Costa Rica boat accident kills three elderly tourists.Drive Hot News

Survivors were taken to Costa Rica's Herradura beach, in Puntarenas.


  hree elderly tourists were killed in Costa Rica when a boat carrying more than 100 people capsized in rough seas.
The victims are a British man and a Canadian and an American woman, said the Costa Rican authorities
The catamaran was taking tourists to the Tortuga Island, on the country's Pacific Coast, when it was hit by strong winds and powerful waves.
Survivors said they were given lifejackets shortly before the boat sank.
"We were floating in the ocean. Many people were crying, screaming, asking for help," an unidentified woman told local television.
The Pura Vida Princess was carrying 99 tourists and 10 crew when it sank some 15km (nine miles) offshore.
'Very fast, shocking' The accident happened around 09:00 local time (15:00 GMT).

The Costa Rican government says the boat appeared to have enough lifeboats and life jackets

Ninety-nine tourists were on board the catamaran

"The captain started to turn the wheel to the left. There were pretty heavy seas and we started to take water on, apparently on the right side," said Todd Olson, a tourist from the American state of Kansas.
"Within a minute it was flipped. Very fast, shocking," he added.
Vice-President Ana Helena Chacon said 106 people had been rescued. She praised the work of the lifeguards, security ministry and the Red Cross.
Earlier reports said two tourists were missing, but Ms Chacon said all the passengers and crew, with the exception of the three casualties, had been accounted for.
"It's a sad day for our country, that receives so many tourists," she said.
The British Foreign Office said it a statement: "We are aware of an incident on a boat off the coast of Costa Rica involving British nationals. We are in close contact with local authorities and are providing consular assistance."
The Central American nation is considered one of the safest and most popular tourist destinations in Latin America.
Some 2.4 million foreign tourists - most of them from the US - visited the country in 2013, according to Costa Rica's Tourism Board.

Former Star Wars actor dies in stage rehearsal.Drive Hot News

 Kan Bonfils appeared in Star Wars: Episode 1 opposite Liam Neeson and Ewan McGregor.

An actor who appeared in James Bond films and as a Jedi master in the Star Wars franchise has collapsed and died during a theatre rehearsal.

Kan Bonfils was rehearsing for Dante's Inferno, which was due to open at The Rag Factory in London this week.
Members of the production's Craft Theatre company and paramedics were unable to resuscitate Bonfils.
Chris Hislop, the company's spokesman, said the cast and crew were devastated by the death.
''Kan collapsed during a rehearsal and the director Rocky Rodriguez Jr performed CPR on location."
Mr Hislop added: "The entire company are in shock. There is absolutely severe sadness, it is a real tragedy."
The cause of death is not known.
Dante's Inferno is expected to continue with another actor from the theatre company replacing Bonfils.
Mr Hislop said: ''It was due to open on Thursday. If things go to plan and if the incoming actor is able to do the job we are hoping to open on Saturday.''
Bonfils played a "henchman" in 2012's Skyfall with Daniel Craig and Isagura in 1997's Tomorrow Never Dies with Pierce Brosnan. He also appeared as Jedi master Saesee Tiin in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999), opposite Liam Neeson and Ewan McGregor.
He also had roles in Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle Of Life (2003), Batman Begins (2005) and several productions on the West End stage

Jackie Chan's son Jaycee jailed for drug offence in China.Doble click and read more..

 Jaycee Chan, the son of Jackie Chan, was among several celebrities caught in a drug crackdown this year.

Jaycee Chan, the son of action film star Jackie Chan, has been jailed for six months for a drug offence.

Chan, 32, pleaded guilty in Beijing's Dongcheng District Court to "sheltering others to use drugs".
Police raided his home in August and found more than 100g of marijuana. He faced a maximum sentence of three years.
His arrest came amid a drug use crackdown in China which saw several celebrities arrested.
In June 2014, President Xi Jinping ordered police to use strong measures to stop drug use.
This confession from the son of one of China's most famous actors underlines a key message from the Chinese government: no-one is immune from China's crackdown on illegal drugs, reports the BBC's Celia Hatton in Beijing.
'Ashamed' Chan and Taiwanese movie star Kai Ko, 23, were both detained at his Beijing home in August, with police saying they tested positive for marijuana. Mr Ko was released after a 14-day administrative detention for drug use.
But Jaycee Chan was put under "criminal detention" for the additional and more serious crime of "providing a shelter for others to abuse drugs", Beijing police said at the time.
He told the court on Friday that when police came to his house "I just gave them information and I confessed because I didn't know how to deal with the marijuana".
Chan was also fined 2,000 yuan ($322; £213), reports said.
Jackie Chan, who was named an official "Narcotics Control Ambassador" by Chinese police in 2009, has said he felt "ashamed" and "sad" over his son's behaviour.

Rod Taylor, star of The Birds, dies aged 84.Drive Hot News

 Rod Taylor with actress Rhonda Fleming. He starred alongside greats like Doris Day and Elizabeth Taylor
 

Australian actor Rod Taylor, who starred in Alfred Hitchcock's thriller The Birds, has died aged 84, according to reports in the US.

Taylor, who lived in the United States, is said to have died at his home in Los Angeles after a dinner party.
He came to prominence in the 1960s, starring alongside Hollywood greats like Jane Fonda and Richard Burton.
In 2009, he made a cameo as ex-UK Prime Minister Winston Churchill in Quentin Tarantino's film Inglourious Basterds.
He got his first leading role in the 1960 adaptation of HG Wells' science-fiction classic The Time Machine and went on to star in several hit films in the 1960s and 1970s.
He also voiced one of the Dalmatian dogs in Disney's animated hit 101 Dalmatians.
Tippi Hedren, his co-star in The Birds, told People magazine that Taylor had been "a great pal to me and a real strength".
"He was one of the most fun people I have ever met, thoughtful and classy. There was everything good in that man," she said.
He was due to turn 85 on Sunday.
He is survived by spouse Carol Kikumura and daughter Felicia Rodrica Sturt Taylor, a TV presenter in the US

Russia says drivers must not have 'sex disorders'.Drive Hot News

 Moscow street: Various mental "disorders" are seen as a cause of road accidents.

Russia has listed transsexual and transgender people among those who will no longer qualify for driving licences.

Fetishism, exhibitionism and voyeurism are also included as "mental disorders" now barring people from driving.
The government says it is tightening medical controls for drivers because Russia has too many road accidents.
"Pathological" gambling and compulsive stealing are also on the list. Russian psychiatrists and human rights lawyers have condemned the move.
The announcement follows international complaints about Russian harassment of gay-rights activists.
In 2013 Russia made "promoting non-traditional lifestyles" illegal.
Valery Evtushenko at the Russian Psychiatric Association voiced concern about the driving restrictions, speaking to the BBC Russian Service. He said some people would avoid seeking psychiatric help, fearing a driving ban.
The Association of Russian Lawyers for Human Rights called the new law "discriminatory". It said it would demand clarifications from the Russian Constitutional Court and seek support from international human rights organisations.
But the Professional Drivers Union supported the move. "We have too many deaths on the road, and I believe toughening medical requirements for applicants is fully justified," said the union's head Alexander Kotov.
However, he said the requirements should not be so strict for non-professional drivers.
Mikhail Strakhov, a Russian psychiatric expert, told BBC Russian that the definition of "personality disorders" was too vague and some disorders would not affect a person's ability to drive a car safely.Source BBC

WILDLIFE: Man arrested with 150 lizards.Double click and read more...

Dar es Salaam. Strange as it sounds, but a 34-year-old Kuwait national (name withheld) was arrested at the Julius Nyerere International Airport (JNIA) with a total of 149 monitor lizards ready to leave the country for Kuwait.

The suspect was arrested in the departure lounge as he was ready to board Emirates airline for Kuwait via Dubai.

Addressing reporters yesterday,  Airports Police commander Hamis Selemani said the monitor lizards were in a closed bag.

According to Mr Selemani 15 out of 149 monitor lizards were already dead when police arrested the suspect.

The police in collaboration with officials from the ministry of Tourism and Natural Resources managed to stop the suspect at the departure lounge TB II of JNIA at around 11:20pm on Wednesday.

“When the suspect was checking in, the scanner showed that the bag had some live animals. At first we thought they were snakes, but after inspecting the bag, we found out that they were monitor lizards,” said Mr Selemani.

According to Mr Selemani the monitor lizards were packed in different 15 small packages depending on their size.

Mr Selemani said collectively the monitor lizards are worth Sh6.33 million as each is sold at around $25 (Sh40,000).

He added that, the initial investigation showed that the suspect entered the country on Tuesday

“This indicates that, there is a local syndicate which helped the suspect to collect the monitor lizards at a very short time. He spent just over 24 hours in the country and yet he managed to collect a total of 149 lizards,” said Mr Selemani.

It wasn’t immediately known what the suspect intended to do with the lizards had he managed to sneak them out of the country, Mr Selemani said.

It isn’t the first time that foreigners try to smuggle out live animals through Tanzania airports. In November 2010 more than 136 live animals including a giraffe were smuggled to Qatar by using the country’s military plane.

Pings detected in hunt for crashed AirAsia black boxes.Drive Hot News

 This US Navy handout photo released January 8, 2015 shows the littoral combat ship USS Fort Worth (LCS 3) as it operates on January 7, 2015 near the location where the tail of AirAsia Flight QZ8501l was discovered.

Ping signals believed to be from the black box data recorders of crashed AirAsia Flight 8501 were detected Friday, a senior Indonesian search official said, offering strong hopes of explaining the disaster. 

"A ship detected the pings. The divers are trying to reach it," said S.B Supriyadi, who is stationed at the search headquarters of Pangkalan Bun.

"The location of the ping is reported to be near where the tail was found."

The plane crashed into the Java Sea on December 28 during stormy weather as it flew from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore, claiming the lives of all 162 people on board.

Stormy weather has slowed multinational efforts to find the wreckage of the plane and determine why it crashed.

The black boxes are regarded as crucial to explaining the cause of the disaster, as they should contain recordings of the pilots' final words and general flight data.

The black boxes are designed to give a ping signal for 30 days after a crash so that the recorders can be found.

The tail of the plane, where the black boxes were housed, was discovered on Wednesday partially buried in the seabed 30 metres (100 feet) underwater.

But no pings were initially detected.

Search officials have since Wednesday focused their efforts on and around the tail, believing the black boxes should be there unless they were dislodged.

Dozens of elite Indonesian Marine divers have tried but failed to thoroughly search the tail because of strong currents and the fact it is partially buried in the seabed. 

Supriyadi said divers would continue searching underwater on Friday to track the pings to the black boxes.