us president biden's son hunter reaches a deal to plead guilty to misdemeanour tax crimes. top republicans say he's getting a sweetheart deal. hello, i'm sumi somaskanda. time is running short in the race to save five people onboard a submersible missing in the north atlantic near the site of the titanic. on sunday, contact was lost with the sub, about an hour and 45 minutes into its dive. the us coastguard said earlier that the vessel may have less than a day and a half of breathable air left. the operation to find the missing tourist submersible is now expanding to include more resources with expertise in deep sea rescuing. we've also learned today from the new york times that in 2018, submersible experts expressed concern to oceangate ceo stockton rush, who is on the titan.

the authors of the letter expressed "unanimous concern" over the approach taken by oceangate when building the titan, and warned of potential "catastrophic" issues with its design. the marine technology society wrote to rush: i spoke to my colleague carl nasman on the scene in boston in the last hour. you have been following the latest developments, has the coastguard given any indications on signs of the location of the submersible? well, they are looking for this vessel in a specific area but i have to say this is a fairly broad area, about the size of connecticut. this is 900 miles off the shore of cape cod, so just out towards the ocean from where we are in boston. this is

a wide area that is being searched since sunday, a lot of planes traversing over that part of the ocean, we now know there are ships as well dropping some sonar listening devices and there are also some remote unmanned, you might call them underwater drones that are beginning to look beneath the surface of the ocean as well but a wide area, it is also very deep, about 2.5 miles deep down to where the wreckage of the titanic is. so they have a general idea for this vessel might be but it is not exactly a pinpoint area, this is a large area of ocean be searching.— large area of ocean be searchinu. v , , searching. it's very complex comment — searching. it's very complex comment is _ searching. it's very complex comment is an _ searching. it's very complex comment is an international effort, the us and canada have teamed up in france is assisting, what can you tell us about the different groups helping out?— about the different groups helinu out? . �*, , helping out? that's right, this is definitely _ helping out? that's right, this is definitely an _ helping out? that's right, this is definitely an international l is definitely an international effort, it is being organised from right here in boston with the us coastguard, they are involving all kinds of different agencies because

quite simply the coastguard admitted it didn't have the expertise or the equipment to carry out this type of search and rescue effort so they are bringing in canadian officials, us navy equipment and personnel, and there is also some private vessels that happened to be in the area or volunteered their services, they are being looped into this effort as well. there also a french vessel on its way which should be arriving sometime tomorrow afternoon. that will be manned with another one of these underwater drones that can help in the search that way. but we are witnessing a very widespread effort to bring in different types of partners, we know that three american planes have recently arrived in canada bringing more supplies and more personnel and canada also has ships arriving with medical equipment, and a recompression chamber for example in case that is needed for those five people on the vessel. �* ., u, for those five people on the vessel. �* . , ., vessel. and what can you tell us about _

vessel. and what can you tell us about the _ vessel. and what can you tell us about the people - vessel. and what can you tell us about the people on - vessel. and what can you tell us about the people on this l us about the people on this vessel? ~ ., ., , ., , vessel? we have now been able to confirm _ vessel? we have now been able to confirm their _ vessel? we have now been able to confirm their names - vessel? we have now been able to confirm their names and - to confirm their names and identities of all five people on this vessel, it is a small one, only about 25 feet long so can only fit five people. the ceo of the company oceangate, stockton rush, was on board the vessel are believed to be piloting it. there are four other crew members are passengers if you want to call them, three of them are british. two of them are related, shahzada dawood and his son suleman, they were confirmed to be on that vessel. as well as hamish harding, a famous explorer, he is in fact, he has spent plenty of some of the bottom of the ocean and has been up into space, a very experienced adventurer. there is also a french explorer as well that the call mr titanic was one of these titanic enthusiasts, one of the people who has spent the most time

viewing the actual wreckage of the titanic so if you think about this group of five people, fairly experienced adventuresome people, potentially used to taking risks, so that is the group we know is inside that vessel. thank you so much for that update. our nomia iqbal is in newfoundland with more on the conditions of the rescue operation. the search and rescue teams are working in incredibly challenging conditions. officials say this is the worst spring since 1943. visibility is incredibly low. it is so foggy. but the teams are continuing this race against time to try and find the missing submersible. just to remind you of the scale of it — the titanic wreckage is about 400 miles off the coast of newfoundland. and the the area in which the search operation is taking place is 70 miles wide. so this is about the size of the us state of connecticut. and diving experts will

tell you that this depth of the ocean that they're trying to search is less explored than outer space. now, earlier i spoke to newfoundland's premier, andrew furey, and he said to me that this province is sadly used to maritime tragedies, given its history, given its location and given its relationship with the titanic. however, he said this doesn't make it any easier to fathom what has happened. he said to me that as a leader he is feeling helpless but not hopeless, and that he is working with all the officials in us and canada, that that the province is doing that the province is doing whatever it can to try and help find the missing five. we will be here to support this effort in whatever is required. hard assets, soft assets, emotional support, physical supports in different assets that we have in any way,

shape or form we can. i'm confident that the people of newfoundland and labrador understand the significance of this on a world stage and will rise to whatever challenge the next few days or weeks bring. as a leader in these times of tragedy, especially of one often of mother nature's making that you can't control, you feel helpless because you.... my hat goes off to the hardworking women and men out there in the middle of the north atlantic, doing the hard work of trying to find find these people. to find these people. but as a leader, i can't be out there. so you feel helpless to a certain extent. of course you can have the conversations, you can mobilise the assets, and you can play a small part in that, but not hopeless. as right now, this is very much still a rescue mission and we live in hope, and our thoughts and prayers are with those people 600 kilometres off our shore

and the families that are are waiting for their safe return. let's take a look at what we know about the titan. the missing submersible weighs about 23,000 pounds — or roughly 10,400 kilograms. the titan is about 22 feet long — or 6.7 metres. it's also capable of reaching depths of up to 13,123 feet below sea level — roughly 4,000 metres. and with the help of four electric thrusters, the titan reaches speeds of about three knots, or three miles per hour. we will bring you updates on the search here on bbc news, and we have continuing live coverage on the bbc news website and app — where our team is tracking every development — with full background and analysis. earlier i spoke to retired us navy captain david marquet who served as a submarine commander. what do you think happened this

submersible?— what do you think happened this submersible? well, we know she not under submersible? well, we know she got under way — submersible? well, we know she got under way sunday _ submersible? well, we know she got under way sunday morning i got under way sunday morning from the mothership, which told her out from newfoundland to the vicinity of the titanic and she started heading down force of the plan was to go down to the titanic which takes about two hours, spend about four hours touring the titanic, there is one porthole they can look that has lights and has high frequency sonar that they can use to image what they are looking at. and then they would return to the mothership. about an hour and 45 minutes into it, the mothership loss communications and didn't hear any more from the submarine. it could have been something simple like the communication devicejust broke, or there is a loose connection or a bad battery or something like that. but it seems a bit more ominous than that because if that were to happen, the protocol would be to return to the surface and get things fixed up and go back down do it again. he

get things fixed up and go back down do it again.— down do it again. he said, if i could jump — down do it again. he said, if i couldjump in. _ down do it again. he said, if i couldjump in, he _ down do it again. he said, if i couldjump in, he said - could jump in, he said something a bit more ominous, have you any idea what that could be? there are theories that the hulk are to be damaged or it could have been caught up in the wreckage itself.- in the wreckage itself. yes, so it seems like _ in the wreckage itself. yes, so it seems like it's _ in the wreckage itself. yes, so it seems like it's not _ in the wreckage itself. yes, so it seems like it's not on - in the wreckage itself. yes, so it seems like it's not on the i it seems like it's not on the surface of the ocean, which means it is most likely on the bottom in the vicinity of the titanic because that's where it would have been when contact was lost. it was right about the time when it would have been either approaching or at the sight of the titanic. there was a story from several years ago for a similar visit with a similar size to ship, not this particular ship, was approaching the titanic form the stern, the big propellers from the titanic which were essentially dwarfing the ship where there and they got caught by a current and were temporarily stuck wedged into the propellers but fortunately they were able to get out. so that's a possibility but it doesn't explain why the communication would be lost.

communication lost and being on the bottom to be leads me to think something like there was a fitting which broke and allowed water to come in or there was a crack in the hull, when the submarine compresses, this is very high pressure, 380 times the pressure we experience here in hemispheric. compresses and releases and with multiple trips up and down, you get little fatigue cracks, with our submarines we have the resources of the government so of course we are very diligent about checking for those things and doing all kinds of testing to make sure that the submarine cos hull is able to keep withstanding those things. i'm worried for them. so, we also mentioned that the new york times reported that in 2018 submersible experts expressed concern to the ceo of ocean search about this vessel.

what do you make of that? it seems like these guys were sort of interviews with the innovative entrepreneurial spirit, they wanted to build on something that could take people down, take researchers down to the titanic for research and they were funding it by getting these wealthy people to buy expensive tickets on it. and in doing so, sometimes we push the bounds and the innovation gets ahead of where the regulations are. i think the sense i get from that document and from statements by the company is that they were sort of proud of this innovative spirit and if you just writing tech code you can just writing tech code you can just throw things out there and you test it, you have a very quick iteration cycle but when you're putting people down at 13,000 feet, the laws of mother

nature are going to take over so i think they might have gone a little too far and i admire the spirit, but we know from years of safe submarine and what it takes for all this discipline and rigour and operational testing that you have to do to maintain submarine safe why stop so a question about maintaining submarine safe, we have seen reports that the submarine was controlled by a joystick and the members were bolted in from outside. is there normalfor this type of vessel? i outside. is there normalfor this type of vessel?- this type of vessel? i don't think a joystick _ this type of vessel? i don't think a joystick is - this type of vessel? i don't think a joystick is normal l this type of vessel? i don't l think a joystick is normal but again. — think a joystick is normal but again. i_ think a joystick is normal but again, i don't fully have a huge _ again, i don't fully have a huge problem with that. we would — huge problem with that. we would call it in the military commercial off—the—shelf technology. rather than the military _ technology. rather than the military going out and building something and paying $10,000, i would _ something and paying $10,000, i would just go to a shop and pay $35 _ would just go to a shop and pay $35 but — would just go to a shop and pay $35. but if you are going to use cots, you need to have a

lot of— use cots, you need to have a lot of them because it's not nearly— lot of them because it's not nearly as _ lot of them because it's not nearly as reliable. if you have a joystick, _ nearly as reliable. if you have ajoystick, i nearly as reliable. if you have a joystick, i would nearly as reliable. if you have a joystick, iwould have nearly as reliable. if you have a joystick, i would have three or four— a joystick, i would have three or four extra just sitting there _ or four extra just sitting there. but that by itself really _ there. but that by itself really doesn't concern me. one of the — really doesn't concern me. one of the things that we would do if the — of the things that we would do if the submarine were in port for a — if the submarine were in port for a period of time which i think— for a period of time which i think this _ for a period of time which i think this would have been over the winter— think this would have been over the winter but once we go out, we spent — the winter but once we go out, we spent a _ the winter but once we go out, we spent a day at the pier testing _ we spent a day at the pier testing and we go out in the shallow— testing and we go out in the shallow water and we submerge 'ust shallow water and we submerge just a _ shallow water and we submerge just a little bit and walk around _ just a little bit and walk around with flashlights checking everything so there is a very— checking everything so there is a very diligent and deliberate process— a very diligent and deliberate process where we incrementally add stress to the machine. we talk about— add stress to the machine. we talk about these people as explorers, i don't think it's explorers, idon't think it's really— explorers, i don't think it's really like climbing mount everest which takes a lot of kissed _ everest which takes a lot of kissed -- _ everest which takes a lot of kissed —— my personal physical stamina — kissed —— my personal physical stamina. we arejust kissed —— my personal physical stamina. we are just sitting there — stamina. we are just sitting there for— stamina. we are just sitting there for long periods of time, it's really— there for long periods of time, it's really about the machine, they— it's really about the machine, they submersible in this case and its — they submersible in this case and its capabilities to people down — and its capabilities to people down and return.—

and its capabilities to people down and return. david, great to net down and return. david, great to get your — down and return. david, great to get your expertise - down and return. david, great to get your expertise on - down and return. david, great to get your expertise on our i to get your expertise on our programme tonight. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. bbc news bringing you different stories from across the uk. it is idyllic, popular and parched. the river derwent here water simply evaporated in a long, dry spell of hot weather. it's a huge concern to those whose job it is to protect this special and vital ecological landscape. it's becoming more and more of a regular occurrence and we're getting lots of periods of dry weather with very little rainfall and that's leading to rivers like this drying up. it can have a devastating impact on the wildlife. there's insects and fish that live here and that will have an impact on the whole of the ecosystem. so the otters and the birds that feed on them and where there's no water, there will be no life. but what's to blame? a number of factors, says ruth mckay, climate change among them, but also the way the river has been deliberately

modified over the years, now running straight through the valley. for more stories from across the uk, hhead to the bbc news website. you're live with bbc news. hunter biden, the son of presidentjoe biden, agreed to plead guilty to two misdemeanour tax offences and admit to illegaly owning a gun. the two tax charges stem from a failure to pay more than $100,000 in taxes in both 2017 and 2018. the gun charge stems from a possession of a firearm while a drug user. technically, the president's son faces a maximum penalty of a year in prison on each tax charges and ten years in prison on the gun charge. however, the terms of the plea agreement are likely to keep him out ofjail. he is expected to agree to drug treatment and monitoring if it's approved. his lawyers say he is taking responsibility for his mistakes. the deal brings an end to a five year investigation from the justice department. republican speaker of the house kevin mccarthy strongly denounced the deal earlier.

if you are the president's main political opponent, you can do prison time. if you're the son of the president to a sweetheart deal. at an event earlier, the president briefly answered a quesiton about the deal. i'm very proud of my son. earlier i spoke to sarah krissoff, former assistant us attorney in the southern district of new york. can you explain to us what these misdemeanour tax crimes are? yes, the two tax offences are misdemeanour, they relate to simply the failure to pay taxes for two years, 2017 and 2018, i believe. they carry a maximum one year in prison for each count, but it is expected that hunter biden will only receive probation in connection with those charges.

so for those two misdemeanour charges, he's admitted to illegally possessing a gun while a drug user, do the charges usually warrantjail time? no, you are not expecting someone to be facing a period of imprisonment. that just won't be likely to happen. so the judge was appointed by former president trump, but we have seen prominent republicans saying that this play is a sweetheart deal for the son of a president. do you think that hunter biden could have faced a stiffer penalty? it's really hard to know what the investigation uncovered and where it led as part of the charges they were deliberating about, what is clear is that the us attorney was a holdover from the trump era,

he was a trump appointee who stayed on after president biden came into power. this has been a long—running investigation and this was the negotiated resolution, so we just don't know what else was being investigated in the scope of the information that they found, but this is where we ended up. do you think there is the chance that they were more lenient because he is the son of the president? i don't really see that. in my experience, there really is, particularly with a federal prosecutor, a pressure to bring the most serious charges available, but when the charges are not appropriate to bring, they are not brought. so i think that it's hard to see political pressure that was imposed here to bring

us to this outcome. what do you make of republicans equivocating this toward what the former president is facing in his federal charges? it really hard to compare these two cases. the fact that one relates to a former president and one is the son of the president really is the only relationship between these two investigations. the fact that the conduct underlying the investigations was entirely different, that they were handled differently, one was handled by the department ofjustice, one was handled at the us attorney's office, it is really apples to oranges that we are comparing and it's hard to really draw much comparison between the two cases. we have to look at each one independently and the evidence supporting the charges in each case independently. what comes next for hunter biden? his case will be assigned

to a judge who will enter a plea, he still needs to do that, and also the judge will endorse the outcome related to the gun case, then he is essentially under supervision for a period of time where he has to do all of the things he is supposed to do, he needs to stay on the right side of the law and if that happens, he will likely not face any term of imprisonment. and quickly, what is your sense of how this might affect president biden going forward, especially as he ramps up his campaign? i think he made clear today in these very limited statements about this that this for him is just a personal matter, an issue on which he wants to support his family member, as any parent would. and he doesn't seem inclined or interested at all in speaking about the merits

of the case. and frankly it wouldn't be appropriate to do so. obviously he is going to have to fend this off, those allegations such as we heard earlier in the programme, that this has been politicised, he will try to keep this a personal matter. sarah, great to talk to you. thank you. ukraine says russia launched another wave of air attacks, targeting kyiv and other cities. ukraine's military says 28 out of 35 iranian attack drones were shot down. officials in the western city of lviv say critical infrastructure has been hit. they come as ukraine continues its counteroffensive. our correspondent mayeni jones has the latest from kyiv. ukrainians woke up on tuesday morning after a long night air raid sirens that saw miss orlando and right across the country. in the western region of live authorities say critical infrastructure was hit, starting a fire which emergency services had to tackle. they also say that the

bulk of the drone attacks were focused on kyiv and the surrounding region, saying that they down to dozen ukrainian made drones. and an separator where ukrainian forces have been lodging a counteroffensive, seven missile strikes were down according to local authorities. this comes as ukrainian authorities are increasingly admitting that this counteroffensive will be hard—won. president zelensky said that his forces were having to be both offensive and defensive in many parts of the country but he said he was confident that his forces could prevail stop his deputy defence minister said that there was evidence that russian forces were trying to gain territory in the east of the country. she also said that ukrainian forces were struggling to regain territory in the region because a lot of it is now, has been were struggling to regain territory in the region because a lot of filled with minefields by russian forces. the country's

defence minister was keen to remind ukrainian public that the counteroffensive would be a lot slower than the previous in october of last year, so ukrainian forces recapturing a lot of territory in the north—eastern region of kharkiv. at least four israelis have been killed and several others wounded in clashes near a west bank settlement. israel's defence ministry described the shootings as a terror attack. our middle east correspondent yolande knell sent this report. this is the most deadly attack targeting israelis that there has been in several months. the israeli military says two palestinian gunmen opened fire at an israeli petrol station and a hummus restaurant. both of them lie on a busy main road that cuts through the west bank. now, the two palestinians, one of them was shot at the scene. the other one escaped. and we're told that israeli security forces tracked him and killed him. we understand that the two come from a village not far away to the north.

both are said to have been affiliated with the islamist militant group hamas. and a hamas spokesman has come out linking what happened to an israeli military raid injenin a day ago, which killed six palestinians and wounded dozens more. now you've got far right israeli ministers coming out calling for a wider israeli military operation. you've got the israeli prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, saying that all options are open to respond. meanwhile, we're getting reports thatjewish settlers have attacked some palestinian property in a town nearby. this has really raised tensions in the west bank at a time when tensions were already running very high. stay with us here on bbc news. hello. june has certainly been a warm month for many of us and at times it has felt

like the middle of summer. talking of which, the 21st ofjune marks the first day of astronomical summer or the summer solstice, and it will be the longest day of the year. but let's get to the forecast, then. this is the satellite picture from the last day or so, and that's the weather front that brought the rain to many parts of the country in the last 24 hours. it will be moving away northwards. but in its wake, we'll see an area of high pressure developing towards the south and west, but we will also be brushed by weather systems over the next few days in north western areas of the uk. but the high pressure to the south is also going to open up the doors to much warmer weather streaming our way from spain, portugal and france. so, it does look as though it's going to get hot towards the weekend. that's still to come. let's have a look at the forecast for wednesday then, and starting on a clear note for many of us. and temperatures will be on the mild side first thing, between around 13 and 16 degrees celsius. so, a dry morning for most, but certainly not for everybody, right from the word go. a few showers possible

across northern ireland and scotland, and showers will also develop across wales and other parts of england, but not too many of them further south. most of the showers will be further north and this is where the heaviest of the ones will be, possibly one or two thunderstorms across eastern scotland, maybe one or two in the borders as well. later in the afternoon, the weather's actually going to improve in northern ireland. the sun should come out for everybody, and across england and wales, just a scattering of showers here and there, and it'll be warmest in eastern parts of england with temperatures up to about 25 degrees celsius. that takes us into thursday. and thursday is also going to be another warm day with temperatures widely into the low or the mid 20s. and again, one or two scattered showers are possible on thursday, and it's going to be every bit as warm i think on friday too, with generally fine weather, at least across the bulk of the uk. however, in the north west of the country, as we head towards the weekend, we are going to be brushed by weather systems. so, there's always a chance of some rain across parts of scotland and northern ireland.

but further east and south, the weather will be drier and brighter. so here's the outlook into the weekend, and you can see these climbing temperatures to nearly 30 degrees celsius in the south by the time we get to sunday, mid 20s, for example, in cardiff. bye— bye.