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Today’s Big Story

OceanGate’s Titan Submersible Implodes Killing Crew Of 5

A submersible carrying five people to the Titanic imploded near the site of the shipwreck and killed everyone on board, authorities said Thursday.

What happened? U.S. Coast Guard officials said on Thursday that the debris found by a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) suggests that the vessel’s pressure chamber suffered a “catastrophic loss,” meaning the external pressure was greater than the internal pressure of the vessel causing it to collapse inward.

• The U.S. Navy picked up sounds consistent with an explosion or implosion in the general area of where the Titan submersible was operating when communications were lost on Sunday.

• The Navy passed on the info to the U.S. Coast Guard, which continued its search because the Navy did not consider the data to be definitive.

Details: The five people included OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, who was piloting the excursion.

• Also on board were British billionaire Hamish Harding, ocean explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet, Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman.

Big Picture: OceanGate has ferried at least 46 people to the shipwreck and back successfully. However, questions about the submersible’s safety were raised by former passengers.

• One of the company’s first customers likened the trip to a “suicide mission” saying “you can’t kneel or stand and everyone is sitting close to or on top of each other.”

• He also said the lights were turned off during the 2 ½-hour ascent and descent to conserve power.

• The 10 ½-hour voyage was repeatedly delayed to fix a problem with the battery and the balancing weights.

Moving forward: Deep-sea ecologist Nicolai Roterman said that the disappearance of the Titan highlights the dangers and unknowns of deep-sea tourism. “As the industry grows, we must expect more incidents like this.”

Quick Bites

Business & Economy

U.S. stock markets closed mixed on Thursday (S&P +0.37%, Nasdaq +0.95%, Dow -0.01%).

The U.S. will loan Ford and South Korea’s SK On up to $9.2bn to build three battery factories in Tennessee and Kentucky.

Vice Media, formerly worth billions and now bankrupt, will be acquired by Fortress Investment group and two other companies for $225m.

World

Kenya will launch the largest school food program in Africa to provide daily lunches for four million primary school children to eliminate “the shame of hunger.”

A gas explosion at a restaurant in China killed at least 31 people. An employee was fixing a broken valve on a liquified gas tank when the blast occurred.

16,500 people including children were forcibly sterilized under a eugenics law in Japan between 1948 and 1996.

US News, Politics, & Government

The Supreme Court ruled against against the Navajo Nation in a legal dispute finding that a 1868 treaty does not require the U.S. to secure water for the Navajo.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the White House and shot down questions about his country’s human rights record during a press conference.

Texas continues to take a beating as a Tornado ripped through the town of Matador Thursday killing at least 4 people and injuring 9 more.

Sports & Entertainment

The San Antonio Spurs took 7’5 French phenom Victor Wembanyama with the 1st pick in the 2023 NBA draft.

LSU takes down Wake Forest 2-0 to make the Men’s College World Series where they will face Florida.

Singer Kesha and producer Dr. Luke settle a decade long legal battle over claims of rape and defamation.

Science, Health, & Tech

The FDA approved the first gene therapy for a deadly form of muscular dystrophy in young kids on Thursday. Duchenne muscular dystrophy almost always affects males.

57,000-year-old Neanderthal engravings were found in a cave in France’s Loire Valley.

Zuck vs. Elon: The two giant tech CEOs agreed to face off in a cage fight during a recent Twitter exchange.

Extras

A guest spent 603 nights in a five star hotel in India without paying.

The world’s most livable cities for 2023.

A doctor’s group promoting plant-based eating doesn’t approve of a local baseball team’s name: The Macon Bacon.

The most dog-friendly beaches in the U.S.