Gun legislation's prospects improve  —  If Manchin succeeds in striking a deal, Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) plans to move quickly to include that language in the bill, according to top aides.  Those aides caution that Republicans could force the process to extend into next week by exercising various procedural rules.

Libertarianism goes mainstream  —  Stereotyped for decades as pro-pot, pro-porn and pro-pacifism, libertarians are becoming mainstream.  —  Fair or not, Ron Paul epitomized to a swath of voters the caricature of a goofy grandpa who invests in gold, stockpiles guns, sees black helicopters whirling overhead and quotes Friedrich Hayek.

Margaret Thatcher dies: Politics blog  —  Rolling coverage of reaction to the death of Margaret Thatcher.  —  Sort by:  —  1.09pm BST  —  David Cameron has issued his first tribute. … 1.08pm BST  —  This is from the Press Association. … 1.07pm BST  —  More Twitter reaction.

The Secrets of Princeton  —  SUSAN PATTON, the Princeton alumna who became famous for her letter urging Ivy League women to use their college years to find a mate, has been denounced as a traitor to feminism, to coeducation, to the university ideal.  But really she's something much more interesting: a traitor to her class.

Obama Must Walk Fine Line as Congress Weighs Agenda  —  WASHINGTON — The days ahead could be decisive ones for the main pieces of President Obama's second-term agenda: long-range deficit reduction, gun safety and changes to immigration law.  —  With Congress back this week from a recess …

Insurance and Freedom  —  President Obama will soon release a new budget, and the commentary is already flowing fast and furious.  Progressives are angry (with good reason) over proposed cuts to Social Security; conservatives are denouncing the call for more revenues.  But it's all Kabuki.

Portugal Seeks New Options for Budget  —  LISBON—Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho said he would look for fresh spending cuts to keep Portugal's €78 billion ($101 billion) international bailout program on track following a Constitutional Court decision that threw his government into crisis …

An English class for trolls, professional offence-takers and climate activists  —  Should Michael Mann be given the electric chair for having concocted arguably the most risibly inept, misleading, cherry-picking, worthless and mendacious graph - the Hockey Stick - in the history of junk science?

Nato airstrike ‘kills 11 Afghan civilians’  —  A Nato airstrike killed 11 Afghan civilians, including 10 children, during a fierce weekend gunbattle with Taliban militants that also left one US civilian adviser dead in eastern Afghanistan, Afghan officials said today.

Hunger grows for President Hillary  —  Plans by a team of admirers for a run in 2016 are gathering pace as a top fundraiser lends his support, says Toby Harnden in Washington  —  A TOP Democratic fundraiser and confidant of Bill and Hillary Clinton for more than two decades is advising …

Gabby Giffords: Join the fight for safer U.S.  —  We must make pols hear our nation's cry: Pass tougher laws for guns purchases NOW!  —  Former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D.-Ariz.) delivers opening remarks while seated next to her husband, former U.S. Navy Captain Mark Kelly …

‘This Week’ Transcript: Obama Senior Adviser Dan Pfeiffer; Two Powerhouse Roundtables  —  President and Editor-in-Chief, The Huffington Post Media Group Arianna Huffington, New York Times Columnist and Nobel Prize-Winning Economist Paul Krugman, Former Reagan Budget Director David Stockman …

Weiner eye on mayor bid: sources  —  Former Rep. Anthony Weiner is laying the groundwork for a political comeback, possibly as a startling addition to this year's mayoral race, sources said yesterday.  —  Political insiders were abuzz at news that Weiner and his wife, Huma Abedin …