Phone Conversation Before Crash Called ‘Silly’

The air traffic controller handling the small plane involved in a deadly crash with a helicopter over the Hudson River was chatting on the telephone about a dead cat at the airport and initially failed to warn the pilot of other aircraft in his path, officials say.

Four years ago Wesleyan University student Kennedy Odede was living in the chaotic Nairobi slum where he grew up, in a 10-by-10-foot shack without running water, basic sanitation or electricity. But even there, in Kibera, a young man can get his hands on a computer.

World Wrestling Entertainment CEO and occasional performer Linda E. McMahon is considering a run for the U.S. Senate.

— Rival camps within Iran’s corridors of power intensified their threats against each other Friday, signaling potentially dangerous clashes within elite circles and the security establishment following the disputed June 12 re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Winding up an 11-day tour of Africa, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Friday she’s optimistic about its future and voiced no regrets about “tough love” messages she gave to government leaders there.

Three decades after basking in the national spotlight as “Squeaky” the infamous Charles Manson disciple who tried to assassinate President Gerald Ford, the now 60-year-old woman slipped quietly out of a federal prison Friday after being released on parole.

Family of Scottish gem dealer says police ignored pleas

— For decades, Scottish geologist and gem dealer Campbell Bridges navigated the risks that came with mining precious stones in Africa.

Announcement comes same day as shootout in another bank robbery attempt

— A gunfight erupted during an attempted bank heist Thursday in Iraq’s capital, as court officials announced that five members of Iraq’s presidential guard will go on trial later this month over their alleged roles in a deadly Baghdad bank robbery.

Eunice Kennedy Shriver was celebrated by family members as a passionate humanitarian and a pious woman devoid of vanity on Thursday night, hours after thousands of mourners flocked to a white and gray clapboard church to pay their respects to the founder of the Special Olympics.

The British jet called in by the U.S. Marines had the Taliban position in sight, but the pilot refused to fire, a decision that frustrated Marines on the ground but one in line with new orders by the top U.S. commander to protect civilians.