Fifteen months after street protests began, Egyptian voters took to the polls in the country’s first-ever free presidential election. Millions reportedly waited in lines to cast their voters for one of the five leading candidates for the office once held by the iron-fisted Hosni Mubarak, who was knocked from power following the Arab Spring uprising. The country’s largest privately owned newspaper, Al Masry Al Youm, cried out, “Rise up, Egyptians!” on Wednesday morning, the first of two voting days. The race, said to have no reliable polls and a potential runoff next week, has been nearly impossible to predict. There were few reports of trouble, though lines were said to be longer at rural precincts than those in cities.

Another day, another round of firings for tech giant Hewlett-Packard. The Silicon Valley-based company said Wednesday that it would layoff some 27,000 employees as it attempts to curb costs and shore up revenue. The total firings number around 8 percent of the compnay’s global workforce. CEO Meg Whitman is attempting to re-shift what was once a cutting-edge company that has recently struggled to keep up with the Facebooks and Googles of the world. The cuts will “further streamline our operations,” Whitman said in a statement, noting the “long term health of the company.” HP reprted better-than-expected quarterly profits and sales, though did not raise its outlook for the immediate future, which remained low.

It’s been a tumultuous few weeks in Europe. And now that it looks like Greece might leave the euro zone, other European leaders are planning for what could be explosive markets to follow. Most countries agreed that they should issue bonds to help members in financial turmoil, but German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that Greece would have to “uphold the commitments it has made.” The euro hit its lowest point against the dollar in two years as it dropped below $1.26 on Wednesday, as an eight-hour summit among European leaders did little to quell the financial problems roiling Europe.

The Muslim Brotherhood claims to be leading in exit polls in Egypt’s first truly competitive presidential election. Workers began counting the ballots from the two days of voting on Thursday night, but the Brotherhood claimed on TV that its candidate, Mohamed Morsi, was the leader in exit polls nationwide. The Brotherhood spokesman would not give percentages, but regional television channels have also said that their exit polls show Morsi in the lead, with Ahmed Shafiq and Hamdeen Sabahi competing for second place. A run-off election is scheduled for June 16-17 and will only be held if none of the 13 candidates win over half of the votes in the first election.

The head of the Secret Service said Wednesday that it is “absurd” to suggest that behavior similar to the way agents acted in Colombia is part of the culture there. A report in Wednesday’s Washington Post claimed that the agents did not believe they broke the rules, since there allegedly was a silent agreement that things such as having sex with residents of foreign countries while traveling was generally allowed. “The thought or notion that this kind of behavior is condoned or authorized is just absurd, in my opinion,” Secret Service director Mark Sullivan testified before Congress on Wednesday. Sullivan apologized for his agents’ behavior, saying he was “dumbfounded” when he first heard about it. The panel also discussed Secret Service documents that show 64 instances of sexual misconduct within the agency over the last five years—ranging from inappropriate emails to forming relationships with nationals in the countries agents are working in.

Would you like paper or … uh, paper? On Wednesday, the city of Los Angeles approved a ban on plastic bags at supermarkets after the city council voted 13 to 1 to ban them at roughly 7,500 stores. The phase out will occur over the next 12 months and makes the city one of several communities in California to ban plastic bags. But L.A. becomes the largest city in the U.S. to move forward with such a ban. The move was heralded by environmentalists who say it will help reduce the amount of trash in landfills and water ways. Employees of plastic-bag makers, wearing T-shirts that said "Don't Kill My Job," said they feared the ban would lead to mass layoffs in their industry.

A four-alarm fire in the nuclear-powered submarine the U.S.S. Miami was still burning late Wednesday night at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard outside of Kittery, Maine, the shipyard’s commander said. The cause of the fire was unknown, though officials confirmed that the nuclear reactor is not active and there are no weapons aboard the sub. Six people were said to be injured while trying to contain the fire after firefighters were called around 6 p.m. local time. Although the fire was categorized as "moderate," black smoke drifted through much of the area, and the fire could be seen from Peirce Island in Portsmouth, N.H. A spokesman said that local, state, and federal officials had been made aware of the fire.

Joe Biden’s gaffes may be catching up to him. A USA Today/Gallup poll found that the vice president is unpopular in many key swing states. In the 12 swing states polled, 54 percent of swing voters view Biden unfavorably, while just 40 percent of voters view him favorably. These results put him in a significantly worse position than President Obama—and could hurt the Democratic ticket. In the same states, 50 percent of voters have favorable views of Obama, while 49 percent view him unfavorably. Among independents, 50 percent have an unfavorable view of the vice president compared to just 35 percent who view him favorably.

A poison was unleashed at a girl's school in Afghanistan on Wednesday, causing 122 students and three teachers to be hospitalized. Roughly a third of those hospitalized remain under the care of doctors, exhibiting a range of symptoms including dizziness, vomiting, headaches, and blackouts, but none of them appear to be in critical condition. Blood samples are being analyzed to see what kind of substance was used. There have been several poisonings at girls’ schools in Afghanistan in recent years as more girls go to school. The incident occurred in Talokhan, a provincial capital city in the North.

Colin Powell came out on Wednesday—in support of gay marriage, that is. The former secretary of state told Wolf Blitzer on CNN’s The Situation Room that he has “no problem” with same-sex couples marrying. Powell addressed the legal side of the issue, saying that “a contract between two people … allowing them to live together with the protection of the law” should be the direction the U.S. is headed. Powell called out President Obama’s support on the issue, revealed earlier this month, adding, “I support the president’s decision.” Powell said he respected that many religious institutions did not want to marry gay couples, but said in the end, marriage rights should be had by all.

Twenty-one-year-old Phillip Phillips pulled out the stops Tuesday night and was crowned the winner of American Idol in an epic Season 11 finale Wednesday, beating out doll-faced 16-year-old Jessica Sanchez. Many predicted Phillips would win from the start of this season, though Sanchez’s impressive delivery on ballads throughout the season cast some doubt. Phillips’s win marks the fifth straight time a white male has walked away the winner of the reality show, a nod to its audience of mostly teen girls. The finale also featured an on-air proposal when Season 5 finalist Ace Young got down on one knee to propose to Season 3 runner-up Diana DeGarmo, who accepted her boyfriend’s request.

Amid charges Republicans are waging a war on women, House Republicans have launched a new committee aimed at combating that criticism. The Women's Policy Committee says it has a goal of "raising the profile of GOP women in their roles as lawmakers, highlighting their diverse achievements, and providing a unique, unified voice on a wide range of critically important issues." The committee will include all 24 female Republicans in the House—all of whom introduced themselves in a YouTube video. Whether the move will attract more women to vote for the GOP ticket this fall is an open question. Twenty-two of the legislators voted to roll back the Violence Against Women Act, and 21 of them cosponsored the bill that would allow employers to avoid offering contraception through their health plans, according to ThinkProgress.

Robert Moog may have famously said, “I wouldn’t call this music,” but he may have changed his tune after seeing Wednesday’s Google Doodle. Google honored the music innovator’s 78th birthday by making the logo on its homepage an animated music synthesizer that can even be played and recorded. On Wednesday, Google visitors can play Moog’s synthesizer by using the QWERTY keyboard and arrows to switch between the mixer, oscillator, filter, and oscillator to tweak the sound—you can even adjust the pitch by using a dial on the left side of the Doodle. And that’s not all: the lines connecting the keys spell out Goog.

Former first lady Nancy Reagan is suffering broken ribs after a fall and is recovering slowly, her spokeswoman announced Tuesday. Reagan, 90, fell about six weeks ago at her Los Angeles home. She had been expected to attend a speech by Paul Ryan at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, but her spokeswoman said Reagan’s doctor had advised her against attending large events.

Five international aid workers were kidnapped in a remote area of Afghanistan on Tuesday, authorities said. Two women and three men were working for the nonprofit Medair, a nongovernmental organization, and they were reportedly bringing food to children and pregnant women in a mountainous region when they were kidnapped. The victims had not informed Afghan security forces about their trip to the area, a spokesman for the local government said. The reasons for the kidnapping are still unknown, as officials said the kidnappers have not contacted the government or the aid group.

Facebook stock has been backsliding since the initial public offering last week, and now we may know why. It appears that less than 72 hours before the company went public CFO David Ebersman decided to increase the number of shares that would be offered by 25 percent after officials at Morgan Stanley assured the company that there would be plenty of demand. The stock was initially priced at $38 a share, but fell to $31 after trading on Tuesday. Still, in most respects, the IPO was a success, raising $16 billion for Facebook, which has been valued at $104 billion. Sources revealed Tuesday, however, that price slashing went on prior to the IPO, sparking regulator interest in the instance, which could face a more thorough federal probe.

Can you show us that touchdown dance, Donald? Donald Driver, the NFL star on the Green Bay Packers, surprised many Dancing With the Stars fans Tuesday night when he capped an incredible run to the show’s title for Season 14. Driver and partner Peta Murgatroyd beat out British singer Katherine Jenkins and model/actor William Levy in the show’s finale. Driver did his final dance of the season shirtless, he and Murgatroyd scoring three perfect 10s for their cha-cha. “This is awesome!” Driver said after the win. Jenkins and Levy scored triple perfect scores as well, meaning fan votes for Driver pushed the wide receiver into the winner’s circle.

European leaders will meet Wednesday for the first summit since the French and Greek elections, amid the backdrop of the possible looming economic crisis. At nearly all the previous summits, German Chancellor Angela Merkel met with former French president Nicolas Sarkozy beforehand to create a united strategy—but Sarkozy’s successor, François Hollande, will meet with Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy in Paris ahead of the summit. Hollande’s rejection of the harsh European austerity measures has cast an air of uncertainty about future economic policy, and many expect a showdown with Merkel, who is a strong advocate for budget austerity. The formal agenda of the Wednesday-evening meeting focuses on jobs and growth, and European policymakers have zeroed in on three specific programs to pump short-term life into the economy.

It was a tough day in Kentucky for President Obama, as “Uncommitted” on the Democratic primary ballot registered 42 percent of the vote. While Obama won the primary with nearly 58 percent of the vote, the seemingly close race is another PR hurdle for his team to overcome as nearly 87,000 Kentucky voters appeared to voice their frustration with the incumbent. Meanwhile, the Republican primary was less contested, with presumptive nominee Mitt Romney beating Ron Paul by 55 points. The win, along with a victory in Arkansas, pushes Romney to 1,024 of the 1,144 needed delegates to officially capture the Republican nomination.

The U.S. and five nations resumed negotiations about Iran’s suspected nuclear program at a conference in Baghdad on Wednesday—a meeting that came just one day after Tehran indicated willingness to allow international inspections of its secret military facilities. The head of the United Nations nuclear agency, Yukiya Amano, said on Tuesday that a deal with Iran over its suspected nuclear program could come soon, although Iranian officials insisted they were not acting out of pressure. Iranian state media reported that negotiations had started, but there was no comment on how they were going or what the likely outcome is. Scheduled since April, the Baghdad meeting brings the U.S., Britain, France, Germany, Russia, and China together with Iran to try to bring that country back in compliance with Security Council resolutions.

Euro-zone officials have told the currency members to prepare contingency plans should Greece exit the euro, sources told Reuters on Wednesday. Officials said experts who work for the currency bloc’s finance ministers said that each country should prepare an individual contingency plan should Greece exit the euro. Meanwhile, Germany’s largest bank, Bundesbank, said Wednesday that the 17-country euro zone would be able to cope if Greece does not implement austerity measures—something that the European Union has been saying is not an option. Bundesbank wrote in its monthly report that though the situation with Greece is “worrying,” the challenges, while “significant,” will be “manageable.”

Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan called President Obama a “failed president” during a speech at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California on Tuesday—leading many to believe the budget hawk is throwing his hat into the ring for the vice-presidential nod. Saying Obama believed in the “failed theology” that “our best days are over and the only thing left to do is manage the nation’s decline,” Ryan told the nearly 1,000-person crowd that things could get back on track with the 2012 election. Ryan, the chairman of the House Budget Committee, threw his support behind Mitt Romney ahead of the Wisconsin primary—and Ryan’s harsh budget policies could end up being a major influence in the 2012 race. Long rumored to be a vice-presidential favorite, Ryan said that decision is “months away,” but did not immediately shoot the question down.

Researchers at Oxford University have launched a new project to analyze the DNA of Bigfoot, the mythical apelike creature some believe lives in North American forests. The project called for samples believed to be from the creature, and has already been offered hair, blood, and items it supposedly chewed. The results will then be published in a peer-reviewed journal. Oxford’s Brian Sykes said the group would not be considering tales of Bigfoot sightings in their work. “It’s not really possible to fabricate DNA evidence,” he said.

BBC TV anchor Jeremy Paxman has told the Leveson Inquiry that Piers Morgan taught him how to hack a phone. Paxman claims the former Daily Mirror editor gave him tips back in 2002 during a lunch at the Mirror's offices. Morgan had previously told the Inquiry he had no knowledge of hacking during his tenure at the Mirror from 1995 to 2004. In other news, police are investigating alleged hacking in 2006 of voice messages from former News of the World editor Andy Coulson to an aide of the former home secretary.

Egyptians turned out in droves on Wednesday to vote in the nation’s first election since ousting former President Hosni Mubarak last year. Fifty million people are eligible to vote. The electorate is divided between Islamists and secularists and leaders of last year’s revolution against Mubarak’s former ministers. The four major frontrunners include Ahmed Shafiq, the former commander of the Air Force and briefly prime minister during the February 2011 protests; Amr Moussa, the former head of the Arab League; Mohamed Morsi, who heads the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party; and Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh, an independent Islamist candidate. The new constitution has not yet been approved, and it is unclear what powers the president will have—but the election is still considered a landmark for Egypt.

Unabomber Ted Kaczynski apparently has fond memories of his alma mater—or rather he just wanted to update the school about his criminal life on his 50th reunion. In the latest Harvard alumni magazine, Kaczynski lists “Prisoner” as his occupation and “eight life sentences” under awards. He also includes his 2010 book and anti-industrial manifesto, Technological Slavery, under publications. Convicted in 1998 of killing three and injuring 23 more after sending 16 mail bombs between 1978 and 1995, Kaczynski earned a Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Michigan after graduating from Harvard. Unfortunately, he won’t be able to catch up with his classmates at their 50-year reunion.

Would Jay Gatsby party with Jay-Z and Kanye West? The first trailer for the movie The Great Gatsby hit the Internet yesterday and it looks, well, like a Baz Luhrmann flick. Aside from modern songs including “No Church in the Wind” from Watch the Throne, the film features colorful visuals, and a cast that includes Leonardo DiCaprio as Gatsby, Carey Mulligan as Daisy Buchanan, and Tobey Maguire as narrator Nick Carraway. The trailer also gives us a glimpse of Amitabh Bachchan, Bollywood’s most notable actor.

Facebook shareholders filed a lawsuit on Wednesday against Facebook, its chief executive Mark Zuckerberg, and several banks led by Morgan Stanley for hiding weakened growth forecasts for the social network ahead of its initial public offering. The suit alleges that the company and the banks tried conceal that there was a “severe and pronounced reduction” in Facebook’s revenue-growth forecasts just ahead of the social network going public. The suit comes just one day after regulators said they would be investigating the issues surrounding Facebook’s debut on the market.

A Pakistani doctor who reportedly ran a fake vaccination campaign that helped the U.S. capture Osama bin Laden has been sentenced to at least 33 years in prison, a Pakistani local government official said Wednesday. The official said Shakil Afridi had been charged with treason. The vaccination campaign helped lead the CIA to bin Laden before U.S. forces killed him in a raid last year.

So Bill, can they have their money back? President Bill Clinton threw what was supposed to be a lavish fundraiser in London Tuesday night, but attendees, many of whom had shelled out £1,000 to attend, berated the event and the former politician after it, calling it “the worst party ever.” High-profile guests included Chelsea Clinton, Gwyneth Paltrow, Will.I.Am and British royal Princess Beatrice for an event for the Clinton Foundation’s Millennium Network—but the venue, which some said “stank”—apparently had wet walls and was overcrowded to the point that attendees couldn’t see Clinton himself. “Angry people” were said to be waiting outside in line to get in for hours, including some of London’s most well-connected party-goers.

Stocks went on a roller coaster ride Wednesday as European leaders warned that Greece may soon exit the euro, sending the Dow down to its lowest point since January at one point during the day. Most of the descent came among financial stocks, but Dell also fell a staggering 18 percent, its biggest loss since 2000. Facebook, another stock being closely watched since its disastrous IPO last week, ticked up 2.8 percent following a 19 percent drop over the past few days. The Dow made a small climb to close the day, losing 6 points to close at 12,496.

Google won’t be coughing up $1 billion in damages any time soon. A California jury decided that Google’s Android device didn’t infringe on Oracle Corp.’s copyright patents after all, having previously said the company did. The jury announced the verdict Wednesday for the legal battle between Google and Oracle, which sued the search giant for allegedly infringing on its Java code in building the Android phone software. Though the same jury found earlier that Google did infringe on some Java code, they couldn’t unanimously agree on whether the company’s use of that material was unlawful. Google had argued that Java is an “open-source” software that is available to the public.