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With fewer US troops in Germany, Europe eyes bigger NATO role

YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) — European leaders Monday said President Donald Trump's surprise decision to pull thousands of U.S. troops out of Germany is just the latest signal that Europe must take more responsibility for its security. The Pentagon announced last week it would pull about 5,000 ...

Almanac for May 5, 2026

Today is Tuesday, May 5, the 125th day of 2026. There are 240 days left in the year. Today in history: In 1961, astronaut Alan B. Shepard Jr. became America's first space traveler as he made a 15-minute suborbital flight aboard Mercury capsule Freedom 7. Also on this date: In 1821, Napoleon Bonaparte, 51, died in exile on the South Atlantic island of St. Helena. In 1862, Mexican troops repelled French attacks on the city of Puebla de los Ángeles in the Battle of Puebla, also known as the Battle of Cinco de Mayo. In 1925, high school teacher John T. Scopes was charged in ...

The Trump surveillance state

The Fourth Amendment protects all persons from warrantless government searches and seizures of their persons, houses, papers and effects. It requires that warrants be supported by probable cause of crime and specifically describe the place to be searched and the persons or things to be ...

How a weaker dollar is quietly making life more expensive

NEW YORK (AP) — A hidden force is quietly pushing up costs for everything from your summer vacation to your weekly grocery bills: a weaker U.S. dollar. The dollar has fallen about 10% against other major currencies since President Donald Trump returned to the White House, a pullback ...

Almanac for May 4, 2026

Today is Monday, May 4, the 124th day of 2026. There are 241 days left in the year. Today in history: In 1970, Ohio National Guardsmen opened fire on student demonstrators during an anti-war protest at Kent State University, killing four students and wounding nine others. Also on this date: In 1886, at Haymarket Square in Chicago, a labor demonstration for an 8-hour workday turned into a deadly riot when a bomb exploded, killing seven police officers and at least four civilians. In 1904, the United States took over construction of the Panama Canal from France. In 1942, the ...

The ballroom amounts to taxpayer abuse

Some years ago, I was president of an organization called the Association of Opinion Journalists. Every year we would run a convention in a different city and end it with a celebration in the hotel's ballroom space. Our speaker on that closing night was usually some well-known political ...