Police Investigate US Zoo Gorilla Shooting

Police are investigating the circumstances which led to a gorilla being shot dead at Cincinnati Zoo to protect a young boy who had entered its enclosure.

Officers said over the weekend no charges were planned but now it has emerged they are still gathering information and charges are possible.

It comes after more than 400,000 people signed a petition calling for the parents of the four-year-old concerned to be investigated.

The boy's parents

Others have called for the zoo to be held responsible for the death of the Western Lowland gorilla, named Harambe, on Saturday.

The 17-year-old animal, whose species is listed as endangered, was shot minutes after dragging the child through shallow water and up a rock wall.

Tranquillisers were not an option because they could have a delayed effect and may have agitated the gorilla further, zoo officials said.

The petition, "Justice For Harambe", accuses the boy's parents of "negligence", although they have denied this.

His mother, Michelle Gregg, asked people not to judge her and her partner Deonne Dickerson because "accidents happen".

Writing on her Facebook page, she added: "If anyone knows me I keep a tight watch on my kids. Accidents happen but I am thankful that the right people were in the right place today."

Ms Gregg said her son was recovering from concussion and a few scrapes.

A spokeswoman for the US Department of Agriculture's animal and plant health inspection service, said it has not begun an inquiry yet but would be checking for any violations of the Animal Welfare Act.

Cincinatti Zoo's director, Thayne Maynard, insisted it is safe for the 1.6 million people who visit it every year but said a review is under way to see if any improvements can be made.

Early in April a routine inspection found the gorilla enclosure did not breach safety regulations.

But the zoo was severely reprimanded in March when two polar bears went through an open den door into a service hallway.

Nobody was hurt but an inspector warned members of the public could have been "at great risk for injury, harm or death".

Meanwhile, the decision to kill Harambe has won the backing of Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump.

He acknowledged it was "a very tough call" but said the life of the child had to come first.

Japanese Army Joins Search For Missing Boy

The Japanese army has joined the search for a seven-year-old boy who is missing after his parents left him alone in a dense forest on a bear-inhabited island.

Seventy-five army personnel have joined around 130 members of the emergency services and volunteers in the search for Yamato Tanooka, who has been missing since Saturday on the island of Hokkaido.

His parents initially said they had lost the little boy when they were out hiking to gather wild vegetables.

They subsequently admitted they had made him get out of their car on a mountain road as a punishment for misbehaving because he was throwing stones at cars and people.

He reportedly does not have water or food.

Rescuers at the local town of Nanae requested the extra help because they said they had already scoured the area for four days and the task was frustrating because they could not find any sign of his presence in the rugged mountainous area.

Heavy rain has also hampered the search.

"We asked the SDF [Japan Self-Defence Forces] to go into places which people can't easily access such as deep crevasses along creeks," a town spokesman said.

"We have already covered the same areas over and over again," he explained, adding it was hard to imagine even a lost adult being able to travel over such a wide area on foot.

"We have not taken such a long time before to find signs of a person in distress," he said.

The boy is believed to have been abandoned on the northern side of the road on a slope of Mount Komagatake, which rises to an altitude of 1,131 metres (3,710 feet).

"Unless he started climbing the mountain, he would have hit a main road after walking for two-three kilometres (1.2-1.9 miles) in any other direction," rescuer Satoshi Saito said.

Swimwear Model Gets 15 Years For Shooting Ex

A Slovakian swimwear model who shot her British millionaire ex-boyfriend in his Spanish home has been jailed for more than 15 years.

Mayka Kukucova said in court that she had "never meant to hurt" Andrew Bush during a struggle and cried when photos of his body were shown. However she was convicted of murder two years after the killing.

Prosecutors had hoped the 26-year-old would face 25 years in prison, but she was sentenced to 15 and a half years instead - 15 years for the murder and six months for breaking into Mr Bush's Marbella home.

Mr Bush, 48, a former jewellery dealer from Bristol, who was married to BBC TV presenter Sam Mason, met Kukucova when she worked in his shop.

They were together for two and a half years but split six months before the murder and Mr Bush, nicknamed "the King of Bling", was in a new relationship with a 20-year-old Russian university student.

 The court heard how Kukucova had waited for Mr Bush at his Costa del Sol home and shot him twice in the head before fleeing in his Hummer to her native Slovakia. She handed herself in to authorities there and was extradited to Spain.

Kukucova claimed she had been acting in self defence but she was convicted on Saturday.

Mr Bush's 21-year-old daughter Ellie Mason-Bush welcomed the decision, saying she had finally "got justice" for him.

Her mother, Ms Mason wrote on Twitter: "20 years for the murderous cow. I hope she rots. At no stage has she apologised to my girl. Blaming Andy, low life scum."

Before the verdict she posted a picture of herself with her ex-husband and their daughter just after she was born, which said: "How can any 1 ruin this?"

Mr Bush's girlfriend, Maria Korotaeva, posted a report of Kukucova's conviction on her Instagram page with the caption "Thank God".

More Than 45 Million Are In Slavery Worldwide

More than 45 million people around the world are trapped in modern slavery, an annual study by an Australian pressure group has found.

The Global Slavery Index for 2016, published by Perth-based Walk Free Foundation, discovered that up to 4% of the population in some countries are in bondage of some kind.

Modern slavery includes people who are forced to work as prostitutes or domestic servants, or who are enslaved in debt bondage and compelled to work in factories or on farms.

Asia is the worst offender, the study found, with up to 4.37% of people in North Korea and 3.97% of the population in Uzbekistan enslaved.

The highest number of slaves in any one country is in India, which has 18.35 million, followed by China with 3.39 million and Pakistan with 2.13 million.

The Walk Free Foundation's founders say more countries should follow the lead set by the UK, which last year brought in the 2015 Modern Slavery Act.

Walk Free chairman Andrew Forrest said: "One of the reasons why we chose to launch the Global Slavery Index 2016 in London was because of the leadership which Britain has made on the modern slavery issue.

"The Modern Slavery Act 2015 led the world and we are seeing this having a real impact in how companies and countries behave.

"We feel very strongly that if this leadership is adopted by the nine other major economies of the world then the world would be a much safer place."

A total of 45.8 million men, women and children are modern slaves, according to the study - 10 million more than the last survey in 2014.

Mr Forrest said the rise was down to better access to data, although he added that he believes the number of slaves is rising.

The Home Office says it estimates there are 13,000 modern slaves in Britain.

Out of those, the largest group is from Albania, then Nigeria and Vietnam.

But many are British nationals, the Home Office adds - most often teenage girls who have been groomed and then forced into sex work.

While the report singled Britain out for praise, it said that rates of conviction in the UK are low and immigration rules leave migrants vulnerable to exploitation.

Hollywood actor Russell Crowe will help launch the report in central London on Tuesday morning.

Snowden Performed 'Public Service' With Leaks

Edward Snowden performed a "public service" by triggering a national debate about secret domestic surveillance programmes, a former US Attorney General said.

In a podcast released on Monday, Eric Holder said the former National Security Agency contractor should still return to the US to face trial.

Snowden leaked classified details in 2013 of the US government's surveillance of its citizens before fleeing the country.

He now lives in Russia and faces charges that could mean up to 30 years in prison if he returns to the US.

In an interview with CNN, Mr Holder said that Snowden had become concerned that domestic spying programmes were not providing a "substantial" return of useful intelligence.

He said: "We can certainly argue about the way in which Snowden did what he did, but I think that he actually performed a public service by raising the debate we engaged in and by the changes that we made.

"Now, I would say doing what he did in the way he did it was inappropriate and illegal."

Mr Holder, who was Attorney General between 2009 and 2015, said the leaks harmed US interests and put intelligence assets at risk.

He added: "He's broken the law. In my view, he needs to get lawyers, come on back and decide what he wants to do - go to trial try to cut a deal.

"But in deciding what an appropriate sentence should be, a judge could take into account the usefulness of having that national debate."

Snowden has repeatedly said he would be willing to return to the US if the federal government provides a fair trial.

But he says that under federal espionage laws he would not be allowed to present a whistleblower defence, where he would argue in court that he acted in the public interest.

UK 'Exposed' To Terrorists Arriving By Boat

The rescue of 18 migrants from a boat in the Channel shows how exposed Britain is to traffickers using small ports to bypass border staff, it has been claimed.

Campaigners say that with just three dedicated patrol boats operating in UK waters it is just a matter of time before terrorists enter Britain by sea.

People living on the south coast of England say the inflatable craft intercepted at Dymchurch, Kent, is just one of many suspected to have brought migrants to UK shores.

Two British men have been charged with immigration offences after the boat with 18 Albanians on board was rescued.

Now there are calls for more to be done to stop traffickers using the Channel to smuggle people into Britain.

Dorset's Crime Commissioner Martyn Underhill told Sky News: "The French have 40 cutters patrolling their seas and we have three.

"It's an absolute scandal. We've lost our aerial surveillance. We don't know who's coming into this country.

"We're really exposed and before we have a major terrorist attack, let's wake up and start reinvesting in our port security."

Chris Parry, a former Rear Admiral who was chair of the UK's Marine Management Organisation, added: "We have to have a systematic approach.

"I'm not sure the Border Agency has a strategy for this. This problem has been knocking on the door for some time and now the door is open."

He said the UK has adequate "surveillance assets" but until the armed forces and the various agencies involved work together, the problem is going to get worse.

He added: "If we think that migrants are slipping across the Channel, there are quite a lot of others ... and possibly terrorists that are going to do the same."

The Government is introducing tough new powers for the UK Border Force which it says will help tackle the problem.

From today, immigration officers will be able to stop, board, divert and detain vessels and arrest anyone they suspect has broken immigration laws.

New patrol vessels will also be deployed to try to stop people from smuggling weapons, drugs and migrants into the UK.

And more resources will be available over the summer with new maritime coordination hubs in Cornwall, the Thames Estuary and the Humber.

But some say the new powers will not be enough and the sea route can only be shut off with more resources.

Lucy Moreton, general secretary of the Immigration Services Union, said: "Anecdotally members have been reporting for 18 months that these types of landings are increasing. 

"Unless there are the resources to maintain 100% vigilance 100% of the time ... then there are going to be vulnerabilities.

"Like all the civil services, resources (at Border Force) are inevitably scarce. They want to do more ... The powers are much welcome but there are a finite number of staff to enforce them."

When the new powers were announced last week, Immigration Minister James Brokenshire said: "Our investments and improvements over the past six years have left us with one of the most secure borders in the world. But we know we must go further and continue to adapt and react to the challenges we face.

"That's why we will be establishing a series of operational hubs, procuring additional boats and introducing new powers to make the UK's coastline even more secure from criminals looking to smuggle guns and drugs or facilitate illegal entry into the country."

Former Boss Of Insurance Giant Kills Himself

The former chief executive of Swiss insurance giant Zurich has taken his own life, just three years after the company's then chief financial officer also killed himself.

Martin Senn ran Zurich for six years until last December when he quit, saying his time at the firm had been "very intense".

Local police in the east of Switzerland were alerted after being called to a holiday apartment in the ski resort town of Klosters.

Police spokesman for the Graubuenden region Roman Rueegg declined to comment on the suspected cause of death.

But Zurich Insurance said in a brief statement on Monday that "his family informed us that Martin took his life last Friday".

It added that the company expressed "great shock and sadness" but would not be making any further comment "out of respect to Martin and to his family".

Mr Senn left Zurich after "mutual agreement" with the board.

At the time, he said: "There have been some setbacks in recent months, but I am convinced that we have put in place the right measures for Zurich to reach its targets."

A few months earlier, Zurich had shelved plans for a takeover of British rival RSA.

Carriermanagement.com said Mr Senn was paid 6.1m Swiss francs (£4.2m) by Zurich in 2015, down from 7.2 million Swiss francs (£5m) in 2014.

Three years ago, Zurich's then chief financial officer, Pierre Wauthier, killed himself. 

Two independent inquiries undertaken by Swiss regulators found no indication that he had been subject to undue pressure by those in charge at the company.

:: Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org.