Boy Scouts End Longtime Ban on Openly Gay Youths — The Boy Scouts of America on Thursday ended its longstanding policy of forbidding openly gay youths to participate in its activities, a step its chief executive called “compassionate, caring and kind.” The decision, which came after years of resistance and wrenching internal debate, was widely seen as a milestone for the Boy Scouts, a symbol of traditional America. More than 1,400 volunteer leaders from across the country voted, with more than 60 percent approving a measure that said no youth may be denied membership “on the basis of sexual orientation or preference alone.”

Former Church of England priest, 74, abused girls and boys at Barnardo’s home then savagely beat victims who tried to speak out — A retired Church of England priest found guilty of a catalogue of historic sex attacks on young children at a Barnardo’s home has been…