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Talk to someone who rode on the Titan submersible, and they're likely to mention a technological glitch: the propulsion system failed or communications with people on the surface cut out. Maybe there were problems balancing weights on board. They are also likely to mention Stockton Rush, the OceanGate Expeditions CEO who died on the fatal trip this week. He has been described by past passengers as both a meticulous planner and an overconfident pioneer. With the fate of Titanic-bound submersible clear, focus turns to cause of the fatal implosion In the wake of the Titan's fatal implosion near the Titanic shipwreck on Sunday, some people who embarked on the company's deep-sea expeditions described experiences that foreshadowed the tragedy and look back on their decision to dive as "a bit naive." But others expressed confidence and said that they felt they were "in good hands" nearly 13,000 feet (3,962 meters) below the ocean's surface. 'Like playing Russian roulette' "I 100% knew this was going to happen," said Brian Weed, a camera operator for the Discovery Channel's "Expedition Unknown" show, who has felt sick to his stomach since the sub's disappearance Sunday. Tourist sub's implosion draws attention to murky regulations of deep-sea expeditions Weed went on a Titan test dive in May 2021 in Washington state's Puget Sound as it prepared for its first expeditions to the sunken Titanic. Weed and his colleagues were preparing to join OceanGate Expeditions to film the famous shipwreck later that summer. They quickly encountered problems: The propulsion system stopped working. The computers failed to respond. Communications shut down. Rush, the OceanGate CEO, tried rebooting and troubleshooting the vessel on its touch screens. "You could tell that he was flustered and not really happy with the performance," Weed said. "But he was trying to make light of it, trying to make excuses." Titan submersible imploded, killing all 5 on board, US Coast Guard says They were barely 100 feet (30 meters) deep in calm water, which begged the question: "How is this thing going to go to 12,500 feet — and do we want to be on board?" Weed said. Following the aborted trip, the production company hired a consultant with the U.S. Navy to vet the Titan. He provided a mostly favorable report, but warned that there wasn't enough research on the Titan's carbon-fiber hull, Weed said. There also was an engineering concern that the hull would not maintain its effectiveness over the course of multiple dives. Weed said Rush was a charismatic salesman who really believed in the submersible's technology — and was willing to put his life on the line for it. "It was looking more and more like we weren't going to be the first guys down to film the Titanic — we were going to be maybe the 10th," Weed said of the possible Titan expedition. "I felt like every time (the vessel) goes down, it's going to get weaker and weaker. And that's a little bit like playing Russian roulette." For work projects, Weed has swam with sharks, repelled into remote caves and snowshoed through Siberia. But he and his colleagues pulled out of the dive to the Titanic. "I didn't have a good feeling about it," he said. "It was a really hard choice to make." 'I always felt I was in good hands' Mike Reiss, a writer for "The Simpsons" television show, said he had positive experiences on the dives he made with OceanGate, including to the Titanic wreck site. "When my wife first came to me with this (idea), I said to her, 'Well, this sounds like a fun way to get killed,'" Reiss said. "I knew (the risks) going in there. I always felt I was in good hands." Reiss said he went on three trips with OceanGate in waters near New York City — and that the company took safety seriously. "Mostly it was just breathtaking how well it all went," Reiss said of his 2022 dive to the Titanic. "It's a 10-hour trip. And I went from sea level to two and a half miles down, and then back to sea level. And at no time did the pressure change in my ears. I didn't get the same feeling I get in the New York elevator. To me that's a remarkable achievement." Reiss said he was in a "different state of mind" on the expedition because he was so engaged. "You're never hungry. You're never thirsty. They have a bathroom on board. It has never been used," he said. "You just become a different kind of person. You even know you could die and it doesn't bother you." Reiss said he did notice some issues with the Titan, although he wasn't sure everything was a glitch. For instance, the communications didn't always work, like a cellphone losing service. The Titan's compass also started "acting frantically" when they got to the ocean floor near the sunken Titanic. "I don't know if that's an equipment failure or because magnetism is different two and a half miles down," he said. 'The fatal flaw is what he will be remembered for' Arnie Weissmann, editor in chief of Travel Weekly, never rode in the Titan despite spending a week aboard its support ship in late May, waiting for the weather to clear. He briefly climbed into the submersible, but the dive was ultimately canceled. Wind, fog and waves were the stated reasons, but Weissmann wondered whether the submersible's readiness was also a factor. Over cigars one night, Rush told Weissmann that he got the carbon fiber for the Titan's hull at a big discount because it was past its shelf-life for use in airplanes, Weissmann said. But Rush reassured him it was safe. "I really felt there were two Stockton Rushes," Weissman said. "There was the one who was a good team leader and efficient and getting the work done. And there was this cocky, self-assured, others be damned, 'I'm going to do it my way' sort of guy. And that's the one I saw when we went out the back of the boat and had our cigars." But he also was a strong leader, said Weissmann, who recalled Rush leading lengthy planning meetings and urging anyone who was interested to read a book called "The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right" that he left in the ship's lounge. If a repair was complex, Weissmann said Rush would tell those assigned to it to pause for five minutes after completing it to make sure it was done correctly. Looking back, Weissmann believes Rush had a fatal flaw: overconfidence in his engineering skills and the perception that he was a pioneer in an area that others weren't because they were sticking to the rules. "But in the end, for sure, the fatal flaw is what he will be remembered for — even though he was a three-dimensional human being like everybody else," Weissmann said. 'I was a bit naive' Arthur Loibl, a retired businessman and adventurer from Germany, was among OceanGate's first customers to dive to the sunken ocean liner. "You have to be a little bit crazy to do this sort of thing," he said. His submersible mates included Rush, French diver and Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet and two passengers from England. "Imagine a metal tube a few meters long with a sheet of metal for a floor. You can't stand. You can't kneel. Everyone is sitting close to or on top of each other," Loibl said. "You can't be claustrophobic." During the 2.5-hour descent and ascent, the lights were turned off to conserve energy, he said, with the only illumination coming from a fluorescent glow stick. The dive was repeatedly delayed to fix a problem with the battery and the balancing weights. In total, the voyage took 10.5 hours. He described Rush as a tinkerer who tried to make do with what was available to carry out the dives, but in hindsight, he said, "it was a bit dubious." "I was a bit naive, looking back now," Loibl said.

The owner of the Wagner private military contractor made his most direct challenge to the Kremlin yet on Friday, calling for an armed rebellion aimed at ousting Russia’s defense minister. The security services reacted immediately by calling for the arrest of Yevgeny Prigozhin. In a sign of how seriously the Kremlin was taking the threat, security was heightened in Moscow and in Rostov-on-Don, which is home to the Russian military headquarters for the southern region and also oversees the fighting in Ukraine. While the outcome of the confrontation was still unclear, it appeared likely to further hinder Moscow's war effort as Kyiv's forces were probing Russian defenses in the initial stages of a counteroffensive. Prigozhin claimed early Saturday that his forces had crossed into Russia from Ukraine and had reached Rostov, saying they faced no resistance from young conscripts at checkpoints and that his forces “aren’t fighting against children.” “But we will destroy anyone who stands in our way,” he said in one of a series of angry video and audio recordings posted on social media beginning late Friday. “We are moving forward and will go until the end.” He claimed that the chief of the General Staff, Gen. Valery Gerasimov, scrambled warplanes to strike Wagner’s convoys, which were driving alongside ordinary vehicles. Prigozhin also said his forces shot down a Russian military helicopter that fired on a civilian convoy, but there was no independent confirmation. Ukraine’s president tells other countries to act before Russia attacks nuclear plant And despite Prigozhin’s statements that Wagner convoys had entered Rostov-on-Don, there was no confirmation of that yet on Russian social networks. Videos showed heavy trucks blocking highways leading to the city, long convoys of National Guard trucks were seen on a road outside Rostov-on-Don and armored vehicles were roaming the streets. Prigozhin said Wagner field camps in Ukraine were struck by rockets, helicopter gunships and artillery fire on orders from Gerasimov following a meeting with Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, at which they decided to destroy Wagner. The Wagner forces have played a crucial role in Russia’s war in Ukraine, succeeding in taking the city where the bloodiest and longest battles have taken place, Bakhmut. But Prigozhin has increasingly criticized Russia’s military brass, accusing it of incompetence and of starving his troops of weapons and ammunition. What to know about India's ties with Russia Prigozhin, who said he had 25,000 troops under his command, said late Friday his troops would punish Shoigu in an armed rebellion and urged the army not to offer resistance. “This is not a military coup, but a march of justice,” Prigozhin declared. The National Anti-Terrorism Committee, which is part of the Federal Security Services, or FSB, has charged him with calling for an armed rebellion, which carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison. The FSB urged Wagner's contract soldiers to arrest Prigozhin and refuse to follow his “criminal and treacherous orders.” It called his statements a “stab in the back to Russian troops” and said they amounted to fomenting an armed conflict in Russia. President Vladimir Putin has been informed about the situation and “all the necessary measures were being taken," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. Heavy military trucks and armored vehicles were seen in several parts of central Moscow early Saturday, and soldiers toting assault rifles were deployed outside the main building of the Defense Ministry. The area around the presidential administration near Red Square was blocked, snarling traffic. But even amid the heightened military presence, downtown bars and restaurants were filled with customers. At one club near the headquarters of the FSB, people were dancing in the street near the entrance. Biden ready to welcome Modi, looking past human rights record and ties to Russia Prigozhin, whose feud with the Defense Ministry dates back years, had refused to comply with a requirement that military contractors sign contracts with the ministry before July 1. In a statement late Friday, he said he was ready to find a compromise but “they have treacherously cheated us.” “Today they carried out a rocket strike on our rear camps, and a huge number of our comrades got killed,” he said. The Defense Ministry denied attacking the Wagner camps. Prigozhin claimed that Shoigu went to the Russian military headquarters in Rostov-on-Don personally to direct the strike and then “cowardly” fled. “This scum will be stopped,” he said of Shoigu. “The evil embodied by the country’s military leadership must be stopped,” he shouted, urging the army not to offer any resistance to Wagner as it moves to “restore justice.” Col. Gen. Sergei Surovikin, the deputy commander of the Russian group of forces fighting in Ukraine, urged the Wagner forces to stop any move against the army, saying it would play into the hands of Russia's enemies, who are "waiting to see the exacerbation of our domestic political situation.” Tatiana Stanovaya, a political analyst, predicted this would be the end of Prigozhin. “Now that the state has actively engaged, there’s no turning back,” she tweeted. “The termination of Prigozhin and Wagner is imminent. The only possibility now is absolute obliteration, with the degree of resistance from the Wagner group being the only variable. Surovikin was dispatched to convince them to surrender. Confrontation seems totally futile.” Lt. Gen. Vladimir Alexeyev, a top military officer, denounced Prigozhin’s move as “madness” that threatened to unleash a civil war. “It’s a stab in the back to the country and the president,” he said. “It’s impossible to imagine a stronger blow to the image of Russia and its armed forces. Such a provocation could only be staged by enemies of Russia.” The Defense Ministry said in a statement that Ukraine's military was concentrating troops to launch an attack around Bakhmut to take advantage of “Prigozhin’s provocation.” It said Russian artillery and warplanes were firing on Ukrainian forces as they prepared to start an offensive in the area. In Washington, a spokesman for the National Security Council, Adam Hodge, said: "We are monitoring the situation and will be consulting with allies and partners on these developments.” In other developments in the Ukraine war, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on other countries to heed warnings that Russia may be planning to attack an occupied nuclear power plant to cause a radiation disaster. Members of his government briefed international representatives on the possible threat to the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, whose six reactors have been shut down for months. Zelenskyy said he expected other nations to “give appropriate signals and exert pressure” on Moscow. The Kremlin’s spokesman has denied the threat to the plant is coming from Russian forces. The potential for a life-threatening release of radiation has been a concern since Russian troops invaded Ukraine last year and seized the plant, Europe’s largest nuclear power station. The head of the U.N.’s atomic energy agency spent months trying to negotiate the establishment of a safety perimeter to protect the facility as nearby areas came under repeated shelling, but he has been unsuccessful. The International Atomic Energy Agency noted Thursday that “the military situation has become increasingly tense” while a Ukrainian counteroffensive that got underway this month unfolds in Zaporizhzhia province, where the namesake plant is located, and in an adjacent part of Donetsk province. Although the last of the plant’s six reactors was shut down last fall to reduce the risk of a meltdown, experts have warned that a radiation release could still happen if the system that keeps the reactors’ cores and spent nuclear fuel cool loses power or water. During months of fighting, Russia and Ukraine have traded blame over which side was increasing the threat to the plant. Ukrainian officials have accused Russia of mining the plant’s cooling system, already under threat from a dam collapse that drew down water in a reservoir used by the power station.

Pakistan's interior minister said Friday that an estimated 350 Pakistanis were on board an overcrowded fishing boat carrying migrants that sank off Greece last week, and many remain missing and may have died in one of the deadliest incidents in the central Mediterranean Sea. Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan told lawmakers in the National Assembly that an estimated 700 migrants were on the boat when it sank June 14. Only 104 people, including 12 Pakistanis, were rescued and 82 bodies have been recovered. The total number of people on the ship has not been confirmed. At least 79 dead after overcrowded migrant vessel sinks off Greece; hundreds may be missing Khan said many of the missing Pakistanis are feared dead. "So far, 281 families have contacted the government saying their sons or dear ones might have been among those who were on the boat," he said. Khan's comments shocked the lawmakers, who appeared distressed as he spoke. It was the first time a senior official has reported that so many Pakistani citizens were missing since the boat sinking. Officials are currently collecting DNA samples from people who say their relatives were on the vessel to help in the identification of the bodies. The government has also launched a crackdown on the human traffickers who arranged travel for the Pakistanis on the fishing boat, many of whom were seeking jobs in Europe. So far, police have arrested at least 17 suspected traffickers in connection with the case. Greece: 32 migrants dead, more than 100 rescued after fishing vessel capsizes Officials say the victims paid the smugglers between $5,000 and $8,000 for the voyage. Greece has been widely criticized for not trying to save the migrants before the sinking in international waters. Officials in Athens say the passengers refused any help and insisted on proceeding to Italy. Nine Egyptian men suspected of crewing the ship are in pretrial custody in Greece facing charges including participating in a criminal organization, manslaughter and causing a shipwreck. Pakistanis who believe they lost relatives in the sinking are urging others not to send their loved ones abroad illegally. "It is better to skip lunch or dinner while living in Pakistan instead of taking the risk of going abroad with help from smugglers," said Sawan Raza, who fears his brother, Ali Raza, is among the missing people. Coastguards recover bodies of 41 migrants off Tunisian coast Many of the missing migrants, including Raza, are from the country's most populous eastern Punjab province and remote towns in Kashmir, a disputed Himalayan region which is split between Pakistan and India. Pakistan is experiencing one of its worst economic crises, with inflation as high as 45% in recent months, and many young people have taken perilous trips to Europe to find better jobs.

Ukraine wants other countries to heed its warning that Russia may be planning to attack an occupied nuclear power plant to cause a radiation disaster, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. Members of his government briefed international representatives on Thursday on the possible threat to the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. In his nightly address, Zelenskyy said he expected other nations to “give appropriate signals and exert pressure” on Moscow. “Our principle is simple: The world must know what the occupier is preparing. Everyone who knows must act,” Zelenskyy said. “The world has enough power to prevent any radiation incidents, let alone a radiation catastrophe.” Also Read: Russia signs deal to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus The potential for a life-threatening release of radiation has been a concern since Russian troops invaded Ukraine last year and seized the plant, which is Europe’s largest nuclear power station. The head of the U.N.’s atomic energy agency spent months unsuccessfully trying to negotiate for a safety perimeter to protect the facility as nearby areas came under repeated shelling. The International Atomic Energy Agency noted Thursday that the “the military situation has become increasingly tense” while a Ukrainian counteroffensive that got underway this month unfolds in Zaporizhzhia province, where the namesake plant is located, and in an adjacent part of Donetsk province. On Friday, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi met with the director of Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom to discuss the conditions at the plant. Also Read: Both sides suffer heavy casualties as Ukraine strikes back against Russia, UK assessment says Rosatom director Alexey Likachev and other officials at the meeting in the Kaliningrad exclave “emphasized that they now expect specific steps” from the U.N. agency to prevent Ukrainian attacks on the plant and its adjacent territory, said a statement from the Russian corporation, whose divisions build and operate nuclear power plants. The governor of Zaporizhzhia, Yuriy Malashko, reported Friday that Russian shelling in the southern province killed two people in the past day. An attack that hit a transportation company in Kherson, the capital of Kherson province, killed two others on Friday, governor Oleksandr Prokudin said. Russia also fired 13 cruise missiles overnight at a military airfield in the western Khmelnytskyi province but Ukrainian air defenses intercepted them all, according to the air force. The attack came after Russian-appointed officials said that Ukrainian-fired missiles damaged a bridge that serves as key supply link to occupied areas of southern Ukraine. Also Read: Putin meets with African leaders in Russia to discuss Ukraine peace plan, but no visible progress Russia’s air-launched Kh-101 and Kh-555 missiles were sent from the Caspian Sea, the air force said. It did not identify the targeted airfield, but Ukraine has an air base near the Khmelnytskyi region’s town of Starokostiantyniv. The base houses fighter jets and bombers, and five years ago it hosted a training exercise with air force personnel from the United States, Ukraine and seven European countries. It has come under Russian attack previously, including within the last month. Ukrainian forces so far have made only incremental gains in Zaporizhzhia province, one of four regions of the country that Russian President Vladimir Putin illegally annexed last year. Putin has pledged to defend the regions as Russian territory. Zelenskyy has said that Ukraine is fighting to force Russian troops out of those regions and Crimea, which Moscow is using as a staging and supply route in the 16-month-old war. If the counteroffensive now in its early stages breaks the Russian defenses in the south, Ukrainian forces could attempt to reach a pair of occupied port cities on the Sea of Azoz and break Russia’s land bridge to Crimea. The Ukrainian leader’s nighttime remarks Thursday on a possible attack on the nuclear power plant carried a tone of frustration with “countries that are pretending to be neutral even now” in the war. He accused “anyone who turns a blind eye to Russia’s occupation of such a facility” of enabling Moscow to commit an act of evil and terror. “Obviously, radiation does not ask who is neutral and can reach anyone in the world. Accordingly, anyone in the world can help now, and it is quite clear what to do,” Zelenskyy said. On Friday, Russia claimed it was the target of “an information and propaganda campaign to discredit the country in the international arena.” Russia’s Federal Security Service, the FSB, said five people were arrested for trying to smuggle a kilogram of the radioactive isotope Cesium-137 out of the country under the direction of a Ukrainian citizen. The FSB said the material was to be used for “organizing staged scenes of the use of weapons of mass destruction.” Cesium-137 is often mentioned as of potential use in making a ”dirty bomb” that could contaminate a wide area.

A gang rampaged through the Cite Soleil slum, killing and raping and setting fire to hundreds of wood-and-tin homes. Forced out of the neighborhood, one family of four lived on the streets of Port-au-Prince until they were struck by a truck as they slept. Two brothers, 2 and 9, died in the November accident. Jean-Kere Almicar opened his home to their distraught parents, then another family, then another, until there were nearly 200 people camped out in his front yard and nearby. They are among more than 165,000 Haitians who have fled their homes amid a surge in gang violence, with nowhere to turn in this capital of nearly 3 million people. Also Read: UN agencies warn of starvation risk in Sudan, Haiti, Burkina Faso and Mali, call for urgent aid Almicar, who once lived in Scranton, Pennsylvania but moved back to Haiti in 2007, uses his own money. "There was nothing I could do except tell them to come in," Almicar said. "Their home doesn't exist anymore. If they go back, they're going to be killed." Some 79,000 people are temporarily staying with friends or family, but another 48,000 have crowded into dozens of makeshift shelters like Almicar's or sought refuge in parks, churches, schools and abandoned buildings in Port-au-Prince and beyond. The situation is overwhelming nonprofits and non-governmental organizations. "The government is not relocating anyone," said Joseph Wilfred, one of several volunteers in charge of an abandoned government building in Port-au-Prince that houses nearly 1,000 people, including him and his family. Also Read: Mob kills 13 suspected Haiti gangsters with gas-soaked tires Tens of thousands of Haitians have languished in these makeshift shelters for almost a year. They sleep on the hard floor or on flattened cardboard boxes. Belongings are stuffed into big rice bags pushed up against the walls of packed rooms. The gangs that chased them out of their homes and control up to 80% of the capital, by most estimates, are now recruiting children as young as 8 at shelters. One woman staying at Almicar's place, Lenlen Désir Fondala, said someone snatched her 5-year-old son while they were living in an outdoors park in November. Her face crinkled and she began to cry, whispering that she still dreams of him. Rapes also are common at the shelters and in the neighborhoods that gangs are razing. Lovely Benjamin, 26, has scars on her torso and arm after being shot by gangs and attacked with a machete. Her 4-year-old son bears a machete scar on his head. They are homeless, and Benjamin struggles to find work. The gangs torched the items that she used to sell, including rice and oil, and she doesn't have the money to buy more. She and her little boy survived the attack but gang members killed her partner and set his body on fire. Also Read: Journalist killed after police in Haiti open fire "Everybody was running," she recalled. "The gangs burst into everyone's home." Benjamin and her son now live in Almicar's front yard along with other neighbors from Cite Soleil. On a recent morning, they crowded together, surrounded by heaps of clothes soaked by recent floods. The rocky floor where they sit and sleep also serves as a makeshift kitchen, with some cooking beans or vegetables on tiny, charcoal-fired stoves. Those living alongside Benjamin include Januèlle Dafka and her 15-year-old daughter, Titi Paul, who were both raped and impregnated by gang members. Another neighbor, Rose Dupont, confided that she was nine months pregnant when four gang members shot her in the shoulder then beat and raped her, causing her to miscarry. The Associated Press does not identify people who say they are the victims of sexual assault unless they agree to be named, as Dafka, Paul and Dupont did. The women carry envelopes with detailed medical records of the horrors they endured and hope that someone will help them find a safe place to live. For now, they take refuge in the yard of Almicar, who is known as "Big Papa." "He has been investing his time, his money, not to mention his strength to keep us safe," said Dovenald Cetoute, 33, who lives there. But few are benevolent like Almicar. Police have been evicting people from makeshift shelters, and neighbors have threatened to kick out people left homeless because of fears that gang members might be hiding among them. The United Nations' International Organization for Migration has helped more than 3,400 people find homes in safer areas and gives families some $350 to cover one year of rent. But a growing number of those families are returning to shelters as gangs continue to invade communities once considered safe. Even makeshift shelters are closing and moving elsewhere because of the ongoing violence, said Philippe Branchat, head of the IOM in Haiti. "We are hearing these terrible stories very often," Branchat said, adding that the agency doesn't have access to about half of the makeshift shelters because of gang violence. "The situation is really, really bad." People at the shelters sometimes can only afford to eat one mango a day. Many young children are malnourished. On a recent morning at the abandoned government building that Wilfred helps manage as a makeshift shelter, a woman wailed against the wall as the tiny body of her 1-year-old goddaughter lay on the floor, wrapped in a towel. She had died just hours ago of suspected cholera. The night before, a 6-year-old boy died under similar circumstances, with health workers who visited the next morning suspecting cholera. Hours later, an ambulance came by to pick up two other children fighting cholera. The bacteria, which sickens people who swallow contaminated food or water, has been spreading at the shelter that has no power or running water, and just two makeshift holes in the ground that serve as a bathroom for nearly 1,000 people. The worsening situation is a regular topic at the biweekly meetings that leaders of the shelter hold for those living there. Sony Pierre, a spokesman for the committee that runs the shelter where he lives, said he is greatly concerned about the living conditions. "Look at this catastrophe," Pierre said as he waved his arms at the scene behind him, where flies buzzed around aggressively in the oppressive heat. "This is an emergency … We are looking for help to live with dignity."

The search for a missing Titanic-bound submersible has become an investigation and salvage mission that will take an indefinite amount of time, officials said, as tributes from around the world poured in for the five people killed when the vessel imploded deep in the North Atlantic. The announcement Thursday that all aboard perished when the submersible imploded near the site of the iconic shipwreck brought a tragic end to a five-day saga that included an urgent around-the-clock search and a worldwide vigil for the vessel known as the Titan. The investigation into what happened was already underway and would continue in the area around Titanic where debris from the submersible was found, said Rear Adm. John Mauger, of the First Coast Guard District. Also Read: Tourist sub's implosion draws attention to murky regulations of deep-sea expeditions "I know there are also a lot of questions about how, why and when did this happen. Those are questions we will collect as much information as we can about now," Mauger said, adding that it was a "complex case" that happened in a remote part of the ocean and involved people from several different countries. The first hint of a timeline came Thursday evening when a senior U.S. Navy official said that after the Titan was reported missing Sunday, the Navy went back and analyzed its acoustic data and found an "anomaly" that was consistent with an implosion or explosion in the general vicinity of where the vessel was operating when communications were lost. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive acoustic detection system. Also Read: Titan submersible imploded, killing all 5 on board, US Coast Guard says Those killed were Stockton Rush, the CEO of OceanGate Expeditions, the company that owned and operated the submersible; two members of a prominent Pakistani family, Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood; British adventurer Hamish Harding; and Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet. OceanGate, which has been chronicling the Titanic's decay and the underwater ecosystem around it via yearly voyages since 2021 that included paying tourists, released a statement calling all five people killed "true explorers who shared a distinct spirit of adventure, and a deep passion for exploring and protecting the world's oceans." Tributes to those killed and praise for the searchers who tried to save them poured in from across the globe. The White House thanked the Coast Guard, along with Canadian, British and French partners who helped in the search and rescue efforts. Also Read: 5 people on missing submersible believed to be dead, company says "Our hearts go out to the families and loved ones of those who lost their lives on the Titan. They have been through a harrowing ordeal over the past few days, and we are keeping them in our thoughts and prayers," it said in a statement. Pakistan's Foreign Ministry wrote on Twitter that it appreciates "the multinational efforts over the last several days in search of the vessel." The Dawood family also thanked all involved in the search. "Their untiring efforts were a source of strength for us during this time," the family said in a statement. "We are also indebted to our friends, family, colleagues and well-wishers from all over the world who stood by us during our need." Harding's family said in a statement: "He was one of a kind and we adored him... What he achieved in his lifetime was truly remarkable and if we can take any small consolation from this tragedy, it's that we lost him doing what he loved." The Titan launched at 6 a.m. Sunday and was reported overdue Sunday afternoon about 435 miles (700 kilometers) south of St. John's, Newfoundland. Rescuers rushed ships, planes and other equipment to the site of the disappearance. Authorities were hoping underwater sounds detected Tuesday and Wednesday might help narrow their search, whose coverage area had been expanded to thousands of miles — twice the size of Connecticut and in waters 2 1/2 miles (4 kilometers) deep. Any sliver of hope that remained for finding the crew alive, however, was wiped away early Thursday, when the submersible's 96-hour supply of air was expected to run out and the Coast Guard announced that a debris field had been found roughly 1,600 feet (488 meters) from the Titanic. "The debris is consistent with the catastrophic loss of the pressure chamber," Mauger said. The Coast Guard said Thursday that the sounds heard in the previous days were likely generated by something other than the Titan. "There doesn't appear to be any connection between the noises and the location (of the debris) on the seafloor," Mauger said. The Navy official who spoke of the "anomaly" heard Sunday said the Navy passed on the information to the Coast Guard, which continued its search because the Navy did not consider the data to be definitive. A longtime friend and colleague of Nargeolet told French media that when contact was lost Sunday, he quickly feared the worst. "Unfortunately, I thought straight away of an implosion," diver and retired underwater filmographer Christian Pétron said Friday to broadcaster France-Info. At the depths in which the submersible was operating, the pressures are intense and unforgiving — equivalent to hundreds of kilograms weighing down on each square centimeter, he noted. "Obviously, the slightest problem with the hull and its implosion is immediate," Pétron said. He opined that Nargeolet was aware of the risks but would have been powered by a thirst for further exploration of the Titanic wreck and its fauna and flora. Director James Cameron, who has made multiple dives to the wreckage of the Titanic, told the BBC that he knew an "extreme catastrophic event" had happened as soon as he heard the submersible had lost navigation and communications at the same time. "For me, there was no doubt," Cameron said. "There was no search. When they finally got an ROV (remotely operated vehicle) down there that could make the depth, they found it within hours. Probably within minutes." He said briefings about 96 hours of oxygen supply and banging noises were a "prolonged and nightmarish charade" that gave the crew members' families false hope. At least 46 people successfully traveled on OceanGate's submersible to the Titanic wreck site in 2021 and 2022, according to letters the company filed with a U.S. District Court in Norfolk, Virginia, that oversees matters involving the Titanic shipwreck. But questions about the submersible's safety were raised by both by a former company employee and former passengers. David Lochridge, OceanGate's former director of marine operations, argued in 2018 that the method the company devised for ensuring the soundness of the hull — relying on acoustic monitoring that could detect cracks and pops as the hull strained under pressure — was inadequate and could "subject passengers to potential extreme danger in an experimental submersible." "This was problematic because this type of acoustic analysis would only show when a component is about to fail — often milliseconds before an implosion — and would not detect any existing flaws prior to putting pressure onto the hull," Lochridge's attorneys wrote in a wrongful termination claim. OceanGate disagreed. Lochridge "is not an engineer and was not hired or asked to perform engineering services on the Titan," it said, and it noted he was fired after refusing to accept assurances from the company's lead engineer that the acoustic monitoring and testing protocol was, in fact, better suited to detect any flaws than a method Lochridge proposed. One of the company's first customers likened a dive he made to the site two years ago to a suicide mission. "Imagine a metal tube a few meters long with a sheet of metal for a floor. You can't stand. You can't kneel. Everyone is sitting close to or on top of each other," said Arthur Loibl, a retired businessman and adventurer from Germany. "You can't be claustrophobic." Loibl said the dive was repeatedly delayed to fix a problem with the battery and the balancing weights, pushing the length of the voyage to 10 1/2 hours, much of it conducted in near darkness to save batteries. Nicolai Roterman, a deep-sea ecologist and lecturer in marine biology at the University of Portsmouth, England, said the disappearance of the Titan highlights the dangers and unknowns of deep-sea tourism. "Even the most reliable technology can fail, and therefore accidents will happen. With the growth in deep-sea tourism, we must expect more incidents like this."  

Narendra Modi did something very unusual on Thursday at the White House — he took questions from journalists. It's a rare occurrence for the Indian prime minister who avoids unscripted moments and has presided over a steady decline in press freedom in his country. The news conference was more limited than the kind that U.S. presidents usually hold with foreign leaders, but even that wasn't easy to arrange with Modi. Indian officials agreed to the event only the day before, according to a person familiar with the matter who requested anonymity to discuss the sensitive negotiations. Administration officials told Modi's advisers that taking questions from the media was a standard part of how White House state visits are conducted, the person said. An Indian reporter asked about addressing climate change, and an American reporter pressed Modi on human rights concerns— a particularly delicate topic as the United States seeks closer ties with India as a bulwark against China's influence in the region. Read: Modi to start US visit with yoga on the UN lawn, a savvy and symbolic choice for India's leader Modi defended India by saying “democracy runs in our veins” and insisting that there is ”absolutely no space for discrimination.” Although Modi, who is 72, has granted sporadic interviews since becoming India's leader nine years ago, he has never held a solo press conference. Sometimes when asked questions he'll defer to others on stage with him. Modi also tends to keep reporters at a distance during overseas trips, such as last year in Germany, when the two countries announced a clean energy deal. The Indian delegation had insisted then that no press conference be held, according to a German official, who spoke only on condition of anonymity. However, Modi has loosened up a little in the company of American counterparts. Eight years ago, when President Barack Obama visited India, Modi answered questions from two reporters, including one from The Associated Press. Read: Biden hosting Modi as US sees India as a pivotal force in Asia for decades to come Modi is active on social media where hundreds of millions follow him, hosts a monthly radio program where he directly connects with listeners, and often makes big speeches. He uses these platforms to highlight government programs, inaugurate infrastructure projects and express condolences when an accident or tragedy strikes. But Modi has often remained silent on polarizing incidents, including when religious minorities have faced attacks by Hindu nationalists. He has also not commented on current ethnic violence roiling India’s remote northeast, where at least 100 people have died since May. “His silences are legendary – he has never asked people to refrain from sectarian violence,” said Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, author of a Modi biography. He suggested that Modi should not get much credit for any press conference in Washington if only a few questions were allowed. Modi's action, Mukhopadhyay said, “allows him to project an image as a more reasonable and democratic leader abroad, while he continues to evade press conferences at home, where he has scant regard for press freedom.” The decline in press freedom didn't start with Modi and his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, but it's increased. The country fell eleven places, to 160 out of 180 countries, in this year’s Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders. Read: Modi to lead foreign dignitaries in a session on Int'l Yoga Day at UN Secretariat The organization cited violence against journalists and a partisan media landscape as reasons that “press freedom is in crisis in the world’s largest democracy." “With an average of three or four journalists killed in connection with their work every year, India is one of the world’s most dangerous countries for media,” the report said. India’s foreign minister, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, dismissed the report’s claims at an event last month. In recent years, journalists have been arrested and some are stopped from traveling abroad. Dozens are facing criminal prosecution, including for sedition. At the same time, the government has introduced sweeping regulatory laws for social media companies that give it more power to police online content. A number of media outlets critical of Modi have also been subjected to tax searches, most recently the BBC after it aired a documentary that examined the prime minister’s role in 2002 anti-Muslim riots in the western state of Gujarat, where he was chief minister at the time. More than 1,000 people were killed in the violence. Modi has denied allegations that authorities under his watch allowed and even encouraged the bloodshed, and India's Supreme Court said it found no evidence to prosecute him. The two-part BBC program drew an immediate backlash from the Indian government, which invoked emergency powers under its information technology laws to block it from being shown in the country. Social media platforms including Twitter and YouTube also complied with government requests to remove links to the documentary.

French President Emmanuel Macron called Thursday for concrete solutions and massive investment for developing countries at the start of a two-day summit aimed at seeking better responses to tackle poverty and climate change issues by reshaping the global financial system. Speaking in Paris, Macron said no country should have to choose between "reducing poverty or protecting the planet." The summit, hosted by France, is bringing together more than 50 heads of state, world finance officials and activists. They will discuss ways of reforming the global financial system and address the debt, climate change, and poverty crises. Macron called for a "financing jolt," insisting on the need for more investment from both the public and private sectors, and the crucial role played by international institutions. "Faced with these challenges at the same time — poverty, climate and biodiversity — we must invest way more, and we are not up to the task," he said. Macron praised the International Monetary Fund's initiative to allocate more funds to low-income countries through Special Drawing Rights, which are an IMF international reserve asset that can be exchanged for hard currency. Also read: IFAD president urges new Global Financing Pact to prioritize small-scale farmers in poverty The Paris talks also come as the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine and a global debt crisis have led to a drop in life expectancy and an increase in poverty in most countries around the world, the United Nations Development Program reported. Developing nations point to an outdated system where the United States, Europe, China and other big economies that have caused most climate damage are leaving the poorest countries to deal with the consequences. The Paris summit comes in the wake of a plan championed by Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley to ease access to financing for climate-vulnerable countries. Mottley and other proponents have argued that developing countries are forced to pay such high interest rates that they struggle to finance adaptation projects, like sea walls, or green energy initiatives, like large solar farms, or simply make payments on outstanding loans when climate-infused disasters strike. Activists fear the talks won't meet expectations. Also read: Himalayan glaciers could lose 80% of their volume if global warming isn't controlled, study finds "The current financial system does not just need a bandage, it needs an intensive surgical intervention," said Harjeet Singh, head of global political strategy at Climate Action Network International. "There are some good ideas on the table," he noted, "but I must mention that they don't really go far enough." The Paris summit has no mandate to make formal decisions, French organizers stressed, but it aims to give a strong political impetus to key issues to be discussed in upcoming climate conferences and other international meetings. Macron, however, stressed that the summit should offer "very concrete solutions," pledging to draw a list of proposals that should be accompanied by a progress-tracking tool. "We demand cancellation of debt. We demand public finance for climate action, particularly adaptation. And addressing the loss and damage," Singh said, referring to the issue of polluters paying for their climate impacts. Climate activists and developing nations also urge rich countries to deliver on their existing commitments. Experts are expected to announce Thursday that the pledge to provide poor nations with $100 billion in aid each year to tackle global change is estimated to be met for the first time this year. First made in 2009 and reaffirmed at the 2015 Paris climate summit, the promise had never been fulfilled Also read: Poorest countries show strong support for IFAD in global efforts to combat hunger and poverty Amid key topics to be discussed are changes needed in the way the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund are lending and granting money to the most vulnerable countries. Both institutions have been criticized for not factoring climate change into lending decisions and being dominated by wealthy countries like the U.S. Summit participants are expected to back a tax on the greenhouse gas emissions produced from international shipping, with the aim to enable its adoption at a July meeting of the International Maritime Organization. To bring more money in, activists are pushing for a tax on the fossil fuel industry and another one on financial transactions — two proposals that appear to have little support from wealthier nations. Debt restructuring and cancellation are also to be debated, as a growing number of countries are struggling with unsustainable debt aggravated by climate change issues. Participants are to discuss a debt suspension clause for countries hit by extreme climatic events. Yet it would have no impact on existing debt, activists note. Cécile Duflot, Oxfam France general director, said there's a "historic, political responsibility" from wealthy nations and a "duty of solidarity" towards poorest countries. "We advocate for radical measures … because they are the only ones that are in line with the extent of the problem," she said. Climate activists staged a demonstration Wednesday near the Eiffel Tower with a banner saying "End fossil finance" and "Make polluters pay." Filipino climate justice activist Mitzi Jonelle Tan said "my country is one of the most climate-vulnerable countries in the world and we are experiencing this climate impact every single day. And yet we are expected, our generation and our countries, to go into debt … because most of climate finance is in the form of loans. We are saying: enough!" Forty heads of state and government are slated to attend the summit, many from poor and climate-vulnerable nations. Only two are members of the Group of Seven most developed countries — Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. The U.S. is represented by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and climate envoy John Kerry. Attendees include China's Prime Minister Li Qiang, Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres, World Bank head Ajay Banga and IMF President Kristalina Georgieva. Climate activists Greta Thunberg and Vanessa Nakate also are set to attend.  

The race against time to find a submersible that disappeared on its way to the Titanic wreckage site entered a new phase of desperation on Thursday morning as the final hours of oxygen possibly left on board the tiny vessel ticked off the clock. Rescuers have rushed more ships and vessels to the site of the disappearance, hoping underwater sounds they detected for a second straight day might help narrow their search in the urgent, international mission. But the crew had only a four-day oxygen supply when the vessel, called the Titan, set off around 6 a.m. Sunday. Also read: What we know about the Titanic-bound submersible that's missing with 5 people onboard Even those who expressed optimism warned that many obstacles remain: from pinpointing the vessel’s location, to reaching it with rescue equipment, to bringing it to the surface — assuming it’s still intact. And all that has to happen before the passengers’ oxygen supply runs out. The full area being searched was twice the size of Connecticut in waters as deep as 13,200 feet (4,020 meters). Captain Jamie Frederick of the First Coast Guard District said authorities were still holding out hope of saving the five passengers onboard. “This is a search and rescue mission, 100%,” he said Wednesday. Also read:  The area of the North Atlantic where the Titan vanished Sunday is also prone to fog and stormy conditions, making it an extremely challenging environment to conduct a search-and-rescue mission, said Donald Murphy, an oceanographer who served as chief scientist of the Coast Guard’s International Ice Patrol. Meanwhile, newly uncovered allegations suggest there had been significant warnings made about vessel safety during the submersible’s development. Frederick said while the sounds that have been detected offered a chance to narrow the search, their exact location and source hadn’t yet been determined. “We don’t know what they are, to be frank,” he said. Also read: Lost necklace unearthed in Titanic wreck after a century Retired Navy Capt. Carl Hartsfield, now the director of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Systems Laboratory, said the sounds have been described as “banging noises,” but he warned that search crews “have to put the whole picture together in context and they have to eliminate potential manmade sources other than the Titan.” The report was encouraging to some experts because submarine crews unable to communicate with the surface are taught to bang on their submersible’s hull to be detected by sonar. The U.S. Navy said in a statement Wednesday that it was sending a specialized salvage system that’s capable of hoisting “large, bulky and heavy undersea objects such as aircraft or small vessels.” The Titan weighs 20,000 pounds (9,071 kilograms). The U.S. Navy’s Flyaway Deep Ocean Salvage System is designed to lift up to 60,000 pounds (27,216kilograms), the Navy said on its website. Also read: Himalayan glaciers could lose 80% of their volume if global warming isn't controlled, study finds Lost aboard the vessel are pilot Stockton Rush, the CEO of the company leading the expedition. His passengers are a British adventurer, two members of a Pakistani business family and a Titanic expert. OceanGate Expeditions oversaw the mission. Authorities reported the 22-foot (6.7-meter) carbon-fiber vessel overdue Sunday night, setting off the search in waters about 435 miles (700 kilometers) south of St. John’s. Officials have said the vessel had a 96-hour oxygen supply, giving them a deadline of early Thursday morning to find and raise the Titan. Frank Owen, a submarine search and rescue expert, said the estimated oxygen supply is a useful “target” for searchers, but is only based on a “nominal amount of consumption.” Owen said the diver on board the Titan would likely be advising passengers to “do anything to reduce your metabolic levels so that you can actually extend this.” At least 46 people successfully traveled on OceanGate’s submersible to the Titanic wreck site in 2021 and 2022, according to letters the company filed with a U.S. District Court in Norfolk, Virginia, that oversees matters involving the Titanic shipwreck. One of the company’s first customers characterized a dive he made to the site two years ago as a “kamikaze operation.” “Imagine a metal tube a few meters long with a sheet of metal for a floor. You can’t stand. You can’t kneel. Everyone is sitting close to or on top of each other,” said Arthur Loibl, a retired businessman and adventurer from Germany. “You can’t be claustrophobic.” During the 2.5-hour descent and ascent, the lights were turned off to conserve energy, he said, with the only illumination coming from a fluorescent glow stick. The dive was repeatedly delayed to fix a problem with the battery and the balancing weights. In total, the voyage took 10.5 hours. OceanGate has been criticized for the use of a simple commercially available video game controller to steer the Titan. But the company has said that many of the vessel’s parts are off-the-shelf because they have proved to be dependable. “It’s meant for a 16-year-old to throw it around,” and is “super durable,” Rush told the CBC in an interview last year while he demonstrated by throwing the controller around the Titan’s tiny cabin. He said a couple of spares are kept on board “just in case.” The submersible had seven backup systems to return to the surface, including sandbags and lead pipes that drop off and an inflatable balloon. Jeff Karson, a professor emeritus of earth and environmental sciences at Syracuse University, said the temperature is just above freezing, and the vessel is too deep for human divers to get to it. The best chance to reach the submersible could be to use a remotely operated robot on a fiber optic cable, he said. “I am sure it is horrible down there,” Karson said. “It is like being in a snow cave and hypothermia is a real danger.” Documents show that OceanGate had been warned there might be catastrophic safety problems posed by the way the experimental vessel was developed. David Lochridge, OceanGate’s director of marine operations, said in a 2018 lawsuit that the company’s testing and certification was insufficient and would “subject passengers to potential extreme danger in an experimental submersible.” The company insisted that Lochridge was “not an engineer and was not hired or asked to perform engineering services on the Titan.” The firm also says the vessel under development was a prototype, not the now-missing Titan. The Marine Technology Society, which describes itself as “a professional group of ocean engineers, technologists, policy-makers, and educators,” also expressed concern that year in a letter to Rush, OceanGate’s chief executive. The society said it was critical that the company submit its prototype to tests overseen by an expert third party before launching in order to safeguard passengers. The New York Times first reported on those documents. The passengers lost on the Titan are British adventurer Hamish Harding; Pakistani nationals Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman, whose eponymous firm invests across the country; and French explorer and Titanic expert Paul-Henry Nargeolet. Retired Navy Vice Admiral Robert Murrett, who is now deputy director of the Institute for Security Policy and Law at Syracuse University, said the disappearance underscores the dangers associated with operating in deep water and the recreational exploration of the sea and space. “I think some people believe that because modern technology is so good, that you can do things like this and not have accidents, but that’s just not the case,” he said. End/UNB/AP/MB

The death toll from an explosion which ripped through a barbecue restaurant in Yinchuan, capital of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, on Wednesday night, has risen to 31, local authorities said Thursday. The blast happened at around 8:40 p.m. on a busy street in Xingqing District of Yinchuan, due to a leakage of liquefied petroleum gas from the operating area of a barbecue restaurant. N’ganj re-rolling mill explosion: Death toll now 7 The explosion resulted in 38 casualties, with 31 people confirmed dead despite rescue efforts, while seven individuals, including one in critical condition, are currently receiving medical treatment, according to Ningxia Hui Autonomous Regional Committee of the Communist Party of China. 12 die in explosion, helicopter crash during Chinese holiday