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Rihanna and A$AP Rocky are joined at the hand ... having a super romantic holiday in Barbados.

RiRi and A$AP took a Catamaran cruise in Rihanna's homeland, partying with friends on Xmas Eve.

It's unclear how long they've been together, but they already started wearing matching outfits -- a cautionary tale for sure -- but they look like they're very much into each other.

As we reported, they've been seen a lot together, especially this month and last, in both Barbados and New York City.

The 2 have history -- A$AP opened for Rihanna during her Diamonds World Tour back in 2013. Rumors of them hooking up started almost immediately after Rihanna broke up with her BF of 3 years, Hassan Jameel.

It took 10 days -- TEN DAYS -- but finally, the United Airlines passenger who hovered over a dying, COVID-infected man for 45 minutes administering CPR has been contacted that he was exposed to the virus.

Tony Aldapa tells TMZ, he got a call late Thursday from the L.A. County Dept. of Public Health ... informing him what we've been telling and showing for a week -- that the passenger he was trying to save had the virus and died shortly after the plane made an emergency landing.

It's a scary case of buck-passing. Despite the fact the COVID-positive man had lost his sense of taste and smell and had trouble breathing -- something his wife blurted out during the in-flight emergency -- United did not notify any of the passengers they might have been exposed.

A United spokesperson told us it wasn't their job to notify passengers. Instead, the airline gave its flight manifest to the CDC, telling us that agency would contact passengers.

Then the CDC told us they were passing the information along to local health officials. Finally, 10 days after exposure ... Tony was notified.

Tony, an EMT, had some COVID-like symptoms but tested negative and is feeling better.

Tekashi 6ix9ine spent another Christmas without his daughter ... and this time he can't blame it on being locked up, his baby mama says it was all his fault.

Sara Molina, Tekashi's baby mama, tells TMZ ... she chose not to allow Tekashi to see their child this Christmas because he's been completely out of the picture, despite promising to get back in 5-year-old Saraiyah's life.

6ix9ine's baby mama says he told her back in August he wanted to create a genuine relationship with Saraiyah and was going to be more involved and present ... but Sara says it never happened.

Sara claims Tekashi told her he would support her financially and help with their daughter's expenses ... but she says it turned out to be an empty promise.

69's baby mama even says she gave him an "open door" policy where he could come see Saraiyah whenever and wherever he wanted ... but even that didn't pan out. Sara says early September was the last time Tekashi sent any money or saw his daughter.

What's more, Sara claims Tekashi missed his daughter's 5th birthday back in October, and she says he didn't send a present or even place a phone call. Sara says it was really offensive ... she felt it was the one day he could have really redeemed himself.

It's kinda sad ... Sara says her daughter wasn't even fazed by 6ix9ine's absence on her birthday, and she says the kid recently began referring to Tekashi as a "friend" ... even though the girl knows he's the father.

Don't let these two almost identical images of Lil Nas X have you starting to see double ... there are some key differences here between these photos and it is up to you to find out where they are!

The Grammy award-winning artist was recently seen picking up some festive goods from the store ... And we have made a few changes to the pic! Take a really good look around both of these photos, and see if you can point out what is so different between the two super similar snaps!

United Airlines has not contacted passengers on the flight where a COVID patient died, nor has the CDC and it's been nearly 2 weeks. And, how 'bout the cop who had sex on the Universal lot in front of the Bates Motel?! So, we gotta ask ...

NFL star Josh Norman says he expects to split $500k worth of donations ... and give it to hundreds of small businesses in Buffalo who have been devastated by COVID-19.

TMZ Sports talked to the 33-year-old star CB about the fundraiser he created to assist small businesses that have been decimated by the shutdowns associated with the pandemic.

Josh has donated $25k of his own money -- and countless hours of his time organizing the fundraising -- and says he's already received hundreds of applications.

"With Buffalo Business Blitz, what we're doing with that was pretty much helping out small businesses that closed down during the holiday season, during the pandemic time," Norman tells us.

So, in about 3 weeks, how many businesses have asked Josh for help?

"About 650 applications. It's crazy, but the thing is, a lot of people need help. A lot of people are struggling right now and it's pretty sad."

Of course, small businesses across the country have been badly affected by COVID-19 lockdowns ... and many are on the verge of going out of business.

Every dollar matters and Norman says BBB already has a healthy chunk of change in the coffers ... but believes there's a lot more on the way -- courtesy of some larger corporate donors across the country.

"Right now, we're probably at like $80 grand but that's just accounted into the box. There's other things that are coming on -- couple hundred thousand dollars, so we'll probably be at half a mil, probably a little more than that. Depends on if the donors come through."

Come January 1st, Josh will comb through the applications and select hundreds of businesses -- as many as the donations will allow -- and mail out checks.

Socks, gift cards, a knit sweater and even one of those fruitcakes are all some of the classic holiday presents people found under the tree yesterday, but these stars are all celebrating with a special gift this year ... the gift of life!

This year has been filled with new babies in the celeb world and stars like Lea Michele, Gigi Hadid, Evan Ross -- and a bunch more Hollywood parents -- have shared their new beautiful babies with the world via social media.

A vile woman whose son was being taken into custody did everything she could to make a simple arrest turn violent, as she ordered her son to escape the cops and then hurled obscenities at the officers.

This all went down in Valencia, about 35 miles north of L.A., where Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff's Deputies were searching for a stolen Tesla in the area -- and happened upon another stolen vehicle ... a Chevy Camaro.

Cops descended on a cul-de-sac with guns drawn, ordering the driver out of the Camaro.  He was taken into custody, but then cops set their sights on a passenger -- the woman's son.

She comes out of the house with her daughter and then gets crazy ... telling her son to come in the house, defying the cops. Remember, police had their guns drawn.

Her kid mouthes off to the cops, swearing at them ... "I see the bitch in all of your f***ing eyes." He then orders cops to unload their guns ... seriously.

His mother then totally loses it ... hurling epithets at the cops. They tried explaining to her they were investigating a crime, and she fired back ... "I don't give a s*** about your f***ing investigation."

She then orders the cops to "get the f*** out of here." When they approach her she screams, "Get the f*** out of my f***ing face." Oh, there's more ... "F*** you and your f***ing mother who birthed your f***ing ass."

BTW ... the woman recklessly let her dog out without a leash in the middle of all of this, and it sure looks like a pit bull.  It walked up to the officers, and she's lucky the dog wasn't shot.

Incredibly ... the mother, who gives Karens a bad name, was not arrested. Her son was arrested on weapons charges.

Cincinnati cops are taking no chances ... they've just closed several streets to investigate a suspicious RV ... in wake of the explosion that rocked Nashville.

At this moment it's unclear if cops are dealing with a serious threat or an all-too-coincidental RV with its engine running in downtown Cincinnati near the federal building on Sixth Street. Cops are making it clear ... the street closures are out of an abundance of caution.

Cops are using explosive-detective K9s to identify anything that might detonate.

The closures come just hours after an RV exploded in downtown Nashville in the early morning hours of Christmas Day. The RV there rocked scores of buildings ... leaving several with significant structural damage.

It appears the Nashville explosion was intentional. Whoever did this was pretty clearly going after property and not people, because a recording blared out in the 15 minutes before the explosion to clear the area.  Plus, choosing Christmas Day insured few, if any, people would be in the business district at 6 AM.

Taylor Swift's status in Nashville just took a hit ... she's been bumped from one of Music City's landmark attractions, and replaced by Brad Paisley.

Taylor's held court for a while now with some of country's biggest superstars on the iconic mural at Legends Corner on Lower Broadway in Nashville. The mural features 14 icons ... including Reba McEntire, Willie Nelson and Dolly Parton.

But, artist Tim Davis is making some changes ... out with the old and in with the new. The artist reportedly said Taylor's image is being retired and 3 other stars, including Brad, will join the mural. At this point, it's unclear who else will appear on the mural.

The news, of course, did NOT sit well with Swifties. One person tweeted her disgust about the news, saying ... "Nashville really just PAINTED OVER @taylorswift13 in the legends corner mural on Broadway... she is a country music legend and so what if she moved over to different genres?? Confused why they didn't just make the mural bigger."

Sir Elton John's showing Santa how it's done ... slipping into an over-the-top version of St. Nick's suit to spread some holiday cheer by reminding fans he'll be back in 2021.

The Rocket Man went all out, adding a cape and mini Christmas wreath glasses to the typical jolly man's getup -- and with a real jingle bell in hand he delivered some highly anticipated news about his postponed final tour.

Elton wished everyone a safe Christmas, but then added he can't wait to get back on the road. Remember ... his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour was interrupted by the coronavirus pandemic. He says he hopes he can resume in September 2021 in Berlin and then the U.S. and Canada. #CrossYourFingers.

You'll recall back in 2018, Elton announced it would be his last tour ... which would include 300 dates across 5 continents and go all the way through 2023.

Getting in the holiday spirit's nothing new for Elton. Earlier this month, he rocked this same outfit, accompanied by his 1974 holiday classic, "Step Into Christmas" ... for an epic TikTok clip. That one featured his whole fam getting into their holiday attire.

Mariah Carey's got the world celebrating Christmas like it's 1994 ... her classic song, "All I Want for Christmas is You," just set a record on Spotify.

Her iconic Xmas track on Christmas Eve set the all-time record for the biggest, single-day stream in Spotify history with 17.223 million streams, according to Chart Data which provides daily music stats from various sources.

Needless to say ... Mariah woke up to the news pretty stoked. She tweeted on Christmas Day and said, "I know people think I'm making "coin" (lil secret: artists make very little from streams) but the real reason I'm sitting here in astonishment & gratitude is seeing the joy this little song I wrote brings to people. THANK YOU & MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!"

The track was a smashing success when she dropped it in 1994 as part of her "Merry Christmas" album. While Mariah said artists make very little from streams one thing's for sure ... the track has brought her TONS of coins since its release.

Back in 2017, the song made Mariah a whopping $60 mil. That would be roughly $2.6 million per year. It's unclear if Mariah's hauling in the same amount every year ... but millions worldwide are undoubtedly still hitting play.

After all, it's a classic.

Downtown Nashville was rocked by an explosion on Christmas Day, and authorities think the blast was intentional.

The explosion shook the area at around 6:30 AM, damaging a number of buildings. Incredibly, only minor injuries were reported, although 3 people were taken to local hospitals.

It looked like a war zone, with cars on fire, plumes of smoke and debris scattered everywhere.

It appears the explosion may have come from an RV that blew up in the area.

The Nashville Fire Dept. evacuated the area, fearful of more explosions.

Although authorities say they believe the blast was intentionally set, they have not been more specific. They have not suggested terrorism -- domestic or otherwise -- but they do believe it was not an accident.

An investigation is underway.

Joe and Jill Biden are all about family, but they wanted to make it clear this year that the way to show real love for your family is to stay away from them this year.

The President-elect and the soon-to-become First Lady delivered a somber Xmas message, noting there are millions of people this year mourning the loss of a family member who succumbed to COVID.

The Bidens have said it before and they said it today ... they understand the pain of losing a loved one. They've been there.

They also said they typically have huge Christmas dinners with family, but not this year. The best way to show love in 2020 is to keep your distance to keep your family safe.

They end with optimism, saying brighter days are ahead.

Across the pond, Queen Elizabeth said she's inspired by all the Brits who have volunteered in their communities, saying, “In the United Kingdom and around the world, people have risen magnificently to the challenges of the year, and I am so proud and moved by this quiet, indomitable spirit.”

The Queen acknowledged the frustration of families who must be apart for the holidays, "when all anyone wants is a simple hug."

And, like the Bidens, the Queen's Xmas message ended on an optimistic note ... "Even in the darkest of nights there is hope in the new dawn."

Shia LaBeouf is in terrible shape and needs inpatient treatment for addiction and psychological issues ... and not just inpatient treatment ... but longterm treatment.

Shia's lawyer, Shawn Holley, tells TMZ, "Shia needs help and he knows that." Holley, who first told Variety about Shia's intentions, adds, “We are actively seeking the kind of meaningful, intensive, long-term inpatient treatment that he desperately needs."

This isn't happening in a vacuum. This comes shortly after ex-GF FKA Twigs sued him for physical, emotional and mental abuse.

She claims Shia once tried to strangle her after slamming her against a car. She says there were other incidents of violence ... she says he once pulled out a gun and told her he had killed stray dogs in the past because he wanted to know what it felt like to take a life.

Shia, who has struggled with addiction for years, had his name removed recently from a Netflix awards consideration page.