IT’SASMALL,SMALL WORLD

Adam Large(inhat)andothershoppersbrowsebooths

Saturdayatthe SanDiegoMiniatureCrafters showand sale,which continues todayatthe SanDiego MarriottDel Mar. Craftersand collectorsofminiatureitems cangetideas,participatein workshopsandseemorethan40 exhibits.

PEOPLE

Garnercelebrated as Woman of Year

“Alias”actor Jennifer Garner was honoredas Hasty PuddingTheatrical’s Womanofthe Yearat aparadeinhistoricHarvard Square onSaturday afternoon. Garner was paraded throughthestreetsof Cambridge, Mass.Despite the frigid temperatures, Garner was allsmilesas she waved to thehundreds ofspectatorsalongtheparade route. “Thisiscrazy. Thisis nuts, Garner said. Garner, 49, was bestowedthe group’s iconic puddingpotat a traditional roastSaturday evening.After the roast,Har- vard’s famedtheater troupe was to performits latestproduction,“Ship Happens,”the organization’s third timefeaturing bothmen and womenin thecastandits firstproductionsincethe coronaviruspandemicbegan in2020 Hasty PuddingTheatricals, which dates to 1844 and billsitself asthe thirdoldesttheater groupinthe world, establishedits Womanofthe Year award in 1951 to honorpeoplewho have made“lasting and impressive contributions to the worldofentertainment.” Last year’s recipient was Viola Davis andpreviouswinnersinclude Meryl Streep, Katharine Hepburn,Ethel Merman and Cher ASSOCIATEDPRESS

Russia isclose to completing preparationsforwhatappears to be a large-scaleinvasion of Ukraine that could resultinup to50,000 civilian deaths decapitate the governmentin Kyivwithin two days, and launch a humanitarian crisis withup to 5 million refugees fleeing the resulting chaos according to updated U.S.military andintelligenceassessmentsbriefed to lawmakers andEuropeanpartners over thepastseveraldays.

walk toward the tunnelastheirson’s body wasbeing retrieved Saturday,fourdaysafterhe fellintoa wellshaft,inthevillageofIghranin Morocco’sChefchaouenprovince.

Hopesdashedas rescuers recover5-year-old’sbodydays afterheplunged 100 feetdownshaftinMorocco

BY VIVIANYEE,AIDAALAMI &MONAEL-NAGGAR

CAIRO The vigil had lasted for four days transfixing tensofthousands ofpeople aroundthe world who watched, tweeted, cheered and prayed as a small band of rescuers in a tiny Moroccanvillage tried to free a 5-year-old boy from the deep wellinto which hehadplunged.

#SaveRayan, theypleaded.

OnSaturdaynight, workers whohad duga rescue tunnel finally reachedRayan Oram,theboy But themedicalhelicopterthathad been waitingfordays to take him to ahospital hadnoneed to take off. He was dead.

Unitedfordaysinhope, Moroccans and othersinnorthwestAfrica were suddenlyunitedin grief.

“I wanted to believe thatmiraclesstillhappen,” said Mehdi Idrissi, 32,a doctorinthe Moroccancity of Fez whofollowed the rescue effort fordays,doubtingthat Rayan couldsurvive hisordealbut clinging to optimism. “As a country, we needed a bit of hope,and even thoughtheending was tragic, itdidbringusall together May he restinpeace.”

Atsomepointsduring theoperation,more than 100,000people were monitoringone of the livestreamsthatshowed the trench where the rescuers, working dayandnight, were digging by bulldozer and by hand.Thousands more followed alongonother livestreamsandonsocial media.

For days,there appeared to be reasonforhope:OnThursday,a camera that rescuers had lowered into the wellappeared to show Rayan moving,ifbloodied Workers were alsoable to sendhim oxygen and water.

ButbySaturdayafternoon, when rescuershad tunneled to withininchesofwhere the boy was stuck,authorities wentquietabout his condition.Atonepoint,theysaid they couldnotassesshishealthbecausehe waslying onhissideinsuch awaythatit was difficult to see him. Later, they refused to describe what they were seeingatall.

Asthe hourspassedwithnoofficial word onRayan’s status,itbecame harder to avoidthequestion ofwhetherhe was stillalive.

Allthat was clear was thatthe diggers were still digging.

Initially, rescue workers tried to pullhimup fromthe 100-foot well where hehadfallen Tuesdayafternoon. Butfearingtheshaft’s walls would collapse,theyswitched tacks.First,theybulldozeda trench next to the well,thenthey tunneledhorizontally from the trench toward the bottomof the well, shifting coursewhen theyhita barrier ofsolid rock.

AllSaturdayafternoon, rumor haditthatthe rescuers were about to breakthrough thatthey would have theirhands on Rayanwithin two hours, orat any moment only forthe tunneling togo oninterminablyastheyhit obstacles.

Around9:30 p.m., cheers of joy broke outaroundthe well,where hundredsofspectatorsand rescue workershad gathered overthe course of the week some even sleepingundertrees asthey kept vigil.Rayan was out.

But rescuershuddledtightly around himastheycarriedhim to an ambulance,makingitimpossible totellwhetherhe was alive or dead.

Minuteslater word spread: The kingof Morocco, MohammedVI, hadcalledRayan’s parents,Khaled Oramand WassimaKhersheesh,offering themhis condolences.

The king “confirmedthathe hadbeenfollowingthe developmentsofthistragic accident closely, andhadissuedinstructions to allthe concernedauthorities to take thenecessary measuresandmake theutmosteffort to save thelifeofthedeceased,” according to a statement fromthe royal court publishedonstate-run media.“It was GodAlmighty’s will,”thestatement concluded, thatRayanhaddied.

Video fromthescenehadshown rescuers manuallydrillingsideways toward Rayan,their work lit byheadlamps as prayersand shoutsofencouragementburst fromtheonlookers gathered aboveground.

Rainandhard rockthat got in the way ofthe drilling complicated theprocess overnightinto Saturday andthe work proceeded slowly.

Thevillage ofIghran,about60 miles from theblue-wallednorthern Moroccancity ofChefchaouen, hadbeen sleepless forfournights asthe rescueeffort continued.As onlookers gathered at the well, Rayan’s familymade couscous,the traditional Moroccan dish,and served it to thecrowd. Othersdistributedbreadanddates.

Rayan’s father told reportershe hadbeen intheprocessof fixing the well,which he owns,when Rayanfellin,buthadnot realized at first where the boy had gone His mothersaidthefamilyhadsearchedtheareawhentheynoticedhe was gone,not at first suspectinghe had tumbledinto the well. Yee,AlamiandEl-Naggarwrite for TheNew York Times.