All about the submersible disaster, Hunter Biden to plead guilty to tax offenses, and more top news

The search for a missing submersible with five people aboard took a bleak turn Thursday when the U.S. Coast Guard said a debris field was found at the bottom of the ocean near the Titanic, and the critical 96-hour mark passed when breathable air could have run out.

The Coast Guard's post on Twitter did not say whether officials believe the debris is connected to the Titan, which was on an expedition to view the wreckage of the Titanic. It said the debris was discovered within the search area by a remotely operated underwater robot, and was being evaluated.

The U.S. Coast Guard says a missing submersible imploded near the wreckage of the Titanic, killing all five people on board.

Coast Guard officials said during a news conference Thursday that they've notified the families of the crew of the Titan, which has been missing for several days. Debris found during the search for the vessel “is consistent with a catastrophic implosion of the vessel,” said Rear Adm. John Mauger of the First Coast Guard District.

BOSTON — A renowned Titanic expert, a world-record holding adventurer and two members of one of Pakistan's wealthiest families are facing critical danger aboard a small submersible that went missing while descending to the world's most famous shipwreck.

The submersible Titan was reported overdue Sunday night about 435 miles (700 kilometers) south of St. John's, Newfoundland, according to Canada's Joint Rescue Coordination Center, spurring a desperate international rescue effort. As of Tuesday morning about 10,000 square miles (25,900 square kilometers) of the Atlantic Ocean had been searched, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden's son Hunter will plead guilty to federal tax offenses but avoid prosecution on a separate gun charge in a deal with the Justice Department that likely spares him time behind bars.

Hunter Biden, 52, will plead guilty to the misdemeanor tax offenses as part of an agreement made public Tuesday. The agreement will also avoid prosecution on a felony charge of illegally possessing a firearm as a drug user, as long as he adheres to conditions set by prosecutors. It's somewhat unusual to resolve a federal criminal case at the same time charges are filed in court but not unheard of.

WASHINGTON — Math and reading scores among America's 13-year-olds fell to their lowest levels in decades, with math scores plunging by the largest margin ever recorded, according to the results of a test known as the nation's report card.

The results, released Wednesday, are the latest measure of the deep learning setbacks incurred during the pandemic. While earlier testing revealed the magnitude of America's learning loss, the latest test casts light on the persistence of those setbacks, dimming hopes of swift academic recovery.

LONDON — "Titanic" director James Cameron says the search operation for a deep-sea tourist sub turned into a "nightmarish charade" that prolonged the agony of the families of the passengers.

It’s not every day you can say you found something new at a fossil park.

James Hanna and Jonathan Hoag should know. They’ve been picking up rocks at Penn Dixie Fossil Park and Nature Reserve in Hamburg since they were kids. And now, in their 20s, they have found two rare fossils of an animal that had never been found there.