U.S. Adds 288,000 Jobs; Unemployment Falls to 6.1%  —  Unemployment Falls to 6.1% as Prior Months' Gains Revised Upward  —  WASHINGTON—U.S. employers added jobs at a robust clip in June, a sign of improving labor-market strength as the economic recovery heads into its sixth year.

When the Taliban Meets Hobby Lobby  —  Tehrik-e-Taliban, the Pakistani Taliban, is a closely held, profit-making enterprise organized on religious principles.  One of its principles, announced as public policy in July, 2012, is that children should not be inoculated against polio, because the vaccines violate God's law.

Obama paying the price for insisting he's right  —  The joke about the obsessively doting mother comes to mind.  —  Watching her son parade with rows of fellow troops, she notices he is on his left foot when they are all on the right.  —  “Why are they out of step?” she asks.  —  So it is with Barack Obama.

Cochran presser: Most entertaining conference call ever  —  A conference call set up by the campaign for U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran devolved into a shouting match and then ended, after which time supporters of GOP primary challenger Chris McDaniel chatted for a bit.

The Two Events That Turned Putin Against the U.S.  —  Former ambassador Michael McFaul on what really motivated Russia to invade Ukraine  —  ASPEN, Colo.—One major divide in international relations, as well as in other social sciences, is between those who believe in structure and those who believe in agency.

Most disapprove of Iraq handling  —  A majority of American voters disapprove of President Barack Obama's handling of the situation in Iraq, a new poll says.  —  According to a Quinnipiac University poll released Thursday, 55 percent of U.S. voters disapprove of the Obama administration's policies in Iraq …

A Period Is Questioned in the Declaration of Independence  —  Every Fourth of July, some Americans sit down to read the Declaration of Independence, reacquainting themselves with the nation's founding charter exactly as it was signed by the Second Continental Congress in 1776.  —  Or almost exactly?

DEMOCRATS DECRY BEAUPREZ'S “47 PERCENT” COMMENTS RECORDED ON VIDEO  —  On Wednesday, as Republican gubernatorial nominee Bob Beauprez toured Colorado to “build unity,” a video surfaced that Democrats say shows his divisiveness.  —  The video shows Beauprez in a speech to the Denver Rotary Club …

Point-blank shooting of Inkster toddler violated ‘the code of the streets’  —  In the hard-bitten city of Inkster, a little girl's killing appears to have crossed a line.  —  The triple shooting Tuesday night that ended the life of 2-year-old Kamiya French and left two of her relatives wounded violated the …

Pulse of the People: Why Polls Can Sometimes Get Things So Wrong  —  Why Polls Can Sometimes Get Things So Wrong  —  The science of polling is sound, but it's important to draw the right sample, and that can be a challenge.  —  THE JOBS REPORT |  JULY 3, 9:16 AM  —  Great Jobs Numbers, but Hold the Fireworks

Why has Google cast me into oblivion?  —  This morning the BBC received the following notification from Google:  —  Notice of removal from Google Search: we regret to inform you that we are no longer able to show the following pages from your website in response to certain searches on European versions of Google:

Jay Carney: ‘A Little Perspective Is Useful’  —  Now that you're leaving your job as White House press secretary, do you know which cable news network you're going to be a pundit for?  I haven't made any decisions about what combination of things I'm going to be doing.

Facebook Experiments Had Few Limits  —  Data Science Lab Conducted Tests on Users With Little Oversight  —  Thousands of Facebook Inc. users received an unsettling message two years ago: They were being locked out of the social network because Facebook believed they were robots or using fake names.

Barack the Bear  —  The president is growing hostile to being held hostage — both by the very insular nature of the presidency itself, and by the more stultifying intransigence of Congress.  —  During a walk a few weeks ago from the White House to the Interior Department, the president proclaimed, “The bear is loose.”

Lawmaker fuming after HHS immigrant facility denies him entry  —  Rep. Jim Bridenstine (R-Okla.) issued a scathing press release Wednesday after he was denied access to a facility in his state housing more than 1,000 children who crossed the border illegally.

U.S. Gives New Contract To Firm That Vetted NSA Leaker Edward Snowden  —  Government Awards $190 Million Job to Company Accused of Fraud  —  WASHINGTON—The Department of Homeland Security has awarded a $190 million contract to the company accused of methodically defrauding the government …