GRAPEVINE, Texas (Reuters) - The Boy Scouts of America approved a proposal on Thursday to end a ban on openly gay scouts that has been in place throughout the organization's 103-year history, the group said in a statement. The vote by more than 1,400 members of the group's National Council came amid intense lobbying by gay-rights activists and members of conservative organizations. The change does not remove the organization's ban on gay adult leaders. (Reporting by Marice Richter; Editing by Cynthia Johnston)

By Jeff Mason WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Thursday he directed Attorney General Eric Holder to conduct a review of Department of Justice guidelines for investigations that involve journalists and report back by early July. Obama has come under criticism for his administration's pursuit of journalists who have reported leaked material. In recent weeks, it emerged that the Justice Department seized Associated Press phone records as part of a probe into leaks about a 2012 Yemen-based plot to bomb a U.S. ...

GROZNY, Russia (Reuters) - The father of a Chechen immigrant killed during questioning over his links with one of the Boston Marathon bombings suspects said on Thursday he plans to travel to the United States where he thinks his son was tortured and killed. Ibragim Todashev, 27, was killed by a federal agent in his apartment complex when he became violent during questioning over his ties to Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the older of two brothers suspected of planting two bombs at the marathon on April 15. ...