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Almanac for Feb. 10, 2026

Today is Tuesday, Feb. 10, the 41st day of 2026. There are 324 days left in the year. Today in history: In 1962, on the Glienicke Bridge connecting West Berlin and East Germany, the Soviet Union exchanged captured American U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers for Rudolf Abel, a Soviet spy held by the United States. Also on this date: In 1763, the treaty ending the Seven Years' War was signed in Paris, with France ceding its territory in Canada to Great Britain. In 1936, Nazi Germany's Reichstag passed a law investing the Gestapo secret police with absolute authority, exempt from any ...

Does the US still have a Constitution?

Legal scholars have many lenses through which to examine the Constitution. Lawyers need to master about 150 Supreme Court decisions in order to have a sufficient understanding of the government. But most of what lawyers have studied is theory — how the Constitution is supposed to work, as ...

Washington Post publisher stepping down after layoffs

Washington Post publisher Will Lewis said Saturday that he's stepping down, ending a troubled tenure three days after the newspaper said that it was laying off one-third of its staff. Lewis announced his departure in a two-paragraph email to the newspaper's staff, saying that after two years ...

Almanac for Feb. 9, 2026

Today is Monday, Feb. 9, the 40th day of 2026. There are 325 days left in the year. Today in history: In 1964, the Beatles made their first live American television appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show," broadcast from New York on CBS. The quartet played five songs, including "She Loves You" and "I Want to Hold Your Hand," to a crowd of screaming teenagers in person and more than 70 million viewers across the country. Also on this date: In 1825, the House of Representatives elected John Quincy Adams president after no candidate received a majority of electoral votes. In 1943, ...

The midterms are Democrats’ to lose

Democrats are buzzing over the surprise victory of Taylor Rehmet in a Texas state senate race. Rehmet won by 14 points in a Fort Worth-area district Donald Trump carried by 17 points in 2024. That outcome inspired a piece by Republican strategist Karl Rove titled "Midterms Are Dems' to Lose ...

GOP chair scrutinizes companies tied to husband of Rep. Omar

WASHINGTON (AP) — The chairman of the House Oversight Committee on Friday requested records related to firms partially owned by the husband of Minnesota Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar, taking the extraordinary step of scrutinizing the spouse of a sitting House member. Rep. James Comer, a ...