A tour boat capsized off the coast of Nicaragua, killing at least 13 people and leaving more passengers missing, officials said. The boat was carrying 32 people — 25 Costa Ricans, four Americans and three Nicaraguans, Costa Rica’s foreign ministry said.

The 13 dead were all Costa Rican, the foreign ministry said, citing the Nicaraguan foreign ministry. Nicaraguan officials did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment. The boat, traveling between Nicaragua’s Big Corn Island and Little Corn Island, flipped over Saturday near the larger island, Nicaragua’s state-run El 19 Digital news agency said. Some passengers remain missing, the Costa Rican foreign ministry said, but did not specify how many.(CNN)…[+]

CANBERRA — Smoking among Australia’s youth has reached a record low, with researchers attributing the steady decline to tighter regulation of tobacco products.

An Australian study, published in the Journal of Public Health Research and Practice on Thursday, found 3.4 percent of Australian adolescents, aged 12 to 17, smoked daily.

This compares with the latest state data from New South Wales (NSW) in 2014, which put the figure closer to 6.7 percent for heavy, light or occasional’ smokers of the same age. In 1996, 23.5 percent of adolescents in NSW were classed in that category. Over the past 20 years, the Australian government has adopted several anti-smoking measures, including heavily taxing all tobacco products, pulling tobacco advertisement from television and film and introducing smoke-free environments. In 2012, Australia introduced plain packaging for all tobacco-related products, in a world-first designed to make smoking less appealing to impression young kids. (Xinhua)…[+]

BEIJING   — President Xi Jinping has underscored the need to implement the “strictest” measures to ensure food safety. Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, made the remarks in an instruction published Thursday.

Noting the impact that food safety has on people’s livelihoods and public confidence in the government, Xi called on all authorities to perform their due duty with the people at the forefront of all work. The reputation of food safety in China is grave, Xi said, adding that there needs to be a more unified, authoritative supervision system as well as supporting regulations.

He said the strongest measures were needed, featuring rigorous standards, strict supervision, serious punishments and an authoritative accountability system. In a separate instruction, Premier Li Keqiang pledged “zero tolerance” to food safety violations, promising timely and harsh punishment for guilty parties. He urged government agencies to continue tackling the big issues related to food safety and to remember that the interests of the people were their top priority.(Xinhua)…[+]