Actor Patrick Swayze's achievements include several feature films such as "Dirty Dancing" and "Ghost," as well as living with advanced pancreatic cancer for longer than most patients. That Swayze, who died Monday at age 57, survived nearly two years with the condition is "quite an accomplishment," Dr. George Fisher, an oncologist who treated the star at Stanford Hospitals and Clinics, told CNN's Larry King on Tuesday. Fisher revealed in early March 2008 that the actor was fighting pancreatic ...

Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland on Tuesday gave a death-row inmate a one-week reprieve after authorities tried for hours to find a vein to administer his lethal injection. "Difficulties in administering the execution protocol necessitate a temporary reprieve," said Strickland's Warrant of Reprieve, filed in court Tuesday afternoon in the case of inmate Romell Broom. Broom's defense attorney, Tim Sweeney, wrote Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas Moyer on Tuesday that, "I am advised by my co-counsel, Adele Shank, who is ...

Celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz could lose the right to her entire portfolio of world-famous photographs if she doesn't meet a Tuesday deadline to pay back a $24 million loan she is alleged to owe. Leibovitz, who has photographed everyone from the Rolling Stones to Queen Elizabeth II, put her art, intellectual property and even real estate assets up for collateral last year when she consolidated her massive debts. Art Capital Group, which restructured the debts, claims it agreed with Leibovitz ...

The Mexican Supreme Court has ordered the release of 20 people who were convicted in the massacre of 45 people in 1997. The court ruled that authorities obtained evidence illegally and that the defendants were denied due process and lacked an adequate defense. The 20 were convicted for taking part in a massacre in the community of Acteal, in the southern state of Chiapas. Four of five Supreme Court justices decided Wednesday to order their immediate release, the ...

Sonia Sotomayor will make history Saturday when she is sworn in as the nation's first Hispanic Supreme Court justice. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts will swear in Sotomayor twice at the Supreme Court. The first ceremony will be private as stipulated in the U.S. Constitution. A second ceremony will be held in front of Sotomayor's friends and family as well as the media. It will also mark the first time the oath-taking ceremony will be open to television cameras ...

Shazia knows what she sees when she looks in the mirror: a woman, feminine, delicate, attracted to beauty. But when others look at Shazia they see something else: a misfit. "People start staring at me in such a manner as if an animal from the jungle has come into the city." Shazia says. Shazia belongs to Pakistan's community of eunuchs. It is a term here that loosely refers to transsexuals, transvestites, or people like Shazia born with both male and ...

Three men went on trial Wednesday in connection with the killing of Russian investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya, Russia's RIA-Novosti news agency reported. Ibragim and Djabrail Makhmudov, who are brothers, and former interior ministry officer Sergei Khadjikurbanov, are not accused of killing Politkovskaya themselves, but being accomplices. It is the second time the three are being tried in connection with the 2006 murder. They were found not guilty in February, with the jury saying there was not enough evidence to convict ...

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad doesn't seem to have many fans left. Just days before his Aug. 5 inauguration to a controversial second term, Iran's President finds himself in a critical struggle over his political future. One thing has led to another: an ill-advised vice-presidential pick, uncharacteristic defiance of the Supreme Leader, verbal fights with influential Cabinet Ministers. The humble son of a blacksmith is easily the most divisive figure in the 30-year history of the Republic. Could his end be just ...

A fundamentalist supporter of Iran's president urged him Friday to reconsider appointing a controversial confidant to the post of Iran's top vice president. According to the semi-official Fars News Agency, Ayatollah Seyed Ahmad Khatami said in a sermon during Friday prayers that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad should rethink the appointment of Esfandyar Rahim Mashaie. During his Friday sermon, the ayatollah said he regarded the present government to be legal, a reflection of his support for Ahmadinejad -- whose controversial victory in last ...

Costa Rican President Oscar Arias presented an updated proposal to end the Honduran political crisis, but its adoption seemed unlikely, as one side described the talks as "failed" and the other asked for more time. The document, dubbed the San Jose Accord, calls for ousted President Jose Manuel Zelaya's return to power, the creation of a unity government and early elections. The accord is very similar to an original plan suggested by Arias but with more details and a ...