[B Knotts]

Confirmed by whom?

[Deetes]

Confirmed only by the Fox and sister station in Rome. No official official call yet.

[shhrubbery!]

Fox News correspondent now says they're waiting for confirmation from the Vatican.

The initial report on Fox News was kinda messed up.

It sounded as if there was an open mike on a reporterette somewhere, who was screaming "Why can't anybody hear me? I'm screaming into the mike!"

Then a few seconds later there was a woman's voice (maybe the same person) saying breathlessly, "The Pope is dead!"

Shep Smith apologized for the unseemly way the news came over the air.