GABBY GIFFORDS' HUSBAND BUYS AR-15  —  Mark E. Kelly, gun-control proponent and husband to former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, recently purchased an AR-15 (an “assault weapon,” he called it)—which he now says he intended as an illustration of the need for more stringent gun laws.

How a U.S. Citizen Came to Be in America's Cross Hairs  —  WASHINGTON — One morning in late September 2011, a group of American drones took off from an airstrip the C.I.A. had built in the remote southern expanse of Saudi Arabia.  The drones crossed the border into Yemen …

Queen fights for gay rights: Monarch makes historic pledge on discrimination and hints that if Kate DOES have a girl, that means equal rights to the throne too  —  The Queen will tomorrow back an historic pledge to promote gay rights and ‘gender equality’ in one of the most controversial acts of her reign.

Host Of TV Gun Show 'A Rifleman's Journal' Shot And Killed  —  The host of The Sportsman Channel's “A Rifleman's Journal” was shot and killed in Montana on Friday.  The gunman, seemingly a jealous husband, then turned the weapon on himself.  —  It is not yet clear if the weapon used in the crime was obtained legally.

Susan Rice as national security adviser?  U.N. ambassador said to be front-runner.  —  UNITED NATIONS — Susan E. Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations who lost out in a bruising bid for the job of secretary of state, may have the last laugh.  —  Rice has emerged as far and away …

McCain: Are You a “Wacko Bird” Like Rand Paul, Justin Amash, and Ted Cruz?  —  “Wacko Birds” is the new “Jerk Store.”  —  That is, it's the sort of comedic comeback that reflects far worse - and oh-so-sadly - on its creator than its intended target.  —  During a recent tirade, Sen. John McCain …

House GOP leaders blindsided by defections on spending vote  —  House Republican leaders have a new problem.  They can't count on their members to support them on procedural votes.  —  Sixteen Republicans defected Wednesday in a vote on the rule governing consideration of a government-funding bill meant …

Two Senators  —  This is from not-for-attribution interviews with two Republican senators who attended the dinner with the president on Wednesday night at the Jefferson Hotel in Washington.  —  One was heartened and impressed by the meeting while retaining his skepticism as to whether …

Envoys work to end UN's Palestinian refugee status  —  Prosor: Real obstacle to peace is right of return for Palestinian refugees, not settlements; adds transfer of status “misguided.”  —  NEW YORK - At a small conference at the Harvard Club in Manhattan on Thursday, a host of dignitaries and experts …

Congress blocked Kerry from offering Egypt more aid  —  Secretary of State John Kerry had hoped to offer considerably more aid to Egypt than the $250 million he announced during his trip to Cairo but was blocked by Congress, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-Calif.) said.

The English Prisoner  —  “If this plan is working, what would a failing one look like?”  So asks Martin Wolf in response to David Cameron's speech insisting that his austerity policy was right, is right, and is succeeding.  Simon Wren-Lewis goes through Cameron's assertions in some detail …