Troy Jackson, in just 101 days, bested the Republican, preventing her sixth Senate term: ‘You can’t eat road salt’

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The political demise of Susan Collins – a fixture of Maine and Washington politics for three decades – recalls the famous line in Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises about how one of the novel’s characters experienced bankruptcy: gradually, then suddenly.

In the run-up to Tuesday’s stunning Democrat “blue wave” election triumph, it seemed obvious that Collins’s 30-year tenure as Maine’s Republican senator was vulnerable to the challenge of Troy Jackson, the Democrats’ explicitly working-class candidate as voters prepared to unleash pent-up anger with Donald Trump’s presidency.

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© Illustration: Guardian Design

© Illustration: Guardian Design

© Illustration: Guardian Design

‘It’s the disregard for the rule of law. It just seems like they’re thumbing their nose at it’

In the battleground state of Maine, Todd Cox, 63, has supported the state’s incumbent Republican senator Susan Collins not once, but twice, in previous elections. Not this time.

On Tuesday, Cox, a technology professional, cast his vote for Collins’ Democratic challenger Troy Jackson – driven not by pressing local issues, but broader concern “for the direction the country is going in”, he said.

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© Photograph: Michael Brochstein/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Michael Brochstein/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Michael Brochstein/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock

The International Monetary Fund said governments must do more to narrow budget deficits and rein in global debt, which is at a record high.

Credit investors are “being paid to take risk, finally,” according to Oaktree Capital Management’s Danielle Poli.

Troy Jackson gained the Democratic nomination, but now he needs to consolidate support to take on Susan Collins

Troy Jackson is ready to move on.

In fewer than 100 days, the new Democratic nominee has to convince Maine voters to send him to the US Senate – and he’s trying to do it without dwelling on Graham Platner, who dropped out of the race after accusations of rape, which he denies.

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© Photograph: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc/Getty Images

© Photograph: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc/Getty Images

© Photograph: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc/Getty Images

Whether in favor of or against the US-Israel war on Iran, people across the country are left holding the bill and wondering on its purpose

Five months after the United States and Israel started a historically unpopular war against Iran that was going to supposedly last weeks, the fighting has refused to resolve in victory, defeat or peace. Iran’s supreme leader had been killed in the opening strikes, ceasefires broke down, and the strait of Hormuz has been closed and reopened.

For voters interviewed across the country, while the damage may be distant, the residual effects have shown up at the pump, on the grocery bill and in a phone call telling a spouse they have a day to report for deployment. And for a country still absorbing the aftermath of Israel’s war on Gaza – funded to the tune of billions of dollars by the United States – the war in Iran lands on top of an already raw argument about what American power is for.

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© Composite: AFP, Anadolu, Getty Images

© Composite: AFP, Anadolu, Getty Images

© Composite: AFP, Anadolu, Getty Images

Outcome of polls in four states offers mixed signals about direction of two major parties before November’s midterms

• Graham Platner wins Maine Democratic Senate primary – video

Progressives rallied round the controversial Graham Platner after his primary victory in Maine on Tuesday, while Donald Trump again exerted his grip on the Republican party, helping to defeat a politician who had pushed for the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files.

Primary elections were held in four states – Maine, Nevada, North Dakota and South Carolina – ahead of November’s midterms to decide control of both houses of Congress. The results offered mixed signals about the direction of the two major parties.

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© Photograph: CJ Gunther/Getty Images

© Photograph: CJ Gunther/Getty Images

© Photograph: CJ Gunther/Getty Images

Platner, whose campaign was hit by series of negative headlines, to face Susan Collins in key midterm contest

Graham Platner, a Marine veteran, oyster farmer and progressive activist, has scaled a mountain of personal controversies to win the Democratic nomination for the US Senate in Maine.

His victory on Tuesday caps a remarkable rise for a candidate who has never held elected office and whose campaign was shadowed by negative headlines that might have ended a more conventional political career.

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© Photograph: Robert F Bukaty/AP

© Photograph: Robert F Bukaty/AP

© Photograph: Robert F Bukaty/AP

Die Mairose verändert wegen des Klimawandels ihren intensiven Duft. Das bedroht die französische Parfumindustrie. Große Modehäuser wie Dior und Chanel müssen sich deswegen etwas einfallen lassen.

DoubleLine Capital’s Jeffrey Gundlach is repositioning some of his funds for the extreme scenario that the US government could choose to restructure its debt in response to a potential future recession.

DoubleLine Capital’s Jeffrey Gundlach is repositioning some of his funds for the extreme scenario that the US government could choose to restructure its debt in response to a potential future recession.

Guggenheim Partners Executive Chair Alan Schwartz warned that the US risks falling behind in artificial intelligence development if it fails to address critical infrastructure challenges facing the nation’s electrical grid.

Chevron Corp. is concerned about the safe passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz as the US attempts to restore transit through the strategic Persian Gulf waterway, said Chief Executive Officer Mike Wirth.

Petrobras is holding off on retail fuel price increases in Brazil despite the war-driven surge in global oil markets, said Chief Executive Officer Magda Chambriard.

USA Rare Earth Inc. has more than $3 billion in potential funding for its plans to build a domestic rare-earth and critical mineral supply chain, according to Chief Executive Officer Barbara Humpton.