US – The US Coast Guard will begin a multi-day hearing to examine the loss of the Titan the ill-fated submersible authorities said imploded in the North Atlantic Ocean in June 2023, killing all five people aboard during a dive to the wreckage of the Titanic. The public hearing will be conducted by the Marine Board of Investigation that was convened within days of the submersible’s disappearance.
The MBI the highest level of inquiry by the Coast Guard was tasked with reviewing the cause of the tragedy and offering recommendations, including about potential civil penalties and criminal prosecution. “The upcoming hearings will allow us to present our findings and hear directly from key witnesses and subject matter experts in a transparent forum,” said Neubauer, adding the proceedings “are a critical step in our mission to understand the contributing factors that led to the incident and, even more importantly, the actions needed to prevent a similar occurrence.
The submersible lost contact with its mother ship about an hour and 45 minutes into its dive to the Titanic on June 18, 2023. When it failed to resurface, an international search and rescue mission unfolded in the remote waters several hundred miles southeast of Newfoundland, Canada. Ultimately, authorities concluded the vessel had suffered a “catastrophic implosion a sudden inward collapse caused by immense pressure. Debris from the submersible was found on the sea floor several hundred yards from the Titanic, and authorities recovered “presumed human remains” believed to belong to the victims.
Stockton Rush, the founder and CEO of the vessel’s operator; businessman Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son, Suleman Dawood; businessman Hamish Harding; and French diver Paul-Henri Nargeolet were also killed. The Coast Guard previously said the hearing would include “pre-accident historical events, regulatory compliance, crewmember duties and qualifications, mechanical and structural systems, emergency response and the submersible industry. A list of witnesses includes a slate of one-time employees of OceanGate Expeditions, the Everett, Washington-based company that operated the 23,000-pound vessel, charging about $250,000 per ticket. The company has faced questions about its operations amid reports of safety concerns The MBI is made up of numerous Coast Guard officials and at least two from the National Transportation Safety Board, according to a list provided by the Coast Guard (CNN)…[+]

MOSCOW – Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered the country’s military to increase its number of troops by 180,000, the third time he has expanded its ranks since launching his invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The increase would take the overall number of Russian military personnel to nearly 2.4 million, including 1.5 million troops, according to the decree published by the Kremlin Monday. The new staffing will come into effect in December, it said.

Putin’s decree comes after Ukraine last month launched a lightning attack across the border on Russia’s southern Kursk region – the first foreign invasion of Russian territory since World War II. Last week, Russia stepped up its efforts to expel Ukrainian troops from Kursk and is inching forward toward the crucial Ukrainian town of Pokrovsk in the eastern Donbas region. Since 2022, Putin has ordered two previous expansions in the number of combat troops, in addition to a mobilization of military reservists and conscripts.
In August 2022, Putin ordered an increase of 137,000 troops by the start of the new year, which put the military’s staffing at just over 2 million personnel, including 1.15 million troops. The next month, after a sudden and successful Ukrainian offensive that liberated most of the eastern Kharkiv region, Putin ordered the immediate “partial mobilization” of Russian citizens. The mobilization meant citizens with military experience were subject to conscription and that military reservists could be called up.
The mobilization prompted hundreds of thousands to flee the country – many to neighboring Georgia and other formerly communist countries near Russia’s border – and sparked angry demonstrations, particularly in Russia’s ethnic minority regions that have borne the brunt of previous recruitment drives. The mobilization was suspended in November 2023 after officials said the target of recruiting 300,000 personnel had been met. Then in December, Putin ordered another official expansion of 170,000 troops, bringing the total to 1.32 million.
Russia’s casualty numbers remain shrouded in secrecy. In September 2022, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said 5,937 troops had been killed in the war. The ministry has not published an update since. Russia’s casualty rate will likely continue to average above 1,000 a day throughout September 2024 as Russia continues operations on a wide front from Kursk in the north to Robotyne in the south. (CNN)…[+]
Photo: Russian troops march during the Victory Day military parade in Red Square in Moscow. (Reuters)

GAZA – The UN’s most senior official overseeing aid and reconstruction in Gaza has told the BBC that the international community is collectively failing innocent civilians in the territory. Sigrid Kaag, who was appointed nine months ago to improve the delivery of urgently needed aid, said a report she is due to make to the UN Security Council would be “very sad and perhaps dark”.
She described the situation in the territory as a “significant catastrophe”. “We’re not meeting the needs, let alone creating prospects and hope for the civilians in Gaza.” In a rare interview, the senior UN Coordinator for Humanitarian Action and Reconstruction in Gaza said the systems to deliver assistance – including through multiple land and sea routes into Gaza – were now in place. And “the UN is working around the clock and people are risking their lives day in, day out”. But she called Gaza “the most unsafe place in the world to work”. She said she regretted that “not much else can be improved” until there was a ceasefire and the release of Israeli hostages still being held there.
Kaag said that what is known as “deconfliction” – to ensure aid missions can proceed safely – was failing: “It’s not working, or working insufficiently, to render the operations feasible.” Last week the UN said another of its aid convoys heading into northern Gaza was blocked by Israeli forces, and Gaza’s Hamas-run Civil Defence agency said a UN school operating as a shelter was targeted by an Israeli air strike, killing 18 people. The UN said six of its staff died. Israel accused Hamas of using the facility as “a command and control center” and said Hamas fighters were among the dead.
The UN says nearly 300 aid workers, more than two-thirds of them UN staff, have been killed so far in the grievous Gaza war, which is now approaching the one-year mark. Kaag, one of the few UN officials to meet senior Israeli officials including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, described her discussions as “constructive”. “We put asks on the table. Some are met. We also obtain commitments.” But she pointed out that “between the commitment and the time that it takes to see visible and tangible implementation, too much time passes”. (BBC)…[+]