Nov 27, 2018

Google asks embattled GOP senator to refund donation

Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss). Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Google has joined a growing list of organizations that have asked embattled Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, the Republican candidate in Mississippi's special Senate election runoff on Tuesday, to refund its $5,000 campaign contribution in the wake of recent controversial statements.

Details: A spokesperson for Google confirmed the refund request to Axios. Hyde-Smith, who is running against Democratic challenger Mike Espy to complete the term of retired Sen. Thad Cochran (R), sparked national backlash after saying at a campaign event earlier this month that she would be “front row” if invited to a “public hanging.” The remark triggered outrage due to Mississippi’s history of racially motivated lynchings. News of Google's contribution was first reported by the political newsletter Popular Information.

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Miriam Kramer

Updated 17 mins ago - Science

Live updates: SpaceX attempts to launch NASA astronauts Saturday

SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket on the launch pad. Photo: NASA/Joel Kowsky

At 3:22 p.m. ET today, SpaceX is expected to launch NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley to the International Space Station for the first time.

Why it matters: The liftoff — should it go off without a hitch — will be the first time a private company has launched people to orbit. It will also bring crewed launches back to the U.S. for the first time in nine years, since the end of the space shuttle program.

Follow along below for live updates throughout the day...

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Rashaan Ayesh, Sarah Grillo

41 mins ago - Politics & Policy

In photos: We've seen images like the protests in Minneapolis before

Photo: Kerem Yucel/AFP/MPI/Getty Images

The photos of protests around the country following the death of George Floyd during an encounter with Minneapolis police are hauntingly familiar. We’ve seen them many times before, going back decades.

Why it matters: "What is also unmistakable in the bitter protests in Minneapolis and around the country is the sense that the state is either complicit or incapable of effecting substantive change," Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, an assistant professor of African-American studies at Princeton University writes in the New York Times. The images that follow make all too clear how little has changed since the modern Civil Rights Movement began in the 1950s.

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Axios

Updated 42 mins ago - Politics & Policy

Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios

Global: Total confirmed cases as of 11 a.m. ET: 5,968,693— Total deaths: 365,796 — Total recoveries — 2,520,587 — Map.
U.S.: Total confirmed cases as of 11 a.m. ET: 1,749,846 — Total deaths: 102,900 — Total recoveries: 406,446 — Total tested: 16,099,515 — Map.
Economy: The future of mobility in the post-pandemic world — George Floyd's killing and economic calamity are both part of America's unfinished business.
Supreme Court: Chief Justice Roberts sides with liberals in denying challenge to California's pandemic worship rules.
Public health: Hydroxychloroquine prescription fills exploded in March.
2020: North Carolina asks RNC if convention will honor Trump's wish for no masks or social distancing.
Business: Fed chair Powell says coronavirus is "great increaser" of income inequality.

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