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Pope Francis postponed a series of meetings because of a lung inflammation and breathing difficulties, the Vatican said Monday morning. Matteo Bruni, director of the Vatican press office, said in an emailed statement that a CT scan ruled out pneumonia but added that doctors had inserted a cannula to provide antibiotics. The pope lost part of a lung following an illness some 50 years ago. Francis, the first pope from the Americas, turns 87 next month and has battled ill health for years, canceling multiple engagements and appearing in public in a wheelchair. But Bruni's statement stressed: "The Pope’s condition...

CLAIM: Footage shows former President George H. W. Bush dying on live television. AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. The video clip being misrepresented on social media shows Bush falling ill at a 1992 dinner with Japan’s prime minister. The late Bush died in 2018 at 94. THE FACTS: A conspiracy theory video circulating on social media is falsely purporting to show video of the 41st president dying — nearly three decades before his actual death.

A pilot had a medical emergency on a Southwest Airlines flight from Las Vegas to Columbus, Ohio today. The pilot was removed from the flight deck when this occurred, according to a spokesperson for the airline, and a pilot from another airline who happened to be on board “assisted with radio communication” with the other Southwest pilot commanded the aircraft. This incident was first reported on Twitter by Charlotte-based American Airlines Airbus first officer Josh Yoder. The aircraft initially departed on schedule, flew out over Utah north of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, before returning to the gate in Las Vegas...

Lt. Gov. John Fetterman's blue-collar image is questioned by Republican opponent Dr. Mehmet Oz, who cites Fetterman's comfortable upbringing and reports of being financially supported by his parents until his mid-40s. Fetterman has confirmed the financial backing from his parents during his time as mayor of Braddock, Pennsylvania, and said that it allowed him to work full-time in the position for several years. According to OpenSecrets, Fetterman's father, Karl Fetterman, gave more than $100,000 to The 15104, the single-candidate super PAC that was backing his son's campaign in 2016.

Gov. Gavin Newsom has rejected a bill that would have made California the first state to pay people to stay sober. But just because Newsom vetoed the bill on Friday does not mean the drug treatment program won't happen in California. Newsom supports the treatment, known as contingency management. But he wants to test it out first before signing a law to make it permanent.

The massive federal coronavirus bailout will help fuel an unprecedented 40.8 billion dollars of spending by Pennsylvania's state government in the new budget year... The Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York writing the British Ambassador to the US this week regarding the case of Alta Fixler (Fixsler)... Four portions of Australia's largest city where some 450-thousand people live going into COVID lockdown... At Noon today local time (5 AM Eastern US Time) the indoor mask order in effect for Israel again... In Germany today a knife attack in the southern city of Wurzburg. Three dead, five seriously wounded......

I just received word that I am positive for COVID-19. I want to thank all of my friends and colleagues who have reached out to ask how I was feeling in the last day or two. I will be receiving medical attention today and will keep the necessary folks apprised of my condition.

Anyone....Anyone....Bueller? Just curious to see if anyone I know or know of has had this virus. I don't know of anyone locally who has had it. If you have had it, I hope you have a swift recovery. If you know someone, I hope they have a full recovery.

In an effort to fight against discrimination at the cash register, Mastercard has taken bold steps to make it easier for transgender people to use their chosen names on credit, prepaid and debit cards. The credit card giant announced Monday that its new True Name card will include a sensitive and private process free of personal questions, that will allow for true names, not “deadnames," to appear on cards without the requirement of a legal name change. While it is still up to the banks that issue the cards to implement the change; Mastercard said it is calling on the...

Jussie Smollett is in the clear after the District Attorney in Cook County dropped all charges against the “Empire” star over allegations he lied to police in faking an alleged hate crime against himself. According to reports, the state filed the motion to dismiss the case and the judge signed off. The judge also granted a motion to seal the case, according to Charlie De Mar of CBS Chicago. Jussie Smollett is expected to speak to the media once the hearing has concluded. Smollett’s attorneys released a statement saying, “Today, all criminal charges against Jussie Smollett were dropped and his...

Whoopi Goldberg has shared a health update after being absent from “The View” for just over a month, revealing on Friday’s show that she’s “not dead,” but she actually came awfully close. “I am OK. I’m not dead,” Goldberg said in a taped segment that rolled at the top of Friday’s episode. “Yes, I came very, very close to leaving the Earth. Good news, I didn’t. Thank you for all of your good wishes.”

In light of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s history of cancers and most recently, a surgery to have cancerous tumors removed from her lungs as well as her absence from the bench, Dr. Joseph Bentivegna writes Bader, 85, is quite ill. Dr. Bentivegna, M.D. says the media who have commented on Ginsburg’s  health are “underestimating the severity of her illness,” and that “President Trump has a reasonable chance” of replacing Ginsburg in his first term. If Trump wins reelection, the doctor believes Trump has at least an 80% chance of replacing Ginsburg — we believe that chance is much much higher.The...

Never mind that the FBI failed to heed and follow up on repeated and explicit warnings about Nikolas Cruz before his shooting rampage in Parkland, Florida. Never mind the FBI was too busy chasing phantom Russian collusion to locate a future killer that any nerd living in his parents' basement could have located with ease. According to mental health professional Jimmy Kimmel, Trump made Parkland happen by rescinding Obama administration regulations barring the mentally ill from getting guns:

Joy Reid Church ... family ... police ... military ... the national anthem ... Trump trying to call on all the tropes of 1950s-era nationalism. The goal of this speech appears to be to force the normalization of Trump on the terms of the bygone era his supporters are nostalgic for. #SOTU

There were not many open seats at a pair of meetings last week over proposed routes that would send Interstate 11 through the Tucson area. Many of those in attendance were there to speak against two of the alternatives, which run west of Saguaro National Park West in the Avra Valley.“I understand the need to provide ways for people to move around," said Kimberly Baeza, "But it doesn't have to come at the expense of our open landscapes and beautiful Sonoran Desert.”The meeting is part of the second step in selecting the route I-11 could take through Arizona. The freeway...

Hillary Clinton can’t catch a break — but she has no problem catching a cold. The twice-failed presidential candidate on Friday struggled through an otherwise inspiring commencement speech at Wellesley College, her alma mater, enduring a lengthy coughing fit that left her, once again, red in the face and bleary eyed.

Today is a day set aside to remember those who have sacrificed so much for the freedoms we enjoy today. Remember our wounded, ill, injured and dying veterans from ALL wars.

COLLINSVILLE -- A special-education teacher has been removed from the classroom after allegedly forcing students to remove their underwear. According to a letter sent to parents earlier this week, the teacher observed feces on the classroom floor at Webster Elementary School on March 30. To determine which student had soiled his pants, the teacher had each child go into a private bathroom stall by himself, remove his underpants, put his clothes back on and exit the stall to show his underpants to the teacher. "The teacher was not present in the bathroom stall and at no time was your child...

Bill Clinton met Hillary at the bottom of her airplane’s stairs in Philadelphia on Monday and she appeared to stumble as she made her way to the awaiting car. Bill put his arm around her and she shuffled the short distance from the plane to the motorcade vehicle.

So, in addition to all her other seeming medical problems—fainting, falling, going catatonic, going wall-eyed, blanking out (“Keep talking.”)—and all the sad, sad rest of it, just what the hell is now wrong with her face? I noticed this photo of Hillary Thursday evening. In paying neutral attention to the details of I.D. photos, from habit, I noticed the right side of her face clearly appears swollen. Look at her right eye-bag, and compare it to her left eye-bag: the right eye seems very different from the left eye. The right side of her face appears very different fro the...