Jackson ‘had lethal drug levels’

Pop star Michael Jackson had lethal levels of the powerful anaesthetic propofol in his body when he died, coroner’s office documents show.

The findings were contained in a previously sealed search warrant which has been made public in Texas.

The singer died in June from a cardiac arrest at his home in Los Angeles. Police have interviewed his doctor, but he has not been named as a suspect.

There are reports that the coroner has concluded Jackson’s death was homicide.

The reports, carried by the Associated Press news agency quoting unnamed police sources, have not been confirmed.
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Nokia pledges smartphone assault on Apple

LONDON, England — Nokia has pledged to strike back at Apple and produce mobile phones that will compete effectively with the U.S. technology company’s iPhone.

Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, chief executive of Nokia, the world’s largest mobile phone maker, said that it was aiming to be “even more competitive” following criticism that it had failed to come up with a handset to match the iPhone.

In an interview with the Financial Times, Mr Kallasvuo also insisted that Nokia would succeed with its strategy of transforming itself from a mobile manufacturer into a supplier of services on handsets, such as maps and music.

Nokia is the world’s largest maker of smartphones — mobile phones that double up as mini computers — but it has been losing market share to rivals led by Apple and Research In Motion, the Canadian manufacturer of the BlackBerry.
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Tarantino strikes box office gold

Quentin Tarantino’s World War II movie Inglourious Basterds, starring Brad Pitt, has entered the North American box office chart at number one.

The film took $37.6m (£22.2m) in its opening weekend, replacing low-budget alien saga District 9 at the top.

It gives Tarantino the best opening weekend of his career, beating the mark set by Kill Bill: Vol 2 in 2004.

His latest outing also scored big debuts in other countries including France and Germany.

The movie tells the story of a group of Jewish-American commandos who plot to take violent revenge against the Nazis.
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Hedgehog joke wins comedy prize

Comedian Dan Antopolski has won a prize for the funniest joke of this year’s Edinburgh Fringe.

The funnyman, who has previously been nominated for the Perrier award, picked up the trophy from TV channel Dave.

Nine comedy critics sat through thousands of jokes before choosing 27 for viewers to vote on.

The winning joke was a one-liner from 36-year-old Antopolski’s show Silent But Deadly – “Hedgehogs. Why can’t they just share the hedge?”

The Londoner proved popular with critics and viewers and another of his jokes made the top 10 list.
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Calls to reopen CIA abuse cases

The US justice department is calling for some dozen prisoner abuse cases to be reopened, the New York Times says.

The recommendation could lead to the prosecution of CIA employees and contractors over the treatment of terrorism suspects, the newspaper says.

The call comes as justice officials are set to disclose previously censored parts of a report into detainee abuse.

These show how electric drills and mock executions were used by CIA agents to elicit information, US media say.
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Malaysia postpones woman’s caning

(CNN) — A Malaysian model, who was set to become the first woman to be caned in the southeast Asian country for drinking beer in public, had her sentence postponed Monday until the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

Authorities had picked up Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno, 32, from her father’s house Monday morning and were taking her to a prison in the eastern state of Pahang when the van turned around and brought her back.

“They sent her back to the house. They said the top official asked them not to bring her to Kuala Lumpur,” said Kartika’s father, Shukarno Abdul Muttalib.

Authorities in Pahang said the delay would run until the month of fasting ends. Monday was the third day of Ramadan.
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