WASHINGTON

NTSB points to battery defect in Boeing 787 fire

A report by federal accident investigators points to a manufacturing defect as the likely cause of an internal short circuit that led to a battery fire in a Boeing 787 airliner parked at Boston’s airport last year.

The National Transportation Safety Board report released Monday says an inspection of the manufacturing plant in Japan where the battery was made found that flaws and debris in lithium-ion aircraft batteries were going undetected.

But the board says most of the fault lies with Boeing for not designing the battery to prevent the most severe effects of a short circuit, and with the Federal Aviation Administration for not identifying the design problem.

PHOENIX

Magnitude-4.7 earthquake rattles Arizona residents

A moderate earthquake jostled residents of northern Arizona – a region where quakes are frequent but usually don’t produce much damage or alarm.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the magnitude-4.7 temblor that hit late Sunday night was centered 7 miles north of Sedona and 6 miles underground. There were no immediate reports of injury or major damage.

NEW YORK

Son convicted of looting Brooke Astor’s money dies

The son convicted of plundering New York philanthropist Brooke Astor’s fortune has died.

Lawyer Kenneth Warner says Anthony Marshall died Sunday in New York. Warner didn’t immediately have information on the cause of Marshall’s death, but the 90-year-old had been in ill health for years.

Marshall was a decorated World War II veteran who later became a diplomat and Broadway producer. But his aristocratic life unraveled as he was accused of exploiting Astor’s failing mind to help himself to millions of her estimated $200 million.

He said he legal power to give himself gifts with her money. But a jury convicted him in October 2009.

— From news services