Litvinenko named ex-spy before dying

As he lay dying, an ex-Soviet spy poisoned in London named an alleged Russian agent he feared had been targeting him and who he had previously told police was harassing him, a British newspaper said in a report published Sunday.

Alexander Litvinenko, a former KGB agent and fierce critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, died Thursday night of heart failure after suddenly falling gravely ill from what doctors said was poisoning by a radioactive substance.

Litvinenko alleged that a Russian Foreign Intelligence Service chief previously stationed in London had been assigned by Moscow to watch him, Britain’s Sunday Times newspaper reported.

Litvinenko claimed the Russian agent was not directly involved in his poisoning, but had been sent to monitor his activities, the newspaper said.

SANTIAGO, Chile

Pinochet takes blame for killings

Gen. Augusto Pinochet took full responsibility for the first time Saturday for the actions of his 1973-90 dictatorship, which carried out thousands of political killings and is blamed for widespread torture and illegal imprisonment.

At a celebration of his 91st birthday, Pinochet also defended the bloody military coup that toppled freely elected Marxist President Salvador Allende, in a statement read aloud by his wife as he sat by her side.

According to an official report, 3,197 people were killed for political reasons under Pinochet, including more than 1,000 who were made to disappear. Thousands more were illegally imprisoned, tortured or forced into exile.

BEIJING

Mine explosions kill more than 50

Explosions in two Chinese coal mines have left at least 53 workers dead and six missing, the official Xinhua News Agency and safety officials said Sunday.

The first blast occurred Saturday in the Yuanhua Coal Mine in Jixi, a city in northeast Heilongjiang province, when 31 miners were working, Xinhua said. By Sunday, the remains of 21 miners had been found, while six more were still missing, Xinhua said. Four managed to escape.

In the southwestern province of Yunnan, at least 32 miners were killed when a gas explosion tore through a shaft in Fuyuan county on Saturday, Xinhua said. Another 28 miners were injured in the blast, it said.

MANILA, Philippines

21 still missing in ferry accident

A ferry capsized in rough waters in the southern Philippines on Saturday, leaving at least 14 people dead and 21 missing, including a town mayor and a group of students.

Sixty-six people were rescued by a passing boat and coast guard personnel after the Leonida II sank off Hinatuan island, 444 miles southeast of Manila, said Surigao provincial governor Lyndon Barbers.

Rescuers were searching today for the 21 missing people. Authorities initially said 18 people were missing but more relatives came forward to report loved ones who had been on the ferry, Barbers said.