Canadian singer Celine Dion arrives for the Alexandre Vauthier Women’s Fall-Winter 2019/2020 Haute Couture collection fashion show in Paris, on July 2, 2019. (Photo credit should read LUCAS BARIOULET/AFP via Getty Images)

OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 11:18 AM PT – Thursday, December 8, 2022

World famous Canadian singer Celine Dion cancels all future shows, following a neurological health diagnosis.

On Thursday in an Instagram post, the “My Heart Will Go On” singer announced she has been diagnosed with Stiff Man Syndrome.

“The spasms affect every aspect of my daily life, sometimes causing difficulties when I walk and not allowing me to use my vocal cords to sing the way I’m used to,” Dion said. “I have to admit it’s been a struggle. All I know is singing, it’s what I’ve done all my life.” 

Stiff Man Syndrome is a neurological disorder which causes stiff movement and spasms in the limbs and the body.  

In its early stages, it is often mistaken as Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson’s, Fibromyalgia, psychosomatic illness, anxiety, phobia and other autoimmune diseases.

The 54-year-old has tearfully said that she would not be able to resume her European tour in February, because the spasms prevent her from performing on stage and using her vocal chords.

“I have a great team of doctors working alongside me to help me get better,” Dion said. “I’m working with my sports medicine therapist every day to build back my strength and my ability to perform again.”

There is no known cure for the rare ailment. Currently, one in one million people worldwide are affected.

US Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) basketball player Brittney Griner, who was detained at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport and later charged with illegal possession of cannabis, waits for the verdict inside a defendants’ cage during a hearing in Khimki outside Moscow, on August 4, 2022(Photo by EVGENIA NOVOZHENINA/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 10:10 AM PT – Thursday, December 8, 2022

Russia has freed basketball star Brittney Griner after a high-level prisoner exchange for notorious arms dealer, Viktor Bout.

The swap took place in the United Arab Emirates on Thursday after President Joe Biden signed an order commuting Bout’s 25-year federal prison sentence.

Viktor Bout, nicknamed The Merchant of Death, is a Russian arms trafficker serving a 25-year prison sentence in the United States. He is considered to be one of the world’s largest illicit arms dealers.

Griner, an all-star center for the WNBA Phoenix Mercury and a two-time Olympic gold medalist, is returning home after being sentenced four-to-nine years back in August for drug possession.

In February, Russian customs had arrested the Houston native after they found a cannabis vaporizer in her possession at a Moscow airport. In the ordeal, the basketball player pleaded guilty but maintained that she had no criminal intent.

Paul Whelan, a US citizen and former Marine wrongfully detained by the State Department, was not included in the prisoner swap. The Biden’s administration had sought the release of both Griner and Whelan.