Maine Democrats rally around Troy Jackson to replace Graham Platner in crucial Senate race – US politics live

You can keep up with all the latest developments in the US-Israel war on Iran in our Middle East live blog here:

The national average for a gallon of regular gasoline has jumped once again on Monday as the US and Iran launched more attacks, AP reports.

The national average for a gallon of regular gasoline is now back to $۴, almost an entire dollar more than the average price a year ago at $۳.۱۴ a gallon, according to motor club federation AAA.

Average gas prices reached over $۴ gallon at the start of the conflict at the end of March, but dipped in mid-June and continued to fall after US and Iran reached an interim deal.

The US president, Donald Trump, has said the Qatari-donated jet that serves ⁠as an Air Force One plane will soon be sent away for “maxed out” upgrades, as concerns grow over the plane’s security features.

Trump started flying aboard ⁠the Boeing luxury jet on ⁠۱ July ​after accepting the $۴۰۰m plane as an “unconditional” gift from the Qatari government last year.

But concerns about the plane came into focus earlier this month when the president unexpectedly flew from Turkey to England onboard the older Air Force One, rather than the new, Qatari-gifted aircraft he had used to travel to the Nato summit in Ankara.

Trump ‌was asked about whether the Qatari plane lacked missile-defense capabilities as he returned home ‌from the World Cup final in New Jersey on Sunday. He told reporters:

“Well, it has – it has a lot, and you know it has a lot of capability, but as I understand it, in about a month or so, they’re going to send it to have it be maxed out. So they’re going to be sending it, and they’ll have it be maxed out.” “It’ll take about a month,” Trump added, suggesting the Qatari jet could get additional defensive capabilities to enhance its security.

Earlier this month, the New York Times reported that the new jet lacks the same defensive countermeasures as the older model, including antimissile capabilities, citing anonymous sources.

The coverage prompted a leak investigation and led the Trump administration to issue subpoenas to several of the Times’ journalists in what was condemned as an attempt to punish the outlet for its reporting and to intimidate independent media organisations.

The subpoenas, some of which were delivered to reporters at their homes, sought to force the reporters to testify before a federal grand jury in Manhattan. The Times has since filed a motion to quash the subpoenas served by the justice department.

In other news, the Trump administration has filed a first-ever petition to a secretive and dormant court created ۳۰ years ago to consider government requests to deport so-called “alien terrorists” from the US.

The Alien Terrorist Removal Court (ATRC) was established in ۱۹۹۶ but had never received a petition until Wednesday, when the US justice department filed an application seeking the removal of an individual whose name is withheld from the single-page document posted on the court’s website.

Joan Ericksen, the chief judge of the five-member court, said in a written response to the petition that a hearing was held on Thursday during which the court had “questions about the nexus that the government alleges between the actions of the respondent and the specific sections and subsections it invokes with respect to those actions”.

Ericksen, a federal judge in Minnesota, wrote: “The answers persuaded the court that the government could benefit from the opportunity for more thoughtful consideration.” She directed the justice department to provide more information by Wednesday. You can read more here:

Troy Jackson, a former state legislator, moved into a strong position to replace Graham Platner as the Democratic candidate in the crucial Maine Senate race after several of his opponents dropped out over the weekend.

Maine’s secretary of state, Shenna Bellows, withdrew yesterday morning, saying Democrats didn’t have “a day to waste in unifying” around the goal of defeating the state’s longtime Republican Senator Susan Collins in the November midterm elections.

Nirav Shah, former director of Maine’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, also dropped out – and endorsed Jackson, a fifth-generation logger from the northern part of the state, in the evening.

He was shortly followed by Dan Kleban, the co-founder of Maine Beer Company, and Jordan Wood, a progressive who worked as the chief of staff to former Representative Katie Porter of California, both of whom also endorsed Jackson.

Democrats are scrambling to regroup after their initial nominee, Graham Platner, suspended his campaign earlier this month after a series of scandals that included a woman accusing him of sexual assault, an allegation he denies.

Maine is considered a must-win state in the Democratic party’s mission of taking control of the Senate.

Jackson rallied broad support at the county-level meetings this weekend when party committees across the state began choosing delegates for a nominating convention that will meet on ۲۵ July in Bangor to select a new candidate.

Though not legally binding, according to POLITICO, over two-thirds of the ۶۰۱ delegates have now committed to voting for Jackson at that statewide convention next weekend.

Jackson, ۵۸, was elected to the state legislature in ۲۰۰۲ and ultimately became the president of Maine’s senate. He left office in ۲۰۲۴ due to term limits. Jackson then unsuccessfully ran to be the Democratic nominee for governor earlier this year with Platner’s backing, but was unsuccessful.