Nation & World digest

Report faults pilot error for crash in Buffalo, NY

WASHINGTON — Pilot error was the probable cause of an airline crash into a house near Buffalo, N.Y., last year, but the accident’s root problems extend far beyond a single event, a federal safety panel said Tuesday.

The head of the National Transportation Safety Board, Deborah Hersman, said the accident casts doubt on whether regional airlines are held to the same level of safety as are major airlines, and she promised the board will pursue the issue. She also criticized the Federal Aviation Administration for taking too long to address safety problems raised by the crash, saying the same issues have turned up before.

High levels of cadmium found in adult jewelry

LOS ANGELES — Concern about the heavy metal cadmium in jewelry grew Tuesday as a California environmental group said new testing of adult necklaces and bracelets bought at three leading retailers, including Saks Fifth Avenue and Aeropostale, detected high levels of the toxic material — as much as 75 percent by weight.

One of the pieces was made in China and another was made in India. Labeling on a black-colored link necklace, purchased at Saks for $69.99, did not indicate where it was made.

Based on the results of its testing, the Center for Environmental Health said it would seek a ban on cadmium in all jewelry.

Medical journal retracts paper on autism, vaccines

LOS ANGELES — Twelve years after Dr. Andrew Wakefield published his research in the international medical journal the Lancet purporting that the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine causes autism, the journal formally retracted the paper Tuesday.

The action came less than a week after the U.K. General Medical Council’s Fitness to Practice Panel concluded that Wakefield had provided false information in the report and acted with “callous disregard” for the children in the study. The council is now considering whether Wakefield is guilty of serious professional misconduct. A positive finding could cause him to lose his medical practice.

Wakefield’s study, conducted on only 12 children, concluded that the MMR vaccine is a primary cause of autism. He subsequently said that he could not, in good conscience, recommend that parents have their children vaccinated.

His words and actions led to a sharp drop in vaccination rates in both Britain and the United States and a resurgence in measles.

America’s last WWI vet celebrates 109th birthday

CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. — America’s last surviving World War I veteran is now 109.

Frank Woodruff Buckles celebrated his birthday Monday with family and friends at his home in West Virginia.

Buckles, who was born in Harrison County, Mo., says he hopes to celebrate at least a few more.

And he has one wish that he’s waiting on Congress to grant: Buckles wants to see the dedication of a new World War I memorial in Washington, D.C.

Police arrest woman in death of lottery winner

TAMPA, Fla. — A woman has been arrested in the death of a Florida lottery winner who went missing after she befriended him.

Hillsborough County Sheriff David Gee said Tuesday that Dorice “DeeDee” Moore is charged with being an accessory after the fact to first-degree murder in the slaying of Abraham Shakespeare. The 43-year-old Lakeland man won $30 million in the Florida Lottery in 2006. He took a lump sum payment of $17 million. He disappeared in April.

Shakespeare’s body was found buried Thursday in the backyard of a home owned by Moore and her boyfriend. The boyfriend has not been charged, and no other arrests have been made.

Israel searches sea for militant-launched bombs

JERUSALEM — Palestinian militants said Tuesday they had launched a large number of floating explosives into the Mediterranean Sea to avenge the death of a top Hamas commander, a day after two bomb-laden barrels washed up on Israel’s coastline.

Israeli authorities launched an intensive search for new bombs, closing miles of beaches, deploying robotic bomb squads and ordering surfers out of the wintry waters.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed Hamas and hinted at retaliation.

Combined dispatches