FBI: Breakdown in background check system allowed Dylann Roof to buy gun  —  Dylann Roof, who is accused of killing nine people at a church in South Carolina, should not have been able to purchase the gun used in the attack and was allowed to buy the weapon only because of breakdowns …

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.

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

In Bolivia, Pope Francis Apologizes for Church's ‘Grave Sins’  —  SANTA CRUZ, Bolivia — Pope Francis offered a direct apology on Thursday for the complicity of the Roman Catholic Church in the oppression of Latin America during the colonial era, even as he called for a global social movement to shatter a …

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 …

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 …

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.

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.