BANGOR, Maine — Former state lawmaker and logger Troy Jackson secured the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate in Maine on Saturday and will face longtime GOP Sen. Susan Collins in November in a race that could decide which party controls the Senate.
Jackson replaces Graham Platner, who won the Democratic primary in June but withdrew from the race this month following an allegation of sexual assault that Platner has denied. Maine Democrats met Saturday to choose a new nominee to face Collins.
Support coalesced around Jackson, a former Maine Senate president and fifth-generation logger from rural northern Maine who campaigned alongside Platner during a failed bid for governor and was a favorite among progressives to replace him.
“When the people in power refuse to listen, you have to organize, you have to stand in solidarity, together. And you have to make them listen,” Jackson said during a speech at a last-minute nominating convention held Saturday.
The Maine Democratic Party has been scrambling to choose a new nominee after Platner, who sailed to victory in the Democratic primary in June, was accused by a former girlfriend of sexually assaulting her in 2021. Platner denies the allegation, but quit the race after key supporters called on him to withdraw.
Democrats have seen Maine as the party’s best opportunity to flip a Senate seat this year because it is a competitive Senate race in a state that Donald Trump lost in 2024. But defeating Collins won’t be easy. The five-term incumbent holds a fundraising advantage, while the new Democratic nominee will have less than four months to sell himself to voters.
Maine law gave the state party authority to choose a replacement and required a new nominee to be named by Monday — 99 days before the Nov. 3 election.
Maine Democrats’ never-before-used process of voting on a new nominee involved hundreds of Democratic delegates gathering in Bangor, about 130 miles north of Portland. The delegates were elected at county party meetings last weekend. The nominating convention began Saturday morning and wrapped by noon.
Jackson’s victory was largely expected after his campaign touted that more than 480 delegates selected to go to the convention had promised to vote for him, a progressive who supports Medicare for all and dismantling Immigration and Customs Enforcement. He ended up winning 566 of 571 delegates who cast votes.
Jackson first ran for office as a Republican in 2000 when he sought a seat in Maine’s House of Representatives. He lost, but won two years later when he ran as an independent. He switched to the Democratic Party in 2004 and eventually became the Maine Senate president before leaving the statehouse in 2024.
He came in third while running for governor in this year’s Democratic primary election, but had the backing of Platner, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders and Our Revolution, the political organization founded by the Vermont independent.
Other top candidates dropped out
Once Platner dropped out July 10, Jackson and a flood of other former gubernatorial candidates and others jumped in to try to take Platner’s place. But by July 19, most had abandoned their bids, with Jackson emerging as the clear favorite.
Jackson received early support from progressives who had backed Platner before he dropped out. Our Revolution initially backed Jackson for governor and Platner for Senate. When Platner left the race, the group rallied behind Jackson.
Jackson previously ran Maine operations for Sanders’ 2016 presidential bid. This election cycle, Sanders endorsed Jackson for governor and Platner for Senate, though he withdrew his support for Platner after the sexual assault allegation. He said he didn’t plan to weigh in on which Democrat should replace Platner.
Just one other candidate remained in the race for the Senate nomination — women’s health company Chief Executive Saundra Pelletier. She faced long odds against Jackson, who has been a fixture in Maine politics for more than a decade.
Jackson has supported progressive positions such as Medicare for all. He also has called for the abolition of ICE, whose presence in Maine has been hotly debated since an agent fatally shot Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, a 25-year-old Colombian national, near his home in Biddeford, Maine.
Maine key to Democrats’ Senate path
Democrats have a narrow path to take back the Senate in November, and it’s unlikely they can do it without a win in Maine. In addition, they need victories in most other competitive races — including in North Carolina, Alaska, Ohio and Texas — and they need to hang on to the seats they already have. That includes open Senate seats in Michigan and Minnesota, where Democratic incumbents are retiring.
Maine’s Democratic primary was one of the early contests where progressives took on establishment-backed Democrats. While Platner faced several controversies during his campaign, he easily outlasted Gov. Janet Mills, who was backed by Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer of New York but dropped out before the June 9 primary.
Platner had backing from Sanders as well as Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren. That support disintegrated after the sexual assault allegation surfaced this month.
Midterm messages
Jackson will need to convince the state’s large independent voting bloc that it’s time to replace Collins. Republicans have called Jackson too extreme for Maine voters, and Collins said this week that she knows Jackson well and that his positions are “clearly” in line with socialism.
She noted that Jackson ran democratic socialist Sanders’ first presidential campaign in Maine, adding, “He’s a Bernie Bro.”
Jackson also needs to scramble to make up a fundraising gulf against Collins, who has been raising money for months.
Federal filings show she has raised more than $16 million so far. Jackson’s campaign this week said he raised more than $1 million since jumping into the Senate race.
Jackson said Saturday he believed his team is up to the task.
“We’re not from the left, we’re not from the right. We’re from the bottom, and we are rising,” he said during a speech.
Whittle and Kruesi write for the Associated Press. AP journalist Nathan Ellgren in Washington contributed to this report.
The world claims to regard education as a universal right. Its financial system tells a different story.
New figures released by UNESCO show that 113 countries with a total population of 6.1 billion now spend more on servicing debt than educating their people. In low-income countries, debt payments are nearly four times education expenditure. In 18 of the most heavily indebted countries, governments spend at least five times more on debt than on education.
These are not merely signs of strained public finances. They reveal a stark political hierarchy.
Creditors possess enforceable claims on government revenues. Children possess declarations, development goals and promises. When the two collide, creditors are paid first.
The consequences are visible in overcrowded classrooms, deteriorating school buildings, teacher shortages, unaffordable school fees and children leaving education prematurely. Yet these outcomes are generally described as funding gaps or failures of domestic governance, as though governments had freely decided to neglect their schools.
In reality, many governments are operating inside an international financial order that sharply restricts what they can choose.
The World Bank reports that developing countries transferred $741bn more to external creditors in principal and interest between 2022 and 2024 than they received in new financing. This was the largest net debt outflow in at least 50 years. In 2024 alone, low and middle-income countries paid a record $415bn in interest.
In other words, the financial flows are frequently moving in the opposite direction from the one suggested by the language of development assistance.
Poorer countries are commonly portrayed as beneficiaries of Western generosity. But vast amounts of public wealth are travelling from debtor countries to bondholders, commercial banks, multilateral institutions and wealthier creditor governments.
Money that could hire teachers, provide school meals or build classrooms is instead leaving the country.
This is particularly perverse because education is not simply another item of government consumption. It is an investment in a society’s future capacities. Cutting it may make debt payments easier today, but it will weaken productivity, public revenues and social resilience tomorrow.
Debt contracts are treated as binding obligations whose breach can trigger credit downgrades, capital flight, lawsuits and exclusion from financial markets. The right to education, by contrast, carries no comparable machinery of enforcement.
No ratings agency downgrades creditors when a country cannot afford enough teachers. No financial penalty is imposed on bondholders when debt service forces children out of school. Markets do not panic when classrooms collapse.
The system disciplines governments for failing creditors, not for failing children.
UNESCO has proposed expanding debt-for-education swaps. Under these arrangements, a creditor cancels or restructures part of a country’s debt in exchange for government investment in agreed educational programmes.
Such initiatives can produce tangible gains. A 2023 agreement with France helped Ivory Coast finance more than 30 schools in underserved areas. A German agreement with Egypt supported school feeding and basic services, while an earlier Spain-Peru programme funded education projects across vulnerable regions.
These programmes are worthwhile. But they are not a solution to the larger debt crisis.
Debt swaps typically cover only a small fraction of what countries owe. They are negotiated selectively, depend on creditor consent and may add new layers of external monitoring to domestic spending. Most importantly, they leave untouched the principle that creditors are entitled to repayment unless they voluntarily concede otherwise.
The question becomes how to persuade creditors to permit a little more education, rather than why the claims of creditors should take priority in the first place.
That question is especially urgent because education aid is also falling. UNESCO projects that international assistance for education could decline by as much as 30 percent between 2023 and 2027.
Debtor countries are therefore being squeezed from both sides: aid is retreating while debt payments continue.
The familiar recommendation that developing countries should mobilise more domestic resources is inadequate. Progressive taxation and reduced corruption matter. But additional revenues will not transform education systems if they are immediately diverted towards debts contracted at high interest rates, or made more expensive by currency depreciation.
Nor can the problem be solved by demanding ever more austerity. Education budgets consist largely of recurring expenditure, especially teachers’ salaries. When governments are instructed to freeze public-sector wage bills, they cannot solve teacher shortages or expand access, however often international institutions proclaim education a priority.
A more serious response would begin with large-scale debt cancellation for countries in distress, automatic suspension of payments during economic and climate emergencies, far cheaper concessional financing and a fair multilateral mechanism for restructuring sovereign debt.
At present, debt negotiations are fragmented among private creditors, bilateral lenders and international institutions. Debtor governments must bargain with powerful financial actors while trying to avoid being punished for seeking relief.
A binding United Nations framework for sovereign debt could establish shared rules, require both borrowers and lenders to act responsibly and prevent holdout creditors from obstructing restructuring. It could also make social rights central to assessments of what a country can genuinely afford to repay.
The world needs to move towards the idea that debt repayment cannot come at any human cost. A debt is not sustainable when paying it requires dismantling the institutions on which a society’s future depends.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.
LAS VEGAS — Retired Air Force Lt. Col. David Flippo has won the Republican primary in Nevada’s 2nd Congressional District after securing President Trump’s endorsement in the closing weeks of the campaign.
The race, which was called Wednesday, put Trump opposite Republican Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo and retiring Rep. Mark Amodei, who both backed former state Sen. James Settelmeyer. Amodei announced he was retiring after 15 years, opening up a competitive primary for Nevada’s only Republican-held House seat.
Flippo said he will fight “relentlessly” for secure borders, American energy, tax cuts, national defense and “the America First agenda our country needs.”
“Nevada deserves a fighter, and that’s exactly what I will deliver,” he said in a statement.
Democrats had hoped for a Flippo victory, thinking it would make it easier for them to win over less partisan voters in November in the conservative-leaning district. They nominated the chief of staff to state Atty. Gen. Aaron Ford, former majority floor leader Teresa Benitez-Thompson.
“I will ensure that Nevada families have an authentic Nevadan voice fighting for their needs in Washington DC,” Benitez-Thompson said in a Wednesday morning statement.
The 2nd District race is one of several Nevada contests that will be watched closely this year. In southern Nevada’s 3rd Congressional District, Democratic Rep. Susie Lee will face Marty O’Donnell, a composer known for writing the soundtrack to the video game “Halo.”
Trump won the 3rd district in 2024 and backed O’Donnell, who thanked Trump in his victory statement.
Tuesday’s primary also set the general election contest for governor, with Ford defeating a progressive candidate in the Democratic primary and moving on to face Gov. Lombardo. The incumbent, a former Clark County sheriff, is running on his record of public safety and job creation while pledging to work on housing affordability in a second term.
Ford is tying Lombardo to Trump in placing blame for soaring prices across the state and has pledged to lower costs for families. He would be the state’s first Black governor if elected in November.
In other races for statewide offices, Republican primaries for attorney general and secretary of state included several candidates who had pushed election conspiracy theories or been skeptical of election operations. Adriana Guzmán Fralick, who has expressed concerns about voting security, won the GOP nomination for attorney general and will face Democratic state Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro.
The Republican primary for secretary of state, the office that oversees elections, included Jim Marchant, a former state lawmaker who has said the 2020 election “ was probably stolen,” and Sharron Angle, a former state lawmaker who was part of an effort to block the certification of Nevada’s 2020 election results. Another candidate who was competitive in the race, Shirley Folkins-Roberts, is an attorney who has denied that there is widespread voting fraud in Nevada.
In the 2nd District race, Flippo said he understands issues important to the region, including mining, water rights and fuel prices. He sought to turn Settelmeyer’s long political record into a liability, pointing to votes he said did not match conservative values.
He moved to the district this election cycle after losing a race in southern Nevada in 2024. The 2nd District covers all northern Nevada. It mostly rural but includes the major battleground county of Washoe, home to Reno.
People with hidden disabilities tend to use this as a way of making others aware
Hundreds of airports and airlines do recognise the lanyards(Image: Getty)
Travel can be made easier for some people living with an invisible disability or health condition by wearing a ‘Sunflower Lanyard’. Hundreds of airports around the world recognise it and what it may mean for some passengers – but not every airport is the same.
The Sunflower Lanyard isn’t recognised everywhere. Although many airlines and airports around the world support it, some international airports and locations ask you to use their own specific hidden disability programs or badges to get access to special fast-track lanes, priority boarding, or customised assistance.
Employees at participating venues are trained to recognise the lanyard and offer specific help, such as using simpler language, giving you extra time to process information, or guiding you to a quieter space. But, not every part of the world will instantly recognise or understand the lanyard.
On the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower website, it says: “It’s a misconception that people living with a disability don’t want to, or can’t travel. They do and they can. Globally, one billion people live with some sort of disability, and while some experience a disability that is visible, for many it is not visible.”
The system is designed for any condition that isn’t immediately obvious to others, including conditions like neurodivergence, mental health, sensory impairments, and chronic conditions, to name a few. The lanyard does not reveal your specific medical condition or disability.
What parts of the world accept and follow the Sunflower system?
According to the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower website, hundreds of airports and airlines do recognise the lanyards. As of April 2026, the number was around 325 – but checking the specific airport’s accessibility page can give more details such as finding out if staff can provide free Sunflower lanyards and where to collect them.
Because the lanyard operates on an “opt-in” basis for businesses, an airport will not recognise it unless its staff have been explicitly trained to do so. Holiday hotspot Spain made headlines because its airport authority (Aena) rolled out its own alternative system.
Most other non-participating airports simply do not recognise the lanyard at all, instead of replacing it with a local version. Outside of a few specific exceptions (such as Singapore Changi, Tokyo Haneda, and select major airports in India), the scheme is not widely adopted or understood by security staff across Asia and Africa.
What isthesystem
The Hidden Disabilities Sunflower lanyard system is an initiative that allows people to discreetly let others know that they have a non-visible disability and may need additional support, time, or help. Wearing the bright green lanyard that features yellow sunflowers indicates to trained staff that you have a hidden condition.
Anyone who feels they have a non-visible disability can use the lanyard. You do not need to show medical records or a doctor’s letter to get or wear one.
The system is designed for any condition that isn’t immediately obvious to others, including conditions like neurodivergence, mental health, sensory impairments, and chronic conditions, to name a few. For more information, click here.
This week’s Memorial will be McIlroy’s last event before this month’s US Open at Shinnecock Hills – and he revealed he undertook a scouting mission to the New York course earlier this week.
McIlroy missed the cut when Shinnecock last hosted the US Open in 2018, and while he was buoyed by what he saw before this year’s championship, he outlined the importance of tournament organisers the United States Golf Association (USGA) maintaining control of the green speeds.
In 2018, Phil Mickelson apologised for putting a moving ball on Shinnecock’s sun-baked greens, while in 2004 the par-three seventh green was called “unplayable” and had to be watered during the last round after two players putted off the green into bunkers.
“The fairways are very generous. They’re more generous than they were in 2018 but the first cut of rough is five inches long,” said McIlroy.
“The greens are rolling around 11, 11.2 [anything over 12 is considered fast and last year’s US Open at Oakmont was between 13 and 14], something like that and I really don’t think they need to get much faster.
“I think if they can keep them at that speed they can get them firm and use the hole locations that they want to use without having some of the struggles that they have had the last couple of US Opens.
“It’s all about them just maintaining the green speeds really where they are, not getting them too out of hand, and I think it will be a great week.”
Thousands of people are finding their holiday flights disrupted as a result of the conflict in the Middle East but the CAA say there is one time you should never choose a refund
There are rules for airlines when flights are cancelled(Image: Getty)
Scores of holidaymakers are facing an anxious wait ahead of their summer getaway as worries persist over the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. Thousands have already had their flights cancelled or disrupted, leaving them with the stressful task of replanning their trips or abandoning them entirely.
However, the Civil Aviation Authority, which oversees and regulates civil aviation in the UK, has issued summer guidance for passengers, outlining their rights should a flight be cancelled either before they depart or while they are already away. It has also reassured travellers that they are “well protected” when things go wrong.
It said: “You may have seen reports about possible disruption to flights this summer. As the summer travel season approaches, airlines, government and industry partners are working closely to support smooth journeys.”
It continued: “While there is a risk of some disruption as a result of the situation in the Middle East, travellers in the UK are well protected by some of the strongest passenger rights in the world, offering reassurance if disruption does occur.” Publishing the statement on its website, it went on to outline several key rules all passengers should be aware of if their flight is disrupted – including one scenario where you should not request a refund, reports the Liverpool Echo.
Cancellation of a flight departing from or travelling to the UK
If your cancelled flight was booked directly with the airline or via a third party your airline is required by law to offer you the following 3 options to choose from:
a refund
an alternative flight (referred to as “re-routing”) at the earliest opportunity
an alternative flight (referred to as “re-routing”) at a later date at your convenience, subject to availability.
It said: “You will be required by the airline to select one of these options. Once you have committed to one of these options with your airline you are unlikely to be able to change your mind. Ensure that you consider all options carefully before selecting the best choice for you.
A Refund
The CAA advised: “Do not choose a refund of your flight if you still wish to travel. If you choose a refund, you will not be entitled to re-routing or care.
“If you no longer wish to travel you can ask for a refund. If you chose this option, you will need to confirm this with your airline. The airline should provide you with a refund within 7 days. If you booked through a third party, your refund may take longer.
“Your right to a refund applies to all the parts of the ticket you have not used. For example, if you booked a return flight and did not depart, you are entitled to the full cost of the return ticket. If you are part way through your journey and your connecting flight is cancelled you are also entitled to a flight back to your original UK departure airport if you decide not to, or cannot, continue your journey.”
An alternative flight (re-routing) at the earliest opportunity
This requires the airline to find you a different flight to your destination as close as possible to the time of your original flight, explained the CAA. It said: “If there are lots of flights being cancelled, it may be challenging for your airline to find you alternative flight seats as other flights may already be full.
“Although we expect your airline to do all it can to offer you an alternative flight (which may mean flying on an alternative airline) and keep you updated while you wait, limited available seats may mean that your airline may not be able to get you to your destination as quickly as you or it would wish.
“If you are already at the airport when your flight is cancelled and you choose this option, your airline should also provide you with care in the form of meals, refreshments and hotel accommodation proportionate to the wait for your alternative flight. You are also entitled a means of communication e.g. two phone calls or emails.”
If your cancelled flight was a component of a package holiday
If your cancelled flight was a part of a package holiday, you benefit from the same rights as if you had booked directly with the airline. Refer to “If you booked a flight directly with the airline or via a third party” for details of these rights.
In addition, you may also benefit from additional rights under the Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations. Your package provider must offer a suitable alternative holiday if it can, or a refund for the full price of your package holiday.
Cancellation of a flight to the UK
These are similar to the rules for flights from the UK with some small expections, The CAA said if you booked a flight directly with the airline or via a third party and your return flight has been cancelled, you may be covered by UK passenger rights legislation, however this is dependent on which airline is operating your flight.
If it is a UK or EU air carrier you will be covered however if you are travelling with a non-UK or non-EU air carrier you will not be covered. It adds: “If UK passenger rights legislation does not apply, we encourage airlines to do all they can to minimise the overall impact to their passengers. You may also have some protection if you booked your flight with a credit card or via your travel insurance.”
However if your flight is covered by UK passenger rights legislation your airline is required by law to offer you the following 3 options to choose from:
a refund
an alternative flight (referred to as “re-routing”) at the earliest opportunity
an alternative flight (referred to as “re-routing”) at a later date at your convenience, subject to availability.
It added: “You will be required by the airline to select one of these options. Once you have committed to one of these options with your airline you are unlikely to be able to change your mind. Please ensure that you consider all options carefully before selecting the best choice for you. For most passengers, your choice will be a flight home.
A Refund
It said: “Do not choose a refund of your flight if you still wish to travel. If you choose a refund, you will not be entitled to re-routing or care. If you no longer wish to travel you can ask for a refund.
“If you chose this option, you will need to confirm this with your airline. The airline should provide you with a refund within 7 days. If you booked through a third party, your refund may take longer.
“Your right to a refund applies to all the parts of the ticket you have not used. For example, if you booked a return flight and did not depart, you are entitled to the full cost of the return ticket. If you are part way through your journey and your connecting flight is cancelled you are also entitled to a flight back to your original UK departure airport if you decide not to, or cannot, continue your journey.”
An alternative flight (re-routing) at the earliest opportunity
This option requires the airline to find you an alternative flight to the UK as close as possible to the time of your original flight. The CAA advised: “If there are lots of flights being cancelled, it may be challenging for your airline to find you alternative flight seats as other flights may already be full. Although we expect your airline to do all it can to offer you an alternative flight (which may mean flying on an alternative airline) and keep you updated while you wait, limited available seats may mean that your airline may not be able to get you to your destination as quickly as you or it would wish.
“If you are already at the airport when your flight is cancelled and you choose this option, your airline should also provide you with care in the form of meals, refreshments and hotel accommodation proportionate to the wait for your alternative flight. You are also entitled a means of communication e.g. two phone calls or emails.”
If your cancelled flight was a component of a package holiday
If your cancelled flight was a component of a package holiday, you benefit from the same rights as if you had booked directly with the airline, said the CAA. Refer to “If you booked a flight directly with the airline or via a third party” for details of these rights.
It added: “In addition, you may also benefit from additional rights under the Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations. Normally your tour operator will contact you in advance to re-arrange your flights back to you UK. However, if you are at the airport, you should contact your package travel organiser to talk through your options.”
HAVING racked up nearly 60 countries in just a couple of decades, it’s fair to say I’ve been on a LOT of flights.
But at the same time, I’ve been cursed with the double whammy of being unable to sleep on public transport, and old knee injuries that swell up on planes. Not ideal for a Travel Editor.
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I fly every month and there is a great economy seat more people need to know about
So when it comes to choosing a seat on a plane, I think I’ve got it down to a fine art.
But my favourite seat is the one behind the bulkhead row on either the left or the right side of the plane.
Some of the bulkhead rows only have two seats on either side of the centre, due to the layout of the aircraft door.
This seat feels like a bulkhead but has no one walking in front of you
That means the seat behind these by the window has a crazy amount of legroom, but is more tucked away than the bulkhead.
Bulkhead seats, while often the best for legroom in economy, also come with the downside of lots of passenger traffic of people using the toilet or stretching their legs.
But this tucked away seat is a gem when it comes to economy.
In fact, I think it can be even better than premium economy, especially when you factor in the price.
Unlike other rows, seats 68A and 68K are tucked away but with legroom
I paid around £65 to pick this seat, whereas Premium Economy seats can be hundreds of pounds more expensive.
Not only that, but a lot of Premium Economy seats have built in arm rests you can’t lift.
If I lucked out with no one next to me on this seat, I could even lift the arm rests and have a double set to myself.
As a non-sleeper, I managed to get about five hours on and off of sleep, something unheard of for me normally on planes.
Not all planes will have this seat, so if it doesn’t I still recommend paying for the bulkhead seat if they are still available.
