Brian Williams, the former NBC News anchor who was removed from his NBC Nightly News job and was suspended earlier this year for fabricating his involvement in news stories about the wars in the Middle East, has been released from the network's penalty box, according to numerous news articles.

Though there doesn't appear to be any official news statement to the effect on NBC's news-relations sites and a request by TVWW for details hasn't yet been answered, it's reported by several credible news agencies that Williams will return to the air on MSNBC, covering the upcoming U.S. visit of Pope Francis, starting Sept. 22. CBS News is among the outlets reporting the reinstatement, placing it high on its homepage. A search of NBC's own news website provided no parallel story.

Williams' suspension began in February. Lester Holt has replaced Williams on the weekday news broadcasts.