News

Elon Musk says he's out as CEO of Twitter ... as soon as he finds a replacement.

Musk confirmed the news in an amusing tweet Tuesday night..."I will resign as CEO as soon as I find someone foolish enough to take this job!"

He added..."After that, I will only run the software & servers teams." Pretty shocking stuff from a guy who recently purchased the company for $44 BILLION!!

Of course, the move stems from a poll Musk took earlier in the week, asking millions of Twitter users to vote on whether he should remain the boss. More than 57 percent of the people voted to oust Elon, compared with just over 42 percent who wanted him to stay as head honcho.

The poll seemed tied to Elon's misstep on Sunday when he implemented a policy that barred accounts from promoting competing platforms like Facebook and Instagram. Twitter users expressed anger over the new rule because they're accustomed to sharing messages across open social media networks. Musk quickly buckled, adjusting the policy to suspend accounts whose primary purpose is to give free advertising to rival companies.

Elon's troubles with Twitter have only been mounting. Last week, Musk temporarily suspended the accounts of several prominent journalists after he accused them of doxxing him by revealing his personal information and the whereabouts of his private jet in real-time.

An apparently unhoused man is in police custody after an hours-long standoff sparked by the guy boldly taking over a woman's home while armed with a sword.

The scary intrusion went down Monday in Venice, CA, where resident Marcia Davalos told KCAL9 she arrived home to find the man already chilling inside, and claiming it was really his. Aside from trashing her place, he slammed the door in her face and locked her out.

What's more, the man reportedly had a knife and a massive sword ... which resulted in a huge LAPD response, swarming the block with the SWAT team and even sending in a robot to check out the situation.

After a 4-hour-long standoff, police used tear gas to force the man out of the home ... and, bizarrely, he emerged wrapped in a bath towel!

The guy had made himself so at home, he was taking a shower when cops decided his time was up.

Donald Trump broke the law during the attack on the U.S. Capitol -- so says the Jan. 6 congressional committee ... which is now asking the Department of Justice to prosecute.

The House select committee made criminal referrals to federal prosecutors Monday, suggesting they've found evidence of criminality throughout their months-long hearings ... and are now pointing out specific crimes they feel the DOJ could pursue, if they're inclined.

The charges they feel are warranted here ... obstruction of an official proceeding of Congress, conspiracy to make a false statement, conspiracy to defraud the United States and straight-up insurrection. If the DOJ were to prosecute (and if Trump was convicted of all this) ... he could face up to 35 years in prison.

Of course, Congress's recommendation to the Justice Dept. is simply that ... a proposal, which is largely symbolic in this case -- and may not really amount to much big picture.

Fact is ... the DOJ is already running its own investigation into Trump on multiple fronts, including for his involvement on Jan. 6 -- for which they've already appointed a special counsel. Their probe(s) have been running parallel to the congressional hearings for a while, and they've been keeping tabs on the proceedings. It's unclear if they've become aware of any major new bombshells against Trump that they weren't already aware of.

With that said ... the fact Congress is officially looking to have a former Prez prosecuted -- even if it is out of their hands -- is a major statement ... as it's never been done before.

Whether Trump ends up being personally charged/prosecuted for any alleged wrongdoing -- and there's a lot he's been accused of lately -- remains to be seen, especially since he's running for office again and is about to be in the thick of his 2024 campaign very soon.

Trump's alleged malfeasance on or around Jan. 6 has been well-documented throughout the hearings -- there's been claims that he fought with his own Secret Service in an attempt to arrive and meet the coup crowd at the Capitol ... not to mention the allegation that he asked to have metal detectors removed in hopes of people being able to sneak in weapons.

Of course, there's also the fact that he explicitly called his VP, Mike Pence, a traitor ... and essentially left him for the wolves, along with the other lawmakers that day. Trump was also very soft on condemning the attack, and is reported to have prolonged his response.

New rule alert at Twitter -- Elon Musk apparently wants to keep the bird app exclusive, so he's banning the promotion of any other social media accounts ... including via Linktree.

The official Twitter Support account made the announcement Sunday, writing ... "We recognize that many of our users are active on other social media platforms. However, we will no longer allow free promotion of certain social media platforms on Twitter."

They add, "Specifically, we will remove accounts created solely for the purpose of promoting other social platforms and content that contains links or usernames for the following platforms: Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon, Truth Social, Tribel, Nostr and Post."

Some clarification ... Twitter Support notes this doesn't mean they're banning the use of links to other social media sites, including cross-posting of content (like throwing up an IG link on Twitter, for instance). What it sounds like they won't stand for now ... unadulterated plugging of one's other accounts that might lead Twitter users away from the platform.

Several users have already gotten into the weeds of Twitter's new policy, and they appear to confirm this will apply to Linktree URLs -- which allow people to go and find someone's entire social media presence, among other useful links. Content creators use Linktree quite often.

Twitter also says that phrases like "Follow me on XXXX" will likely get someone banned as well. This has been happening a lot lately under the new Musk regime -- folks have been touting their Mastadon accounts, and others, as prominent users have migrated over.

It's just the latest crackdown on Elon's watch. Remember, he's been suspending journos who cover/criticize him ... handing down bans and reversals of those bans on the drop of a dime.

There's a snowball's chance in hell ABC has Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes anchoring 'GMA3' again before the New Year.

Network sources tell TMZ ... ABC's internal review of their romantic relationship, coupled with Amy and T.J.'s previously scheduled time off for the holidays make an on-air return in 2022 next to impossible.

As you know ... Amy and T.J. haven't been on camera since a Dec. 2 broadcast ... because the network yanked them off the air while investigating their romance.

TMZ broke the story ... Amy and T.J. will remain off the air pending ABC's internal review, which we're told is ongoing.

Our sources say Amy and T.J. are not having direct conversations with network brass about the review ... instead, we're told the anchors are having their legal teams handle any communication with ABC.

However, our sources say Amy and T.J. are willing to talk personally with network execs if called upon ... though, for now, they're sitting back and urging the network to conduct the review so everything is aboveboard.

Elon Musk is dropping the hammer on Twitter, and he's in no mood to talk about it -- he fled an online chat as soon as upset reporters tried to grill him about suspending a bunch of journalists.

The Chief Twit jumped into a Twitter Spaces chat Thursday evening to lay out his new rules about real-time doxxing -- namely that anyone who shares real-time locations of individuals will be immediately suspended from the bird app.

After some back-and-forth in the chat, Elon finally said, "If you Dox you get suspended, end of story, that's it." Moments later, he hopped out of the chat without announcing his exit.

As we reported, Musk shut down a handful of reporters' Twitter accounts Thursday without explanation. Some of them say they never posted any location info, so they felt the suspensions were really due to negative reporting on Elon.

During the abbreviated chat, journalists challenged him -- pointing out he was shutting down journalism in the same way he's criticized the Twitter regime of killing stories about Hunter Biden. Y'know, the whole free speech thing Musk said he wanted to champion when he dropped $44 billion to buy Twitter.

BTW, Elon asked his followers when, if at all, he should unsuspend the accounts who doxxed him ... but he clearly wasn't a fan of the results, saying "Sorry, too many options. Will redo poll."

He did redo it, but was still met with a majority saying he should unsuspend now. He's also reportedly shut down all Twitter Spaces chats since last night. 😬

Elon Musk is hitting journalists who make a living reporting on the billionaire where he can ... silencing their Twitter accounts.

The new owner of the bird app is suspending Twitter accounts for reporters from major news outlets like The New York Times, Washington Post and CNN ... plus independent journos and folks who report for Mashable and The Intercept.

Among those losing their ability to tweet about Elon ... Donie O'Sullivan from CNN, Drew Harwell from WaPo, Matt Binder from Mashable, Ryan Mac from NYT, Micah Lee from The Intercept, plus Keith Olbermann and Aaron Rupar.

Lots of folks getting the boot have been writing and tweeting critically about Elon ... but the fact is Musk owns Twitter so he can do what he wants with his private company.

Of course, Elon's claimed he's a champion of free speech ... and some folks say that's just not jiving with suspensions for reporters.

Here's what some of those banned reporters are seeing when they try to log in to their Twitter accounts ... a message telling them their account is permanently suspended for violating Twitter rules.

Elon's been changing Twitter terms of service on the fly ... and it's unclear what rules the journalists supposedly violated to earn a suspension.

It appears more accounts are being suspended.

A woman has died after going overboard on a cruise ship traveling from the Bahamas to Florida.

A rep for the U.S. Coast Guard tells TMZ they were alerted about a 36-year-old female who'd gone overboard on the MSC Meraviglia early Thursday morning about 18 miles off the coast of Port Canaveral in FL.

From there, we're told the Coast Guard sent out both a helicopter and search boat to find the woman ... and her body was located a short time later.

A passenger onboard tells us the ship was traveling from Ocean Cay in The Bahamas to Port Canaveral when the incident happened.

According to the passenger, a staffer on the cruise ship said the woman jumped ... but we have not yet confirmed that info.

A rep for MSC tells us, "Unfortunately, despite the rapid rescue operation, the passenger sustained fatal injuries. We are offering our full support to authorities as they investigate this matter. We are deeply saddened by this incident and offer our sincerest condolences to the family and those affected."

Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes aren't going to show their faces on camera for the foreseeable future -- because ABC wants to make sure it's able to do a full review of their relationship before bringing 'em back ... TMZ has learned.

Kim Godwin, the president of ABC News, fired off an email to staffers updating everyone on the status of Amy and T.J.'s return to the anchor's desk.

The email, obtained by TMZ, reads, "I want to take a moment to address the on-going matter involving GMA3 anchors T.J. Holmes and Amy Robach. I understand that the continuing coverage can be distracting from the incredibly important work our team does here at ABC News."

She adds, "Amy and T.J. will remain off-air pending the completion of an internal review, and there will be a rotation of anchors at GMA3 for the time being. It is my hope that we will continue to focus our energy on what we do best, and I want all of you to know how immensely proud I am of your hard work and professionalism."

We'd already broken a story about ABC's probe -- remember, we reported ABC brass wanted to get into the nitty-gritty to see if any company policies had been broken during their romance ... something that Godwin had gotten ahead of by saying this was all kosher.

Police aren't taking any chances during this weekend's fall graduation at the University of Idaho ... especially with the killer or killers of 4 students still on the loose.

Moscow PD Chief James Fry says he's beefing up patrols on and off campus as students and their families celebrate commencement.

During a Saturday news conference, Fry warned everyone to keep vigilant, move about in groups and stay in close touch with friends and family.

Of course, the chief has major safety concerns ... the fatal stabbings of Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves and Xana Kernodle inside their off-campus house have remained unsolved since November 13. Xana's boyfriend, Ethan Chapin, was also slain, but he didn't live at the location.

Investigators have not identified a suspect/suspects and no murder weapon has been found ... although it's believed a combat knife was used.

Detectives have also ruled out a number of people, including 2 surviving roommates who apparently slept through the attacks inside the home.

An ex-boyfriend of one of the female victims was also cleared, as well as her alleged stalker.

Despite the probe's slow progression, cops recently released a possible break in the case ... they want to interview the occupant(s) of a white 2011-2013 Hyundai Elantra, which was spotted near the murder scene that night.

A serial killer on the U.S. and Mexico border seems like a Ted Bundy copycat, at least to the Mexican authorities desperately trying to hunt him down.

So far, cops believe the murderer has snuffed out 3 Tijuana sex workers -- women he targeted in strip clubs, lured back to a hotel room ... and then performed violent sexual acts before killing them.

Baja California (Mexico) Attorney General Ricardo Iván Carpio Sánchez told reporters Friday ... “This subject has criminal tendencies associated with violent and psychopathic behavior. His profile is very similar to someone who became very well-known decades ago: Ted Bundy."

They also suspect the killer is American. Tijuana is just over the California border.

Bundy confessed to abducting and murdering 30 women and girls across the United States from 1974 to 1978. He was later captured and executed by the state of Florida in 1989.

Idaho police have looked into a popular theory one of the victims had a stalker ... and while the department thinks it found the person in question, it's saying the incidents don't seem to be connected.

Moscow PD says they investigated and identified an incident from mid-October where Kaylee Goncalves told friends and family about a potential "stalker" in her life.

Cops reportedly say Kaylee went to into a local business, where 2 men were inside. The authorities believe 1 of them may have continued to follow her around the business, and as she headed back to her car -- although they don't think he made any contact with her.

Detectives say they've contacted both men, who told them they were trying to meet women at the business ... but the PD is now saying there's no evidence that points to them as being involved in the gruesome murders.

Conflicting reports have come in about what Iran plans to do about its "morality police" -- who are said to be responsible for the death of a woman who wouldn't comply with the hijab law.

Iran's Attorney General Mohammad Jafar Montazeri was quoted as saying that the country's Guidance Patrol would be abolished going forward ... and that their rules on women having to wear hijabs in public would be placed under review -- this per local media.

A state media agency, however, refuted this ... suggesting Montazeri had spoken out of turn, and that any disbandment of the morality police falls under the jurisdiction of the interior ministry -- not the judiciary or parliament. No official word from that department so far.

The news of a potential shift in the nation's strict regulations against women were taking as a huge win after months of protests following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in September, who died as a result of injuries she sustained while being detained in September.

There has been massive protests and civil unrest both there in Iran and elsewhere around the world as people rallied together to show solidarity for Iranian women in the wake of Amini's passing.

The Griffith Park Pony Rides and Petting Zoo operation is closing its doors for good, it seems after the City cut ties -- and the owner is blaming activists who've been on his ass.

Steve Weeks -- who's been running the place for years now -- broke the news this weekend on Facebook, writing ... "It is with much sadness that I announce that Griffith Park Pony Rides will be ceasing operations December 21, 2022. I have received a letter from Los Angeles Recreation and Parks stating that our contract will not be renewed."

He adds, "After 74 years serving the children and parents of Los Angeles, this iconic institution will be closed forever by order of the City."

Weeks says this is a direct result of extremists who've been protesting his establishment for months, explaining ... "You have all followed our fight against these few radical animal rights activists. Despite our year long fight to answer the untrue statements of these individuals, our efforts were not heard. This was the city decision and not the pony rides choice."

As for what's to become of all the animals there -- which entail way more than just the ponies themselves -- Weeks says he's attempting to relocate them now. He writes, "In the days ahead I will be attempting to find forever homes for our many ponies. I am determined to find homes for our ponies with qualified horsepeople who will care as much about our ponies as I do. If you are interested in [providing] a home please message me."

GPPR has been open since 1948, and was a staple attraction for Los Angeles-area families for a long time. Kids could ride their ponies around their stables and track -- and they were able to get up close and personal with other livestock, like goats, sheep, bunnies, etc.

In recent months, the establishment has been under siege by demonstrators and other parties who've accused the owners of mistreating the animals by forcing them to give rides in extreme heat during the summer -- among other claims of alleged animal abuse ... all of which Griffith Park Pony Rides has denied.

There's another big twist in the unsolved Idaho quadruple murder case ... a mysterious discrepancy in the way at least 2 of the victims were killed.

Steven Goncalves, the father of slain Univ. of Idaho student Kaylee Goncalves, said Saturday night, the fatal attacks on Kaylee and Madison Mogen, her best friend, were mysteriously different in nature. He said on "Lawrence Jones Cross Country," ... "I'll cut to the chase. Their means of death don't match."

He wasn't specific, but did say, "Their points of damage don't match."

What's especially odd ... authorities say Kaylee and Madison were sleeping in the same bed at the time of the attack, yet according to the father the stabbings were somehow different.

Four people were stabbed to death in the house, and authorities seem stumped. They have given conflicting information about the attacks ... going back and forth on whether it was targeted and if the rest of the community was at risk.

Kaylee's mom has wondered why certain people were cleared "very fast."

It's a horrifying video ... someone is walking down an NYC street, minding his own business, when an attacker pulls a bat out of his pants and clobbers the victim in the back of the head.

It seems like this may have been a targeted attack. You see the attacker train his eyes on the victim before pulling the bat out and swinging. The attacker is clearly enraged ... screaming at the 47-year-old victim as he lay on the ground.

Before the attack, it seems the assailant -- who attempted to disguise himself with a hooded sweatshirt -- was tailing the victim.

What's more ... as the attacker sets his sights on the victim, another pedestrian appears and the attacker turns away. It seems he waits for the bystander to leave the area, and when that happens the assailant makes his move.

The attacker walks away, then comes back and begins screaming at the victim and it looks like he stomps on him, then leaves.

The victim was taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital with a laceration and bruises. He's in stable condition, according to cops.