wanted to make a false move and get it wrong. so while the water levels have remained static, and they have been pumping water for two weeks to lower it, while that has not been an immediate threat, they have come up with this plan to get the boys out alive. but we also know they have drilled more than 100 holes over the last few days, but that covering is 600 metres from a very mountainous landscape and it is difficult to find a flat piece of land to start drilling. that is why what was described as a window in the weather in the last couple of days, that is

why the leader of this operation said this was the right time to go for the scu ba—diving said this was the right time to go for the scuba—diving operation and so the boys could come out essentially the way they walked in more than two weeks ago now. dan johnson at the exit to the tunnel in northern thailand, thank you very much indeed. as you've heard, four of the boys trapped inside the tham luang caves have now been rescued and taken to hospital. but getting the team to safety is only the first step in what will be a long journey to recovery for these boys. a team of medical professionals will take over their care, making sure they're fit and well, after which time they'll need to deal with the trauma of what they've been through after being trapped underground. joining me now is child trauma psychologist dr ricky greenwald. thank you very much for coming here on bbc news. first of all, how do you begin dealing with something like this? children who have been

trapped in such a difficult situation for so long? first of all you begin dealing with itjust the way it is being dealt with. you take ca re of way it is being dealt with. you take care of the survival needs first. so the medical care comes first, reuniting them with their families of course. and hopefully finishing the rescue well because none of the kids who are out, it is not done until everybody is out. then it is going to be quite a challenge and of course everybody is different. i am giving you generalities here, but returning from an ordeal like this is not so different than returning from combat. you come back to the same places and the same people but you do not feel the same. and so there will be quite a culture shock iimagine for there will be quite a culture shock i imagine for most or all of these kids, where it is going to be hard

to adjust, hard to go back to the old life because they will feel so different now. that will take community support and family support and it probably will take specialised trauma focused psychotherapy. now, the community and the family, they have this balance that they will be trying to achieve. on the one hand you want to have everything as normal as possible, that is quite reassuring to kids that they came back to the home they left. on the other hand, they are going to have to make some accommodations for the kids' medical fragility initially, but also for their emotional reactions. there is quite a range of possible emotional reactions. they might have trouble sleeping, they might have special anxieties orfears sleeping, they might have special anxieties or fears or anger or a numbing and flattening out. it is going to be individual and hopefully

the families and communities will have some professional guidance in terms of how to balance keeping things the same and accommodating the special needs. and then the kids are going to need most likely some specialised, focused therapy. are going to need most likely some specialised, focused thera pylj are going to need most likely some specialised, focused therapy. ijust wonder if i can ask you, i know it is difficult to generalise, but when children have been through trauma are they willing to talk about it or is it something were a lot of children keep quiet and it takes a lot more coaxing and time to get them to talk about their experiences? it can go either way. many therapists regard this as quite a challenging case because a lot of childrenjust try to... a challenging case because a lot of children just try to... most things that happen to children are not at the level of trauma. you lose a

game, you get bullied at school, whatever it is you do not like it, you yell, you cry, you fight. but over a day or a week you chew it up and you digestive and it is something you get stronger from and grow from. but what makes something traumatic is that it is much bigger than those everyday stresses. it can become emotionally overwhelming and then what children, and adults for that matter, tend to do is try to pushit that matter, tend to do is try to push it aside. put it behind a wall. it is behind the wall, i am ok, i can get through the day. many children do not want to reach back behind the wall because they feel more comfortable in the moment leaving it out of the way. more comfortable in the moment leaving it out of the waylj more comfortable in the moment leaving it out of the way. i wonder ifi leaving it out of the way. i wonder if i make interrupts, i want to ask you one last question. will it make a difference that the boys have been through this together, that they

have others around them who have experienced the same things? yes, it will. i think there is a lot of support that comes from being in a group having it happen, especially if they are all able to come out. there will be some survivor guilt they will have to deal with, not that it was their fault, but one rescuer has already passed trying to rescuer has already passed trying to rescue them. we do not know what will happen here on in. fortunately, the best of the trauma therapies does not require the kids to talk about it. so we do have very good psychotherapy available and i am very hopeful that the children will get what they need. very interesting to talk to you, thank you very much. doctor greenwald joining us from massachusetts in the united states. in the united states. i'm joined now by edd sorenson, owner of cave adventurers in florida and a regional coordinator

for the international underwater cave rescue and recovery organisation. ? he's conducted a number of successful underwater cave rescues himself. thank you forjoining us. percival, your reaction to this very positive first step in the rescue operation. thank you for having me. it is nothing short of miraculous. it was against all odds that they would bring them out successfully and they are fighting extreme conditions and so far it has been great. they have done a fantasticjob. so far it has been great. they have done a fantastic job. we have been talking about the complexity of the cave system and how difficult it would be for the children. but put this into perspective, is this something that would be really very ha rd something that would be really very hard even for the best cave divers

in the world? it really is. there are always in the world? it really is. there a re always obstacles in the world? it really is. there are always obstacles in a dry cave and ina are always obstacles in a dry cave and in a wet cave. but there are things that are really extreme and zero visibility is extreme, small restrictions, very extreme, high flow, very extreme. a lot of these things in instances like this they might have won or two of them, but in this case they have got the worst of the worst all combined to get on top of that there is the age of the boys. we do not do the first step of cave diving until you are 18. on top of that they do not swim, so they have not been submerged in water, so you could not ask for a worst possible scenario. what do you think the divers would have said to the boys, those four boys, just before

they set off on the journey. what preparation would they have given them? preparation would they have given them ? presumably preparation would they have given them? presumably high up the list would have been the need for keeping calm in those incredibly claustrophobic passages? well, we do not speculate, but those kids have shown incredible resolve just making it through the first nine days in total darkness with no food or water. there does not appear to be panic. i don't know, i was not there. this is before the rescuers found them, but that shows they have a better chance than most children ina a better chance than most children in a scenario like this. but they will just have in a scenario like this. but they willjust have to try and keep them calm. the main thing as a rescue diver is you have to let your victim no that they have to stay calm for this to come out with a good

outcome. thank you very much. ed sorensen joining outcome. thank you very much. ed sorensenjoining us from florida. ed sorensenjoining us from florida. with me is nopporn wong—anan, editor of the bbc‘s thai service. what are you hearing from thailand, the reaction to this first stage? j°y the reaction to this first stage? joy for many people who have been paying and wishing to see the safe return of every boy inside that cave. this is still cautious optimism that people still have because it is not the end of the mission. you have another nine people waiting be saved in the cave and this could take 10—20 hours before the next operation starts. people are still praying for the best result. this is a big test, a big moment on the international stage for thailand and the

authorities to mount a rescue operation. precisely and it seems that the operation is under quite good control. this is the first governorship in the bureaucracy and the governor is doing a good job so far, but he was going to be removed toa far, but he was going to be removed to a smaller province in the north. but because he has been doing a good job so far he still may be the commander of these operations. we are talking about a divided country. i presume this is something that all sides can get behind? right now people are putting their political differences aside and they are putting their efforts into this operation, said this is people from all walks of life going to the area

to offer any kind of help that they could. you could have someone from central bangkok getting the truck all the way up there to provide free food to volunteers who have been working around the clock. there are muslims there as well providing food for muslims there. thank you very much for coming in. let's remind you now of the main news — four of the boys trapped in a flooded cave in northern thailand for more than two weeks have been rescued. the mission to save the rest of their football team has been paused overnight. a major operation involving international divers and elite members of the thai navy began at 10am local time, other news now, and the environment secretary michael gove has defended the prime minister's brexit strategy, which was agreed with the cabinet on friday.

foreign secretary borisjohnson reportedly criticised the plan, and said the deal falls short of what most brexiteers wanted. but mr gove said it's important to be realistic, although he also said britain should be prepared to walk away next march if agreement can't be reached with the eu. peter saull reports. it's two days since ministers gathered in picturesque surroundings. in the buckinghamshire countryside, they managed to reach a deal. with more battles ahead, theresa may called for collective responsibility and who best to display that than one of the most ardent brexiteers in the cabinet? he admitted it was not everything he'd hoped for. i'm a realist and one of the things about politics is that you mustn't, you shouldn't make the perfect the enemy of the good. and one of the things about this compromise is that it unites the cabinet. everyone before friday wanted to ensure that coming out of chequers was an agreement which honoured the referendum result, and this absolutely does that, and could also command

the support of people across the country. in public, ministers are on message. but on friday, it is understood the foreign secretary accused theresa may of asking them "to polish a turd". an ally of borisjohnson said he needed to stay in the cabinet to make the arguments for brexiteers. and while most eurosceptic backbenchers will wait for more detail in the coming days, some are not holding back. i can't support this deal. the offer is so bad that i wouldn't be supporting it if the european union were paying us. if she sticks with this deal, i will have no confidence in it and if the prime minister sticks with this deal, i will have no confidence in her. some businesses, though, think the plan is not soft enough. bosses at more than 100 companies including innocent drinks, waterstones and zoopla, say it is unworkable. they would prefer a more formal customs union and labour's brexit spokesman agrees. i'm afraid it's got fudge written all over it. if you look at the facilitated customs arrangement, the sort of heart of this,

it is a rebadging of the partnership and it's based on the idea that at the border, you can distinguish between goods that are going to stay in the uk and those going to the eu. it is unworkable. it's a bureaucratic nightmare. with the country basking in the summer sunshine, there's a need for cool heads. this week will provide more stern tests as westminster and brussels digest the chequers deal. from all sides, theresa may continues to feel the heat. peter saul, bbc news. the home secretary sajid javid has visited the wiltshire town of amesbury, a week after two people fell critically ill after coming into contact with novichok. he met emergency workers and local residents and has reassured people that the risk to the wider public is low. i want to say to anyone that is listening now, this is a beautiful part of the country to visit, so if you want a good day out why not come down and show your support and at

the same time as having fun with your family. it is a lovely part of the country to visit. also, i want to take the opportunity to say to everyone, but especially local people, that the risk to the public remains very low, that is the clear advice of public health england, it is the clear advice of sally davies, the chief medical officer. and finally of course for all of us i think our thoughts are with the man and the woman that are impacted by this latest incident who are still in hospital, still in critical condition, and we are thinking of them and of course their family and theirfriends. a british teenager has died in ibiza. the 19—year—old was pulled from a pool in the early hours of sunday morning, it is understood. the foreign office has said it is providing assistance to the family of a british man who died on 8july in ibiza, and are in contact with the spanish authorities. north korea has issued strong criticism of the us just hours after the secretary

of state, mike pompeo, left pyongyang after two days of talks. the foreign ministry says america made too many demands, and that it had displayed a regrettable attitude. the north korean statement says trust between the two countries was at risk of breaking down. the statement also accuses mr pompeo of insisting on unilateral denuclearisation, which it says is against the spirit of the summit. but speaking in tokyo after talks with his japanese and south korean counterparts, mr pompeo said he was encouraged by the progress made during his recent two—day visit to north korea. we had lengthy discussions about the scope of what complete denuclearization means over the past two days.