Jun 26, 2018

Fox News suspends former Trump aide over "cotton-picking" remark

David Bossie. Photo: Ben Jackson/Getty Images for SiriusXM

Fox News has slapped a two week suspension on President Trump’s former deputy campaign manager David Bossie, who told Democratic strategist Joel Payne, who is black, “you’re out of your cotton-picking mind," the Daily Beast reports.

The details: Bossie, a veteran conservative activist and paid Fox News commentator, made the remarks Sunday on Fox & Friends Weekend. Host Ed Henry condemned the comments after a commercial break, saying: “I want to make clear that Fox News and this show, myself, we don’t agree with that particular phrase. It was obviously offensive.” Bossie also tweeted an apology.

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Axios

Coronavirus kills 2 Diamond Princess passengers as South Korean cases surge

Data: The Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins, the CDC, and China's

Two elderly Diamond Princess passengers have been killed by the novel coronavirus — the first deaths confirmed among the more than 600 infected aboard the cruise ship.

The big picture: COVID-19 has now killed more than 2,100 people and infected over 75,000 others, mostly in mainland China, where the National Health Commission announced 114 new deaths since Wednesday.

Go deeperUpdated 1 hour ago - Health

Rebecca Falconer

Massive MGM data breach: Guests' personal details posted on hacking site

The MGM Grand hotel in Las Vegas. Photo: Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images

An MGM Resorts security breach last summer resulted in the personal details of 10.6 million guests published on a hacking forum this week, ZDNet first reported Wednesday.

Why it matters: Federal government employees and high-profile guests were affected by the breach, according to analysis by data breach monitoring service Under the Bridge and ZDNet — including officials from the FBI, Department of Homeland Security and the Transportation Security Administration, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, Microsoft staffers and singer Justin Bieber.

Go deeper2 hours ago - Technology

Rebecca Falconer

George Zimmerman sues Buttigieg and Warren for $265M

George Zimmerman in Sanford, Florida, in November 2013. Photo: Joe Burbank-Pool/Getty Images

George Zimmerman filed a lawsuit in Polk County, Fla., seeking $265 million in damages from Democratic presidential candidates Pete Buttigieg and Elizabeth Warren, accusing them of defaming him to "garner votes in the black community."

Context: Neither the Massachusetts senator nor the former Southbend mayor tweeted his name in the Feb. 5 posts on what would've been the 25th birthday of Trayvon Martin, the unarmed black teen Zimmerman fatally shot in 2012. But Zimmerman alleges they "acted with actual malice" to defame him.

Go deeper4 hours ago - Politics & Policy