Elizabeth Taylor is having a "procedure on her heart," she announced on her Twitter page Tuesday. "It's very new and involves repairing my leaky valve using a clip device, without open heart surgery, so that my heart will function better," the famed actress wrote. "Any prayers you happen to have lying around I would dearly appreciate. I'll let you know when it's all over. Love you, Elizabeth." The 77-year-old Oscar winner did not go into further detail about her heart ...

Kacey Ruegsegger Johnson wants the Virginia Tech shooting survivors to know that their pain and anger and fear are normal. And she wants them to know it will get better.

A November 10 execution date was set Wednesday for John Allen Muhammad, convicted in a series of sniper-style shootings that terrorized the Washington area in 2002. Prince William County, Virginia, Circuit Judge Mary Grace O'Brien set the date at a teleconference hearing Wednesday, according to the Web site of Muhammad's attorney, Jonathan Sheldon. Prosecutors had requested a November 9 execution date. That date is a Monday, Sheldon wrote in an e-mail to CNN. "I pointed out that while I did ...

One of the most unexpected controversies of the Obama administration came to a head Tuesday as the president delivered a hotly debated back-to-school speech to students across the country. Many conservatives over the past week expressed a fear that the president's address would be used to push a partisan political agenda. Obama, however, avoided any mention of political initiatives. He repeatedly urged students to work hard and stay in school. "There is no excuse for not trying," ...

There was a poignant footnote to President Obama's historic July 10 meeting with Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican. Behind closed doors in the papal library, Obama handed Benedict a letter that Senator Edward Kennedy had asked him to personally deliver to the pontiff. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs later told reporters that nobody — not even the President — knew the contents of the sealed missive. Obama himself asked Benedict to pray for Kennedy, and called the ailing ...

Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy, the patriarch of the first family of Democratic politics, died Wednesday at his home in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, after a lengthy battle with brain cancer. He was 77. "We've lost the irreplaceable center of our family and joyous light in our lives, but the inspiration of his faith, optimism and perseverance will live on in our hearts forever," a family statement said. "We thank everyone who gave him care and support over this last year, and ...

Pop singer Chris Brown was sentenced Tuesday to serve five years probation and more than 1,400 hours in "labor-oriented service" for assaulting his pop star girlfriend, Rihanna. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Patricia Schnegg said in the sentencing she wants to see Brown conduct "actual physical labor, as opposed to some type of community service." The sentencing was delayed earlier this month because documents detailing Brown's proposed community service plan in Virginia, where he maintains a legal residence and ...

He has been captured by bank surveillance cameras in eight states, sneering and holding a pistol sideways during heists. Now authorities hope to catch the serial bank robber by plastering his image on electronic billboards throughout the South. The FBI is searching for the suspect, who they say has robbed at least 10 banks in Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. The brazen bandit has been captured in surveillance footage sporting the ...

Hurricane Bill is expected to remain in open waters this weekend, but experts warn it still poses dangers along the U.S. East Coast. Although Bill weakened Friday afternoon to a Category 2 storm, CNN meteorologist Bonnie Schneider said it was "still a large and dangerous storm," especially the threat of rip currents along the coast. Rip currents, or rip tides, are strong seaward flows of water that occur where there's a break in the shoreline. They are capable of ...

The other shoe has dropped. CIA Director Leon Panetta, it turns out, ran up to up to Capitol Hill this June not simply to confess the CIA had a secret assassination program it never implemented but rather to confess it had sub-contracted the job out. As first reported by the New York Times on its website Wednesday evening, the CIA hired Blackwater to help with a secret program to assassinate top Al Qaeda leaders. Although no one was ultimately ...