Brittany Murphy autopsy conducted

Los Angeles, California (CNN) — An autopsy on the body of actress Brittany Murphy was conducted Monday, the Los Angeles County coroner’s office said.

Authorities have said the 32-year-old appeared to have died Sunday of natural causes, and there was no sign of foul play or trauma.

“Naturally occurring diseases could be found in any person that could lead to death,” said Capt. John Kades of the coroner’s office.

The office is looking into Murphy’s medical history. A final report could take up to eight weeks. The cause of death will not be released until the toxicology report is concluded, said the coroner’s office. That process can take weeks.

Police also are conducting an investigation, which includes robbery and homicide detectives looking at what was in her home, said Los Angeles Police Department spokeswoman Norma Eisenman.

Murphy was pronounced dead at 10:04 a.m. PT (1:04 p.m. ET) Sunday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, hospital spokeswoman Sally Stewart said.
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Briton faces execution in China

A Briton is facing execution in China for drug smuggling after his appeal was rejected by China’s Supreme People’s Court.

Akmal Shaikh, 51, of north London, was arrested in September 2007 in Urumqi, north-west China, but denies knowledge of the 4kg of heroin he had with him.

A legal charity says Mr Shaikh suffers from bipolar disorder and is mentally-ill but the court denied the appeal.

The Foreign Office confirmed the court has set his execution for 29 December.

He would become the first EU national to be executed in China in 50 years.

A Foreign & Commonwealth Office spokesman said the government was “alarmed and deeply concerned” at the news and it would “renew and intensify” appeals to the Chinese for clemency.

It “deeply regrets” that mental health concerns have no bearing on the final judgment turning down his appeal and ministers and the Prime Minister were “closely engaged”, he added.

But legal charity Reprieve, which campaigns for fair trials and promotes human rights, called on Gordon Brown to intervene and “speak directly” to the Chinese president.
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Ahmadinejad denies Iran nuclear bomb trigger tests

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said a document apparently showing that Tehran plans to test a trigger for a nuclear bomb is a US forgery.

In an interview filmed on Friday with ABC News, Mr Ahmadinejad said the report in the Times newspaper was “fundamentally not true”.

Mr Ahmadinejad said criticism of Iran’s nuclear programme had become “a repetitive and tasteless joke”.

Iran says its nuclear enrichment programme is for peaceful purposes.

The BBC’s Jane O’Brien in Washington says the interview offered a rare opportunity to see Iranian leader being questioned by the US media.

But Mr Ahmadinejad’s answers gave little indication that his administration is moving towards more conciliatory position, says our correspondent.
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The world this year

Barack Obama was inaugurated as America’s 44th president. In a whirlwind first year in office, Mr Obama overturned a prohibition on federal funding for stem-cell research, eased some restrictions on dealing with Cuba, lifted a ban on people with HIV travelling to the United States, pushed Congress to pass health-care reform, promised to close the detention camp at Guantánamo, pledged a cut in America’s emissions and promoted the first Hispanic person to the Supreme Court.

A new sheriff in town

Mr Obama also set about changing the tone of American foreign and security policy, for example by seeking to “reset” relations with a prickly Russia and by stopping the use of torture during intelligence interrogations. Speaking in Cairo, Mr Obama’s call for “a new beginning” with Muslims was applauded by the Arab world. The new president was awarded the Nobel peace prize, though many said this was premature. He defended the use of force in “just wars”.
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Chinese fund to receive $200 billion

Beijing, China (FT) — China Investment Corp, the Chinese sovereign wealth fund, is expected to receive another injection of capital from the country’s foreign exchange reserves in the coming months, according to government officials and people familiar with the fund.

While a final decision has yet to be made, these people said CIC would likely receive a similar amount to the initial $200bn it was given on its establishment in 2007.

Chinese media have also reported the government is considering a new capital injection of $200bn for the fund.

Any infusion would amount to an acknowledgement from Beijing that CIC has performed well during a time of global turmoil. It would also mark a turnround from a year ago when the fund was under attack for its early lossmaking investments in Morgan Stanley and US private equity firm Blackstone.

Bankers say that despite those hiccups the fund has managed its funds well through the crisis. It stayed mostly in cash last year before switching into highly liquid US dollar assets as the greenback bounced back in November 2008 and again in March this year.

As the global economy began to recover earlier this year, the fund was quick to make investments in commodities-related assets that benefit from a rebound in Chinese growth.
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Actress Brittany Murphy dead at 32

Los Angeles, California (CNN) — Brittany Murphy, the bubbly, free-spirited actress who appeared in such films as “Clueless” and “8 Mile,” died Sunday, apparently of natural causes, the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office said. She was 32.

Murphy was pronounced dead at 10:04 a.m. PT Sunday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, hospital spokeswoman Sally Stewart told CNN Radio.

An autopsy had not been scheduled as of Sunday night, but Captain John Kades, a spokesman for the coroner’s office, told CNN that there was no sign of foul play or trauma. He added that it’s not unusual for a younger person to die of natural causes.

The coroner’s office is looking into Murphy’s medical history. A final report could take up to eight weeks.

The Los Angeles Police Department is investigating the death, and robbery and homicide detectives will be at her home, LAPD spokeswoman Norma Eisenman said.
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Eurostar runs tests after train failures

London, England (CNN) — Eurostar is running tests to try to figure out what caused an “unprecedented” six trains to break down, forcing the company to cancel all services this weekend, a spokeswoman said Sunday.

The company announced later that Monday service will be halted as well to allow for more test runs.

The cancellation of the England-to-France express train service stranded thousands of passengers on both sides of the English Channel on the weekend before Christmas.

“We sincerely regret having to take this decision and we understand how frustrated and disappointed travelers will be,” Eurostar said on its Web site Sunday.

Five trains with about 2,000 passengers stopped running Friday night inside the Channel Tunnel, also called the Chunnel, which runs between Britain and France. A sixth train broke down Saturday after Eurostar tried to run four trains from London to the continental mainland to prepare for the resumption of normal service. About 700 people were aboard when that train stopped in the Ebbsfleet area of Kent.
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Boeing 787 Dreamliner completes its first flight

Boeing’s new 787 Dreamliner passenger aircraft has successfully completed its first test flight in the US.

The three-hour flight started from Everett, north of Seattle, and the plane landed at Boeing Field, just south of Seattle.

The 787 project had been delayed by two-and-a-half years following a series of hitches, including design problems.

Boeing has pegged its hopes to the Dreamliner, which promises to be one of the world’s most fuel-efficient planes.

The two test pilots carried out a number of basic system checks, including testing the landing gear and flaps.

“The airplane responded just as we expected,” said Randy Neville, one of the pilots. “It was a joy to fly.”

The take off and landing was watched by several hundred Boeing employees, industry guests and aircraft enthusiasts.
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Chile weightlifter has unexpected baby during training

Chilean Olympic weightlifter Elizabeth Poblete has given birth to a baby boy during a training session, without having known she was pregnant.

Ms Poblete, 22, who lives in Brazil, said she had felt unwell but had no idea she was expecting a baby.

The boy was three months premature and was taken to hospital with his mother, where he remains in intensive care.

The hospital in Sao Paulo denied reports it forced Ms Poblete to leave after she was unable to pay for care.

Ms Poblete began to feel unwell during training on 8 December, as she was preparing to take part in a competition.

Shortly after, she gave birth to a baby weighing only 1.15kg (2.54lbs) and measuring about 34cm (14 inches).
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Protests planned for Copenhagen summit

Large-scale protests are expected when ministers begin their discussions at the UN climate conference in Copenhagen on Wednesday.

Activists have been angered by the lack of progress on a new climate deal, and with logistical problems at the summit.

Talks are deadlocked over emission cuts and financial aid for poorer countries.

And as environment ministers and their aides join the talks, the Danish authorities have slashed the number of campaigners allowed into the venue.

BBC environment correspondent Richard Black, in Copenhagen, says that for the last two mornings, thousands of would-be delegates have queued for hours to gain access to the conference venue – many unsuccessfully.
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