New York

Feds examine fatal plane crash

Federal investigators on Sunday were examining the wreckage of a single-engine plane that crashed on a beach in Coney Island, killing all four people on board, including two high school students who were going to graduate on Tuesday.

The Cessna 172S plummeted to the ground Saturday after its engine apparently stalled while circling above the beach, witnesses said. No one on the ground was injured.

The cause of the crash was not immediately known, but authorities were looking at the plane’s systems and whether the pilot was at fault, said National Transportation Safety Board investigator Todd Gunther.

“We’re looking into all factors,” he said.

New York

Israeli leader defends policies during speech

Visiting Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was heckled during a speech to Jewish leaders on Sunday, and about 1,500 demonstrators staged a noisy street protest against the Gaza disengagement plan he was defending.

Several protesters stood up during Sharon’s speech, one shouting “Jews don’t expel Jews.” The prime minister had to pause when the interruption grew louder and the protesters were escorted out of the Baruch College auditorium in New York City. He then received a warm ovation from the crowd.

Under Sharon’s plan, Israel will remove all 21 Jewish settlements in Gaza and withdraw from four small settlements in the West Bank beginning in mid-August.

“I said in the past, and I say it also today: I am willing to make painful compromises for peace,” Sharon said. “I think that the entire world can now see how hard such compromises are. There is one thing on which we will not make any compromises – not now and not in the future – and that is our security.”

New York

Newsweek apologizes, revamps source policies

Newsweek has adopted new policies for the use of anonymous sources, a week after retracting a report that claimed investigators had found evidence the Quran was desecrated by interrogators at the U.S. naval prison at Guantanamo Bay.

In a letter appearing in today’s edition, Newsweek Chairman and Editor-in-Chief Richard Smith apologized for the report and said the magazine would raise standards for anonymous sourcing.

“We got an important story wrong, and honor requires us to admit our mistake and redouble our efforts to make sure that nothing like this ever happens again,” he wrote.