Members of the Boy Scouts of America voted on Thursday to allow gay members.

In a major speech on counterterrorism on Thursday, President Obama said the war on terror has changed and U.S. policy must be adjusted. He promised to be more forthcoming about the government's targeted killing program for terrorism suspects, and said he was open to talking to Congress about ways to review the use of weaponized drones. Carrie Johnson talks to Melissa Block about the evolving drone policy.

Members of the Boy Scouts of America will vote on Thursday on whether to allow gay members.

The sergeant worked at West Point. The story, first reported by The New York Times, is the latest in a series of embarrassing cases for the military, which has acknowledged it has a significant problem of sexual assault and harassment in the ranks.

Melissa Block talks to NPR Two-Way blogger Scott Neuman about why basements in Oklahoma are so uncommon.

Melissa Block talks to Jon Hamilton about the science of tornadoes.

There is one place in the country where a law enforcement agency can trace a gun found at a crime scene back to a buyer: the ATF's National Tracing Center in West Virginia. But the tracing process is usually tedious, involving multiple phone calls and searching, by hand, through paper records.

The White House's release of e-mails this week was intended to settle questions regarding the administration's response to the attack on the Benghazi consulate in September. But while some questions may have been laid to rest, others remain and will feed a critical story line.

A new report from the Justice Department's watchdog points to several lapses in the government's witness protection program. The most significant are that U.S. Marshals at one point lost track of two known or suspected terrorists; and that some witnesses inadvertently were not placed on a no-fly list and flew using new identities. The FBI says there are no known current threats from any witnesses.

Attorney General Eric Holder is defending the Justice Department against allegations of overreach after officials revealed that investigators had obtained phone records from the Associated Press. The unusual action is the latest in a year long investigation into a 2012 AP story that revealed details of a terrorist plot out of Yemen. Attorney General Eric Holder summed up the leak this way: "This was a very, very serious leak. It is within the top two or three most serious leaks that I have ever seen." Dina Temple-Raston talks to Audie Cornish.

The Senate Judiciary held its second round of debate on changes to the bipartisan immigration bill. Tuesday's focus was visas for workers, including visas for skilled technical work. David Welna talks to Melissa Block.

Melissa Block speaks with Wade Goodwyn, who is at the National Rifle Association convention in Houston.

Melissa Block talks with Adam Davidson about Friday's unemployment report for April and the methodology that underlies it.

The Obama Administration has effectively announced it will not abide by a judge's ruling last month ordering the so-called morning after pill to be made available without a prescription to women of all ages. Instead, the administration is offering what it seems to hope will be seen as a middle ground.

Among the many treasures that could be found on George Jones' wall of fame: a framed letter from Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, who wrote to tell Jones how much the country superstar's music had helped him through good times and bad.

Melissa Block gets the latest on the hunt for the Boston Marathon bomber from counterterrorism reporter Dina Temple-Raston.

The news that the Boston bombing suspects had links to the troubled North Caucasus region has a lot of resonance in Russia. Russia had to fight two wars to put down a separatist rebellion in Chechnya, and it's still fighting Islamist insurgents in the neighboring region of Dagestan.

Melissa Block gets the latest on the hunt for the Boston Marathon bomber from counterterrorism reporter Dina Temple-Raston.

Melissa Block talks to Danny Zwerdling about what's known so far in the Texas fertilizer plant explosion. They cover its operations, past safety problems, the history of fertilizer plant explosions, and possible responses by regulators and investigators

Just a day after a pair of explosions brought terror to the Boston Marathon, letters containing the poison ricin started turning up in the mail of senators and President Obama. So far the suspicious packets have been intercepted in the security procedures adopted after the post-Sept. 11 anthrax attacks.