Background Check Flaw Let Dylann Roof Buy Gun, F.B.I. Says  —  WASHINGTON — The man accused of killing nine people in an historically black South Carolina church last month should not have been able to buy a gun, the F.B.I. said Friday in what was the latest acknowledgment of flaws in the national background check system.

Katherine Archuleta, Director of Office of Personnel Management, Resigns  —  WASHINGTON — Katherine Archuleta, the director of the Office of Personnel Management, will resign effective Friday, according to a White House official, one day after it was revealed that sweeping cyberintrusions …

Go Set A Watchman: read the first chapter - interactive  —  An exclusive extract from the new novel by Harper Lee, the author of To Kill A Mockingbird, published on 14 July  —  Since Atlanta, she had looked out the dining-car window with a delight almost physical.

Hillary Clinton's push on gun control marks a shift in presidential politics  —  In her standard stump speech, Hillary Rodham Clinton talks about fighting income inequality, celebrating court rulings on gay marriage and health care and, since the Emanuel AME church massacre, toughening the nation's gun laws.

Greece's Economy Is a Lesson for Republicans in the U.S.  —  Greece is a faraway country with an economy roughly the size of greater Miami, so America has very little direct stake in its ongoing disaster.  To the extent that Greece matters to us, it's mainly about geopolitics …

Confederate flag comes down for good at S.C. Statehouse  —  COLUMBIA, S.C. — With thousands looking on, the Confederate flag at the South Carolina Statehouse came down permanently on Friday morning.  —  The flag was removed in a short ceremony by an honor guard of the South Carolina Highway Patrol …

U.S. Uninsured Rate at 11.4% in Second Quarter  —  Story Highlights  —  WASHINGTON, D.C. — The uninsured rate among U.S. adults aged 18 and older was 11.4% in the second quarter of 2015, down from 11.9% in the first quarter.  The uninsured rate has dropped nearly six percentage points since …

Florida Supreme Court orders redrawing of some U.S. congressional districts  —  The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday ordered the redrawing of some of the state's U.S. congressional districts before the 2016 elections.  —  In a 5-2 ruling, the state's high court found the legislature's redistricting plan …

Wisconsin's Friend at the IRS  —  Emails show a common cause in restricting political speech.  —  Wisconsin's campaign to investigate conservative tax-exempt groups has always seemed like an echo of the IRS's scrutiny of conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.

N.Y. Times keeps Cruz off bestseller list  —  The New York Times informed HarperCollins this week that it will not include Ted Cruz's new biography on its forthcoming bestsellers list, despite the fact that the book has sold more copies in its first week than all but two of the Times' bestselling titles, the On Media blog has learned.

Spotify search warrant helps nab alleged child abductors  —  There was food left on the table.  —  Dishes filled the kitchen sink.  —  It looked like 25-year-old Wellington resident Brittany Nunn, her husband Peter Barr, and her two young girls had gone out for ice cream, said Drew Weber …

Film star Omar Sharif dies aged 83  —  Omar Sharif earned an Oscar nomination for Lawrence of Arabia  —  Actor Omar Sharif, best known for his roles in classic films Lawrence of Arabia and Doctor Zhivago, has died aged 83.  —  Egypt-born Sharif won two Golden Globe awards and an Oscar nomination …

Jan Brewer: Donald Trump ‘Telling It Like It Really, Truly Is’  —  (CNSNews.com) - Although he's been villified by amnesty advocates, business tycoon Donald Trump is right about the problems, including crime, caused by people crossing into the United States illegally, says the former governor of Arizona.

What Gov. Scott Walker is about to do to Wisconsin's public schools  —  Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is busy these days, what with preparing to officially join the gaggle of Republican candidates vying for the 2016 GOP Republican nomination and planning to sign a new state budget.

I tried to escape my privilege with low-wage work.  Instead I came face to face with it.  —  The advantages of race and class are not easily shed, even in a falafel shop.  —  I attended the Edmund Burke School, one of Northwest Washington's small private prep schools …

Women Haven't Had Their Own Ticker-Tape Parade Since 1960  —  Friday's ticker-tape parade in honor of the U.S. women's national soccer team, which won the World Cup on Sunday, is the first such parade in New York to honor exclusively women since 1960.  That's when Carol Heiss received …

OPM Doesn't Know Who It Will Hire to Protect the 21.5 Million Individuals Affected by Hack  —  The agency said it would notify 21.5 million people and offer at least three years of free identity-protection services, but it has not found a contractor that will do so on its behalf.

Michigan judge bullies children in open court for refusing to see their dad  —  The Internet is abuzz this morning about Michigan Circuit Judge Lisa Gorcyca, who berated three juvenile siblings in her court before sending them to juvenile detention.  Their crime?  They didn't want to have lunch with their father.

Into the Abyss  —  From the halls of academia to the cover of Vanity Fair.  —  The Caitlyn (née Bruce) Jenner case has engendered if not a new subject at least a newly publicized and sensationalized one.  For an old-timer like myself, transgenderism is reminiscent of the postmodernism …

Late objections cast doubt on cures bill  —  Objections from both sides of the aisle are stirring doubts about a bipartisan medical cures bill that is slated to hit the House floor on Friday.  —  The 21st Century Cures Act was reported out of committee in May on a 51-0 vote.

Illegal Defiance on Same-Sex Marriage  —  The Supreme Court could not have been clearer when it ruled late last month that states may not refuse to marry same-sex couples.  —  “The right to marry is a fundamental right inherent in the liberty of the person,” Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote for the court in Obergefell v. Hodges.