Weird News

Luka Magnotta's mom is convinced her son didn't act alone when he killed kittens on camera ... she says the mysterious "Manny" was involved, and evidence is being ignored!!!

The convicted murderer's mother, Anna Yourkin, tells TMZ ... she firmly believes the third hand lurking in Luka's infamous cat-killing video belongs to none other than Emanuel "Manny" Lopez ... a position Luka has strongly maintained.

Anna says Canadian cops and Interpol are ignoring one crucial piece of evidence from Netflix's explosive docu-series on Luka, "Don't F**k With Cats" -- the third hand in the frame when Luka allows a python to devour a kitty.

Luka claims Manny forced him to kill the feline, but the Netflix doc insinuates Manny is a fictional person based on a character in "Basic Instinct." When you watch the video, the third hand does NOT move. No one knows who it belongs to, but Luka's mom says it's gotta be Manny's.

Anna also claims Luka emailed her a photo of Manny BEFORE the cat-killing video, and told her not to open it unless something happened to him. Problem is, Anna claims Interpol seized her email and the alleged Manny photo.

The United States Marine Corps is taking action against an emerging threat from China ... by keeping its wildly popular app, TikTok, away from Marines.

If you didn't know ... both the Army and Navy have banned soldiers from using the Chinese-owned video-sharing service on government phones because it's been deemed a cybersecurity threat by officials.

The Marines are following suit, TMZ has learned, for the same reason. Capt. Hector Alejandro of the Marine Forces Cyberspace Command tells us TikTok has also been blocked from its government-issued mobile devices.

He adds ... "This decision is consistent with our efforts to proactively address existing and emerging threats as we secure and defend our network."

The crux of the issue -- TikTok's Chinese ownership has politicians and military officials concerned that it could be used to gather intelligence on Americans.

Because of that, the Defense Department sent a message to employees in mid-December instructing them to "be wary of applications you download, monitor your phones for unusual and unsolicited texts etc., and delete them immediately and uninstall TikTok to circumvent any exposure of personal information."

We're told the branches of the military made the decision to block TikTok shortly afterward.

Pope Francis was almost held back in 2019 by an overzealous fan, who grabbed a hold of him and wouldn't let go ... that is, until Francis gave her a swat and a scolding.

The Pontiff was down in Vatican City Tuesday, ready to ring in the new year with a line of adoring fans and worshippers -- many of whom he was happily greeting and shaking hands with along his route. It was all going great, up to the point some woman got handsy.

Check it out ... it's a pretty surreal scene, especially seeing how PF handles it. Kinda feisty!

You see Francis going down the line -- and as he approaches the grabber, she actually ramps up by doing a crucifix blessing on herself in anticipation of making contact. Sure enough, he ends up shaking her hand, but she clamps on to his arm and yanks him back.

It definitely took the Pope by surprise, and not in a good way either. He slaps her hand a couple time and when his handlers finally step in, she releases him. Looks like his Holiness wasn't too pleased either ... walking away with a stern look on his face 😡

Oh, and that wasn't the only incident along the guard rails either. Apparently, some kid fell right in front of the Pope as he was walking along, and Francis was quick to attend to him and give him a pat on the head once he realized he was alright.

Forget "Scent of a Woman" ... one guy allegedly had to get his hands on Picasso's pricey Bust of a Woman, for which he was arrested and has now been charged. Hoo-ah!

20-year-old Shakeel Ryan Massey was arrested this weekend for damaging the 1944 oil painting on display at the Tate Modern gallery in London ... valued at $26 million. It depicts French photog Dora Maar -- PP's old muse -- except all cube-y and abstract-like.

According to the BBC, the guy allegedly "attacked" the painting and left it ripped somehow. A Tate spokesman says the artwork is being assessed by their conservation team, and the gallery remains open. In other words, the painting -- a Picasso original -- is in surgery.

As for this young fella, he's reportedly been charged with criminal damage and appeared in court this week ... only to be told he'd be held in custody until a pre-trial hearing at the end of January. He's apparently already indicated he plans to fight the charge.

The painting is of other noteworthy value besides being done by the famous painter -- it's said to have been created in Paris during the final months of Nazi occupation.

Santa Claus isn't the only one coming down the chimney this Christmas as one household learned in dramatic fashion ... ya gotta watch out for those night owls too.

This is pretty nuts ... a family in upstate New York wanted to light a fire in their fireplace this past weekend for a holiday party but heard fluttering noises from inside their chimney. They figured it was a bird or an animal, so held off on lighting up for the moment.

By Sunday, we're told the noises had stopped ... so the fam figured whatever was in there had gotten out and scrammed. Naturally, they went ahead and started that fire they wanted to get going the night before.

To their surprise ... things ended with an unexpected visitor dropping in (literally) and almost getting burnt to a crisp. Luckily, no animals were harmed in the making of this story.

A fully-grown screech-owl fell down the chimney and was frantically trying to escape the flames. The people inside obviously noticed and immediately cut off the fire ... and eventually got a hold of the little guy, who might've been a little toasty, but wasn't injured.

We're told the family called animal control, which came through and took possession of the owl and took it to a shelter, where it was given fluids due to dehydration. It'll be released in a few days, and yes ... it should be A-OK for Christmas.

Talk about a cartoonish crime straight out of 'The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show' ... cops are on the lookout for a thief who can only be described with a drawing, albeit a pretty good one.

This story's hilarious, even though the man who got burned probably isn't laughing. A street artist in Riverside, CA claims he was jacked 2 weeks ago during the city's Festival of Lights after drawing a would-be customer's caricature ... who then made off with his money bag.

Riverside police say the artist told them the suspect -- who's described as a 5-foot, 1-inch black man in his early 20s with black hair and a mustache -- requested a caricature of himself, sat down for the entire session and then allegedly snatched $500 from the artist.

Sounds like the suspect made a clean getaway (for now, anyway) and the only thing cops have to go off is the portrait he left behind. Cops note ... his features are exaggerated!

That said, they're asking for the public's help in IDing and nabbing this crook. Our suggestion -- call in the Scooby-Doo crew, or any number of acclaimed animated do-gooders.

Donald Trump's John Hancock on a White House reprint of his presidential oath of office definitely sends a message ... and it might fetch a big payday for the guy who got it signed.

The story goes that a State Party Campaign Chairman for Trump asked a friend of his working for the administration to print the oath on White House stationery ... and the friend came through.

The chairman then took the letter to Trump's rally Tuesday night in Hershey, Pennsylvania and asked POTUS to add his autograph ... and he obliged.

The rally, by the way, was the one where the Prez chided a security guard for being too "politically correct" while removing a female protester ... roll the tape.

Anyway, the Trump-signed oath of office is now up for sale -- for a whopping $17,500 -- hot on the heels of the House Judiciary Committee approving articles of impeachment against the Prez.

The site hosting the sale, MomentsInTime.com, says the White House memo will be up for grabs Monday.

The cremated remains of Charles Manson continue to inspire a couple of artsy-fartsy folks ... who used real human blood and Manson's ashes to create life-like Manson masks.

Artist Ryan Almighty tells TMZ ... he and renowned mask-maker Rick 'Sik Rik' Fisher recently got together at Fisher's studio in Akron, Ohio and conjured up 2 masks painted with human blood and specked with Manson's ashes.

The final product ... creepy AF, which was probably the precise intention. The mask no doubt got a pro's touch. Fisher's created licensed masks and sculptures for Iron Maiden and Motorhead, among others.

We're told the duo made just 2 masks for their collection ... but if there's a high demand, they're down to make more.

Unclear how much of CM's ashes Ryan's got left. As we first reported ... Ryan's already done some bizarre Manson art, which also featured some of Manson's ashes and real blood. That painting ended up in Zak Bagans' Haunted Museum in Las Vegas.

There's also that skin-crawling Manson tattoo plastered on some weirdo's arm. You'll recall the ink Ryan used for that tat was mixed with some of Manson's actual ashes.

Santa Claus doing lines of coke on your holiday sweater is NOT what Walmart's all about -- according to the big-box store, which is blaming Canada ... for the fashion blunder.

A sweater depicting a crazed Claus gripping a straw, getting ready to dive into 3 lines of cocaine was being peddled on Walmart's website. Once pissed-off shoppers pointed out the clear drug references ... the company pulled it from its online shelves and issued a mea culpa.

The excuse ... Walmart says the sweater was being sold in Canada by a third-party, adding the garment's message doesn't reflect their values. In other words, this one slipped through the cracks, and let's just blame the Great White North!

What Walmart can't explain away is the product description was reportedly pretty explicit: "The best snow comes straight from South America." And, if that's not enough, how about this phrasing -- "Santa really likes to savor the moment when he gets his hands on some quality, grade-A, Colombian snow."

Inappropriate? Yes. Kinda freakin' hilarious? Also yes. But, available at Walmart? That's a negative, Blow Snow Rider.

A teenager in Texas got busted for carving his name into his girlfriend's head -- this after he allegedly beat her to a pulp.

The alleged scumbag is 19-year-old Jackub Hildreth, who was arrested and booked in San Antonio this weekend for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon ... having allegedly attacked his 22-year-old girlfriend on Thursday at an apartment complex in the area.

The alleged victim spoke with KSAT about the incident ... telling the outlet she thought she was going to die in the moment. According to the arrest affidavit, she reportedly told cops Hildreth held her by the neck and punched her 10 times after an argument escalated.

After that, she claims he used a knife to etch his name across her forehead ... and then fled the scene. We won't ID the woman, but it appears Hildreth has her name tattooed across his own face ... plus other scribblings. Kinda David McCall-esque, if you've seen "Fear."

BTW, the guy has a lengthy rap sheet in Bexar County too -- with warrants for past domestic violence charges and at least one other weapons charge. He's in jail on $75,000 bond.

A banana duct taped to a wall -- which sold for over $100k on behalf of a renowned artist -- is now in the belly of another man ... but apparently, it's no big deal. We think ...

Performance artist David Datuna took the bold step Saturday afternoon of EATING the super expensive Musa plant down at the Art Basel gallery in Miami -- which an art collector in France recently bought for a whopping $120,000 from artist Maurizio Cattelan.

Datuna literally walked up and stripped the brown, aging banana from the wall it was taped to and peeled it open in front of lots of shocked onlookers ... who couldn't believe it.

On Instagram, he called his performance "Hungry Artist" and posted some aftermath footage of what appears to be gallery personnel sitting him down to take his info. Based on what we can tell, this is actually a no-no ... the banana is NOT supposed to be tampered with ... although the fruit itself is allowed to be replaced on a continuous basis as needed.

It's a little confusing, but basically ... the French art collector owns the "idea" of this art piece, so whether the banana itself sticks around or not doesn't affect its value. She still has the certificate of authenticity, so she's still got $120k worth of banana art to her name.

Still, it doesn't seem like the folks who work at the gallery were all too thrilled with Datuna's stunt. In footage of the incident -- obtained by TMZ -- you can hear Datuna joke about heading to jail ... but according to reports, the guy hasn't been arrested or charged with anything yet. We're told the gallery is considering pursuing a complaint though.

BTW, the banana has reportedly already been replaced. File this one under ... forbidden fruit.

So much for Joe Biden's "No Malarkey" tour of Iowa -- there was plenty of it when he got into a heated argument with a voter Thursday morning.

The Democratic candidate was holding a town hall meeting in New Hampton, IA ... when an attendee stood up and challenged Joe on his son, Hunter Biden's now infamous dealings with a Ukrainian gas company.

The man suggested Joe was no better than President Trump because he had placed Hunter in a position for which he wasn't qualified -- and Biden immediately stepped to the guy, barking, "You're a damn liar!" He got right in the guy's face and then challenged him to do push-ups, go for a run or take an IQ test. You gotta see it ... it's kinda bizarre.

Biden, who's in the middle of an 8-day, 18-county swing through Iowa -- which he's deemed the "No Malarkey" tour -- demanded the potential voter get his facts straight.

Biden denied Hunter did anything wrong, and also denied placing him in the position. The former VP eventually calmed down, and the man claimed he didn't want to argue.

77-year-old Biden got in the final shot though -- an odd jab about the angry man's being "too old."

Lil Bub's remains will soon be orbiting the Earth in a satellite ... at least, that's what the late celebrity cat's owner envisions for her final resting place.

Lil Bub's caretaker, Mike Bridavsky, tells TMZ ... he's planning to load the feline's cremated remains into a satellite and launch it into orbit so Bub can watch over the planet, and he's working with Purdue University to get his spacey idea off the ground.

As we reported ... Lil Bub died in her sleep earlier this week, leaving behind a lasting legacy which includes raising over $700,000 for animals and pets in need.

Bub's human says he wants to link her satellite to a website so people can track the cat's location over Earth, and he even hopes to install a live feed on the craft so people can see Bub watching over them. Yes, it's hard to let go.

The cat's caretaker also wants to keep Bub's fundraising efforts alive ... by allowing people to sign up to have a designated amount of money withdrawn from their bank accounts every time Lil Bub completes a rotation around the Earth, with the funds benefiting homeless pets and veterinary research.

Lil Bub's owner tells us he realizes this is a wild idea, but he says he's been talking with Purdue about partnering on the project. The university's Small Animal Hospital was Bub's clinic for emergency care, and Purdue has an aerospace program.

FYI, the aerospace program is already involved in commercial satellite programs and with the International Space Station ... so Bub would be piggybacking off of those.

Of course, blasting a cat's remains into orbit ain't gonna be cheap ... and Lil Bub's owner says he's trying to work something out with Purdue for funding, or he's just gonna start a GoFundMe.

As for saying goodbye to Lil Bub back on solid ground ... we're told there are no plans yet for a memorial.

Antonio Brown is making use of all his downtime by getting in the booth with Sean Kingston to share his story through music ... which, apparently, includes police chases and GETTING SHOT IN THE EAR!!!

The free-agent receiver teased a music project with the "Beautiful Girls" crooner on Monday ... saying he'll be talking about real-life experiences with his lyrics.

"Going to be telling my story in these songs all truth..... I had the biggest police chase at fiu university campus. Mario Cristobal was the coach ask him!"

"Or Me getting shot in the ear In the left 👂 In liberty city pink n grey projects! Then I walk on to CMU !!! 2020 🚕 records."

Did you process that? AB says he got SHOT in the ear and was involved in a POLICE CHASE and somehow, nobody ever found out about it. Crazy!

FWIW -- this is the first time we're hearing about both incidents and yeah, we're trying to get more info!

Unclear how long AB has been working on the project or when it's expected to drop -- though he's teasing a Friday release. So, stay tuned on that ...

AB shared a track snippet off the upcoming project ... and it doesn't sound terrible(?).

Pablo Escobar's brother knows how to move merchandise -- show off the goods ... and make sure to toss in a little extra eye candy. Or a lot.

The notorious Colombian kingpin's bro, Roberto, is adding to his tech portfolio by unveiling one of the world's first foldable smartphones. Based on the ad ... sexy women in lingerie will especially enjoy using it.

According to his company, Escobar Inc., the flexible screen Android easily folds out into a 7.8-inch screen tablet ... and comes with all the top-of-the-line bells and whistles.

Its name -- the Escobar Fold 1. Retail price -- $349. The company says they'll sell out quickly, because it's only producing 100,000 units to start ... so get 'em while they're hot.

Of course, the pioneering new phone comes a few months after Roberto got into a business beef with tech guru Elon Musk ... over their competing flamethrowers.

We broke the story ... Pablo's bro threatened to take legal action against Musk, claiming Elon jacked his idea after one of his engineers paid a visit to the family compound in mid-2017.

However, days later Roberto changed his tune and offered a solution to Musk -- get Trump to issue him a pardon so they can partner up ... and get into the weed biz.

The koala that was saved from massive wildfires in Australia in a dramatic viral video has sadly succumbed to his injuries from the blaze.

The Port Macquarie Koala Hospital made the decision to put down the marsupial -- named Ellenborough Lewis -- after inspecting his wounds and burns and determining he would not be able to recover.

The hospital had already been providing Lewis substantial pain relief and had previously warned it was considering putting him to sleep if his injuries were not treatable and were causing suffering.

After euthanizing the koala, the hospital said its "number one goal is animal welfare, so it was on those grounds that this decision was made."

Lewis shot to internet fame last week in a video showing motorist Toni Doherty running from her car in New South Wales to rescue him as the fires burned all around them. She named the koala after one of her grandkids.

Recent bushfires have tragically claimed the lives of more 350 koalas, according to animal experts, and have raised concerns about Australia's koala population ... which is already considered endangered.

A GoFundMe started by the koala hospital has currently raised over $1.7 million in aid.

Lewis was estimated to be around 14 years old.