[Updated 10:56] The passenger has diplomatic credentials from the Arab emirate of Qatar, a federal law enforcement official tells CNN. FULL POST
[Updated at 9:30 p.m.]Â "We've seen a steady drop, a slow drop," Kevin Stricklin, an administrator for the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration, told reporters about the concentrations of the three explosive gases. "The numbers now indicate that we're out of the explosive range."The decision to send rescue teams inside will be made if samples taken from the bottom of the mine confirm the initial results, he said.
"Our first intent is to look for the four miners that are unaccounted for," he said.
Six five-person rescue teams were on standby and ready to move, he said.
Five more states - Indiana, North Dakota, Mississippi, Nevada and Arizona - on Wednesday joined 13 others in a lawsuit against the historic overhaul of the U.S. health care system signed into law last month by President Barack Obama, the Texas attorney general announced.
A look at highlights from the day's business news:
Stocks finish with losses
Stocks tumbled Wednesday following a report that consumer borrowing fell and General Motors said it lost billions of dollars during the second half of 2009.
The Dow Jones industrial average lost 72 points, or about 0.7 percent, to end at 10,897.74. The S&P 500 index fell 7 points, or 0.6 percent. The Nasdaq composite also fell 6 points, or 0.2 percent.
General Motors reported $3.4 billion loss in the fourth quarter of 2009, but is on track to possibly return to profitability in 2010, the company said Wednesday.
Consumer borrowing dropped in February, after increasing for the first time in a year during the previous month, according to a government report released Wednesday.
Total consumer credit fell a seasonally adjusted $11.5 billion, at an annual rate of 5.6%, to $2.448 trillion in February, the Federal Reserve reported.
Police have completed their investigation into allegations that NFL star Ben Roethlisberger sexually assaulted a 20-year-old woman in Milledgeville, Georgia, they said Wednesday.
Officers have turned over the results of their investigation to District Attorney Fred Bright "for review and appropriate action," the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, the Milledgeville Police Department and Bright said in a statement.
Alan Greenspan acknowledged Wednesday that mistakes were made during his long tenure as chairman of the Federal Reserve, but he argued that the low interest rate policy he championed at the central bank didn't inflate the housing bubble.
In testimony before the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, Greenspan said the recent financial meltdown was possibly "the most severe in history." He admitted that regulators failed to grasp the severity of the crisis, but he maintained that his policies and predictions were correct most of the time.
The Afghan and U.S. governments played down their political differences Wednesday, rejecting reports of a major dispute between the Obama administration and President Hamid Karzai.
Supportive statements by the U.S. State Department and Karzai's spokesman followed a week of increasing tension between the governments. On Tuesday, the White House indicated it could call off a scheduled May 12 visit by Karzai to Washington.
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner met with his Indian counterpart in New Delhi this week. He heads to China on Thursday.
Here's a look at some of tomorrow's news events:
Geithner to China
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner heads to Beijing to meet with China's Vice Premier Wang Qishan. The focus of the talks is unclear. However, it's expected that the value of China's currency, the yuan, could be the main topic of their discussion. Read more
A man has been arrested for allegedly threatening House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the FBI announced Wednesday.
FBI spokesman Joseph Schadler said the arrest occurred in San Francisco, California, where Pelosi's home district is located. He identified the suspect as Gregory L. Giusti, but no further details were immediately available.
A 15-year-old boy who Palestinian sources said was shot to death in Gaza in late March is alive and well, a Palestinian news agency reported this week.
A Palestinian medical source had reported that the boy was shot to death at the Rafah airport on March 30, a day when Palestinian demonstrators clashed with Israel Defense Forces.
But it turns out that the boy had been among 17 Palestinians detained by Egyptian forces after the Palestinians entered the Egyptian side of an underground smuggling tunnel, the independent Palestinian news agency Maan reported Sunday.
Egypt returned the detainees to Palestinian border security personnel on Friday, according to Maan.
Federal authorities in Texas arrested a person Wednesday who they believe is responsible for putting "quite a few" suspicious devices, including those that resemble pipe bombs, in mailboxes in the eastern portion of the state, an official said.
Attorney General Eric Holder signed a treaty with Algeria on Wednesday that he hopes will help combat terrorism in an area crucial in the battle against violent extremists. During a visit to Algiers, Holder signed the pact with Algerian Minister of Justice Tayeb Belaiz.
[Updated at 6:28 p.m.] Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell said Wednesday that his recent proclamation designating April as Confederate History Month "contained a major omission."
"The failure to include any reference to slavery was a mistake, and for that I apologize to any fellow Virginian who has been offended or disappointed," McDonnell said in a written statement. "The abomination of slavery divided our nation, deprived people of their God-given inalienable rights, and led to the Civil War. Slavery was an evil, vicious and inhumane practice which degraded human beings to property, and it has left a stain on the soul of this state and nation. In 2007, the Virginia General Assembly approved a formal statement of 'profound regret' for the Commonwealth's history of slavery, which was the right thing to do.
McDonnell also noted that while Virginia had been the Capitol of the Confederacy, it was also the first state in the nation to elect an African-American governor. "America's history has been written in Virginia," McDonnell said. "We cannot avoid our past; instead we must demand that it be discussed with civility and responsibility."
[Posted at 3:47 p.m.] For the first time in eight years, Virginia's Republican governor has issued a proclamation declaring April as Confederate History Month in the state, drawing criticism from Democrats and a civil rights group.
Samples taken from inside the Upper Big Branch South Mine show that levels of dangerous gases are still too high to allow rescuers inside, a mining official said Wednesday.
Opposition supporters clash with police during an anti-government protest in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.
For more updates on the situation in Kyrgyzstan, read the full CNN.com story.
[Updated at 4:14 p.m.] Kyrgyzstan's former foreign minister said Wednesday she is in charge of an interim government following protests that have driven President Kurmanbek Bakiyev from office.
"I hope we have control of the whole situation, but at the same time I must tell you that there is a lot of work," Roza Otunbayeva, who called herself the country's interim leader, told CNN. No independent confirmation of the claim was immediately available.
The Kyrgyz Health Ministry said 40 people were killed and around 400 people were wounded in the protests.
Are you there? Send photos, videos to iReport
[Updated at 4:12 p.m.] Bishkek resident Munarbek Kuldanbaev told CNN that opposition leaders had taken control of the state television network, claimed to have taken control of the government and called for calm. FULL POST
Jim Carrey gave no hint of what led to his breakup with Jenny McCarthy in his short announcement via Twitter on Tuesday, but he punctuated it with his trademark smiling emoticon.
"Jenny and I have just ended our 5yr relationship. I'm grateful 4 the many blessings we've shared and I wish her the very best! S'okay! ?;
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