• Queen Elizabeth II received gun salutes from mounted artillery in London to mark her 89th birthday Tuesday ahead of the Trooping of the Color military parade in June that also celebrates her birthday.
• Gabby Giffords, the former Arizona U.S. representative who's been devoting her time to pushing for tougher gun laws as she slowly recovers from her 2011 shooting, was honored with designer Diane von Furstenberg's DVF Foundation's Inspiration Award, which totals $50,000 and goes to a woman who has demonstrated exceptional strength.
• Olive Fowler, 70, who authorities say arrived at New York's Kennedy Airport from Guyana with 4 pounds of cocaine hidden in her girdle and underwear, faces federal drug-smuggling charges.
• Robert Preston Boardwine, the biological father of a boy birthed by longtime friend Joyce Rosemary Bruce, who impregnated herself with a turkey baster, was declared entitled to be a part of his son's life by the Virginia Court of Appeals, which affirmed Boardwine's parental rights.
• Johnny Franks Jr., 24, who police say got into a fight with his uncle after being asked to leave a hamburger for another guest at a party in Downsville, La., was charged with aggravated battery in a fracas that also involved the arrest of Franks' 68-year-old aunt, Gloria Ann Cashion, who police say fought with three deputies.
• Eric Sloan Parker, 26, a former police officer in Alabama, pleaded innocent to a federal charge of violating the rights of 57-year-old Indian grandfather Sureshbhai Patel, who was injured during a confrontation earlier this year that led Gov. Robert Bentley to apologize to the Indian government.
• Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan sent religious offerings rather than visit a Tokyo shrine that honors Japan's war dead, including convicted World War II leaders, after previous visits by Japanese leaders triggered overseas rebukes.
• Holly Nicole Solomon, 31, a Mesa, Ariz., woman accused of running over her husband with an SUV because he didn't vote in the 2012 presidential election, pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated assault and will be sentenced May 21.
• John T. Booker Jr., 20, a Topeka, Kan., man accused of trying to bomb an Army installation in support of a terrorist group, pleaded innocent to three federal charges.
A Section on 04/22/2015