Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Troy Jackson has two children with his second cousin — longtime partner Lana Pelletier — according to genealogical records first reported by journalist Steve Robinson.  Jackson, a former Maine Senate president, became the Democrats’ nominee after the party’s previous candidate, Graham Platner, withdrew from the race amid rape allegations, forcing Democrats to replace their Senate standard-bearer in one of the nation’s most closely watched contests. Jackson now faces incumbent Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) in a race viewed as critical to the battle for Senate control. According to genealogical records, Jackson and Pelletier share the same great-grandparents, Thomas Pelletier and Edith Thibodeau. Their daughter, Albertine Pelletier, was Jackson’s grandmother, while their son, Louis Pelletier Sr., was Pelletier’s grandfather, making the couple second cousins. Jackson and Pelletier have been together since high school and are the parents — and simultaneously third cousins — of two adult sons. The relationship is legal under Maine law. While state law prohibits marriages between first cousins without additional statutory requirements, it places no restrictions on second cousins marrying or having children. Genetic experts generally consider second-cousin relationships as presenting no meaningful increase in the risk of inherited disorders compared with the general population. Throughout his political career, Jackson has generally referred to Pelletier as his “partner.” The couple has never legally married, although some older official biographies referred to Pelletier as Jackson’s wife.  Jackson has built his political image around his upbringing in the rural St. John Valley, frequently describing himself as a fifth-generation logger from Allagash before rising through organized labor and Democratic politics to become president of the Maine Senate. The revelation comes as Jackson prepares for a high-profile general election against Collins, one of the Senate’s most vulnerable Republican incumbents. National Democrats view the race as a key pickup opportunity as they attempt to regain control of the Senate. Neither Jackson’s campaign nor Pelletier has publicly addressed the genealogical reporting.

President Donald Trump announced Thursday that negotiators have his reached what he described as a “historic agreement” aimed at ending Hamas’ control of Gaza, though the deal still awaits final approval from the terrorist group. “Today, the Board of Peace reached a HISTORIC agreement for the COMPLETE DISARMAMENT of Hamas and all other armed groups in Gaza,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “This is a monumental step toward lasting PEACE and SECURITY.” Axios reported Thursday that U.S. officials and the Board of Peace believe Hamas could formally sign the agreement within days after agreeing to its terms during negotiations mediated by Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey. However, the outlet noted that Israeli officials and Western diplomats remain skeptical that Hamas will ultimately follow through with its commitments. According to Trump, the deal would pave the way for Gaza to be governed by a new Palestinian government working alongside the Board of Peace while ensuring Israel “will have the security it deserves, with Gaza no longer used as a base for terror attacks.” The president said the agreement would be implemented in phases as Hamas and other armed groups surrender their weapons, after which Israeli forces would withdraw and an international stabilization force would help a new Palestinian police force maintain security. Under the reported framework, Hamas would surrender both heavy and light weapons over six to eight months, disclose the locations of tunnels and weapons depots, and allow a new Palestinian government to gradually assume control of Gaza. Israeli withdrawals would occur only after areas are independently verified as demilitarized, per the Jerusalem Post. Trump thanked Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey for their mediation efforts and praised his negotiating team, declaring that “the threat that emerged from Gaza on October 7 will NOT be allowed to rebuild.” The negotiations remain ongoing, and officials caution that talks could still collapse before a final agreement is signed.  

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said Thursday that she will skip next month’s Michigan Democratic Party convention because she fears being harassed, adding another flashpoint to a party increasingly divided over Israel and antisemitism during a bitter U.S. Senate primary. Speaking during a roundtable discussion with Jewish leaders and community members, Nessel said she no longer feels safe attending the party’s August 29 convention in Lansing after what she described as repeated harassment. “I feel like my presence isn’t going to be welcome. I don’t want to get chased around. I don’t want to get harassed. I don’t want to get yelled and screamed at. I don’t want to get booed off the stage, irrespective of what I’m saying,” Nessel said. “And I believe that if I go, that is what will happen because it’s been happening to me.” Nessel also criticized Democratic Party leadership for failing to adequately respond to concerns she said she had repeatedly raised about individuals who have targeted her, warning that antisemitism on the political Left has become a growing problem within the party. “I will speak as a member of the Democratic Party here in Michigan, that some things have changed,” Nessel said. “This cannot continue, and the fact of the matter is, we have to be able to be a society where we can have intelligent discourse and debate about ideas without people being threatened, and certainly without people carrying out those threats.” Her comments come as Michigan Democrats are engaged in one of the country’s most closely watched Senate primaries, with the party’s ideological divide over Israel increasingly spilling into public view. Left-wing candidate Abdul El-Sayed has embraced some of the Democratic Party’s most vocal anti-Israel activists during the campaign, including campaigning with far-Left political streamer Hasan Piker. Third Way, a center-left think tank, condemned the partnership, calling Piker “anti-American, anti-women, anti-western and antisemitic” and arguing he should be “pushed to the fringe, not welcomed onto the stage.” El-Sayed dismissed the criticism in an interview with Michigan Advance, portraying it as an attack from establishment Democrats and “corporate-funded think tanks.” Former Senate candidate Mallory McMorrow has also acknowledged antisemitism within the Democratic Party, recounting an incident at the Democratic National Convention in which, she said, an attendee shouted an antisemitic slur at her Jewish husband while he was walking with their five-year-old daughter. “There is,” McMorrow replied when asked whether antisemitism was a problem within the party. “That is terrifying,” she added. El-Sayed, by contrast, argued that antisemitism and Islamophobia both stem from “the scourge of white supremacy” before pivoting to criticism of U.S. support for Israel. “We can walk and chew gum at the same time,” El-Sayed said. “It should not mean that we allow our money to subsidize apartheid and genocide.” Responding to Nessel’s decision not to attend the convention, Michigan Democratic Party spokesman Derrick Honeyman said the party remains committed to ensuring the gathering is safe for all attendees. “We reject antisemitism, Islamophobia, and all forms of hateful conduct,” Honeyman said. “We are working diligently with stakeholders, elected officials, and party membership to prepare for our August convention and look forward to welcoming Michigan Democrats to the Lansing Center on August 29.”

Live cockroaches and spiders. A preserved fetal pig. A bloody Halloween mask. A funeral wreath. A book about surviving the death of one’s spouse. These items were all sent to the home of journalists David and Ina Steiner by executives of one of the world’s largest e-commerce platforms. The packages were an attempt to scare them into silence and to stop reporting on the e-commerce company’s business practices. The Steiners sued, and after over a decade in the courts, they have won their case. On Tuesday, eBay agreed to pay the Massachusetts couple nearly $50 million after former employees terrorized the bloggers in a 2019 harassment campaign. Since 2012, Ina Steiner, with her husband David’s help, has hosted the newsletter eCommerce Bytes, unveiling to readers important updates about services such as Amazon and eBay. She has been critical of many of eBay’s corporate decisions, reporting in 2019 on issues such as former eBay CEO Devin Wenig earning 152 times more than normal employees. In response, eBay employees reportedly became angered by the Steiners’ reporting and conspired to “intimidate, threaten to kill, torture, terrorize, stalk and silence them,” Fox News reports. Some employees named in the lawsuit were former CEO Devin Wenig, former Chief Communications Officer Steve Wymer, and former Senior Vice President Wendy Jones. Along with sending anonymous packages with disturbing contents, employees sent pornographic magazines addressed to David Steiner to a neighbor’s home in an attempt to smear the image of the couple in their community. The Steiners also received a host of threatening direct messages online. The lawsuit even alleged that eBay employees tried to plant a GPS tracking device on the couple’s vehicle. In the settlement, the Steiners are slated to receive $48.7 million in compensation. This comprises $46.15 million from eBay itself, $2 million from Wenig, $500,000 from Jones, and $50,000 from Wymer. The company will finance $6 million in donations to various nonprofits, and Wenig will pay $1 million to a charity committed to protecting First Amendment rights on Ina Steiner’s behalf. eBay has posted a statement disavowing the actions of its former executives and employees. “What the Steiners were subjected to by former eBay employees in 2019 was wrong, reprehensible, and should never have happened,” eBay said in a statement. “We condemn, in the strongest terms possible, the employees who perpetrated and pled guilty to criminal charges for the misconduct against Ina and David Steiner. We also acknowledge the unprofessional tone in internal communications demonstrated, to different degrees and number, by Mr. Wenig, Mr. Wymer, and Ms. Jones.” “We continue to extend our deepest apologies to the Steiners,” eBay added. “This agreement is consistent with our commitment to fairly compensate the Steiners and fulfills our efforts to make things right.” The couple posted about their win on their eCommerce Bytes website and shared the testimony of their lawyer Chris Murphy. “This case was always about more than obtaining financial recovery,” Murphy said in the statement. “From the beginning, our clients wanted to uncover the truth, protect journalists and publishers, hold those responsible accountable, deter future corporate misconduct, and help ensure others would never have to endure what they experienced.” “We believe this resolution sends a clear message that corporations and their executives cannot engage in this type of misconduct without facing significant consequences,” Murphy added. The Steiners are featured in the documentary “Whatever It Takes: Inside the eBay Scandal,” where they share their experiences being victims of the harassment campaign.

A New York school district has put the rollout of a humanoid teaching assistant on hold after parents and teachers raised concerns that its manufacturer is affiliated with the company behind “hyper-realistic sexbots.” Salamanca City Central School District purchased the Realbotix robot, named “Sally,” for $57,590 to assist 11th- and 12th-grade coding, robotics, and artificial intelligence classes. The stationary humanoid robot has silicone skin and long brown hair, and can move its upper body and make facial expressions The project, however, drew backlash after parents and teachers learned that Realbotix is affiliated with RealDoll, a company known for manufacturing AI-powered sex dolls that it bills as the “world’s most advanced sex robot,” according to ABC News.  “A robot built by a company associated with sex dolls has no business in our classrooms,” New York State United Teachers President Melinda Person said. Parents also questioned how students’ personal information would be collected, stored, and used if they log into the robot, which was designed to provide individualized tutoring and support. Realbotix said it operates independently from RealDoll despite the affiliation, maintaining separate “management, personnel, payroll, facilities, manufacturing operations, product development, and market strategies,” per ABC News. The company also rejected suggestions that “Sally” is a repurposed sex doll, arguing that the robot is “newly manufactured” specifically for educational use.  The district since paused the rollout last week while it works with state education officials on what it described as “enhanced student data privacy agreements.” Salamanca City Central School District serves about 1,300 students on the Allegany Territory of the Seneca Nation of Indians. Roughly 32% of students identify as Native American, and about 79% are considered economically disadvantaged.  State Education Commissioner Betty Rosa also expressed concerns after reviewing the proposal. “Although you confirmed that the robot would not have any role delivering classroom instruction, a recent presentation to the board characterized the robot as a ‘tutoring platform,’” Rosa wrote in a letter to the district. Lacey Pihlblad, president of the Salamanca Teachers’ Association and a teacher at the high school, said educators also worried about how student information would be handled.  “We’re very concerned about the security of the software that they’re implementing, and whether or not the data will be stored, how it will be gathered, [and] the recording capabilities,” she said. The teachers union also argued that students need “real relationships with caring adults” and raised the possibility that AI tools could eventually replace educators.  Salamanca Superintendent Mark Beehler rejected those concerns, saying “Sally” was intended to serve as a virtual tutoring assistant rather than replace teachers.  “There is no possible way a robot can replace a human in a school,” Beehler said. “Even if it were possible, it would in no way be in the best interest of students. Teaching is a human-to-human process.” Beehler added that the district selected Realbotix because the company’s robots come preprogrammed with Woz Ed, the K-12 education platform created by Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak that the district already uses.