Jersey Bridgeman: Mystery Over Girl's Death

Detectives in Arkansas are puzzled by the mysterious death of a six-year-old girl whose father and stepmother were jailed last year for chaining her to a dresser.

Jersey Bridgeman's body was found on Tuesday in an abandoned house not far from where she lived with her biological mother, DesaRae Bridgeman, in Bentonville, about 215 miles northwest of Little Rock.

Bentonville Police have no suspects but detectives and FBI agents are interviewing several known sex offenders in the area.

"Obviously anyone close to this girl is someone we're going to look at now," Captain Justin Thompson told FoxNews.com on Friday.

David Bridgeman is serving 18 years in jail for abusing Jersey

Jersey's father, David Bridgeman, and stepmother, Jana Bridgeman, are both serving long prison terms for abusing her last year.

Both pleaded guilty in June 2011. They were given 18-year and 12-year prison sentences respectively.

DesaRae Bridgeman says she last saw her daughter when she put her to bed at around midnight on Monday.

She reported the girl missing at around 6.30am the next day. There was no sign of forced entry at the family home.

Police soon found her inside the vacant house about 200ft away.

They have already established what caused Jersey's death, but police will only say for the moment that the case is being investigated as a homicide.

It is unclear who else lived with the girl's mother, but on her Facebook page DesaRae Bridgeman says she is in a relationship with a man named Brandon Thomas.

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Cameron: EU Deal 'Just Not Good Enough'

What Now For EU Budget?

Updated: 10:16pm UK, Friday 23 November 2012

By Adam Boulton, Political Editor

The 27 EU member states did not agree a budget for the next seven years at the summit in Brussels. But David Cameron will be able to go home and tell Eurosceptic conservative backbenchers "so far, so good".

In his own words the Prime Minister "successfully defended" Britain's contributions rebate and rejected a deal which "was just not good enough".

Mr Cameron also insisted that Britain had not been isolated but was joined in its demands for lower spending by other big net contributors including Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway and Holland.

This Nordic European grouping also claims the support of the key deal-maker and biggest funder, Germany. But in her public comments Chancellor Angela Merkel was more circumspect, merely noting, as she had since arriving in Belgium, that the gap between the want-mores and the want-lesses was too big to bridge at this meeting.

She and the hapless Herman Van Rompuy, who has the thankless task of chairing these negotiations, have the same message - it is more important to get it right than to rush for a deal.

Mr Van Rompuy now has "weeks" to try to find an agreement. When EU leaders come back to the budget early next year (having put the matter to one side at the next summit in December) they will be on deadline.

If an agreement is not reached then, funding will be rolled over on an annualised basis - bad news for Britain because budgets will automatically increase, and worse news for countries such as Denmark and Holland who have not yet secured their rebates.

So doesn't that mean that all the countries who want more have to do is sit it out? Not quite. Of the 27 member states nine countries are net contributors, including all the Nordic holdouts, and around 15 are significant recipients. Ultimately all the winners are vulnerable, especially if Germany joins in so much as threatening to turn off the tap.

The leaders calling for further cuts all make the same argument - they are imposing austerity at home and it is not acceptable to their voters that the European slice of their budgets simply should be exempted from a squeeze.

The Council President, Mr Van Rompuy, and Jose Barosso his counterpart at the EU Commission probably made a mistake in refusing to table any cuts in the administration budget - pay and perks for bureaucrats. Mr Cameron contrasted this with the "difficult decisions" being imposed on the UK civil service and insisted that the EU could not live "in a parallel world".

But ultimately these are points of principle rather than matters of real significance to national budgets. The UK's government spending now runs to about one trillion euros a year - the EU is arguing about one trillion euros over seven years divided between 27 nations. Of that the "administration" budget is just 6%. Which means that when Mr Cameron talks about saving a billion euros by, for example, stopping automatic promotion of civil servants, he really is talking about a drop in a bucket.

This is perhaps why the economics professor who now is Prime Minister of Italy, Mario Monti, accused Mr Cameron of being an irrational "demagogue". Italy is now in an alliance with France supporting the claims of those who want a bigger budget in the interests of "solidarity". Both Italy and France are net contributors to the EU overall but they are also big recipients of the Common Agricultural Policy, which accounts for some 40% of EU spending.

Perhaps the most significant thing that happened at this summit was that there was no Franco-German axis. Chancellor Merkel and President Francois Hollande took opposing positions.

What's more Germany now seems concerned not to isolate the UK, because of fears that another confrontation could move Britain out of the Union altogether - ceding much greater influence inside to socialist-led France and its Mediterranean allies.

As the European Union scrambles to find a deal Germany, Britain and their North European allies would seem to have the stronger hand - following the time-honoured principle of who pays, plays - provided that their alliance holds together.

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Teen Killed After Objecting To Man Urinating

A man shot dead his teenage neighbour after she objected to him urinating near the gate of her New Delhi home, police have said.

Yusra Khan, 17, was killed by a 21-year-old man, described by Indian police as a "jobless vagabond", who broke into her home and also critically injured her mother.

"During the day, Yusra objected to him urinating at the gate of the building in which both lived," said additional police commissioner Ajay Chaudhry.

Mr Chaudhry said the man then returned with a handgun the same evening and shot Yusra twice and her mother in a bedroom of their working-class home in the Nizamuddin district of the city.

The man quickly disappeared through the narrow lanes of the neighbourhood, firing in the air while fleeing, according to reports.

Police have launched a major hunt to arrest the unnamed suspect.

"He is absconding but he is somewhere out there and we will get him," Mr Chaudhry said.

Yusra's father, Aslam Khan, who was not present at the time of the shooting, told journalists that the suspect left "in a fit of rage" after his daughter had raised objections and threatened her with "dire consequences".

He said his daughter "had died on the spot" while his wife was admitted to hospital and was battling for her life.

The Indian capital saw a spate of shootings in September. In one incident, a 23-year-old shot dead his ex-girlfriend and her landlady and then drove to a suburb to kill her father and sister before turning the gun on himself.

A few days later, two friends went on a shooting rampage which left three women and two young girls dead.

Figures for gun seizures in New Delhi show a rising trend.

Police in 2009 seized 573 illegal weapons, in 2010 there were 634 and in 2011 the number touched 770. In the first nine months of this year, officers have already recovered 594 guns.

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Gas Leak Blast Levels Massachusetts Strip Club

An explosion triggered by a gas leak flattened a strip club in Springfield, Massachusetts, injuring at least 18 people.

The Scores Gentlemen's Club, exploded at about 5.25pm local time as a gas company was looking for a leak under the road, said Springfield Police Captain William Collins.

The blast blew out all windows in a three-block radius, leaving three more buildings damaged beyond repair and prompting emergency workers to evacuate an apartment building that buckled.

Nine firefighters were among the injured

Witnesses described to local media a massive explosion that shook the ground and sent up a huge cloud of smoke.

Police said it looked as though there was a missile strike where the explosion occurred.

Massachusetts Lt Gov Tim Murray said it was "a miracle" no one died.

Four buildings were damaged beyond repair

A representative of the Columbia Gas company said that four employees had been injured in the incident but were expected to survive. Nine firefighters and two police officers were also among those hurt.

The city established an emergency shelter to accommodate residents displaced by the blast.

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Dallas Star Larry Hagman Dies

Larry Hagman, who starred in the hit TV series Dallas as the scheming oil baron J R Ewing, has died.

His family said in a statement that the 81-year-old died in a Dallas hospital following complications from his battle with cancer.

He had suffered from liver cancer and cirrhosis of the liver in the 1990s after decades of drinking.

Dallas, which made its premiere on the CBS network in 1978, made Hagman a superstar.

The show quickly became one of the network's top-rated programmes, built an international following and inspired a spin-off, imitators and a revival in 2012.

"Larry was back in his beloved hometown of Dallas, re-enacting the iconic role he loved the most," his family said in a statement. "Larry's family and closest friends had joined him in Dallas for the Thanksgiving holiday."

Hagman with his co-stars Patrick Duffy and Linda Gray

The popularity of Dallas made Hagman one of the best-paid actors in television and earned him a fortune. He lost some of it, however, in bad oil investments before turning to real estate.

Fans and celebrities took to Twitter to pay tribute to him.

Linda Gray, who played J R's wife, Sue Ellen, and was at his bedside when he died, said: "Larry Hagman was my best friend for 35 years. He was the Pied Piper of life and brought joy to everyone he knew. He was creative, funny, loving and talented, and I will miss him enormously."

Larry King said: "Larry Hagman was a dear man who had an incredible career. He helped me to stop smoking. He was a very special person."

Actor William Shatner said: "My thoughts and prayers go out to the family of Larry Hagman. My best, Bill".

Hagman with Barbara Eden at the I Dream Of Jeannie DVD launch

In July 1995, he was diagnosed with liver cancer, which led him to quit smoking, and a month later he underwent a liver transplant.

Hagman said he quit drinking the moment doctors told him he had cirrhosis of the liver and could die within six months.

Hagman was born in Weatherford, Texas, and his father was a lawyer who dealt with the Texas oil barons Hagman would later come to portray.

His mother was stage and movie star Mary Martin and he became a star himself in 1965 on I Dream of Jeannie, a popular television sitcom.

Barbara Eden, who starred alongside him in I Dream of Jeannie, tweeted: "Larry Hagman not just a great actor, not just a television icon, but an element of pure Americana. I'll miss him."

Hagman and his wife Maj

Hagman started his acting career in theatre in New York where he married Maj Axelsson in 1954 while they were in a production of South Pacific. They have two children, Heidi and Preston.

He served in the Air Force, spending five years in Europe as the director of USO shows.

In his later years, Hagman became an advocate for organ transplants and an anti-smoking campaigner.

He also was devoted to solar energy, telling the New York Times he had a $750,000 solar panel system at his Ojai estate, and made a commercial in which he portrayed a J R Ewing who had forsaken oil for solar power.

He was also a longtime member of the Peace and Freedom Party, a minor leftist organisation in California.

Hagman had a eccentric streak. When he first met actress Lauren Bacall, he licked her arm because he had been told she did not like to be touched and he was known for leading parades on the Malibu beach and showing up at a grocery store in a gorilla suit.

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Yasser Arafat's Body To Be Exhumed Next Week

The body of the Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat will be exhumed next week to try to establish whether he was poisoned.

Experts will take samples from Mr Arafat's remains as part of a fresh inquiry into his death in November 2004 after a sudden deterioration in his health.

A murder inquiry was launched in France earlier this year when tests carried out by a Swiss institute detected traces of the lethal radioactive substance polonium-210 on his clothing.

Polonium-210 is the substance that was used to assassinate the former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko in London six years ago. It is usually only found in medical or military environments.

Mr Arafat's tomb in the West Bank city of Ramallah will be opened for a few hours on Tuesday for tests to be carried out by Swiss, French and Russian experts.

Sheets cover Yasser Arafat's mausoleum in preparation for his exhumation

A reburial ceremony with full military honours will be held later the same day.

Tawfik Tirawi, the former Palestinian intelligence chief who is leading the investigation, said: "November 27 will be one of the most painful days of my life for personal reasons as well as patriotic, political and religious ones.

"But it is necessary in order to get to the painful truth behind Yasser Arafat's death."

Palestinian officials have remained convinced Mr Arafat was poisoned by Israel. Israel denies the allegations.

Mr Tirawi said: "As patriotic Palestinians, we remain convinced that the Israelis assassinated president Arafat, and at the inquiry level, we have evidence leading in this direction."

There has been continued speculation about Mr Arafat's death. 

Yasser Arafat with his daughter Zahwa in Gaza City in the 1990s

He died aged 75 at a military hospital just outside Paris after being moved there from his West Bank compound.

French doctors said that he suffered a brain haemorrhage but, at his widow's request, no post-mortem was conducted.

The French authorities launched an official murder inquiry in August but some medical experts in France have cast doubt on the polonium-210 theory.

Marcel Francis-Kahn, the former chief of rheumatology at Paris's Bichat hospital, said: "The hypothesis of polonium does not stand up to scrutiny."

He explained that Mr Arafat suffered no traditional symptoms of radiation poisoning such as hair loss and a notable drop in white blood cells.

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Doomsday Cults Banned From French Village

The mayor of a sleepy village in southwest France is stepping up security because of fears of an invasion of people who think the end of the world is nigh.

An ancient prophecy based on the Mayan calendar has led to internet speculation that Bugarach, which is near the Pyrenees, will be the only place left after the apocalypse, which some are predicting will happen on December 21 this year.

Followers believe a nearby mountain has magic powers and are convinced UFOs will rescue them and take them to safety.

French authorities have insisted the scenario is ridiculous, but they are taking the situation seriously.

Most villagers seem unconcerned about the claims of impending doom

Mayor Jean-Pierre Lord says over a hundred gendarmes are to seal off the village from December 19-23 to keep out any Doomsday groups.

"My message is very simple. I am telling people don't come here to Bugarach for a simple reason there will be nothing to see here. So I insist don't come here, especially as there will mainly be the police here," he said.

In the nearby ancient town of Carcassone, officials say they are planning for every eventuality.

"Taking into account the huge media interest this affair has created we have to take into account all security concerns and be prepared for all outcomes whether there are 300 people or 3,000," said security chief Eric Freysselinard.

Villagers appear not to be too concerned about claims of impending doom.

Many said they were doubtful that extra-terrestrials would be coming to pluck survivors to safety.

"I think it's a big load of nonsense. I don't think there are UFOs within the Bugarach mountain," said local rubbish collector Jean-Luc Billard.

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McAfee's Dogs Could Be Key To Murder Riddle

Police hunting the anti-virus pioneer John McAfee think the millionaire's dogs could hold the key to solving the murder of his neighbour.

Mr McAfee shot dead his pets after they were poisoned two days before Gregory Faull, a retired American builder, was killed.

Officers have dug up the animals' remains, which were buried in the grounds of Mr McAfee's home in Belize, to examine the bullets used to kill them.

Forensic officers are now comparing the bullets to the single casing found by the body of Mr Faull to determine if there is a match.

Police spokesman Raphael Martinez said: "The dogs were exhumed and the slugs were taken out indeed and basically it's just to match the slug that was found in Mr Faull."

The 52-year-old was found dead in his home on the island of Ambergris Cave on November 11. He had a gunshot wound to the head.

Police officers carrying the corpse of Gregory Faull

Mr McAfee has denied he was responsible for the murder and says he went into hiding only because the Belize authorities have a vendetta against him. He believes he was the intended victim of the shooting, not Mr Faull.

Since going on the run he has started a blog, which he promotes on Twitter, and regularly updates.

In it he has given details of how he has disguised himself as a beggar, a salesman and a drunken German tourist to watch police search his home seven times.

In a post about the exhumation of his dogs, Mr McAfee wrote: "Then I watched the police dig up my four dogs that had been poisoned and buried. They cut off the heads and re-buried the bodies. I found this curious."

Mr McAfee amassed a $100m (£63m) fortune from his software business but said he lost all but $4m of it in the financial crisis. He moved to Belize in 2008.

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Boxer Hector Camacho Taken Off Life Support

Boxer Hector "Macho" Camacho has died after being taken off life support, doctors say.

The 50-year-old was declared clinically brain dead on Thursday after being shot in his hometown of Bayamon in Puerto Rico earlier in the week.

Dr Ernesto Torres said Camacho went into cardiac arrest in the early hours of Saturday. He was then taken off life support and died shortly after.

His mother Maria Matias had indicated he would be allowed to die after three of his sons had arrived in Puerto Rico to see him for a final time.

"I lost my son three days ago. He's alive only because of a machine. My son is not alive. My son is only alive for the people who love him," she had said.

However, his eldest son, Hector Jr, said he wanted to keep his father alive.

The former world champion was shot as he sat in a car with a friend, 49-year-old Adrian Mojica Moreno, who was killed in the attack.

Police spokesman Alex Diaz said officers found nine small bags of cocaine in the friend's pocket and a 10th bag open inside the car.

Police reported no arrests and said investigators continued to interview potential witnesses.

Camacho fought some of boxing's biggest stars

Preparations had already begun for a memorial and a funeral Mass.

Camacho fought professionally for three decades, from his humble debut against David Brown at New York's Felt Forum in 1980 to an equally forgettable swansong against Sal Duran in Kissimmee, Florida, in 2010.

In between, he fought some of the sport's biggest stars, including Sugar Ray Leonard, Felix Trinidad, Oscar De La Hoya and Roberto Duran.

After his career reached its prime, Camacho was plagued by drug, alcohol and other problems.

In 2007 he was sentenced to seven years in prison for the burglary of a computer store in Mississippi. While arresting him on the burglary charge in January 2005, police also found the drug ecstasy.

A judge eventually suspended all but one year of the sentence and gave Camacho probation but he ended up serving two weeks in jail after violating that probation.

Camacho's ex-wife, Amy, obtained a restraining order against him in 1998, alleging he threatened her and one of their children. The couple, who had two children at the time, later divorced.

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Egypt Judges Condemn President's 'Attack'

Egyptian judges have condemned a decree granting President Mohamed Morsi sweeping new powers, as angry protesters clashed with police for a second day.

A handful of rock-throwing activists battled riot police in the streets near Tahrir Square, where several thousand protesters massed on Friday to demonstrate against a decree, which effectively prevents Mr Morsi's decisions from being challenged.

The move also removed powers from the judiciary and allows the president to take any measures to protect national security.

The Supreme Judicial Council, the country's highest judicial authority, said the decree was an "unprecedented attack" on their independence, the state news agency reported.

Judges in the coastal city of Alexandria said all work at courts and prosecution offices would be suspended until the measures were reversed.

Some protesters are staging a sit-in in Tahrir Square

A number of opposition parties have called for an open-ended sit-in with the aim of "toppling" the decree which has also drawn criticism from the US, the UN and the European Union.

A mass protest has also been called for Tuesday.

"We are facing a historic moment in which we either complete our revolution or we abandon it to become prey for a group that has put its narrow party interests above the national interest," the liberal Dustour Party said in a statement.

Mr Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood party also called its supporters out onto the streets of Cairo on Tuesday for a counter-demonstration to show support for the move.

On Friday, the president addressed his supporters at a rally outside the presidential palace telling them he would press forward and that he was on the path to "freedom and democracy".

He said that the new powers were designed to stop "weevils" from the regime of ousted former president Hosni Mubarak blocking progress.

The decree reflects the concerns in the Muslim Brotherhood-led government that sections of the judiciary remain unreformed following the overthrown of Mubarak.

"It aims to sideline Mursi's enemies in the judiciary and ultimately to impose and head off any legal challenges to the constitution," said Elijah Zarwan, a fellow with The European Council on Foreign Relations.

"We are in a situation now where both sides are escalating and its getting harder and harder to see how either side can gracefully climb down."

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