Mark Zuckerberg dines with Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort
Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg has visited Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort, leaving behind grudges between them.
The president-elect already has a friendly and familiar relationship with another leading tech figure, X owner Elon Musk.
Historically, however, there has been no such closeness between Trump and Zuckerberg — with Trump banned from Facebook and Instagram after the Capitol riots, and Trump threatening the Meta boss with prison if he interfered in the 2024 presidential election.
However, there has been recent evidence that these strained relations are improving, culminating in Zuckerberg having lunch with the president-elect at his Florida villa.
"Mark was grateful for the invitation to join President Trump for dinner and the opportunity to meet members of his team for the incoming administration," a Meta spokesperson told the BBC.
Threat of prison: In August, Trump wrote in a book that Zuckerberg would "spend the rest of his life in prison" if he tried to interfere in the 2024 US election.
But the president-elect later softened his stance, saying in a podcast in October that Zuckerberg was "staying out of the election," and thanked him for a personal phone call after he faced an assassination attempt.
There have also been indications that Zuckerberg is trying to be more willing to cooperate with America's next president.
Former British soldier arrested: Spying for Iran
A former British soldier whose escape from a London prison sparked a major manhunt in 2023 has been convicted of spying for Iran.
Daniel Khalife, 23, pleaded guilty on Thursday to breaching Britain's State Secrets Act by collecting and passing sensitive information to Iranian intelligence services. He was acquitted of a charge of staging a bomb hoax at his military barracks.
Prosecutors said Khalife had played a "cynical game" of pretending to be a spy after handing over a large amount of restricted and classified material to Iran, including the names of special forces officers.
Khalife testified that he had had contact with people in the Iranian government, but it was all part of a plan to work as a double agent for Britain, a scheme he said he hatched while watching the political TV show Homeland.
Threatened to kill Trump, arrests a man in Arizona
An Arizona man has been arrested after authorities say he posted online threats to kill President-elect Donald Trump and members of his family.
According to a federal indictment, Manuel Tamayo-Torres released daily videos about Trump, accusing him of kidnapping and sex-trafficking his children.
Investigators say he filmed one of the threats at a Trump rally in Glendale in August.
The suspect, who was previously incarcerated, is also accused of making false statements on an application to purchase a gun.
Russia hits energy infrastructure in Ukraine: 1 million residents in 'darkness'
Russia on Thursday launched its second major attack on Ukraine's energy infrastructure this month, causing blackouts across the country.
President Vladimir Putin said Moscow had struck in response to Ukraine's attacks on Russian territory with US ATACMS medium-range missiles. He added that Russia's next targets could include "decision-making centers" in Kiev.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy accused Russia of an "unbelievable escalation", saying it had used cruise missiles with cluster munitions.
Later in his daily address, Zelensky said he was talking to Western leaders, including NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, to craft a response to "Russia's attempt to make the situation more unbearable and to drag out the war".
Over 1 million people lost power immediately after the attacks.
Ukraine's air force said Russia used 91 missiles and 97 drones in Thursday's attack. She said 12 of these hit their targets, most of which were energy and fuel facilities.
