Nation/World briefs

Nation

Castro's sister says she collaborated with CIA

Miami -- One of Fidel Castro's sisters says in a memoir released Monday that she collaborated with the CIA against her brother, starting shortly after the United States' failed Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba in 1961. Juanita Castro, 76, initially supported her brother's 1959 overthrow of the Batista dictatorship but quickly grew disillusioned. In a Spanish-language memoir published by Santillana USA, she says the wife of the Brazilian ambassador to Cuba persuaded her to meet a CIA officer during a trip to Mexico in 1961.

Madoff associate's death accidental

West Palm Beach, Fla. -- A man accused of making more than $7 billion off the investment schemes of jailed financial manager Bernard Madoff drowned after having a heart attack, authorities said Monday. Jeffry Picower, 67, was found around noon Sunday by his wife, Barbara, at the bottom of a pool at their oceanside mansion. The death has been ruled accidental.

Harvard poison victim: No accident

Boston-- One of six Harvard Medical School researchers sickened after drinking coffee laced with a toxic chemical said Monday he does not see how the poisoning could have been accidental, but has no idea who might be responsible. University police and other agencies are investigating the Aug. 26 poisonings, which were revealed in an internal memo to medical school faculty last week. The memo identified the substance involved as sodium azide, a common preservative used in school labs.

World

Iraqis blame lax security in fatal blasts

Baghdad-- Iraqis vented anger Monday at a major security lapse that allowed two suicide truck bombers to penetrate what was supposed to be one of Baghdad's safest areas, killing 155 people, including 24 children on a bus leaving a daycare center next to one of the government ministries targeted Sunday.

In other headlines

• Israel accused of withholding water from Palestinians: Amnesty International is accusing Israel of pumping disproportionate amounts of drinking water from an aquifer it controls in the West Bank, depriving local Palestinians of their fair share. Israeli officials deny the accusations.

• 1 child dead, 2 missing as Malaysia bridge fails: A new footbridge over a river collapsed while schoolchildren crossed it in Malaysia, killing at least one girl and leaving two children missing, officials said today.

• Tunisian president wins 5th term in landslide: President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali of Tunisia won a fifth term with 89 percent of the vote -- his weakest performance so far.

From Detroit News wire services