Sotomayor sworn in
Following rounds of senatorial questioning and testimony before the Judiciary Committee in previous weeks, Judge Sonia Sotomayor was sworn in Saturday as a Supreme Court justice.

On Thursday, the Senate voted 68-31 to confirm the appointment, with nine out of the chamber’s 40 Republicans voting in her favor.

Sotomayor will serve as the 111th Supreme Court justice, the third woman and first Hispanic to sit on the high court. She is succeeding Justice David H. Souter, who retired from the bench in June.

Recovery efforts resume in Hudson River
Two flights ended in disaster Saturday when a small private plane and a tourist helicopter crashed midair into the Hudson River, killing nine people.

As of Sunday, the bodies of five passengers had been recovered, though authorities have not released their identities.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg described the collision as ” not survivable,” and it remains unclear whether the two aircrafts contained black boxes, which would serve as a clue to the cause of the accident.

For now, investigators are relying on pictures, camera footage and eye witness accounts to provide information.

Journalists freed from North Korea
Journalists Euna Lee and Laura Ling landed in Burbank on Wednesday, freed from their 12-year sentence of hard labor in a North Korean prison camp.

Former President Bill Clinton went to North Korea to negotiate their release, which was described by the North Korean state media as an apology for the women’s actions. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton denied any apology took place.

Employed by former Vice President Al Gore’s media company, Current TV, Lee and Ling were first detained in March for illegally entering North Korea when doing research for a story about women and human trafficking along the North Korean-China border.

President Barack Obama said he was “extraordinarily relieved” that the journalists had returned.

8212;Compiled by Assistant City Editor Whitney Lawrence