Reuters World News Summary

The explosion tore through Rue Saint-Jacques, which runs from the Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral to the Sorbonne University, in the late afternoon, injuring at least 37 people, four of whom were fighting for their lives in hospital. India's Modi starts Washington visit to build Biden, US ties U.S. President Joe Biden and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi are expected to deepen defense and technology cooperation between their countries during Modi's official visit to the White House, despite lingering concerns about human rights in India.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Paris blast: At least 37 hurt, sniffer dogs pick up scent under rubble

A blast ripped through a street near Paris' historic Latin Quarter on Wednesday and rescuers were searching for two missing people feared buried under the rubble of a building that partially collapsed in the explosion. The explosion tore through Rue Saint-Jacques, which runs from the Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral to the Sorbonne University, in the late afternoon, injuring at least 37 people, four of whom were fighting for their lives in hospital.

India's Modi starts Washington visit to build Biden, US ties

U.S. President Joe Biden and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi are expected to deepen defense and technology cooperation between their countries during Modi's official visit to the White House, despite lingering concerns about human rights in India. Two days of carefully orchestrated official events had a bumpy start on Wednesday afternoon, however, when Modi was so late to a planned tour of the National Science Foundation that the president's wife Jill Biden, a teacher, started without him.

After Paris blast, shaken locals wait anxiously nearby

Rahman Oliur was anxiously waiting at a corner of a Parisian street on Wednesday, shortly after a blast ripped through it, injuring at least 30 and blowing up the front of his bazaar. "The shop exploded. It felt like it was a bomb, an attack," said Oliur, 27, still shaken by the explosion that he said miraculously left him unscathed. "If I had been closer to the window, I would not have made it."

China hits back after Biden calls Xi a 'dictator'

China hit back on Wednesday after U.S. President Joe Biden referred to President Xi Jinping as a "dictator", saying the remarks were absurd and a provocation, an unexpected flare-up following attempts by both sides to reduce friction. Biden made his comments just a day after U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken completed a visit to China aimed at stabilizing relations that Beijing says are at their lowest point since formal ties were established in 1979.

Missing Titanic sub: experts raised safety concerns about OceanGate Titan in 2018

Concerns were raised back in 2018 about the safety of a submersible vessel that has been missing since Sunday, when it descended with tourists on a deep ocean journey to view the wreckage of the Titanic. The pilot and four passengers are aboard and the available oxygen on the vehicle has been forecast to run out Thursday morning.

Bidens to greet India's Modi with lotus blooms, but no Gujarati food

President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden will welcome Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to a White House decorated with peacocks and lotus blooms on Thursday, hosting a vegetarian dinner but no specialties from Modi's home state of Gujarat. Modi, a strict Hindu who follows a vegetarian diet, will be served a first course that includes a grilled corn kernel salad and tangy avocado sauce, the White House said.

Time running short as search for Titanic sub focuses on undersea sounds

Rescuers searching for a missing submersible near the wreck of the Titanic on Wednesday concentrated their efforts on a remote area of the North Atlantic where undersea noises have been detected, though officials cautioned the sounds may not have originated from the vessel. With estimates suggesting the air supply on board could run out in a matter of hours, an international coalition of rescue teams was sweeping a vast expanse of the ocean for the Titan, which vanished on Sunday while carrying five people on a deep-sea voyage to the century-old shipwreck as part of a tourist expedition.

Factbox-Extreme tourism allows ultra-wealthy to explore new frontiers

The $250,000-a-head expedition that vanished this week en route to the deep-sea wreck of the Titanic ocean liner is just one example of extreme tourism that is becoming more commonplace for those who can afford it. From Earth's tallest peaks to suborbital space, here are some of the other exploits that can be attempted:

Ukraine offensive 'slower than desired', Zelenskiy says; Putin sees 'lull'

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was quoted on Wednesday as saying progress in Ukraine's counteroffensive against Russian forces was "slower than desired", but that Kyiv would not be pressured into speeding it up. "Some people believe this is a Hollywood movie and expect results now. It's not," Britain's BBC quoted him as saying in an interview. "What's at stake is people's lives."

G7 affirms unity and need for close coordination on China, State Department says

The Group of Seven countries affirmed their unity and stressed the need for close coordination in dealing with China, the U.S. State Department said on Wednesday after Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with G7 representatives in London. "The G7 noted the importance of close coordination on the PRC (People's Republic of China) and reaffirmed that the G7 is more united than ever," the State Department said in a statement.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)