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narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. and by contributions to this pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. announcer: and now, "bbc news". >> this is bbc "worls america." an international search effort and a race against time. coast guard officials say oxygen will soon run out for the five people on board the missing submersible. >> i am in boston where that search effort is being coordinated, scouring an area of the ocean the size of connecticut. >> president joe biden son strikes a deal on charges.

critics call it a slap on the wrist. plus an ancient city and a highly consisted that's contested deal. one summer angry over the sale of a vital patch of land. welcome to "world news america." the world's attention right now is focused on a patch of the north atlantic roughly the size of connecticut in the search for a missing submersible. five people are on board and they were on their way to visit the site of the titanic. earlier on tuesday, u.s. coast guard officials said they had roughly 40 hours of oxygen left. ships and planes are scaring the ocean around 700 kilometers, that's about 435 islands off the coast of newfoundland in canada. officials say an underwater search vehicle has been launched.

the titanic lies nearly 4000 meters beneath the surface. keep in mind there is no light at that depth. that's cross to boston, what is the latest on the search? reporter: here in boston is where the search is being coordinated. there's been no signs yet of the vessel or the five people on board, but this is becoming an international search effort with the u.s. navy, the coast guard, canadian officials, even commercial companies and vessels becoming involved. as you mention, the clock is ticking. there's been no signs yet. a colleague has more on that search. >> these are the last known photos of the titan submersible they were taken on sunday, just before it began its descent. an hour and 45 minutes later, contact was lost.

this was filmed by the bbc last year. it shows people being brought in from the outside. the sub then plunges into the ocean's debt. the u.s. coast guardas released a fresh estimate of how much oxygen may now be left on board. >> we know from the data we were using, starting at 96 hours. we know at this point we are approximately about 40, 41 hours. >> is a deep-sea rescue effort realistic, and what would that look like? >> i can't tell you exactly what it would look like. we are out there and searching. we wouldn't be doing this, searching and put all the effor out there, if the sum is located, that is a question, and

then the experts need to look at what is the best course of action. >> those confirmed on the vessel , including a french explorer and this man, the chief executive of the expedition company ocean gate. >> here he is in a 20 cbs documentary showing how the vessel was operated by a games console. while construction pipes were used for ballast. >> this is an experimenl sub. people are informed that is very dangerous down there. >> it was towed out to sea from newfoundland on sunday and then began its dive in coordination with the mothership. once the vessel goes below 1000 meters, it will be in darkness, no light. further down is the titanic wreck, 3800 meters under the

north atlantic. the u.s. coast guard has told us that they weren't notified about the missing vessel until around eight hours after that initial loss of contact between the sub and its mothership. a loss and communication has happened on these expeditions before, but never like this, or for so long. mike reese is one of the few people who have made the trip before. he describes reaching the bottom of the ocean. >> when you touch bottom, you don't really know where you are. the compass immediately stopped working, so we had to flail around blindly at the bottom of the ocean, knowing the titanic was somewhere there. it is so pitchdark. >> in the seas murky us to reach us, this is what people pay nearly 200,000 pounds to sea.

ocean gate expedition said it is getting help, but it is praying for the crew's safe return. reporter: this is an incredibly complex and difficult mission, for several reasons. one we have already mentioned, the area they're searching is the size of an entire u.s. state. it's also very deep, the location is about 2.5 miles beneath the surface of the ocean. very few vessels are equipped or able to make it that deep. it is also very remote, it is more than 900 miles to the site that they are searching and it takes time to get specialized equipment out there to that site in order to begin searching even deeper into the ocean. as we know, time is not something we have much of left. >> those are some of the logistical challenges, and it sounds like there are many, but what about the people on board?

has there been any reaction from their families? reporter: we do know there are five people confirmed to be on board, one of them is theeo of this company ocean gate himself. he has been confirmed as the person who is actually piloting the craft when it began its descent on sunday. there are three british nationals including a businessman with roots in pakistan. there's also a couple of very adventurous explorers on board. one of them is haman sharding. he has actually been to the bottom of the -- hamish harding. there is also a french explorer who is a titanic fanatic. he has visited the actual site of the wreckage more than anybody else. so a very experienced crew was on board that vessel. >> we are focused on the search right now, but has there been

any other theories or information on what could possibly have happened in the first place? reporter: we don't exactly know. there are some complex ideas about what might've gone wrong. remember, this is a vessel that was equipped with several ways to resurface in the case of a problem, and that is what has some people quite worried. why have we not been able to find this vessel and why has it not potentially resurfaced yet? there some thought that it may be caught in bits of wreckage or netting from the titanic itself. there are theories that maybe it has resurfaced and we haven't found it yet. and of course the worst case scenario is that there could be some damage or crack in the ship, and that would certainly be the worst case scenario. >> karl, thank you so much for that. there are plenty more update from all of our correspondents on the ground and are bbc website.

let's move on to news regarding hunter biden, he has agreed to plague -- plead guilty to two misdemeanor affixes -- offenses and admit to owning a gun. his lawyer say he is taking responsibility for his mistakes, but political opponents are crying foul, saying he is receiving preferential treatment because of his powerful father. former president donald trump repeated some of the alleged claims, saying they just cleared up hundreds of years of criminal liability by giving hunter biden a mere traffic ticket. our system is broken. meanwhile kevin mccarthy compared today still to the recent charges announced against mr. trump. >> you were the president's leading political opponent and the doj tries to literally put you in jail. if you are the president's son, you get a sweetheart deal. >> for more on this, our

washington correspondent joins us. could you break down exactly what all these legal charges mean and the deal itself? reporter: this is a five year investigation that has been carried out into hunter biden. it has look into a whole range of accusations including influence peddling, it looked into espionage and money laundering. with our two misdemeanor charges on not paying tax in 20172018 and this charge related to possession of a gun while he was a drug addict, which is illegal. so he will avoid jail. he will have to pay taxes and a lot of fines, andf course there is the embarrassment. as you pointed out earlier, there's a lot of talk that he had in easy ride.

>> some of them have been career prosecutors. one of them at least was appointed by president trump. no one has said they are not competent, good, or diligent. it would be false to say that. >> something else that hunter biden's lawyer has been saying is that he is key to take responsibility for the mistakes he made during that time of turmoil in his life. can you remind us of these challenges he has been facing? >> his drug addiction has been well documented. he has talked about that in the past. he has been embroiled in a lot of accusations around his business dealings in particular while his father was vice president. he has led a playboyish life at times. the republicans seehis as a way of going after the president as well.

they also believe there are double standards being practiced here in terms of the way president trump is being treated by the justice system. this will only fuel republicans in congress in their attempts to carry on with the investigations and to release documents and create even more problems for the biden family as we get into the election year. >> that is the republican reaction, but what about the president and the first lady? how have they been handling this? >> the white house, the president released a statement initially, in the last hour the president was shouted a question and he said, i am very proud of my son. >> thank you so much for that update. let's look at a year-long investigatn that has uncovered

a global monkey torturing. westerners were commissioning people in indonesia to make videos of av monkeys being abused and killed. an international global law enforcement effort is now underway with three individuals released under investigationn the u.k.. a warning, viewers might find some of the scenes in this report disturbing. reporter: these are just some of the thousands of videos we found on youtube of baby monkeys being abused. at the heart of this shocking torture ring was -- the people he wanted to do something to mini were part of a global online community. they informed on telegram. here they brainstorm in crowd

funded videos of baby monkeys being tortured. we spent months undercover when trying to identify the people involved. in tract down one of the ringleaders in the u.s.. >> i'm the man, you want to see monkeys get messed up, i can bring it to you, but everything comes at a price. >> he ran one of the biggest groups in the community. did you think about theonkeys, the pain? >> not at that point. all i thought about at that point was money. >> he is one of 25 people to u.s. authorities are investigating. posing as a potential buyer, we hunted down the torturer in indonesia. we tipped off the indonesian

police, who moved in to arrest him. mini and another monkey where calling milo were rescued. in the u.k., we joined a police raid to arrest one of the women accused of being involved in this community. >> i think she's going to have a little bit of a shock this morning wh s door and we will be there. >> she was one of three women arrested under the obscene publications act. >> what was going through your mind? >> activists want to strengthen the law to force social media companies to remove animal abuse. >> the online safety bill does not include animal torture as a specific area of concern, and i think anyone who would be astonished that it is not included. >> there are still many active monkey torture groups on social

media. youtube turned down an interview request but said there is no place for animal abuse on their platform. telegram also declined to talk to us but said it is committed to protecting user privacy. now in his sanctuary in indonesia, mini has a good chance of being released back into the wild. >> let's look at the day other news now. the social media influencer andrew tate has been charged in romania with rape, human trafficking, and his brother has also been charged. both had previously denied the allegations. they have been under house arrest in romania for months during a police investigation. thousands are tested across columbia again social and economic reforms. the president says he is is attempting to improve access to health care and protect people's

rights. protesters supported by the right-wing opposition say these reforms could plunge the country into chaos. the indian prime minister has arrived in the u.s. on a three deb fischer visit described as a turning point in bilateral relations. he and president biden are expected to discuss defense cooperation and sharing of high-tech technology. he will also address congress on thursday. a property deal in jerusalem's ancient city which lies at the heart of the israel-palestinian conflict has caused fury among the historic armenian community. one quarter of their land was secretly sold off to a jewish businessman on a long-term lease. armenian residents now fear losing some of their homes and their way of life. here is our correspondent from jerusalem. >> for 1500 years, there have

been armenians in jerusalem. they have a share in its holiest christian sites. but now the community feels under threat because of a murky real estate deal by its own church. >> it is like a puzzle. we are trying to know what happened, when it happened, and how. >> it appears a jewish australian businessman has leased a large chunk of land for a resort. local sphere that is just the start. >> this deal may put in great danger the long-term armenian residence in jerusalem. >> as the orthodox aster celebrations took place in april, the alarm was already spreading.

armenians later yelled out trader as the defrocked policed -- the defrocked priest fled. now many in the armenian community have been joining weekly protests. he has put himself in the midst of a political storm. in the decades since israel captured and occupied the old city, it has been at the core of its struggle with the palestinians. at the iconic entrance to the christian quarter, a reminder of how plots of land here are fiercely fought over. the greek orthodox church lost along court battle to cancel the deal. >> it enforces the presence in

palestinian east jerusalem. on top of that, it infringes on the -- diversity is the main character of the city. >> armenians are famous for their colorful pottery. this is one of the families that moved to jerusalem a century ago, bringing this tradition. he says that armenians historically donated money to buy land here and that the church has no right to sell it. >> this is what makes us angry. the nation does not belong to the patriarchy of jerusalem. we keep them to preserve them and protect them. >> now, while age-old armenian church rituals continue, he is not joining in.

as the armenian community worries about the next steps, the contrary see has touched -- controversy has touched sensitive nerves in the old city. >> let's return chart top story, the search for a submersible that disappeared while taking visitors to the wreckage of the titanic. i can see the conditions there do not look great. how is that going to affect the search team? >> the conditions are really terrible at the moment. this is the worst spring since 1943, according to officials. it is raining, it is incredibly foggy so visibility is really low. further out, you really cannot see very much. so that is making it harder for the u.s. and canadian teams that are on private vessels that are

trying desperately in this race against time to find the missing submersible. i am about 400 miles -- the titanic wreckage is about 400 miles off the coast of newfoundland, where we are. the wreckage is 12,500 feet below the atlantic ocean and the area being searched is 70 miles wide, about the size of the u.s. state of connecticut. >> what has the reaction been in the community there? >> earlier i spoke to the mirror of newfoundland. he said to me that this province knows how to deal with maritime tragedies, given its location and its history and its relationship to the titanic as well. having said that, this is

unfathomable, it's really hard for people to process. you have the world media paying attention to this very small province. he also said to me that as a leader, he feels pretty helpless, but not hopeless. he is in close contact with officials in canada and the u.s. to do whatever they can to try to locate the missing five. >> what are the big logistic challenges that seem to be on their mind? there are several issues at play. >> i think ultimately, the best case scenario they hoped for was at this submersible would have managed to mob back up to the surface. still not easy to find, but i know the aircraft has been

searching the water to potentially find it. you've got the u.s. navy underwater trying to find where the vessel is. just to reemphasize what i said, the area is 70 miles wide. the depth of the ocean is almost incomprehensible. it is a real race against time. diving experts will tell you that the depth of the ocean they are trying to get tothey are trying to explore is less explored than outer space. that is what the teams are up against. >> as you can see we have several correspondence on the ground or all of them are passing on their updates. a bit of history is going up for sale later this week. a team jersey worn and signed by

michael jordan will go up for auction and is expected to go for as much as $600,000, if not more. the sale includes football shirts. 1992 was the first year that professional basketball players could play in the olympics. narrator: funding for this esentation of this program is provided by... narrator: financial services firm, raymond james. man: bdo. accountants and advisors. narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. and by contributions to this pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. ♪ ♪

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geoff: good evening. i'm geoff bennett. amna: i'm on the nevada's. president biden's son agrees to plead guilty on tax and firearm -- federal tax and firearm charges. geoff: an update on the search for a tourist submersible that went missing near the wreckage of the titanic. amna: and, a rare pilot project seeks to make up for widespread learning loss from the pandemic by extending the school year. >> we're seeing this epochal crisis in learning loss, and this widening achievement gap. and there's just been this real reluctance to just look at in the eye and recognize how much we have to do so. ♪