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A sperm whale that got caught in a giant fishing net got a much-needed hand from Italian divers, who captured the incredible rescue on camera ... up close and personal.

This heartwarming scene went down Friday off the coast of Lipari, where some biologists working at a turtle recovery center noticed the whale not too far from the shore. It was static, so the team contacted the Coast Guard ... which sent a group of divers to investigate.

Sure enough, the whale's tail had been tangled in what's been described as an illegal net -- and if you watch the video that the divers were able to film ... you can see it's wrapped around tight and made it just about impossible for the sea creature to swim freely.

Well, the divers got to work and two of them went underwater -- with cameras rolling -- and they started snipping away with knives and cutters until the whale could shake itself free. Unclear how long it took, but we imagine a fair amount of time was spent on this.

At one point, you see one of the divers caressing the whale ... presumably to let it know they meant it no harm or to calm its nerves. Whales are mammals, BTW, and they're super smart.

Tampa cops responded to a call about a woman in distress who was walking in the street with her kids ... and it turned into a gutwrenching scene of the children being ripped away from their mom.

Police got the call of a woman "under severe mental distress." When they arrived in the downtown area, they saw her walking in the road with her 5 barefoot kids.

The way police handled the situation is raising lots of questions ... in particular, whether this was the way to handle and de-escalate the situation.

You see one cop holding the woman against a fence, while one of her daughters stands by her side. Then, another cop held the girl with one hand as he restrains 3 of her brothers who are trying to free their sister from the officer.

Police eventually took the woman to a hospital for a psychological evaluation. They also took the kids to the hospital so they could be near their mom.

This is yet another example of how important it is for police to assess non-violent situations and figure out ways of de-escalating without causing needless trauma, force or worse.

Well, Donald Trump loves his white supremacists, because he just gave his stamp of approval on a protest where one of his loudest supporters is screaming "white power."

It's a bizarre demonstration/counter-demonstration ... a line of golf carts traversed streets around Sumter County, Florida with Trump supporters, as Trump protesters lined the streets.

You hear demonstrators, mostly seniors, boil over in anger ... there's no physical contact, but it's intense.

True-to-form Trump retweeted the video, saying, "Thank you to the great people of The Villages. The Radical Left Do Nothing Democrats will Fall in the Fall. Corrupt Joe is shot. See you soon!!"

Sacha Baron Cohen did what he does Saturday ... he went undercover at a right-wing militia event and when he started belting out a hateful, racist song ... and the crowd was more than happy to sing along.

It went down in Olympia, Washington, at the "March for Our Rights 3" rally.

Sacha came as the honcho of a political action committee, or so he said ... according to the Daily Beast. He hired a security team so no one could cut him off mid-song.

Check out the video ... Cohen is decked out in overalls, fake facial hair as he began singing about injecting former President Obama, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the World Health Org. and others with the "Wuhan flu." You hear people in the audience join in. And then, he suggests an alternative ... "chop them up like the Saudi's do," and the crowd chimes in.

The rally was reportedly organized by the Washington Three Percenters. The reference to 3 percent is an unsubstantiated claim only 3% of the members of the American colonies fought in the War of Independence.

Not everyone at the rally was cool with the song .... one city councilman said this ... “He came on stage disguised as the lead singer of the last band, singing a bunch of racist, hateful, disgusting s***,” adding, “His security blocked event organizers from getting him off the stage, or pulling power from the generator.”

The councilman also claimed the crowd turned on Cohen and security whisked him away in a waiting ambulance. Nevertheless, listen to the clip ... there are plenty of folks singin' along.

Mike Tyson was a goner if he thought he could walk the super-crowded Venice Beach boardwalk undetected ... because even with a mask, Iron Mike was an easy mark.

Mike was checkin' out shops along the famous boardwalk Saturday, and it seems everyone recognized him and most wanted -- of course -- a selfie.

Mike obliged, as most normies struck a fighting pose with fists clenched. Tyson played along.

Unclear why Mike was there ... no film crews in sight. It's probably just as simple as this ... it was a beautiful day in SoCal and perfect for a little sand and surf.

The African-American woman who was denied entry to a Baltimore restaurant because of her son's t-shirt is shunning the establishment's apology ... because the incident traumatized her 9-year-old boy.

Marcia Grant and her spokesperson, Michelle Watts, tell TMZ ... the restaurant, Ouzo Bay, has a well-established practice of discrimination, and an apology from the restaurant group rings hollow at this point and does nothing for Marcia and Dallas.

The way they see it ... why would Marcia and her son, Dallas, accept an apology at this point? The restaurant wouldn't allow him to sit down due to a dress code it very clearly -- thanks to Marcia's video -- did NOT apply to a white child.

Watts tells us this was Dallas' first bout with blatant discrimination, and it's had a major impact on him ... one his mother fears will change him forever.

We're told the family has no plans to ever eat at an Atlas Restaurant Group property again, and Marcia's retained civil rights attorney Donte Mills.

Watts says it's obvious from the video ... the only difference between Dallas and the white kid, who was allowed to dine at Ouzo, is their race. They were both wearing very similar clothing.

As for the restaurant manager who turned away Marcia and Dallas ... Watts says his actions show how much people need to learn about the deep, lasting effects of racist acts.

The Atlas Restaurant Group says it fired 2 managers because of the incident, revised its dress code policy and will "continue to implement our diversity and inclusion training."

Hidden within this cheesy pic is a sexy singer that got his music career started on Vine ... with nothin' holding him back, this talented fella has since joined big names like Taylor Swift on tour, and even featured on one of her songs.

This creative musician released three studio albums and has been nominated for three Grammys, one nomination being alongside his equally famous girlfriend. He has won countless awards from Teen Choice and VMA's.

"It's disrespectful to be honest with you. It really is."

Adrian Peterson says he's fed up with the way NFL owners and GMs refuse to pay running backs their value ... and now, he's telling TMZ Sports he hopes the game's youngsters can change things around.

Peterson famously hasn't had too many issues with contracts over his career ... he's made over $100 MIL in 13 seasons.

But, he's seen other tailbacks get the shaft when it comes time for new contracts ... and he tells us he's tired of seeing it.

"I think the change is going to come," Peterson says. "Me and Frank Gore continue to show guys, 'Hey, we are valuable. We can have 10, 14-year careers as well, so value us as well like you would value a quarterback, you know?'"

Of course, there are still plenty of running backs waiting for the tide to turn ... Zeke Elliott famously had to hold out of training camp to get his big contract, while Dalvin Cook is now threatening to do the same.

Derrick Henry, meanwhile, is being forced to play on the franchise tag ... while Alvin Kamara has yet to receive an extension despite playing on a very Saints-friendly deal his first 3 years in the league.

Peterson says he's hopeful all of that will change soon ... adding, "These young core of backs are really changing the game for the better."

Dustin Diamond needs to be saved by more than the bell if he wants to keep his home in Wisconsin -- the bank is knocking on his door and looking to foreclose.

The "Saved By The Bell" star owes Wells Fargo a whopping $269,329.36 -- according to legal docs obtained by TMZ -- and the bank is asking the court to sign off on the foreclosure.

Dustin tells TMZ ... he didn't even know he was so far behind on the mortgage, because he hasn't been to the Port Washington property since January of last year, as he's been living in Florida instead.

Screech says he moved into the house way back in 2003, when the property was worth $340,000, and tells us he plunked down a $68,000 down payment. He says he doesn't understand how he owes such a large sum. Homeownership ain't easy, or cheap.

Dustin's got a lot of other problems at the pad ... he says a friend alerted him to a busted water main last fall, and the leak was so bad water was flowing out of a first-floor window.

Screech says he lost 30 years of memories in the home's flooded basement ... his comic collection, instruments, chess collection, family pictures and videos were all ruined.

Dustin tells us ... "Foreclosure means nothing when a house is destroyed ... with my items I've lost, it now feels like Wells Fargo is trying to kick me when I'm down."

He says he never went to check on the pad last winter because his friend said the water main break froze over, and there was black mold. He was waiting for the ice to melt to return, but the pandemic ruined that plan.

Dustin still hasn't been back there, and says he hasn't figured out how he'll deal with the bank's foreclosure.

Where's Mr. Belding when ya really need him, right?

Aroldis Chapman now has an insane ride to go with baseball's best fastball -- the MLB star just copped a ludicrous custom 6-wheeled Jeep ... that's covered in Kevlar coating!!!

TMZ Sports has learned the New York Yankees closer hit up South Florida Jeeps in Ft. Lauderdale about two months ago to get the custom whip made -- and it came out SICK!!!

Check out the pic of the ridiculous car ... we're told by shop honcho Joseph Ghattas it started out as a cut-in-half Jeep -- and it was all custom built by hand from there.

The ride has 600 horsepower, features blood-red interior from top to bottom ... and according to Ghattas, it's not only "unstuckable" while off-road, it vapor trails down highways as well!!

All told, Ghattas says the project took about 60 days to complete ... and cost Chapman right around $150,000 -- a small price to pay for a dude who just signed a 3-year, $48 MILLION contract with the NYY.

As for Chapman's reaction when he picked up the new whip this week ... Ghattas says he LOVED the creation -- saying, "He doesn't speak a whole lot of English, but 'f**king awesome' is pretty universal!"

Aubrey Plaza's beauty is no laughing matter!

Here is a 25-year-old version of the "Parks and Recreation" star trying her hardest to smile at a premiere of the show in Los Angeles back in 2009 (left). She played the role of April Ludgate during the show's seven seasons.

And, 11 years later ... Plaza who celebrated her 36th birthday earlier this week -- was photographed letting go of a full-blown grin at a party in Los Angeles, CA earlier this year (right).

The actress has spent her years following her NBC show starring in films such as "Child's Play", "Ingrid Goes West", and "Dirty Grandpa".

She's seriously good looking!

The question is ...

President Trump's campaign staff reportedly told arena staff members to remove social distancing signs before they opened the doors, and there's video showing folks doing just that.

The story was reported by the Washington Post and Billboard -- with the former citing sources familiar with the situation ... and the latter getting one of the venue's main overseers on record. The VP of ASM Global -- the company that manages the BOK Center in downtown Tulsa -- told the magazine that Trump's campaign had, in fact, given the order.

The VP, Doug Thornton, says the campaign instructed them to stop labeling every other seat with "Do Not Sit Here, Please!" stickers, which the arena staff had already done to nearly every row. The place sits 19,000 -- so, at least 9,500 were presumably used.

There was even video captured and posted by WaPo that shows a few men with badges going around and actually removing those stickers. It's shot from a distance, so it's hard to make out what the stickers say, but it seems pretty clear they were the ones in question.

It's unclear if these guys are Trump staffers or arena staffers. In any case, it's a smoking gun.

This is insane, considering the BOK Center was actually trying to do the right thing and take safety precautions ... only to be thwarted by the man's own team come showtime.

Of course, if you saw the rally live -- not to mention the people lining up to get in before doors opened -- you know it was already a 'rona danger zone. Now, the place ended up being mostly empty inside, especially those upper rows. Still, those that were there did pack in like sardines, and now, we appear to know why -- at least partially, anyway.

A guy who went swimming with the fishes and lived to tell the tale is now priority number one for police in Bossier City, Louisiana -- we're kidding ... but the guy is still kinda in trouble.

Check out this doofus who thought it'd be cool to walk into a Bass Pro Shop store ... and then take a dip in their giant aquarium in the middle of the floor. That's exactly what this dude did this past week, which was all recorded by shocked (and amused) bystanders.

He does a solid lap through frantic fish that try to swim around him -- and once he reaches the end, this free diver calmly lifts himself out and jumps down soaking wet. BTW, he went in fully clothed, shoes and all. It's like he did this on a weird dare or something.

Anyway, before he could get scolded by the staff -- looks like an employee was making his way over to him -- the guy gets a nice little jog going and scrams ... exiting the store before he could be stopped. Harmless enough, right??? WRONG!!! So says the shop itself.

The store filed a complaint with police, because they incurred costs by having to empty out the tank, clean it and refill it again because of possible contamination he'd left behind.

An Alabama cop is out of a job after he thought it'd be a good idea to depict a black man in the crosshairs of a rifle scope in answering what to do about armed protesters.

The Hoover Police Department canned the guy this past week after the chief, Nick Derzis, became aware of his subordinate's deeply disturbing Facebook post ... which cropped a photo used as the launch image of an article and superimposed it under a rifle scope filter.

The photo that was now square in the crosshairs ... a black guy with a shotgun standing at the foot of a car. The original photo was the primary art for a story about how armed protesters are still standing guard at the Wendy's where Rayshard Brooks was gunned down in Atlanta. The second half of WSBTV's headline also read, "What Now?"

This officer's response ... putting the photo under a scope -- as if to fire upon the guy -- while adding a caption that read, "Exhale. Feel. Pause. Press steadily. That's what's next."

His boss placed him on administrative leave as soon he saw it, but reportedly gave the guy -- who'd been on the force there for nearly 5 years -- a solid 2 days to explain himself. After giving his response, the chief made the decision to terminate him outright.

Derzis said, "This type of conduct will not be tolerated in our department an is not representative of the professionalism expected by all of our officers. We’re not going to allow one officer to tarnish the reputation of the Hoover Police Department."

A Trader Joe's was the backdrop for an explosion of anger by a customer who felt it was her right to shop without a face mask.

The woman came to the San Fernando Valley store Friday wearing a mask ... the manager tells TMZ. At some point, as she was shopping the mask disappeared from her face. She says she has a breathing problem and that's why she took the mask off, but her lungs were filled with anger as her voice billowed through the store.

Either way ... we're told employees approached the woman and asked her to cover her face, but she refused. At that point, she goes insane, suggesting this was some sort of conspiracy by Democrats.

She was ordered to leave the store -- which she did.