UPDATE: Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska) voted to block gun legislation from coming to the floor for debate on Thursday, one of only two Democrats to do so, along with Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.). Another Democratic senator who had threatened to vote no, Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), did not. The gun bill reached the 60-vote threshold needed to move forward.

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NEW YORK — IRS documents released Wednesday suggest that the tax collection agency believes it can read American citizens’ emails without a warrant.

The files were released to the American Civil Liberties Union under a Freedom of Information Act request. The organization is working to determine just how broadly federal law enforcement agencies like the FBI or the IRS’ Criminal Tax Division interpret their authority to snoop through inboxes.

The IRS apparently interprets that authority very broadly, …

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SAN FRANCISCO — A bill aimed at pressuring the Boy Scouts of America to lift its ban on gay members by making the organization ineligible for nonprofit tax breaks cleared its first vote Wednesday in the Legislature.

The Senate Governance and Finance Committee voted 5 to 2 to move the bill to the Senate Appropriations Committee for review.

The Youth Equality Act, sponsored by Sen. Ricardo Lara, D-Long Beach, would deny tax-exempt status to youth groups that …

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Lawyers representing hunger-striking detainees at America’s controversial Guantánamo Bay prison have warned they fear some of the protesters could soon die in the ongoing protest.

The news comes as fresh details emerge about conditions at the camp from lawyers visiting clients, letters being written by inmates and phone calls from inside the prison.

They describe dramatic weight loss among many of the hunger strikers, force-feeding, putting protesters in isolation and at least one suicide attempt – though …

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If ever there were a perfect example of how basic legal contracts are an inferior alternative to the benefits of marriage for same-sex couples, this heartbreaking story is it. Missouri resident Roger Gorley was staying by the hospital bedside of his partner Allen, with whom he’s been in a civil union for nearly five years — though it is not recognized in Missouri — and with whom he also shares power of attorney. When one …

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius should personally apologize to the parents of 1,316 premature infants who were exposed to increased risk of blindness and death as part of a clinical trial funded by the National Institutes of Health and held throughout the U.S. several years ago because they were not informed of the risks to their babies or the true nature and purpose of the research, Public Citizen said …

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An analysis of imported brands found surprising levels of the metal.

Reporting at the annual meeting of the American Chemical Society, a group of researchers lead by Tsanangurayi Tongesayi, an associate professor of chemistry at Monmouth University in New Jersey announced the results of their analysis of rice from Asia, Europe and South America. The imports, which currently make up about 7% of rice consumed in America, contained higher than acceptable levels of lead.

The levels ranged …

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(Reuters) – Treasury Secretary Jack Lew reiterated the government’s opposition to a tax on financial transactions, which would make banks pay for help in the financial crisis and is gaining steam in Europe.

“I think the design element you’re describing is very problematic,” Lew said in response to a question from Democratic Representative Richard Neal on the House Ways and Means Committee.

Eleven euro zone countries plan to introduce the tax next January, but little support …

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BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — An increase in the number of Haitian immigrants entering Brazil has led the government of the Amazon state of Acre to decree a state of “social emergency.”

Governor Tiao Viana decreed a state of emergency on Tuesday to get the federal government to help curb the influx of immigrants and provide aid to those already inside Brazil, the government’s website said.

“It is the formal recognition of the seriousness of the situation,” Viana …

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The billionaire founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, has launched a new initiative to push for immigration reform, describing America’s current system as “unfit for today’s world.”

The group, called FWD.us, (pronounced Forward US), is backed by other Silicon Valley leaders including Google chairman Eric Schmidt, Yahoo boss Marissa Mayer and Reid Hoffman, the billionaire co-founder of Linkedin.

“We have a strange immigration policy for a nation of immigrants. And it’s a policy unfit for today’s world,” Zuckerberg …

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