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Mark Zuckerberg admits Facebook censored Hunter Biden laptop story during 2020 U. S. elections

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•Zuckerberg appeared on the hugely popular Joe Rogan podcast in a rare unscripted media appearance

Accuses FBI of misinformation

Mark Zuckerberg says Facebook restricting a story about Joe Biden’s son during the 2020 election was based on FBI misinformation warnings.

The New York Post alleged leaked emails from Hunter Biden’s laptop showed the then vice-president was helping his son’s business dealings in Ukraine.

Facebook and Twitter restricted sharing of the article, before reversing course amid allegations of censorship.

Zuckerberg said that getting the decision wrong “sucks”.

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“When we take down something that we’re not supposed to, that’s the worst,” Zuckerberg said in a rare extended media interview on the Joe Rogan podcast.

The New York Post story was released just weeks before the presidential election between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, which Mr Biden won.

It claimed that a laptop, abandoned in a repair shop by Hunter Biden, contained emails which included details of Hunter introducing a Ukrainian energy tycoon to his father and arranging a meeting. There is no record on Mr Biden’s schedule that such a meeting ever took place.

Critically, it fed into long-running unproven allegations about corruption on Joe Biden’s part to ensure his son’s business success in Ukraine.

In that context, the New York Post story, based on exclusive data no other news agency had access to, was met with scepticism – and censored by social media outlets.

Zuckerberg told Rogan: “The background here is that the FBI came to us – some folks on our team – and was like ‘hey, just so you know, you should be on high alert. We thought there was a lot of Russian propaganda in the 2016 election, we have it on notice that basically there’s about to be some kind of dump that’s similar to that’.”

He said the FBI did not warn Facebook about the Biden story in particular – only that Facebook thought it “fit that pattern”.

The article remains controversial. The hard drive at its centre was provided to the Post by Donald Trump’s own lawyer, Rudy Giuliani.

More than a year after the story appeared, the Washington Post conducted its own analysis and concluded the laptop and some emails were likely to be authentic – but the majority of data could not be verified due to “sloppy handling of the data”.

Other once-sceptical news organisations such as the New York Times have agreed at least some of the emails are genuine.

Rogan, one of the most popular podcasters in the world with an audience of millions for each episode, has himself been accused of spreading misinformation in the past.

Asking Zuckerberg if he regretted suppressing the factual story, the Facebook founder replied: “It sucks… I think in the same way that having to go though a criminal trial but being proven innocent in the end sucks… in the end you’re free.”

But Zuckerberg acknowledged that there remained disagreement about the story, which he said was a “hyper-political issue”.

“Depending on what side of the political spectrum [you’re on], you either think we didn’t censor it enough or we censored it way too much.”

Facebook did not completely ban sharing of the article, but instead limited how much its algorithm automatically shared it to other people for a week, while third-party fact-checkers tried to verify the reporting.

So while people could post the article and discuss it, it was less likely to spread organically to new users.

By contrast, Twitter banned sharing of the article at all. Both social media companies found themselves blasted by US Republicans and Donald Trump supporters, and had to explain their actions before a US Senate hearing in the following days.

In a wide-ranging interview that covered Meta’s virtual reality ambitions and Zuckerberg’s personal life, the creator of Facebook also talked about his dislike for dealing with such thorny issues.

“I didn’t get into this to basically judge these things. I got into this to design technology that helps people connect,” he told Rogan.

“This whole thing that is arbitrating what is OK and what is not – I obviously have to be involved in that because, at some level, I run the company and I can’t just abdicate that.

“But I also don’t think that as a matter of governance you want all of that decision making vested in one individual.” (BBC, excluding headline)

International

Iran threatens retaliation, says US strikes violated ceasefire

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US President Donald Trump
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Iran’s foreign ministry on Tuesday accused the United States of violating a fragile ceasefire during the past 48 hours in the southern coastal province of Hormozgan, without specifying the incident.

The accusation comes after US Central Command said its forces had on Monday attacked missile sites and boats in southern Iran that were trying to lay mines in the Gulf, while Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said it fired at US aircraft trying to enter its airspace.

“The US terrorist army, continuing its illegal and unjustified actions since the ceasefire… has, in the past 48 hours, committed a gross violation of the ceasefire in the Hormozgan region,” the Iranian foreign ministry said in a statement.

It added that Tehran “will not leave any evil unanswered and will not hesitate to defend the Iranian nation,” without elaborating.

Tuesday’s statement came as a top Iranian delegation was in Qatar for talks as part of a “diplomatic process” aimed at ending the war with the United States, which broke out on February 28

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Dozens of lranian fighters killed, as US resumes strike in Strait of Hormuz, targets IRGC Naval Boats in the Gulf

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U.S. fighter jets have reportedly struck IRGC naval boats in the Gulf after Iranian forces allegedly targeted a vessel near Bandar Abbas.

U.S. Central Command confirms “self-defense strikes” were carried out against Iranian boats and missile sites near the Strait of Hormuz amid rising tensions in the region.

It was stated that the numbers of dead has increased from 9 to 15, with dozens still missing while others remain injured.

According to emerging reports, the strikes targeted IRGC maritime assets and defensive positions during what rapidly escalated into a major military confrontation in the region. Rescue and emergency operations are said to be ongoing as authorities continue searching for missing personnel.

Iranian and regional media report heavy explosions and gunfire near Bandar Abbas, while negotiations between Washington and Tehran continue in Qatar.

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The situation is still developing, and some battlefield claims remain independently unverified.

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Suspect killed after firing shots near White House security checkpoint in US, Secret Service says

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Secret Service agents are seen after a lockdown was lifted at the White House
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A man who opened fire Saturday near a White House security checkpoint is dead after being shot by officers who returned fire, the U.S. Secret Service said. It was the third incidence of gunfire in the vicinity of President Donald Trump in the past month.

The law enforcement agency said in a statement posted on X that the man was in the area of 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue when he “pulled a weapon from his bag” shortly after 6 p.m. EDT and began firing. Secret Service officers returned fire and hit the suspect, who died at a hospital, the agency said.

The suspect was identified as 21-year-old Nasire Best, said a law enforcement official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the investigation.

According to District of Columbia court records, Best was arrested in July 2025 after he attempted to enter a different White House checkpoint without authorization, didn’t heed officers’ commands to stop, “claimed he was Jesus Christ” and said he wanted to be arrested.

An initial hearing was held and a “Pretrial Stay Away Order” was issued, typically a measure ordering a defendant not to go near a person or area before a trial. A bench warrant was issued in August after a notice of “noncompliance” against Best, who did appear for a subsequent hearing.

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Latest gunfire incident around Trump

It was the third time in the past month that shots were fired near the president after incidents at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner in April and near the Washington Monument earlier in May.

A bystander was also struck on Saturday, but a law enforcement official said it wasn’t clear whether that person was hit by the suspect’s initial bullets or those fired subsequently by officers.

Secret Service said none of its officers were injured, and that Trump — who was at the White House at the time — was not “impacted.” Trump originally was scheduled to spend the weekend at his New Jersey golf club but changed his plans on Friday to stay at the White House instead.

FBI Director Kash Patel said on social media that agency personnel were on the scene and “we will update the public as we’re able.”

Evidence of the shooting was visible on a sidewalk just outside the White House complex, where yellow crime scene tape snaked across the pavement and Secret Service officers placed dozens of orange evidence markers on the ground. Medical material, including what appeared to be purple surgical gloves and kits typically used by emergency medical personnel, were also seen.

Gunshots heard by journalists at the White House

Journalists working at the White House on Saturday evening reported hearing a series of gunshots and were told to seek shelter inside the press briefing room.

In a post shared on X, ABC News senior White House correspondent Selina Wang shared dramatic video of the moment she said she heard what “sounded like dozens of gunshots” and ducked for cover. Writing that she had been performing a routine task that White House reporters do daily — filming themselves on a cellphone for a social media post — Wang’s video shows her speaking for a few seconds about Trump’s statements earlier Saturday about a potential Iran deal.

As the sounds of gunfire are heard in the background, Wang’s eyes grow wider, and she ducks down in the media tent, which is among those situated in a line along the White House driveway where broadcasters film their reports. On X, Wang’s video had been shared thousands of times as of Saturday evening, and viewed at least 3 million times.

Shooting scene not far from a deadly incident last year

The shooting scene is within walking distance of where a gunman ambushed two members of the West Virginia National Guard last November.

U.S. Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20, died from the wounds she suffered in that shooting. Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, then 24, was critically wounded. Rahmanullah Lakanwal has been charged in that incident.

The gunfire Saturday came nearly a month after what law enforcement authorities said was an attempted assassination of the president as he attended the annual White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner at a Washington hotel on April 25. Cole Tomas Allen, of Torrance, California, recently pleaded not guilty to charges that he attempted to kill Trump. Allen is accused of running through a security checkpoint inside the hotel and firing a shotgun at a Secret Service officer.

Following that scare, Secret Service officers shot a suspect they said had fired at officers near the Washington Monument, several blocks from the White House. Michael Marx, 45, of Midland, Texas, was charged in a complaint filed in U.S. District Court in connection with the May 4 shooting. A teenage bystander was wounded in that incident. AP

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