For more updates on the West Virginia mine story, read the full CNN.com story.
[Updated at 8:39 p.m.] Don Blankenship, the chief executive officer of Massey Energy Co., which oversees the mine, said in a statement that the company is "working diligently on rescue efforts."
"Our prayers go out to the families of the miners," he said. "We want to assure the families of all the miners we are taking every action possible to locate and rescue those still missing."
[Updated at 8:20 p.m.] The death toll has risen to seven people. At least 19 people remain unaccounted for in the blast.
[Updated at 7:59 p.m.] A spokeswoman at Charleston Area Medical Center, which was being prepared to receive injured miners, told CNN that as many as 28 people are unaccounted for, citing emergency dispatchers coordinating response efforts at the mine.
CAMC spokeswoman Elizabeth Pellegrin said the hospital received one person from the mine via a helicopter at 6 p.m. That patient is getting treatment in the hospital's Intensive Care Unit, she said, declining to elaborate on the person's injuries.
Peru's defense minister, Rafael Rey, shot back Monday at critics who blamed the government for the escalation of a miners' protest into a confrontation that left six dead.
The Republican National Committee's chief of staff has resigned, an RNC spokesman said Monday.
Ken McKay's departure follows a spate of high-profile complaints about the party's fund-raising operations and spending. In an e-mail sent to RNC members and obtained by CNN, party Chairman Michael Steele said he accepted McKay's resignation to reassure "hard-working patriots" who donate to the party.
A look at highlights from the day's business news:
Dow flirts with 11,000
Stocks rallied Monday, with the Dow edging closer to 11,000, as investors returning from a long weekend welcomed last week's jobs report, the morning's strong housing market report and the launch of Apple's iPad device.
One of two photojournalists killed in a 2007 attack by a U.S. helicopter gunship in Iraq was being rescued when the gunship's crew fired on the van to which he was being carried, according to footage posted online Monday.
Reuters photographer Saeed Cmagh survived an initial strafing by the Apache gunship's 30 mm machine gun, but apparently died when the gunship opened fire on people attempting to get him off the sidewalk where he lay, according to the video. The aerial footage was posted by the Web site WikiLeaks, which said the video remains classified and "clearly shows the unprovoked slaying of a wounded Reuters employee and his rescuers."
WikiLeaks is a site that publishes anonymously submitted documents, video and other sensitive materials.
- CNN Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr contributed to this report.
Police are investigating four early morning shootings Monday that occurred over the span of two and half hours in the heart of New York City's commercial and tourist district.
The shootings, none of which were fatal, happened shortly after midnight within blocks of each other near Times Square, according to Detective Joseph Cavitolo of the New York City Police Department.
The judge overseeing the case of the last doctor to treat Michael Jackson handed his case off to another judge Monday, prompting a delay of a hearing that is expected to determine whether Dr. Conrad Murray can keep his California medical license while he faces trial in the pop star's death.
The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan has ordered a second investigation into the deaths of three Afghan women and two men during a botched nighttime raid in February, after Afghan investigators said they found evidence of possible tampering with evidence at the compound where the Afghans were killed.
[Updated 5:04 p.m.] Read the full CNN.com story
[Updated 2:44 p.m.] Tiger Woods indicated that he hopes to woo back sponsors who have left him in droves.
"Do I understand why they dropped me? Of course," he said. "I've made a lot of mistakes in my life." He added, "Hopefully, I can prove to the other
companies going forward that I am a worthy investment, that I can help their company, help their company grow and represent them well. I felt like I was
representing companies well in the past, but then again I wasn't doing it the right way because of what I was engaged in."
Asked whether he had taken Ambien before the car crash last November that ultimately led to the world learning about his infidelity, Woods did not
answer. He simply said that the police had investigated the case and fined him $166. "It's a closed case," he said. Rumors that Woods had used the sleeping aid extensively arose after the crash.
[Updated at 2:25 p.m.] The six weeks he spent in rehab for sex addition changed Tiger Woods, he said Monday in his first news conference since
the scandal broke.
"I was in there for 45 days, and it was to take a hard look at myself - and I did," he told reporters at the Augusta National golf course. "And I've come out better - certainly a much better person for it than I was going in."
Authorities in Linden, New Jersey, have launched a homicide investigation after the discovery Monday of a pair of trash bags containing the dismembered remains of two people, officials said. The medical examiner has confirmed the body parts are "indeed human," the Union County Prosecutor's Office said in a news release.
[Updated at 4:29 p.m.]Â Under federal regulations, automakers are required to inform the agency within five days of determining that a safety defect exists in one of its products. NHTSA learned, through documents obtained from Toyota, that the automaker knew of sticky gas pedal problems since at least September, 2009, the agency said in an press release.
"We now have proof that Toyota failed to live up to its legal obligations," said Secretary LaHood. "Worse yet, they knowingly hid a dangerous defect for months from U.S. officials and did not take action to protect millions of drivers and their families. For those reasons, we are seeking the maximum penalty possible under current laws."
NHTSA is still investigating to see if Toyota committed any additional violations that may warrant more penalties, the agency said. Under federal regulations, $16.4 million is the most an automaker can be fined for a single violation.
Dutch forces arrested 10 suspected pirates after freeing a German ship off the coast of Somalia early Monday, the Dutch Defense Ministry said.
The crew of the German merchant ship, the MV Taipan, was rescued by a Dutch Navy frigate, the Tromp, about 575 miles (500 nautical miles, 925 kilometers) east of Somalia. The Navy deployed the Tromp's Lynx helicopter and exchanged fire with the pirates, a spokesman told CNN.
One Dutch Marine was slightly injured, but all 13 members of the Taipan's crew were found safe, the spokesman said.
Justice John Paul Stevens is expected to announce by month's end whether he will retire from the Supreme Court, sources close to him tell CNN.
His departure after nearly 35 years on the bench would give President Barack Obama another opportunity to shape the nation's highest court.
A South African white supremacist group has retracted its statement vowing to avenge the killing of its leader, Eugene TerreBlanche, a spokesman for the group said Monday.
Butler has a chance to take home the NCAA title -- if they can knock off Duke in tonight's final.
Opening Day for Major League Baseball, closing night for men's college basketball and the return of Tiger Woods converge on the first Monday in April (all times Eastern).
– Bruins vs. Capitals (7 p.m., Versus): Alex Ovechkin and Washington have already sewed up the Presidents' Trophy, while Marco Sturm and Boston are just fighting for their playoff lives.
– Giants at Astros (7 p.m., ESPN2): Two-time Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum takes the mount for the Giants, with Roy Oswalt answering for the Astros.
– Butler vs. Duke (9 p.m., CBS): Can the tiny school from Indianapolis (enrollment: 4,200) join Villanova and North Carolina State among the most improbable NCAA men's college basketball champions in history? Standing in the Bulldogs' way is one of the modern era's most familiar Goliaths.
[Posted 10:00 a.m.] Tiger Woods returns to the sport Monday at the Masters, ending a self-imposed exile stemming from a car accident in November outside his home and his subsequent admission of extramarital affairs.
Woods is practicing this morning at Augusta National Golf Club, and is set to participate in a news conference - his second since the scandal broke - at 2 p.m. ET. (We'll carry the press conference on CNN Live and our partners at Golf.com will have a live blog)
The golfer - even since his early childhood - has thrived in the spotlight and it may shine brighter today than it has before with millions of spectators turning on nearly any channel to catch him - not even on the course but at a news conference. SI.com's Richard Deitsch (also a partner blogger for us on this blog) says the news conference will turn the Masters into one unlike any other.
And our partners at Time.com wonder if Tiger, let alone any athlete, can be mentally prepared for what will happen at the Masters this year given all the attention. The tournament, they said, will effectively be a test of his toughness in the face of all of the drama. For other golfers, the spotlight on Tiger could be a good or bad thing. Golf.com's Peter Kostis says while all eyes will be on Tiger at the start of the Masters, the real drama surrounds some of the players over 40 and under 30.
A Lebanese man who had been condemned by a court in Saudi Arabia to die last week for "sorcery" has not been executed, his lawyer said Monday.
The international police organization Interpol has stepped up the hunt for Saddam Hussein's eldest daughter, who is wanted by Iraqi authorities on terrorism charges.
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