Darius Rucker recently played a game of Flame or Lame on Instagram — summer activities style.
In the new Instagram Reel, Darius did a rapid-fire round of his favorite summer activities. Some of the things Darius weighed in on are fishing, being out on a pontoon boat, lighting a bonfire and summer school.
So what does Darius enjoy doing the most in the summertime? Watch his Instagram Reel to find out.
File image of the Titan submersible prior to commence diving. (Ocean Gate)
(NEW YORK) — The search is intensifying for a submersible carrying five people that vanished while on a tour of the Titanic wreckage off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada.
The 21-foot deep-sea vessel, operated by OceanGate Expeditions, lost contact about an hour and 45 minutes after submerging on Sunday morning with a 96-hour oxygen supply. That amount of breathable air is forecast to run out on Thursday morning, according to the United States Coast Guard, which is coordinating the search and rescue efforts.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Jun 22, 3:11 PM EDT
Debris consistent with ‘catastrophic loss of the pressure chamber’
Coast Guard officials said a remote-operated vehicle found the tail cone of the Titan submersible about 1,600 feet from the bow of the Titanic Thursday morning.
Additional debris found was “consistent with the catastrophic loss of the pressure chamber,” Rear Adm. John Mauger, the First Coast Guard District commander, said during a press briefing.
The passengers’ families were immediately notified.
Five major pieces of debris were found, including the nose cone, officials said.
The debris indicates there was a “catastrophic implosion” of the vessel, Mauger said.
It’s too early to tell when the implosion occurred, officials said.
“This is an incredibly unforgiving environment down there on the seafloor,” Mauger said.
Jun 22, 2:52 PM EDT
All lives believed to be lost: OceanGate
All five aboard the missing submersible are believed to be lost amid a search for the vessel, OceanGate said.
“We now believe that our CEO Stockton Rush, Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood, Hamish Harding, and Paul-Henri Nargeolet, have sadly been lost,” OceanGate said in a statement.
“These men were true explorers who shared a distinct spirit of adventure, and a deep passion for exploring and protecting the world’s oceans,” the statement continued. “Our hearts are with these five souls and every member of their families during this tragic time. We grieve the loss of life and joy they brought to everyone they knew.”
Jun 22, 1:39 PM EDT
Canadian assets on scene for assistance
A Royal Canadian Navy ship HMCS Glace Bay has been on scene since about 8 a.m. ET Thursday morning. The ship provides a medical team specializing in dive medicine and a six-person mobile hyperbaric recompression chamber, according to officials.
Canadian Coast Guard ships John Cabot, Ann Harvey and Terry Fox are on scene and ready to provide rescue equipment and personnel should assistance be required. A Royal Canadian Air Force CP-140 Aurora aircraft is also maintaining continuous on-scene support with additional aircrews and assets, according to officials.
-ABC News’ Luke Barr
Jun 22, 12:10 PM EDT
‘Debris field’ discovered within search area, US Coast Guard says
The U.S. Coast Guard announced via Twitter late Thursday morning that “a debris field was discovered within the search area by” a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) “near the Titanic” wreckage.
“Experts within the unified command are evaluating the information,” the U.S. Coast Guard tweeted.
The Coast Guard is set to hold a briefing on the findings from the Horizon Arctic’s ROV at 3 p.m. ET.
Jun 22, 10:58 AM EDT
Crew members could survive for ‘hours’ after airtank depleted, doctor says
Despite their onboard oxygen tank expected to be depleted sometime Thursday morning, one doctor says they may have more time if the passengers are still alive. He estimates the five people aboard the lost Titanic tourist sub could survive for 10 to 20 hours with air still circulating through the experimental capsule.
Dr. Richard Moon, a professor of anesthesiology at Duke University, said that despite conditions being dire, those aboard the OceanGate Expedition’s submersible could extend the oxygen available after its tank is depleted by staying calm and moving as little as possible.
“The actual amount of time that they have is unpredictable, but it’s probably less than 24 hours after the final oxygen in the tank is depleted,” Moon, director of the Duke Center for Hyperbaric Medicine and Environmental Physiology, told ABC News.
Jun 22, 10:50 AM EDT
French ROV enters water in search area
The U.S. Coast Guard announced via Twitter on Thursday morning that a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) deployed by the French vessel L’Atalante has entered the water in the search area.
The U.S. Coast Guard also gave an update on the conditions at sea, saying winds were at 14 mph with gusts up to 19 mph, swells were 4 to 5 feet and the air temperature was 50 degrees Fahrenheit.
Jun 22, 7:19 AM EDT
Canadian ROV begins search on sea floor
The U.S. Coast Guard announced via Twitter early Thursday that a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) deployed by the Canadian vessel Horizon Arctic has reached the sea floor, beginning its search for the missing submersible.
Meanwhile, the French vessel L’Atalante is preparing its ROV to enter the water in the search area, the U.S. Coast Guard said.
Jun 22, 6:29 AM EDT
Search becomes dire as time runs out
Time is running out as rescuers race to locate and save five people trapped in a submersible that vanished during a tour of the Titanic wreckage on Sunday morning.
The deep-sea vessel submerged at 8 a.m. ET on Sunday with a 96-hour oxygen supply, according to the U.S. Coast Guard. That amount of breathable air is forecast to run out on Thursday morning.
The search and rescue mission remains ongoing.
Jun 22, 12:21 AM EDT
Wife of missing OceanGate CEO is great-great-granddaughter of couple who died on Titanic: NYT
The New York Times traced the lineage of Wendy Rush, wife of missing OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, and found that she’s the great-great-granddaughter of a couple who died on the Titanic, Isidor and Ida Straus.
The executive director of the Straus Historical Society told ABC News that The Times article, which cites archival records, is largely correct with regard to Wendy Weil Rush’s heritage.
Jun 21, 5:44 PM EDT
US Navy crane in Newfoundland but awaiting ship
A U.S. Navy portable crane system capable of bringing up items from as deep as 20,000 feet has arrived in St. John’s, Newfoundland, but is waiting to be welded onto a chartered ship to take it to the search area for the missing submersible, according to a U.S. Navy official.
The Navy has not yet contracted a ship for the salvage system, known as Fly Away Deep Ocean Salvage System or FADOSS, the official told reporters Wednesday. Once the ship is contracted, Navy teams will spend approximately 24 hours working around the clock to weld the system aboard the ship before it can leave port, the official said.
FADOSS is the salvage system the U.S. Navy uses for all of its deep-water recoveries. Last year, it was able to bring up an F/A-18 aircraft that had fallen into the waters of the Mediterranean Sea.
-ABC News’ Luis Martinez
Jun 21, 2:56 PM EDT
Head of Horizon Maritime, which owns the Polar Prince boat, holding out hope
The co-founder and Board chair of Horizon Maritime, the company that owns the Polar Prince boat that took the Titan submersible out to sea, is speaking out.
“We have been supporting the Titanic expeditions for several years,” Sean Leet said, calling the Polar Prince “an iconic former Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker that has been upgraded with advanced technology.”
“All protocols were followed” for the submersible’s mission, he said at a news conference Wednesday, calling the missing sub an “unprecedented” situation.
Equipment heading to search site can reach the depths of the submersible and potentially take it to the surface, he said.
“We wish to thank everyone involved in this rescue mission, especially the U.S. and Canadian Coast Guards, the organizations that have made their marina assets available including the French government … [and] the many private companies that have dropped everything at a moment’s notice,” Leet said.
“Our thoughts and focus remain with the crew of the Titan and their families,” he said.
Leet said he is holding out hope that the five-person crew will be brought home safely.
“We’ll continue to hold out hope until the very end,” he said.
Jun 21, 1:34 PM EDT
Coast Guard searching in area where noise was detected
As crews scour the Atlantic for the missing submersible, the Coast Guard said it’s searching in the area where a noise was detected.
The unidentified noise was detected Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.
The data on the noise was sent to the U.S. Navy to be examined, he said.
“We have to remain optimistic and hopeful when we’re in a search and rescue mission,” Capt. Jamie Frederick, the First Coast Guard District response coordinator, said at a news conference Wednesday.
The five crew members submerged underwater Sunday morning with about 96 hours of oxygen available to them. That oxygen is forecast to run out Thursday morning.
When asked about the search becoming a recovery mission, Frederick said Wednesday, “We’re not there yet.”
Jun 21, 1:21 PM EDT
Coast Guard searching in area where noise was detected
As crews scour the Atlantic for the missing submersible, the Coast Guard said it’s searching in the area where a noise was detected.
The unidentified noise was detected Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.
“We have to remain optimistic and hopeful when we’re in a search and rescue mission,” Capt. Jamie Frederick, the First Coast Guard District response coordinator, said at a news conference Wednesday.
The five crew members submerged underwater Sunday morning with about 96 hours of oxygen available to them. That oxygen is forecast to run out Thursday morning.
When asked about the search becoming a recovery mission, Frederick said Wednesday, “We’re not there yet.”
Jun 21, 12:56 PM EDT
Canada sends ship with advanced, deep sonar
One of the ships the Canadian Coast Guard sent to the rescue effort, the John Cabot, is equipped with advanced, deep sonar, said Joyce Murray, minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard.
“We’ve sent so many assets to the search team to help,” Murray said. “Authorities still have hope in the mission.”
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
Jun 21, 12:47 PM EDT
Former passenger says his sub lost contact with host ship on all 4 trips
Mike Reiss, who has done four, 10-hour dives with OceanGate, including one to the Titanic, told ABC News his sub lost contact with the host ship on every dive.
“Every time they lost communication — that seems to be just something baked into the system,” he said.
With no GPS, Reiss said it took his crew three hours to find the Titanic despite landing just 500 yards from the ship.
Reiss said he signed “a waiver that mentions death three times on the first page.”
“It is always in the back of your head that this is dangerous, and any small problem will turn into a major catastrophe,” he said.
He said the submersible is built simply and is “just propelled by two fans on the outside.”
“Even I was able to steer and navigate the sub for a while,” he noted.
Reiss said his greatest fear was that the sub wouldn’t be able to release the weights that force it to submerge once it was time to rise to the surface.
-ABC News’ Gio Benitez and Sam Sweeney
Jun 21, 9:00 AM EDT
Would-be crew member of missing sub speaks out
Digital marketing tycoon Chris Brown originally planned to go on Sunday’s submersible tour of the Titanic wreckage but withdrew due to safety concerns. His friend, Hamish Harding, is among those aboard the missing vessel.
Brown, who described himself as a “modern day adventurer,” admitted that he knew “very little” about the tour operator, OceanGate Expeditions, prior to signing up. But he said the deep-sea trip initially sounded “like a great idea.”
“The Titanic’s obviously an iconic wreck,” Brown told ABC News’ Michael Strahan during an interview Wednesday on Good Morning America.
“OceanGate had put forward this program to go down and do a 3D scan of the wreck,” he added. “So it’s a chance for an expedition, exploration and adding a bit of science into the situation.”
Brown said safety concerns ultimately led him to pull out of the trip, but he declined to go into detail.
“I’m not really sure that this is the time to be going into that sort of thing,” he added. “I think that the focus right now has to be on trying to rescue these people. It’s not fair on the families and friends to be making speculation about what might’ve happened or how it happened at this point.”
Brown said he feels “no” apprehension about joining similar projects in the future but noted that it’s important to “think about all the risks.”
“If you don’t have an appetite for those risks, then you might not go ahead,” he said. “You may try and mitigate those by bringing in some expertise from outside. You might have other risks or dangers that could be mitigated by changing the time of when you go out there.”
Jun 21, 7:33 AM EDT
New details emerge about how the missing sub navigated the ocean
The submersible that was reported missing while on a tour of the underwater wreckage of the Titanic is an unorthodox vessel with a relatively unproven history, according to company press materials and experts familiar with underwater vehicles.
News of the vessel’s disappearance prompted a flurry of interest in the company OceanGate Expeditions and its deep-sea submersible called the Titan.
The company’s founder and CEO, Stockton Rush, who is one of the five people aboard the missing vessel, manned the Titan’s first “validation dive” to 4,000 meters in 2018, according to the company. The company then began offering tourists the opportunity to dive to the depths of the Titanic in the following years, selling tickets for the 2023 journey for $250,000.
Jun 21, 6:57 AM EDT
‘Banging’ picked up by sonar in search area, source says
A source familiar confirmed to ABC News that there were reports of “banging” that were picked up by sonar in the search area on Tuesday morning, but nothing has yet been found.
The U.S. Coast Guard had said early Wednesday that an aircraft with sonar capability “detected underwater noises in the search area,” but remotely operated vehicles were unable to find the origin of the sound.
Jun 21, 6:34 AM EDT
Titanic mapping company ‘fully mobilized’ to help
Magellan, an international exploration company that digitally mapped the Titanic wreckage last year, said Wednesday that it is “ready to support” the search for the missing submersible and is “fully mobilized to help.”
The U.K.-based company told ABC News that it was contacted by the submersible’s operator, OceanGate Expeditions, early Monday and “immediately offered our knowledge of the specific site and also our expertise operating at depth considerably in advance of what is required for this incident.”
“We have been working full-time with U.K. and U.S. agencies to secure the necessary air support to move our specialist equipment and support crew,” Magellan said in a statement.
When asked for comment about media reports that U.S. authorities have failed to give Magellan the necessary permits to participate in the search, the company told ABC News it “does not not wish to comment on any specific media report.”
Jun 21, 12:34 AM EDT
USCG: Canadian aircraft detected ‘underwater noises’ but search ‘yielded negative results’
“Canadian P-3 aircraft detected underwater noises in the search area,” the U.S. Coast Guard tweeted early Wednesday morning. “As a result, ROV operations were relocated in an attempt to explore the origin of the noises. Those ROV searches have yielded negative results but continue.”
The data from the P-3 has been shared with U.S. Navy experts for further analysis, the Coast Guard added.
Jun 21, 12:34 AM EDT
Lawsuit alleged flaws with Titanic sub now missing
A former employee of OceanGate alleged in a 2018 counterclaim lawsuit that he was fired for raising concerns about quality control and testing of potential flaws in the same experimental submersible that went missing this week.
David Lochridge, an engineer and submarine pilot, claimed in his counterclaim against OceanGate that he was hired in 2015 by the Everett, Washington, company to ensure the safety of all crew and clients during the submersible and surface operations of the vessel called Titan. But when he expressed concerns about the design and testing of the minisub’s hull, he said he was terminated by the company.
OceanGate had initially sued Lochridge alleging, among other things, breach of contract, fraud and misappropriation of trade secrets — all claims he denied.
In its lawsuit, OceanGate accused Lochridge of breaching his contract by discussing the company’s confidential information with the Occupational Health and Safety Administration “when he filed a false report claiming that he was discharged in retaliation for being a whistleblower.”
Jun 20, 10:15 PM EDT
Latest Coast Guard bulletin spells out timeline for missing sub search
The U.S. Coast Guard sent out its latest release Tuesday night on the search for the missing submersible at the Titanic crash site.
According to the latest release:
Sunday, June 18, 8 a.m. ET: Submersible launches, supposed to resurface at 3 p.m., but an hour and 45 minutes into the dive, it loses contact.
Sunday, June 18, 5:40 p.m. ET: Coast Guard receives report of overdue submersible.
Monday, June 19: Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City, North Carolina, and C-130 Hercules aircraft, as well as a Canadian P8 aircraft equipped with underwater sonar capability, search for the missing submersible, according to a previous release.
Tuesday, June 20, 7 a.m. ET: Bahamian research vessel Deep Energy arrives.
Tuesday, June 20, 4 p.m. ET: C-130 crew from Air National Guard 106th arrives.
Jun 20, 8:33 PM EDT
Experts expressed Titan safety concerns in 2018 letter
Members of a committee specializing in submersibles expressed “unanimous concern regarding the development” of Titan in a 2018 letter addressed to OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, who is one of the passengers aboard the missing vessel.
The letter was obtained by The New York Times and was later authenticated by ABC News.
The letter warned of possible “catastrophic” problems with Titan’s development that could have “serious consequences for everyone in the industry.” The letter goes on to say that OceanGate’s safety claims were “misleading to the public” and insisted Titan be reviewed by a third-party organization.
The letter, which was addressed from the Marine Technology Society, was never approved to be sent to OceanGate though was quickly leaked to its CEO, according to committee chair William Kohnen.
“The letter did represent in 2018 the consensus by many people in the industry that they were not considering following the standard safety protocols and designs that the industry uses,” Kohnen told ABC News.
Though he wishes it was not leaked at the time, nor now to The New York Times, Kohnen said he stands by the letter and its warnings.
“The company had indicated that their state of innovation was beyond, beyond what was allowable within the regulatory standards we have today and that they would proceed without certification,” Kohnen said. “That worried a number of people in the industry.”
Kohnen acknowledged that OceanGate did “heed” some of the comments made in the 2018 letter.
-ABC News’ Amanda Maile and Victor Ordoñez
Jun 20, 6:02 PM EDT
NASA weighs in on missing submersible
NASA released a statement Tuesday on the Titan, saying it remains “hopeful the crew will be found unharmed.”
“NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center had a Space Act Agreement with OceanGate, and consulted on materials and manufacturing processes for the submersible. NASA did not conduct testing and manufacturing via its workforce or facilities,” the agency said.
-ABC News’ Gina Sunseri
Jun 20, 6:17 PM EDT
Search teams have covered 7,600 square miles
Search and rescue teams have now covered 7,600 square miles — an area bigger than the state of Connecticut — as they scour the ocean for the missing submersible, Coast Guard officials said.
A grid depicting the expanding search area is expected Tuesday night, according to a public information affairs lieutenant for the First District of the U.S. Coast Guard.
-ABC News’ Miles Cohen
Jun 20, 3:09 PM EDT
US Navy sending salvage experts, equipment to help with submersible
The U.S. Navy said it’s sending to the search site experts and equipment “designed to provide reliable deep ocean lifting capacity for the recovery of large, bulky, and heavy undersea objects.”
The equipment, which can lift up to 60,000 pounds, and the experts will arrive in Canada Tuesday night, the Navy said.
National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said earlier Tuesday that the Navy was”on standby” to help with the search for the missing submersible, because the Navy has “some deep-water capabilities that the Coast Guard wouldn’t necessarily have.”
President Joe Biden is “watching events closely,” Kirby said, adding that Biden and the White House offer their thoughts “to the crew onboard, as well as to the — what is no doubt — worried family members back on shore.”
Jun 20, 1:24 PM EDT
3 Air Force C-17’s transporting equipment to Newfoundland
Three U.S. Air Force C-17 cargo aircraft will be transporting commercial equipment from Buffalo, New York, to Newfoundland, Canada, to help with the search efforts, according to a U.S. official.
-ABC News’ Luis Martinez
Jun 20, 1:16 PM EDT
Search area larger than Connecticut, about 41 hours of oxygen left
Efforts to locate the missing submersible are ongoing, and the “complex” search covers an area larger than the state of Connecticut, Coast Guard Capt. Jamie Frederick said at a news conference Tuesday.
Crews are scouring the ocean 900 miles east of Cape Cod and 400 miles south of St. John’s, Canada, he said.
The missing five-person crew on the submersible has about 41 hours of oxygen left, Frederick noted.
“We will do everything in our power to effect a rescue,” Frederick said.
“We have a group of our nation’s best experts,” he said, and once the sub is located, “those experts will be looking at what the next course of action is” to rescue the crew members.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the crew and their families and their loved ones,” Frederick added.
Jun 20, 12:58 PM EDT
Former ABC News correspondent recounts moment his sub was trapped in Titanic’s propeller
In 2000, Dr. Michael Guillen, then an ABC News correspondent, was filming from the wreck of the Titanic when his vessel became trapped in the propeller.
“When we collided with the propeller, and I started seeing those big chunks of metal raining down on us … the first reaction I had was, ‘This can’t be happening,'” he recalled to ABC News on Tuesday.
“We got caught by this underwater turn and just drove us right into the blades,” Guillen said.
“This voice came into my head and said, you know, ‘This is how it’s going to end for you,'” he recalled. “I’ll never forget those words.”
“I’m very aware of what these poor souls on board the ship the Titan are experiencing,” he said. “I am just heartbroken about it.”
Jun 20, 11:35 AM EDT
French sending assistance
At the request of French President Emmanuel Macron, a French ship named Atalante is diverting to the area of the missing submissive and should reach the area Wednesday night.
The ship has an exploration robot that can dive up to 4,000 meters, according to a spokesman for France’s Ifremer Institute.
Jun 20, 9:04 AM EDT
‘It’s a race against time’
Per Wimmer, an explorer and global financier, told ABC News he was “shocked” and “horrified” to hear of the missing submersible.
“It felt very personal. … I’ve been wanting to go down to the Titanic for more than a decade,” Wimmer said.
He estimated that there’s been between 150 and 200 missions to the Titanic.
There “are very, very few submersibles in the whole world that can go down to the depth of Titanic, which sits at 3,800 meters, or about 12,000 feet,” Wimmer said. “It’s very deep — most submersibles can go down to about 1,000 meters.”
“It’s a race against time, because there’s only 96 hours of oxygen on board. And after that, if you haven’t reached the surface, you starve of oxygen,” he said.
“Our best hope at the moment is that the safety mechanism will be activated,” he said. “It is supposed to be able to float to the surface, little by little, and then they can open the hatch and hopefully get out again. That is the only hope we have, because you do not have enough time to get another submersible that can go that deep.”
Jun 20, 8:19 AM EDT
What to know about the 5 people aboard the missing sub
Renowned explorers and a father-son duo were among the five people aboard a submersible that disappeared in the Atlantic Ocean on Sunday while touring the Titanic wreckage, ABC News has learned.
ABC News has confirmed and identified four of those on aboard as Hamish Harding, a British businessman, pilot and space tourist; Paul-Henri Nargeolet, a French diver and Titanic expert; Shahzada Dawood, a Pakistani businessman, and his son Suleman Dawood.
Jun 20, 7:48 AM EDT
US Coast Guard commander talks search for missing sub
The United States Coast Guard commander leading the search for a missing submersible off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada, said Tuesday morning that crews in multiple aircraft have flown over an area of the Atlantic Ocean “roughly about the size of Connecticut” while “looking for any signs of surfacing.”
“As we continue on with the search, we’re expanding our capabilities to be able to search under the water as well,” Rear Adm. John Mauger, commander of the First Coast Guard District, told ABC News’ Robin Roberts during an interview on Good Morning America.
A commercial vessel with remotely operated vehicles is now on scene that will allow rescuers to search underwater, according to Mauger.
“This is a complex case,” he added. “The Coast Guard doesn’t have all the resources to be able to affect this kind of rescue, although this is an area that’s within our search zone.”
In many cases, Mauger said, the Coast Guard’s role is to coordinate all of the assets and technical expertise that can be used in a search, in addition to operating aircraft or ships when necessary.
“In this particular case, we’ve established a unified command with the United States Navy, with the Canadian Armed Forces, with the Canadian Coast Guard and with the private operator OceanGate Expeditions to make sure that we understand what’s needed and deploy all available equipment to the scene that could be used to locate this submersible, whether it’s on the surface or down beneath the surface,” he said.
Crews have been working “around the clock” to locate the deep-sea vessel since it lost contact with its operator on Sunday morning, according to Mauger.
In the last 24 hours, a Canadian aircraft has been dropping sonar buoys into the water that can pick up sound the submersible may be emitting. Vessels that have the capability to listen with their own sonar equipment are also on scene, according to Mauger.
“If they are making sound, that’s certainly one of the ways that we’re going to use to locate them,” he said.
Jun 20, 6:18 AM EDT
Missing sub is believed to be deeper than NATO rescue capability
A tourist submersible that disappeared in the Atlantic Ocean on Sunday is believed to be at depths that greatly exceed the capabilities of the NATO Submarine Rescue System (NSRS), according to a spokesperson for the United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defense.
“As the host nation for NATO’s multinational submarine rescue capability, we continue to monitor the incident in the North Atlantic and will guide and assist in any response activity as appropriate,” the spokesperson told ABC News in a statement on Tuesday.
The U.K. has not been approached to offer assistance in the ongoing search for the deep-sea vessel off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada, according to the spokesperson.
Initial reports indicate that the depths of water involved greatly exceed that which the NSRS team can safely operate — 610 meters for the NSRS submersible and 1,000 meters for the NSRS remotely operated vehicle, according to the spokesperson.
The NSRS is based at the home of the U.K. Royal Navy Submarine Service in HM Naval Base Clyde, the U.K. Royal Navy’s headquarters in Scotland. Introduced in 2006, the tri-national capability team can respond to a stricken submarine in rescuable water which is capable of mating with the NSRS submarine rescue vehicle, according to the spokesperson.
Jun 20, 5:03 AM EDT
Former Navy sub captain on rescue options
Rescuers racing against the clock to save the five people trapped in a tourist submersible nearly two miles deep in the Atlantic Ocean are facing major obstacles that could make saving the people onboard extremely difficult, according to a former U.S. Navy submarine commander.
Retired Capt. David Marquet told ABC News on Monday that this type of rescue operation is complicated because there aren’t nearby U.S. or Canadian underwater vessels that can go as deep as the Titanic wreckage, which sits 13,400 feet below the ocean’s surface. Also, the ocean is pitch black at that depth.
“The odds are against them,” Marquet said. “There’s a ship in Boston that has this ability to either lower cable and connect to it or have a claw. It’s still a thousand miles away.”
Even if a vessel was able to locate the submersible and lower a cable, it’s extremely difficult to safely navigate the waters and attach it, according to Marquet.
“You’ve got to get it exactly right,” he told ABC News. “It’s sort of like … getting one of those toys out of those arcade machines. In general, you miss.”
Rescuers do have one advantage, Marquet said, as weather conditions off the coast of Newfoundland are not rough and will not disturb any boat or vessel there.
Marquet added that if the five people aboard are still alive, they would be asked to sleep to conserve their oxygen.
“We would put the vast majority of the crew to sleep because that’s when you’re using the least amount of oxygen and you’re expelling the least amount of carbon dioxide,” he said.
Jun 20, 4:27 AM EDT
What to know about the missing sub
A submersible on a tour of the Titanic wreckage was reported overdue by its operator OceanGate Expeditions on Sunday, prompting the United States Coast Guard to launch a search and rescue effort for the 22-foot, 23,000-pound vessel.
Designed with life support to sustain five crew members for 96 hours, the submersible would need to be rescued in three days to save its five passengers, according to the Coast Guard.
Stockton Rush founded Washington-based OceanGate in 2009 to make deep-sea exploration more accessible to scientists and tourists. Fourteen years, more than 200 dives and three submersible designs later, the company now finds itself in a desperate search to recover the submersible carrying five people aboard that’s gone missing off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada.
OceanGate confirmed Monday it had lost contact with a submersible, saying in a statement: “We are exploring and mobilizing all options to bring the crew back safely. Our entire focus is on the crewmembers in the submersible and their families. We are working toward the safe return of the crewmembers.”
Time to Relax is hosted by frontman Dexter Holland and guitarist Noodles, as well as longtime friend Jason “Blackball” McLean, who you may know as the guy who sings the “You gotta keep ’em separated” line on “Come Out and Play.”
“I’m looking forward to talking to friends about music, and sharing our life experiences in the punk rock scene,” Noodles says. “I’m also excited to share my expertise on whatever I just read on the internet. It’s a podcast!”
The first episode of Time to Relax, featuring Pennywise guitarist Fletcher Dragge as the guest, is out now.
In addition to listening to The Offspring on your podcast platform of choice, you can catch the band live on their upcoming U.S. tour, kicking off in August.
Elton John previously hinted that he was going to have “guest artists” join him during his headlining set at the U.K.’s Glastonbury Festival on Sunday, June 25, and now his husband and manager David Furnish has spilled a little more info about that.
In an interview with Sky News, Furnish revealed that Elton will be joined by “four collaborators of his choosing,” although he wouldn’t name names. “Sorry. I am sworn to secrecy.”
Reiterating earlier comments from the singer, Furnish says the show, which will be Elton’s final U.K. date, will feature “a different set list” from his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour, noting Elton’s made “a lot of changes.”
As for life once the tour is over, Furnish joked, “I don’t think he’ll be sitting on the sofa with a remote control. He’s going to go back into the studio in October and start his next album. Which will be great. He’s not done a studio album in a long time.”
And speaking of Glastonbury, to get fans excited for the show, Elton posted a cute video to Instagram of the festival in Lego form, complete with a Lego Elton sitting behind the piano and performing.
Glastonbury runs from June 23 to June 25. A complete lineup and schedule can be found at glastonburyfestivals.co.uk. Elton’s final Farewell Yellow Brick Road show is set for July 8 in Stockholm, Sweden. A complete list of dates can be found at EltonJohn.com.
The official red band trailer for the new comedy Dumb Money arrived Thursday, June 22.
From Sony Pictures, the movie follows the true events of the infamous GameStop short squeeze that took place in January 2021, and turned Wall Street and the rest of the world upside down.
Paul Dano stars as Keith Gill, the marketing professional who put all his savings into GameStop stock, posted about it on Reddit and started a movement for buying stock in the video game retailer.
Dano leads a star-studded cast that also includes Seth Rogen, Shailene Woodley, Pete Davidson, America Ferrera, Nick Offerman and Sebastian Stan.
“A lot of people feel the system is broken,” Dano says in the trailer. “The whole idea of the stock market is if you’re smart, and maybe with a little luck, you can make your fortune. Certainly not anymore.”
Dumb Money lands exclusively in theaters on September 22.
Paul Simon has made another catalog deal. The two-time Rock & Roll Hall of Famer has sold the royalty rights to his Simon & Garfunkel music to BMG. The deal also includes neighboring rights income, which refers to the performance and broadcast of recordings.
The deal includes albums like Sounds of Silence, Parsley Sage, Rosemary & Thyme, Bridge Over TroubledWaters and more, with such songs as “The Boxer” and “Mrs. Robinson.”
“In any list of the true greats, Paul Simon stands as one of the pillars of popular music history,” BMG’s Thomas Scherer said. “We will play our part to ensure his music continues to be honored and respected.”
Although terms of the deal were not revealed, a source tells Rolling Stoneit was worth eight figures. The deal is only for Simon & Garfunkel music, though; Simon sold his solo publishing catalog to Sony Music Publishing in 2021.
Simon is in good company at BMG, which has already acquired the rights and/or royalties for the music of artists like Mick Fleetwood, Peter Frampton, TinaTurner and ZZ Top.
(ATLANTA) — Infants eligible for a measles vaccine should receive one prior to international travel, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said amid rising cases of the highly contagious disease during the summer travel season.
The guidance came as part of a Health Alert issued by the CDC this week, warning Americans about rising measles cases linked to international travel. The agency says more than twice as many Americans are expected to travel abroad this summer compared to last.
The agency reinforced recommendations that all eligible Americans should be vaccinated against measles prior to international travel. This includes a recommendation that infants in the U.S. going abroad who are 6-11 months old should receive an extra measles, mumps and rubella vaccine (MMR), regardless of the international destination.
The CDC says there has been an increase in measles cases in the U.S. As of June 8, 16 cases have been identified across 11 jurisdictions, compared to just 3 over the same time in 2022. Nearly 90% of cases this year have been linked to international travel, according to the CDC.
The MMR vaccine is routinely given to children starting at 12-15 months and again at 4-6 years old, but can safely be given as early as 6 months in the right circumstances. The CDC is reinforcing that all infants traveling abroad this summer who are 6-11 months old should receive their first dose before travelling.
A 2019 study published in JAMA Pediatrics found that less than half of all MMR-eligible infants received the recommended dose before international travel.
This recommendation is not new, but many people may not have been aware of it unless traveling to certain high-risk locations or locations with active outbreaks. Experts say this health alert speaks to the emergence of vaccine-preventable diseases and declining vaccine rates post-pandemic
“It’s absolutely highlighting the global concern that we have for the re-emergence of vaccine preventable diseases,” Dr. John Brownstein, Ph.D, the chief innovation officer at Boston Children’s Hospital and an epidemiologist told ABC News.
Brownstein also says that measles isn’t just a growing problem when traveling abroad but here in the U.S. too.
“So what’s happened is it’s become all too common to see cases, he said. “You know, these are not like highly clustered in a couple of locations. We’re seeing the rise in localized case cases, diffuse across the country and that’s directly related to the fact that we’re seeing under vaccination across the country.”
The CDC says people can come in contact with measles anywhere in the U.S.
What to know about this extra dose
According to the CDC, if any child receives the MMR vaccine before their first birthday, they will need two more vaccines to complete the series. The second dose is given between 12 and 15 months of age, and the third dose is given at least 28 days following the second dose.
Children traveling who have already turned a year old should receive two doses prior to international travel if able. Because the MMR vaccine is a live virus vaccine, it cannot be given to children who are immunocompromised.
What should parents know about measles?
Measles is a highly contagious virus — one person infected can spread it to 9 out of 10 unvaccinated close contacts, according to the CDC. Children are one of the most at-risk groups for severe illness, especially those under the age of 5 and who are unvaccinated.
Symptoms of measles include high fever, runny nose, diffuse rash, and red, watery eyes. Severe cases can lead to inflammation around the brain that may cause confusion, seizures or death. The CDC estimates that 1-3 out of every 1,000 people who get measles will die from the disease, even with adequate care.
Dr. Dean A Blumberg, M.D., a professor and division chief of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at UC Davis Children’s Hospital, tells ABC News that measles shouldn’t be minimized.
“Although most patients recover, it’s important to remember that prior to widespread use of measles vaccine in the US, measles resulted in 3-4 million cases, 400-500 deaths, 48,000 hospitalizations, and 4,000 cases of encephalitis or inflammation of the brain every year,” he said.
Experts recommend talking to your child’s pediatrician about upcoming travel to make sure they get all recommended vaccines.
Dr. Jade A Cobern, M.D., M.P.H., board-eligible pediatrician and general preventive medicine resident at Johns Hopkins, is a member of the ABC News Medical Unit.
NBC’s The Voice will soon have its first-ever coaching duo.
The network has announced Grammy-winning country duo Dan + Shay as the newest coaches for season 25, which is set to air in spring 2024.
The “Tequila” hitmakers join returning coaches Reba McEntire, John Legend and Chance the Rapper.
This won’t be the first time Dan + Shay appear on The Voice. The pair’s Dan Smyers and Shay Mooney previously joined longtime coach Blake Shelton as Battle Advisors for Team Blake in season 20.
While you wait for next year’s 25th season, be sure to watch season 24 of The Voice with coaches Reba, John, Niall Horan and Gwen Stefanithis fall.
(ATLANTA) — Monthly e-cigarette sales skyrocketed during the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new study published Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Between January 2020 and December 2022, monthly unit sales increased by 46.6%, from 15.5 million units to 22.7 million units, the study found.
Researchers found the surge was mostly driven by disposable e-cigarettes in flavors, including fruit and candy, which are popular among youth and young adult users.
Over the period, the share of total sales made up by tobacco-flavored products fell from 28.4% to 20.1%, and the share of mint-flavored products saw a similar decline from making up 10.1% of all sales to 5.9%. Meanwhile, other flavors went from 29.2% of all sales to 41.3%.
Additionally, while the share of pre-filled e-cigarette cartridges decreased from 75.2% to 48% of total sales, the share of disposable e-cigarette units increased from 24.7% to 51.8% of total sales.
The study found this may be due to an announcement the U.S. Food and Drug Administration made in January 2020 that prioritized enforcement against prefilled cartridges in flavors other than tobacco and menthol.
While total sales increased during this period, there was a 12.3% decrease between May 2022 and December 2022, which the CDC said may have been driven by multiple factors, including FDA regulatory actions, local and state e-cigarette restrictions and supply chain disruptions linked to COVID-19.
The study also looked at the top-selling brands. At the start of the study period in January 2020, JUUL was the top monthly seller, followed by Vuse, NJOY, My Blu and Puff, respectively.
By the end of the study period in December 2022, Vuse was the top-selling brand, followed by JUUL, Elf Bar, NJOY and Breeze Smoke, respectively.
“The dramatic spikes in youth e-cigarette use back in 2017 and 2018, primarily driven by JUUL, showed us how quickly e-cigarette sales and use patterns can change,” Dr. Deirdre Lawrence Kittner, director of the CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health, said in a press release. “Retail sales data are key to providing real-time information on the rapidly changing e-cigarette landscape, which is essential to reducing youth tobacco use.”
The CDC noted in its report that e-cigarette use is more common among young people than adults overall.
In 2021, 4.5% of all adults aged 18 and older used e-cigarettes at least once in the last 30 days compared to 11% of adults between ages 18 and 24 and 14.1% of high school students.
Nicotine exposure from e-cigarettes can hinder brain development in adolescents and young adults, which can continue into the mid-20s, the CDC says, and can also increase risk of addiction to other drugs.
The CDC also says aerosol from e-cigarettes can contain heavy metal, potentially cancer-causing chemicals and other substances that can damage the lungs.
The CDC states “use of e-cigarettes is unsafe for kids, teens, and young adults.”
Demi Lovato has released a fiery new song called “Swine,” inspired by the one-year anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
“It’s been one year since the Supreme Court’s decision to dismantle the constitutional right to a safe abortion,” Demi wrote on Instagram Thursday, June 22. “Although the path forward will be challenging, we must continue to be united in our fight for reproductive justice.”
“I created ‘Swine’ to amplify the voices of those who advocate for choice and bodily autonomy,” she continued. “I want this song to empower not only the birthing people of this country, but everyone who stands up for equality, to embrace their agency and fight for a world where every person’s right to make decisions about their own body is honored.”
The rock-tinged song arrives with a politically charged music video that features Demi defiantly facing a jury of men at a witch trial.
For one year, the profits from “Swine” will be donated to the Reproductive Justice Fund at the Demi Lovato Foundation, which will then be directed to three nonprofit organizations: NARAL Pro-Choice America, Plan C and The National Network of Abortion Funds.
