So much for the "Mike Pence saved democracy" story.
| 'On aurait dû faire mieux'  So much for the "Mike Pence saved democracy" story.
The former vice president won praise for thwarting a coup attempt after then-President Donald Trump's supporters mobbed the Capitol demanding Pence be hanged. But subsequent events and Pence's own political ambition are combining to sketch a less flattering alternative narrative.
According to the bestseller "Peril," by Bob Woodward and Robert Costa, Pence did at least examine whether he could avoid certifying Joe Biden's election win in Congress on January 6. And he's reported to have called ex-VP Dan Quayle for advice. According to the book, Quayle told Pence he had no options, saying, "Forget it. Put it away." Pence, to Trump's fury, did his constitutional duty and presided over the confirmation of Biden's victory.
Given Pence's hopes of running for president himself, his MAGA world heresy is now a problem he needs to fix. In an interview with Sean Hannity on Fox News, Pence boasted about how close he had been to the former President after their four years in a "foxhole." Pitching for the hearts of Trump voters, he became the latest Republican to whitewash history over the most serious attack on the seat of American democratic government in history.
"I know the media wants to distract from the Biden administration's failed agenda by focusing on one day in January," Pence said. "They want to use that one day to try and demean the character and intentions of 74 million Americans who believe we could be strong again and prosperous again and supported our administration in 2016 and 2020."
Such revisionism is proof of the power of ambition. "Now all of a sudden, he's revising that day and saying he and Trump are buddies again," Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, one of the few conservative Republicans with the courage to tell the truth about Trump, told CNN on Tuesday. "I don't get this toxic hold that Trump has over people. He never had it over me. Maybe I just missed out. But I'm glad I did." The world and America Two climate scientists won the Nobel Prize in physics.
 'On aurait dû faire mieux'  US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday that the Biden administration "should have done better in terms of communication" on the AUKUS security pact and admitted the US sometimes takes its friendship with France "for granted," during an exclusive interview in Paris with France 2.
"We expected better, especially with the change of administration, and especially with you. You speak French. You are a Francophile," interviewer Anne-Sophie Lapix said. Blinken, speaking in French, agreed, saying, "We sometimes tend to take for granted a relationship as important and deep as the one between France and the United States." 'A story so terrifying no one wants to read the end of it' During much-anticipated testimony Tuesday before the Senate Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen repeatedly pointed outside of the country for examples of how the social network could be used to dangerous ends – so much so that lawmakers wondered during the hearing if they should meet to specifically discuss national security concerns.
On Myanmar "My fear is that without action, divisive and extremist behaviors we see today are only the beginning. What we saw in Myanmar and now in Ethiopia are the opening chapters of a story so terrifying no one wants to read the end of it," Haugen said – referring to devastating ethnic violence in both countries.
Facebook admitted in 2018 that it failed to do enough to prevent the spread of posts whipping up hatred against the persecuted Rohingya minority in Myanmar. It has since vowed to limit the spread of "misinformation" in the country after a military coup earlier this year.
On China Asked by one senator whether Facebook is used by "authoritarian or terrorist-based leaders" around the world, Haugen responded that such use of the platform is "definitely" happening, and that Facebook is "very aware" of it.
Her last role at Facebook was with the company's counterespionage team, which she says "directly worked on tracking Chinese participation on the platform, surveilling, say, Uyghur populations around the world."
"You could actually find the Chinese, based on them doing these kinds of things," she said.
On Iran The same team observed "the active participation of, say, the Iran government doing espionage on other state actors. This is definitely a thing that is happening," Haugen said. The revelation prompted Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, to suggest that security concerns be explored more deeply in a future hearing.
On Ethiopia According to Haugen, engagement-based ranking – which amplifies content that stirs users to react with likes, shares or comments – is "literally fanning ethnic violence" in countries like Ethiopia, where regional and ethnic divides have deepened in parts of the country.
"I encourage reform of these platforms, not picking and choosing individual ideas, but instead making the ideas safer, less twitchy, less viral, because that is how we scalably solve these problems," she said.
Facebook has developed measures to moderate some of the platform's dangerous effects, but they are unevenly applied in different languages, Haugen said. "Facebook also knows, they have admitted in public, that engagement-based ranking is dangerous without integrity and security systems, but then not rolled out those integrity and security systems to most of the languages in the world. And that's what is causing things like ethnic violence in Ethiopia." Facebook's response Following the hearing, Facebook issued a statement attempting to discredit Haugen and disputing "her characterization" of many issues. "Today, a Senate Commerce subcommittee held a hearing with a former product manager at Facebook who worked for the company for less than two years, had no direct reports, never attended a decision-point meeting with C-level executives — and testified more than six times to not working on the subject matter in question," read the statement, tweeted by spokesperson Andy Stone.
"We don't agree with her characterization of the many issues she testified about. Despite all this, we agree on one thing; it's time to begin to create standard rules for the internet."  Bretman Rock, a 23-year-old Filipino beauty influencer and YouTube star, has become the first out gay man to star on Playboy's cover. Thanks for reading. On Wednesday, a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee holds a hearing on development assistance in Afghanistan. EU and Balkan leaders meet in Slovenia. View in browser | All CNN Newsletters
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