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The day's most popular stories
The five most popular CNN.com stories during the last 24 hours, according to Newspulse.
Actor Chris Klein facing DUI charges: "American Pie" actor Chris Klein was arrested for suspicion of drunk driving early Wednesday, according to a California Highway Patrol spokesman.
Officer reassigned after punch caught on film: A Seattle, Washington, police officer who was caught on video punching an alleged jaywalker did nothing wrong, the Seattle Police Officers Guild said.
Flight attendant downplays role in helping land airliner: A flight attendant with a pilot's license who stepped in for a sick co-pilot said the experience was "not your ordinary workday," but downplayed her role in the safe landing of an American Airlines flight in Chicago, Illinois.
Flight attendant helps land plane when first officer falls ill: A flight attendant with a pilot's license ditched her normal duties and stepped in for a sick copilot of an American Airlines flight before the plane landed in Chicago, Illinois, airline officials said.
BP chief to testify to uncertainty of efforts to stop oil leak: Eight weeks after an explosion uncorked a massive oil spill into the Gulf, BP still does not know whether its efforts to stanch the flow will soon succeed, its CEO will testify Thursday.
BP's Hayward 'deeply sorry' for Gulf oil disaster
The Gulf of Mexico oil disaster "never should have happened," and BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward says he is "deeply sorry" that it did.
Hayward is scheduled to appear Thursday at a House subcommittee hearing on the oil rig explosion and fire that killed 11 workers and set off the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history. In written testimony obtained by CNN, Hayward repeatedly says he is fully aware of the harm caused to the Gulf Coast region and commits BP to "do what we can to make certain that an incident like this does not happen again."
"Let there be no mistake - I understand how serious this situation is," Hayward's testimony says. "This is a tragedy: People lost their lives; others were injured; and the Gulf Coast environment and communities are suffering. This is unacceptable, I understand that, and let me be very clear: I fully grasp the terrible reality of the situation."
Stocks flat amid mixed economic news
A look at highlights from the day's business news:
Stocks end flat after choppy session
U.S. stocks recovered from deep losses Wednesday and finished a choppy session near the previous day's closing levels as investors considered mixed economic news and BP's agreement to establish a $20 billion escrow fund and cancel its quarterly dividend.
The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 5 points, or 0.1 percent. It was down
by as much as 72 points earlier in the session, following a disappointing report on the housing market.
The S&P 500 index finished less than 1 point down, or 0.1 percent, and the Nasdaq composite added half a point.
Former professor charged in brother's 1986 death
Amy Bishop has been charged with first-degree murder in connection with her brother's 1986 death in Massachusetts, according to Norfolk District Attorney William Keating.
Amy Bishop, a former Alabama university professor accused of gunning down three colleagues in February, was indicted in Massachusetts on Wednesday in the 1986 shooting death of her brother.
Bishop was charged with first-degree murder in the killing of her brother, Seth Bishop, Norfolk District Attorney William Keating said.
The death of Seth Bishop was originally ruled an accident. Then 20, Amy Bishop told investigators that she was asking her brother how to unload her father's shotgun when it accidentally discharged, shooting him in the chest in her parents' kitchen.
His death came under renewed scrutiny after Amy Bishop was arrested in February in connection with a shooting rampage at a biology faculty meeting at the University of Alabama-Huntsville.
U.S. adding sanctions aimed at Iran's nuclear program
The United States is adding new sanctions to target Iran's nuclear and missile programs, identifying 22 entities and a number of individuals allegedly involved with those programs.
Web Pulse: A cop, the World Cup and Bigfoot
A North Carolina man says he called Bigfoot out of the woods.
People searched for bizarre videos on the Web on Wednesday.
- "Cop punches woman" was typed into most search engines, calling up a cell phone video of a Seattle, Washington, police officer seen punching an alleged jaywalker in the face. Officer Ian Walsh has been temporarily reassigned and placed in a training unit to review police tactics, a department spokesman said.
- Vuvu means blood and zela means issuing from both ears. But whatever the vuvuzela's etymology, it's clear that the horn is annoying a lot of people. Fascination with the native South African instrument has reached beyond World Cup fans. The Telegraph is reporting that a German engineer thinks the droning sound can be canceled by playing his 45-minute "inverse" sound wave which manipulated a recording of a game. Fast Company explained what EQ setting will drown out the horn. For those without tech savvy, we suggest ear plugs or the mute button.
- Speaking of horns, check out this jug-horn thingy that apparently called Bigfoot right out of them thar North Carolina woods. Tim Peeler thought he was calling coyotes, you know, as people do. But then a 10-foot-tall hairy "man looking person" emerged from the brush and scared him. Seems Sasquatch was after Peeler's dogs. The man claims he ordered the six-fingered giant to 'git!' So it got. Whew. The public is safe, for now.
Day 58 – Gulf oil disaster
[Updated at 8:39 p.m. ET] Here are the latest developments on the oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, which unfolded after an April 20 explosion aboard the drilling rig Deepwater Horizon:
- Rep. Bart Stupak, chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Congress, said he is not optimistic about BP CEO Tony Hayward's planned testimony on Thursday: "He's just going to say, 'I'm sorry, it's not going to happen again.' It's not good enough, it's not good enough," Stupak said.
PAYMENT
- BP has spent nearly $1.5 billion, "and we will not stop until the job is done," BP CEO Tony Hayward says in prepared testimony to be delivered Thursday before a House committee.
- So far, more than 400,000 barrels of oily water mix has been recovered and the company has paid more than $90 million on the more than 56,000 claims, Hayward says.
Van der Sloot update: Arubans to question him in August
CNN has just learned that Aruban investigators will likely not travel to Peru to question murder suspect Joran van der Sloot until at least the end of August, prosecutor Peter Blanken said.
Investigators from Aruba will not be able to question van der Sloot until Peruvian authorities finish their probe of the May 30 slaying of Stephany Flores, Blanken said. The formalities of Peruvian law also will determine the time frame, the prosecutor said.
Aruban and Peruvian authorities agreed to "help each other" in the Flores case. Investigators hope the cooperation will lead to new information about the disappearance of Alabama teenager Natalee Holloway in 2005 in Aruba for which Van der Sloot is suspected.
Following a phone meeting with Peruvian Judge Carlos Morales on Tuesday morning, Aruban government spokesman Taco Stein said Peruvian authorities have agreed to allow Aruban investigators into Peru to interview van der Sloot once a formal request has been made.
Van der Sloot is believed to be housed in Peru's Castro Castro prison which is infamous for its violence. One expert described the lock-up as "entering the gates of hell."
On the Radar: Obama and oil, Iran and a reactor
Crews cleaning oil in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, trampled bird eggs, the parish president says.
It's day 58 of the Gulf Coast oil disaster and the morning after President Obama promised Americans in his first Oval Office speech that 90 percent of the crude spilled by the Deepwater Horizon rig will be captured within weeks. Obama is expected Wednesday to order BP executives to pick up the costs for the devastation.
Reactions to Obama's speech were mixed. "All that sounds nice," Grand Isle, Louisiana, fisherman Dean Blanchard said. But it doesn't change the fact that he "can't go to the bank tomorrow and pay [his] bills."
There is more bad news for Louisiana's birds. Crews cleaning in Plaquemines Parish trampled the nests and eggs of birds, including the brown pelican, according to parish president Billy Nungesser.
CNN later Wednesday will take a closer look at BP's history, highlighting the hours after a 2005 BP refinery explosion in Texas that killed 15 people. At the time, an executive suggested a holiday weekend and the national furor over a big story in Florida would lighten media attention on the blast, documents show.
Iran nuclear plans - Two weeks after the United Nations sanctioned Iran for its nuclear work, Iranian media reported the country is starting design work on a new nuclear reactor, the head of the country's Atomic Energy Organization said. The design reportedly will be complete in two to three years, and the reactor should be operational within five.
Calm in Kyrgyzstan- The first U.N. aid plane carrying 800 lightweight tents has arrived in Uzbekistan to help the thousands of people who have fled ethnic clashes in neighboring Kyrgyzstan. About 100,000 people have escaped fighting in the region. Though relative calm continued in the city of Osh, sporadic gunfire could be heard.
Wednesday's intriguing people
Carl-Henric Svanberg
President Obama will have his showdown Wednesday with BP top executives and said he will tell the company it must pick up the tab for the massive oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. Obama is scheduled to meet with BP CEO Tony Hayward and with Svanberg, the oil giant's chairman, who has kept a lower profile so far as the Gulf disaster worsened.
According to The Swedish Wire, Svanberg, 58, was appointed BP chairman in 2009. Before then, he was CEO of Ericsson, a telecommunications firm. The Swedish-born former ice hockey player and hockey fanatic is listed as a member of the advisory board of the Earth Institute of Columbia University in New York.
The website's biography reports that "he is personally committed to and an advocate for many corporate responsibility issues, including human rights, climate change and the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals."
Wednesday's live video events
Ongoing coverage - BP webcam of Gulf Coast oil disaster
9:00 am ET - Senate hearing on Afghanistan - Gen. David Petraeus returns to Capitol Hill, one day after apparently falling ill, to testify before the Senate Armed Services Committee on the situation in Afghanistan.
10:30 am ET - Defense budget hearing - A Senate appropriations subcommittee holds a hearing on the Defense Department’s budget request for next fiscal year.
World update: Aid begins arriving in Kyrgyzstan
An update from London on some of the international stories we expect to develop on Wednesday:
Kyrgyzstan aid - The first United Nations' aid plane has arrived in Uzbekistan to help the thousands of people who have fled ethnic clashes in neighboring Kyrgyzstan, U.N. officials say.
Obama and BP - President Obama will have his showdown on Wednesday with BP top executives and says he will tell the company it must pick up the tab for the massive Gulf Coast oil spill.
Quake strikes off southeastern Alaskan coast
A preliminary magnitude 5.0 earthquake strikes near the coast of southeastern Alaska on Tuesday, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
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