Zhu Zhu Pets unsafe, consumer group says

Zhu Zhu Pets unsafe, consumer group says

ST. LOUIS — A consumer group contends one of the holiday season’s must-have toys is unsafe.

San Francisco-based GoodGuide named the robotic Zhu Zhu Pets hamsters on Saturday as one of the top-selling toys with low ratings. It says it found a higher-than-allowed level of a chemical called antimony, which can cause health problems.

The group assigned the toy a rating of 5.2 on a 10-point scale.

GoodGuide CEO Dara O’Rourke says in a news release that the toy industry has done a lot to improve safety. But he adds some toys are “slipping through the cracks.”

The toy’s maker, St. Louis-based Cepia LLC, insists in a statement that its product is safe and has passed rigorous testing.

13 die in two shootouts in northern Mexico

MEXICO CITY — A pair of shootouts between troops and gunmen in northern Mexico have killed 13 people, including a bystander and a drug trafficker linked to the killing of a retired army officer.

Navy spokesman Adm. Jose Luis Vergara said troops were searching a villa Friday in a suburb of Monterrey named Juarez when they were ambushed by a group of heavily armed men. Eight gunmen were killed, and nine more were arrested in the initial shootout, Vergara said.

Daughter of Billy Joel hospitalized in New York

NEW YORK — Alexa Ray Joel, the daughter of pop star Billy Joel and supermodel Christie Brinkley, was hospitalized after taking eight pills at her Manhattan apartment, a law-enforcement official said Saturday.

A friend frantically called 911 shortly after noon Saturday from the singer’s Greenwich Village apartment saying Joel, 23, had taken several pills, the official told The Associated Press. Joel took eight pills, though officials didn’t know what kind she had ingested, an official said; it wasn’t clear whether she had accidentally overdosed or attempted suicide, the official said.

Joel is hospitalized in stable condition and receiving treatment, Joel publicist Claire Mercuri said Saturday. She wouldn’t elaborate.

The singer, songwriter and pianist self-released a short album in 2006 and debuted a new song, “Invisible,” this year about a failed relationship.

Joel had performances scheduled in the city next week, including at the New York Stock Exchange tree-lighting ceremony.

Grad student charged with professor’s death

VESTAL, N.Y. — A graduate student has been accused of fatally stabbing a 77-year-old Binghamton University anthropology professor.

Authorities say Abdulsalam al-Zahrani was charged with murder Saturday in the death of Richard T. Antoun on Friday.

Broome County District Attorney Gerald Mollen says Antoun knew al-Zahrani from school. He told The New York Times the two had known each other for “quite some time.”

Search for suspect in four deaths continues

MADISON, Wis. — Police continued to ask the public for help Saturday as the search for a Wisconsin man wanted in the deaths of his two young daughters and their mothers stretched into its third day.

Authorities released no new details on the slayings but continued to call 38-year-old Tyrone Adair armed and dangerous. He has strong family ties to the Madison area but so far has eluded capture. Police have warned law- enforcement agencies nationwide to watch for him.

Prosecutors charged Adair, of suburban Middleton, on Friday with two counts of first-degree intentional homicide in the deaths of 33-year-old Tracy Judd and 23-month-old Deja Adair, Judd and Adair’s daughter.

They also consider him a “person of interest” in the killings of 25-year-old Amber Weigel and 2-year-old Neveah Weigel-Adair, Weigel and Adair’s daughter.

15-year-old cheddar selling for $50 a pound

MINERAL POINT, Wis. — A 15-year-old cheddar made in Wisconsin, possibly the most mature cheese for sale in the country, is selling well despite the $50-per-pound price tag, its producer said Saturday.

Hook’s 15-year Sharp Cheddar, produced in 1994, went up for sale in a handful of outlets Friday and has proved popular, said cheese maker Tony Hook.

It’s rare for cheddar to last that long, said John Umhoefer, the executive director of the Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association.

Associated Press