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Pope Francis may be hanging it up soon -- stepping down as the leader of the Catholic Church -- at least that's the buzz in and around the Vatican.

There's some unusual activity going on ... and the backdrop to all of it is the Pope's frail health. He's been confined to a wheelchair recently ... the result of debilitating knee pain.

The Pope also just canceled a trip to Africa scheduled for next month.

What's fueling the resignation rumors is a meeting of cardinals that the Pope just scheduled ... it's highly unusual.

Pope Francis assumed his role back in 2013 and has instituted a series of reforms, which include a new constitution.

What's especially interesting ... Pope Francis's predecessor, former Pope Benedict, resigned in 2013 ... he says it was based on deteriorating physical and mental health.

And, there's this ... back in May, during a meeting with bishops, Pope Francis addressed his knee issues, saying, "Rather than operate, I'll resign."

If Michael Jordan memorabilia from his time in Chicago doesn't excite you, then check this out -- a ticket stub from his first-ever game as a UNC Tar Heel has just hit the auction block ... and, it's believed to be the only one in existence!

The extremely rare piece is from the November 1981 UNC vs. Kansas game -- which was Jordan's debut on Dean Smith's Tar Heels hoops team.

The ticket is tattered and torn and has been given a poor 1 grading ... but since it's believed to be the only surviving stub from the night -- it could net a small fortune.

In fact, experts at Heritage Auctions say it could go for over $10,000!!

Jordan ticket stubs have been hot on the auction block recently ... earlier this year, a Chicago Bulls stub from Jordan's 1984 debut (one of 23 available) sold for $99,000.

As for Jordan's career at UNC, it was legendary ... during his three seasons, he averaged 17.7 points per game and shot 54% from the field. He also won the Naismith and Wooden College Player of the Year awards in 1984.

Of course, MJ's most memorable Tar Heels moment was when he made the game-winning shot in the 1982 NCAA Championship against Patrick Ewing and the Georgetown Hoyas.

Rapper Obie Trice was busted in Michigan for allegedly threatening an ex-girlfriend ... and cops say he told her family he was going to harm them too.

The "Got Some Teeth" rapper was booked Thursday afternoon in West Bloomfield for using a telephone to harass or threaten someone ... according to the Oakland County Sheriff's Office.

Curt Lawson, the deputy chief at the West Bloomfield Police Department, tells TMZ ... Obie was dating a woman, and after they split he allegedly sent threatening messages to her and also started texting threats to some of her relatives.

Police say they were told Obie showed up uninvited to his ex's family home on multiple occasions ... and cops got involved and told him to stop.

But, we're told Obie didn't listen and allegedly continued with the threats, so police got a misdemeanor warrant ... leading to his Thursday arrest.

Lia Thomas' participation in women's swimming has reached a breaking point -- because the world's governing body for the sport has weighed in ... and their ruling is against her.

FINA -- French for the the International Swimming Federation -- came down with their decision this weekend regarding transgender athletes (specifically trans women) partaking in elite women's swimming ... and they say it's a no-go going forward, with caveats.

The org's new policy says male-to-female swimmers who transition before age of 12 or before the Tanner Stage 2 of puberty -- whichever comes later -- can compete in women's events. The reason ... they say there's no question a trans female athlete that has already gone through male puberty has an unfair physical advantage over cisgender females.

They reached this conclusion based on multiple studies, reports and presentations by 3 specialist groups, who offered their findings to FINA -- made up of members from 152 national federations -- which then voted ... with a 71% majority in favor of this decision.

In the wake of this coming down, a rep for the Prez of FINA told AP, "This is not saying that people are encouraged to transition by the age of 12. It’s what the scientists are saying, that if you transition after the start of puberty, you have an advantage, which is unfair."

The spox adds, "They’re not saying everyone should transition by age 11, that’s ridiculous. You can’t transition by that age in most countries and hopefully you wouldn’t be encouraged to. Basically, what they’re saying is that it is not feasible for people who have transitioned to compete without having an advantage." They clarified there are no trans women currently competing in elite levels of swimming ... presumably, meaning international competition.

One thing FINA is considering to be inclusive to trans swimmers ... an "open competition" category. It's ill-defined at this point, but they're tasking a team to investigate it further.

It's unclear if FINA's new rules are going to be adopted by agencies like the NCAA, which currently permits people like Lia to compete in collegiate swimming. She made history this year by winning a national title in women's swimming, the 500-meter freestyle.

In any case, some people are welcoming the news ... including Caitlyn Jenner, who's been advocating for such change for a while now -- saying trans female athletes have an undeniable physical advantage over their cisgender competition, as have many others.

She wrote, "It worked! I took a lot of heat - but what’s fair is fair! If you go through male puberty you should not be able to take medals away from females. Period."

Nick Cannon is a busy man on Father's Day -- with 6 kids already out of the oven, and 2 more cooking -- but he's only getting love (publicly) from a couple baby mamas.

Indeed ... the television host and media personality was shouted out Sunday, explicitly, by just two women who are currently carrying his children. That would be Johnny Manziel's ex, Bre Tiesi, who's very pregnant with a boy at this point, and Abby De La Rosa ... with whom Nick already shares twins, and has another baby with him on the way as well.

ADLR posted a couple of old videos/photos of her, Nick and their kids, with a caption that read, "Happy Father's Day @nickcannon - we are so grateful for you papa!"

Abby also appears to have actually been with Nick himself this weekend, or at least on Saturday anyway. In addition to the old videos/photos, she also threw up what seems to be a new clip of them celebrating with a Father's Day-themed bash, and she calls Nick "babe."

Meanwhile, Bre -- who announced she was expecting with Nick via a gender reveal party at the beginning of the year -- posted personal shots of her and Nick as well ... where she, too, is giving him praise as a great dad-to-be, and seems to be all in on their relationship.

Bre's caption reads, "Moments like this with you are everything. You are the most gentle loving present human. I dk how you do it we are just thankful you do. Happy Father's Day to baby C's super daddy we love you so much can't wait to celebrate u @nickcannon."

She posted yet another photo of the two of them during a shoot, where she calls Nick "my love" and further wishes him a happy Father's Day. What she doesn't have that Abby does ... Nick there with her, or so it seems.

Another woman with whom Nick had a child -- which unfortunately passed away at a very young age -- is Alyssa Scott, who said Happy Father's Day ... but without naming Nick.

Their son, Zen, died at just 5 months old after a battle with cancer, and was NC's 7th child ... something Nick addressed on his show and which left him torn up. It doesn't appear he's hanging with AS right now either.

His other baby mamas -- Mariah Carey and Brittany Bell, with whom he shares 4 children between the two women -- have been relatively mum thus far on Father's Day ... at least as far as mentioning Nick is concerned. Brittany hasn't posted any Father's Day tributes at all ... meanwhile, Mariah just threw up a post honoring Juneteenth and FD, without naming NC.

Ya gotta imagine the guy's making the rounds today for all his little ones, but out of all of the mothers ... it appears Abby is the one who's staking a claim as his current SO, at least that seems to be the case. It's unclear if Nick's monogamous with anyone these days.

The more the merrier, though, we suppose. Happy Father's Day!!!

Before this cool chick decked out in head-to-toe pink was running a global empire, she was just a little girl who loved anything pink growing up in Beverly Hills, California.

This girl with pigtails was clearly not shy posing in front of the camera ... and to this day, she still rocks a similar hairstyle and enjoys a photo-op. And speaking of photo-ops, there is great debate on whether or not this reality star coined the term 'selfie.' Either way, she is definitely known for her selfie-taking skills ...

"Would you stop taking pictures of yourself, your sister is going to jail!"

Paul Haggis -- famous for writing/directing 2006's Best Picture, "Crash" -- has been arrested in Italy for sexual assault ... this according to multiple reports.

Local media say the Oscar-winning filmmaker -- who also wrote "Million Dollar Baby," among other hit films over the years -- was busted Sunday in the city of Ostuni, where he's been accused of forcing an unidentified young woman to have sex with him over the course of 2 days. He's in town for a new film festival happening this week, called Allora Fest.

The woman, who's not of Italian descent, was taken to an airport by Haggis after the alleged assault and left in a state of confusion ... per law enforcement quoted by Italian reports.

The alleged victim is said to have been attended to by airport staff, who took her to a hospital ... where she eventually pressed charges against Haggis, naming him as the alleged culprit. He remains in custody, and his events have been nixed from the AF lineup.

Allora Fest honchos say, "The themes chosen for the festival are, among others, those of equality, gender equality, and solidarity. As professionals and women, they are dismayed and hope that the festival will help foster more information and awareness on such a topical and increasingly pressing issue." The authorities are investigating the incident further.

We've reached out to Haggis' reps, no word back yet. He's been accused of sexual misconduct by several other women over the past few years ... all of which he's denied.

Offset got the royal treatment on Father's Day -- 'cause Cardi B and his kids were all over him as soon as he woke up ... with a morning buffet that would make IHOP blush.

The rapper was treated to breakfast in bed Sunday, with 4 of his 5 children present -- including his 2 with CB ... Kulture and Wave, their baby boy. Cardi laid out a tray with a ton of tasty dishes ready to gobble ... although Offset had to turn it around so he could feast.

There was just about everything you could imagine as far as food options -- eggs, chicken, bacon, pancakes, fruit and what seems to be porridge of some sort.

Unclear if Offset was able to get a bite in, because his little ones seemed eager to have them read their cards/open their gifts downstairs -- which, as a good dad, he obliged. BTW, their house was totally decked out in Father's Day decorations ... balloons and the like.

Seems like Offset took it all in stride and hammed it up with his kids, who seem to think their old man is a hoot. Sweet to see the whole fam together like this on a special day.

Claims that Meghan Markle bullied her staff as a Royal have been investigated and did, indeed, spur HR changes -- but we'll never know exactly why ... so say Palace insiders.

The Sunday Times of London published a major story this weekend ... claiming they'd been told by sources with direct knowledge that the investigation launched last March into allegations that MM was a terror with her Kensington Palace workers has wrapped.

Not only is done -- with Queen Elizabeth II privately funding it herself via an outside law firm, per the Times -- but it seems something came out of it ... namely, institutional improvements to the monarchy's policies and procedures over this stuff going forward.

So, what's the tea??? Apparently, nobody is ever going to know ... because the findings are said to be getting "buried" by Buckingham Palace, which doesn't plan to release 'em.

According to the Times, citing sources, the reason for keeping this in-house is to avoid further tensions between Meghan and Harry and the rest of the Royal family ... which has left some who participated in the probe frustrated, as they seem to have wanted this out.

Now, some Meghan fans believe something more sinister is afoot here. They say the Royals were so quick to leak news of the investigation at the time (right before the Oprah interview, no less), but now that they supposedly have the goods ... they get camera shy?

Meghan is trending right now, as is the hashtag #RoyalFamilyLied. Fact is, some just don't buy what's being peddled -- because if there was a smoking gun against Meghan ... they believe the Royals/BP would leak it with haste to cover their asses/vindicate themselves.

Amber Heard is facing a stark and expensive reality after the Johnny Depp trial -- namely, that she could be on the hook for millions ... so it's no surprise she's out bargain hunting.

Check out this video, obtained by TMZ, which shows AH shopping at a TJ Maxx in Bridgehampton, NY Thursday afternoon -- where she was accompanied by her sister, Whitney Henriquez, who testified on her behalf and who's been tagging along lately.

We're told Amber and Whitney were perusing racks for clothes, and at one point they were heard discussing white linen pants. It seems the sisters had their basket full of would-be purchases. As you can see, though, when she noticed cameras rolling, Amber scrammed.

No word on what, if anything, they ended up leaving the store with -- but it's interesting that we find Amber here in the wake of all this ... especially considering the financial sitch.

As we well know by now, Amber's lawyers have gone on record to say she can't afford to pay the $8.3 million in damages awarded to Johnny by the jury ... and it remains to be seen if Depp and co. are, in fact, going to enforce it. His attorneys have signaled they might not.

Still, the fact Amber's been doing press lately and trying to present evidence she says proves her case probably isn't sitting well with JD ... not to mention the fact she keeps threatening to appeal. Time will tell if he just pulls the trigger and holds her to the judgement.

Either way, it's a precarious time in Amber's life -- not only could she be forced to pay this money she doesn't have, but she's also at risk of losing a lot of work going forward.

Fact is, she hasn't been been booked much of late. While Amber's implied that's because she has a daughter in her life now ... it's also possible nobody is calling her for acting gigs these days. She's already been paid for 'Aquaman 2,' and that was only a couple mil.

Jen Psaki has been spreading proverbial burns all over Twitter lately -- that is, if you're dumb enough to believe it's actually her ... which the real McCoy is here to clear up.

President Biden's ex-Press Sec. -- who recently stepped away from the role -- made some apparently needed clarifications over a string of tweets that have popped over the past couple weeks ... with snarky messages aimed at the GOP, and trying to pass them as hers.

The tweets are being peddled by an account called Follow Plz? Faith Back Rub, which notes it's made for satire. At any rate, it seems to have been spreading these phony Psaki bombs.

One in particular that's made the rounds this weekend is about Biden falling off his bike and the need for kneepads ... invoking Donald Trump and Putin. After going viral with people apparently giving her kudos for the diss, the actual Jen Psaki set the record straight.

She writes, "Hate to disappoint, but…This is not my account. This is not approved by me on any level. (And there have been a number of these in the last few weeks)."

JP adds, "Anything with 'Parody..' in it means it is someone tweeting with an image and twitter account that looks like me and is not." You'd think that wouldn't need saying, seeing how most of the tweets have "Parody" written in -- but fake news never sleeps.

Some on Twitter claim to have personal insight into Psaki's psyche, suggesting while this isn't her -- she's probably thinking this privately. Others have noted she's too classy for all that ... but the truth is ... none of these people actually know her or what she thinks.

Khloe Kardashian has hard feelings for Tristan Thompson, at least when it comes to romance, but she's clearly not letting that stand in the way of co-parenting their child.

Khloe and Tristan got together Saturday with 4-year-old daughter True in tow for lunch after a dance recital.

Their destination -- the Sagebrush Cantina in Calabasas. They weren't alone either, which makes this even more interesting. Kris Jenner, Kylie and Travis Scott along with Khloe's nieces Dream, Chicago and nephew Psalm were all there, breaking bread or whatever at the table.

By surface glances, they all seemed to be getting along. Khloe eviscerated Tristan on a recent episode of the Kardashian's Hulu show, but she's able to somehow compartmentalize things --- they're not only co-parenting ... they also seem to be friendly. Remember, that episode was shot a while ago, so things had time to reset.

ICYMI, Khloe unloaded her feelings about Tristan on Kim during the show, first with Kim telling her sister, "If that were me and I was really trying to redeem myself and I was trying to be a better person, I would definitely keep my d*** in my pants." Khloe agrees, "You would think, you either wear a condom, get a vasectomy or you don't f*** random people that you meet in other states."

Charlie Sheen has done an about-face with daughter Sami ... now saying he's withdrawing his objections to her OnlyFans account.

Charlie was initially pissed off that the 18-year-old joined the X-rated site, but his ex-wife proved persuasive in changing his mind. Denise Richards supported Sami's decision from the jump, but Charlie begged to differ. He's now changed his mind saying, "Denise has illuminated a variety of salient points, that in my haste I overlooked and dismissed," this according to Us Weekly.

Sami's dad went on ... "Now more than ever, it’s essential that Sami have a united parental front to rely upon, as she embarks on this new adventure. From this moment forward, she’ll have it abundantly."

It's interesting ... Denise and Sami haven't gotten along during much of the time Sami was growing up, and Charlie and Denise had a rocky relationship at best, but now they're presenting a united front ... this after Sami made it clear, she's now an adult and can make her own decisions.

Charlie's daughter announced that she would be joining the X-rated service earlier this month, prompting her father to express his disapproval.

Sami's already made her move on the platform, posting a pic of her Friday, almost naked laying on a bed.

Denise and, yes, Charlie have had their own wild days, and she acknowledged it in a lengthy post ... "Lots of negative comments on my social this past week. I have to say, I wish I had the confidence my 18 yr old daughter has. And I also can't be judgmental of her choices. I did Wild Things & Playboy, quite frankly her father shouldn't be either."

As the decision over the fate of Roe vs. Wade looms, pro-choice activists descended on the home of conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett Saturday ... dressed in blood-soaked clothing and holding dolls.

The group -- members of Rise Up 4 Abortion Rights -- traveled to the Justice's home in Falls Church, Virginia. The blood on the crotch area of their clothing symbolizes forced births if Roe is overturned.

There have been other demonstrations at the homes of other conservative justices, and it may well ramp up because the decision is expected any time now. Unless there is a radical shift, it seems the Court is poised to overturn the 50-year-old precedent, which gives women a Constitutionally-protected right to an abortion with certain ground rules.

One protest became ominous recently, when Nicholas Roske was arrested for attempted murder ... this after cops found him carrying a gun, ammo, a crowbar and pepper spray near the home of Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

Bam Margera has another crisis on his plate besides recently fleeing rehab -- although they're related -- we've learned a split from his wife played a big part in his decision to leave the facility.

A rep for Bam tells TMZ ... he and his wife Nikki Boyd broke up a couple of weeks ago. Since then, he hasn't been able to get ahold of her or see his son, Phoenix Wolf. We're told she has not responded to any of Bam's calls or texts, and has been absent from his recovery process.

Due to the separation, Bam was staying at a sober living home when he made his unauthorized exit from rehab. We're told he held it together for a while, but after not hearing from Nikki or his son for 2 weeks ... he showed poor judgment and left the treatment center.

We're also told the facility wasn't giving him special celeb treatment -- which isn't a bad thing, but in the past others have, so that set him off too.

TMZ broke the story ... the "Jackass" star was reported missing Monday after leaving the FL rehab center, and cops went looking for him.

When they found him on Wednesday, a crisis intervention team went into a Delray Beach hotel and escorted him back to treatment. He learned Nikki took Phoenix out of Florida without telling him, and voluntarily went back to treatment.

Last year Nikki filed documents in Los Angeles seeking full custody of their son, allowing Bam supervised visitation.

We obtained photos of Bam out Tuesday night at a few bars close to his hotel. We're told he'd been off his medication for several days, and his team was worried he'd relapsed.

"Jeopardy!" champ Amy Schneider says she's gonna take Fox Sports at its word, that they did not intentionally cut out her first pitch at a Giants game celebrating Pride Day at the stadium.

Amy tells TMZ ... "They say the reason they misled their viewers was for cross-promotion, not anything to do with me, so I'll take them at their word." The director of the broadcast reached out to her personally to apologize and reiterate it had nothing to do with her identity. She believed him and accepted his apology.

ICYMI, Amy, the 1st openly transgender "Jeopardy!" champ, was invited to throw the ceremonial first pitch at the Dodgers/Giants game. Problem was ... Amy's pitch never made air. Instead, Fox Sports ran another first pitch from several days earlier ... at the hands of Kurt Busch.

Fox Sports said the video of that pitch was part of a promotional package for an upcoming NASCAR race in Northern California.

They made it clear ... the intention was not to disrespect Amy, adding first pitches are rarely aired on the Network during games.

There are doubters on social media who aren't buying the story, but Amy is taking the explanation at face value.