A kidnapped American bookmaker has been found dead in Costa Rica, one year after his family paid nearly $1 million in ransom bitcoin for his safe return. William Sean 'Tony' Creighton Kopko, 43, was kidnapped in September 2018 after he was abducted leaving his office. His Porsche Cayenne was found crashed in Heredia after two traffic officers are said to have stopped him before he was taken away by four men in a pickup. Now officials have confirmed to ESPN his remains were recently found in a cemetery in the coastal town Quepos, a three hour drive from where he went missing. It is not yet known how the businessman, who founded and ran 5Dimes, died.

More than 160 North Korean fishermen face death by firing squad if they are returned home after shooting at a Russian border patrol who 'caught them poaching'. FSB security service detained the group at gunpoint and accused them of illegal fishing in Russian waters and using guns to resist arrest. Four FSB border guards were wounded in the shootout, with at least one suffering 'gunshot wounds', and had to be flown by helicopter to hospital in Vladivostok. If they are returned to Kim Jong-un's hermit kingdom the men could face being killed by firing squad, a senior Moscow politician warned. The conflict came after the Russians moved in on more than a dozen North Korean vessels.

The captain and crew of this submarine got a shock as it left its naval base when a giant humpback whale showed its interest by spectacularly breaching right in front of it. The submarine had been sailing out of South Africa's naval base at Simon's Town near Cape Town and had to navigate through a pod of the humpbacks when one leaped into view. The majestic image of the 30-tonne fully grown 16m whale was caught on film by keen photographer Tracy-Lee Wise. 🐋 much #wow

Rain from Tropical Depression Imelda deluged parts of Texas and Louisiana on Thursday, prompting water rescues, a hospital evacuation and road closures in areas east of Houston as Tropical Storm Lorena officially becomes a hurricane just off the coast of Mexico. Imelda has battered Texas with up to 28 inches of rain in some areas, and forecasters are still warning that the tropical depression could bring up to 35 inches of rain to the state through Friday. No reports of deaths or injuries related to the storm were immediately reported Thursday. In Houston, a flash flood watch remained in effect until 7pm Thursday but the city itself has been spared from the heaviest rainfall. The National Weather Service (NWS) issued a tornado warning Thursday morning for Chambers County, including the town of Winnie, where a flash flood emergency warning is also in place.💦🌪