No sign of Titanic sub but ‘banging noises’ heard as search continues | First Thing

Underwater noises detected by Canadian aircraft, as oxygen levels reduce to around 24 hours of breathable air. Plus, finding joy in life without children

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A Canadian aircraft detected underwater noises in the search area for the missing Titan submersible, the US Coast Guard said early on Wednesday, amid US media reports that regular banging sounds had been picked up.

What do we know about the search operation? The US Coast Guard, US Navy and Canadian Coast Guard are coordinating the search with input from OceanGate, the submersible's operator. Deep Energy, a pipe-laying vessel with underwater capabilities, and Polar Prince, the vessel the Titan launched from, are on the scene. Other craft, including a Canadian vessel with a mobile decompression chamber and the French research ship Atalante, which has an underwater robot that can descend to 4,000 metres, are en route.

What has been agreed between the two countries? Blinken and Xi agreed in their Monday meeting to stabilize the intense rivalry between Washington and Beijing so it did not veer into conflict but failed to produce any breakthrough during a rare visit to China by the secretary of state. They did agree to continue diplomatic engagement with more visits by US officials in the coming weeks and months. Biden said later on Tuesday that the US climate envoy, John Kerry, may go to China soon.