Mexican authorities said on Wednesday that there will be a partial recount in the country’s presidential election after inconsistences were reported in the vote tallies. Leftist leader Andrés Manuel López Obrador has accused president-elect Enrique Peña Nieto of breaking electoral rules, which Peña Nieto has denied. The executive secretary of the Federal Electoral Institute, Edmundo Jacobo, said the recount was “an exercise in openness and transparency.” He said 78,012 of the 143,132 ballots cast will be recounted

The widow of late Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat said Wednesday that she wants his body exhumed to see if he was poisoned, after a recent investigation showed high levels of radioactive substance on Arafat’s personal belongings. Suha Arafat said she is requesting the body be exhumed to “make sure 100 percent of the existence of polonium,” the substance found on Arafat’s toothbrush, clothes and his trademark scarf. Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas said Wednesday that he saw no reason why Arafat’s body could not be exhumed. Arafat died in 2004 at the age of 75.

A commander in Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said on Wednesday that the country is “ready to fire missiles” at U.S. bases in the Persian Gulf within minutes of an attack on Iran. In a response to reports that the U.S. has increased military presence in the Middle East, Iran’s Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh said that missiles have been aimed at 35 U.S. military bases in the Middle East—and targets in Israel, reported Iran’s semi-official news agency, Fars. Hajizadeh’s remarks came as the Revolutionary Guard participated in a three-day war game exercise called Great Prophet Seven, which Iranian officials claimed was show of defiance against western pressure—including the oil sanctions that went into effect this week. The U.S. also announced earlier this week they would be sending more soldiers to the Gulf.

President Obama spent July 4th with military veterans who had become naturalized citizens, and then will spend the evening on the military families for fireworks and barbecue on the White House lawn. The naturalization ceremony—the third of its kind since Obama became president but first on July 4th—was held in the East Room and granted citizenship to 25 active-duty service members. “What a perfect way to celebrate America’s birthday—the world’s oldest democracy, with some of our newest citizens.” Mitt Romney spent the holiday at his vacation home in New Hampshire, and stopped by a parade Wednesday morning—their only official public appearance.

Mitt Romney has been decidedly silent on the Supreme Court's recent health-care decision, until now! The Republican presidential hopeful waited until the Fourth of July, when he could count on every American to be at home or work following the news closely (not!) to say that he does, in fact, believe President Obama's individual health-care mandate is a tax, like the Supreme Court said. He broke his views down real nice and slow for CBS's Jan Crawford, explaining that he agreed with the dissenting justices view that the mandate was not constitutional, but since the court ruled that it's a tax, so it is! Now that he's told Jan Crawford, he should probably let his top advisers know where he stands on the issue. 

Bob Diamond, now the former CEO of Barclays, testified before lawmakers in British Parliament, saying that the bank illegally reported low rates in October of 2008 because other banks had even lower rates."We were desperate," he said. He insisting that the bank's recent loss of several senior managers as well as $5 billion from its market value was the result of being the first bank sanctioned for manipulating interest rates. Diamond said that history will show the bank as an “incredible institution” and that the scandal is really to blame on a few “reprehensible” traders.

Tens of thousands in Boston were evacuated off the city’s Esplanade Wednesday night after lightning struck near the area an hour before the start of the fireworks. At 9:30 p.m., the State Police halted the Boston Pops concert on the Hatch Shell, and ushered the revelers onto the tunnels along the neighboring Storrow Drive. The fireworks eventually kicked off at around 10:35 p.m., but rain started just moments later, and sent many running for shelter.

Isn’t this just an iPhone? Rumors grew louder on Wednesday that Apple will sell smaller versions of the iPad to keep up with Amazon’s Kindle and Google’s Nexus 7. iPads typically cost around $500, but its competitors are much cheaper—usually in the $200 range—and Apple reportedly doesn't want to lose that market segment. The iPad Mini is expected to have an eight-inch screen, but won't have the high definition "retina display."

Is this bizarre case finally closed? Montreal police said they had identified the head of Lin Jun, a 33-year-old Chinese student studying in Canada who was allegedly murdered by a gay porn star who then sent Jun’s body parts to various offices in Canada. Police arrested Luka Rocco Magnotta, 29, in Berlin for the murder, which shocked the nation after a foot was sent to the Conservative party offices in Ottawa. Magnotta also reportedly filmed himself dismembering the body and posted it on the Internet. Police said that with the discovery of the head, all of Jun’s body parts have been recovered.

Katie Holmes’s reportedly shocked Tom Cruise with divorce papers—and the divorce also shocked the Church of Scientology, his religion. Scientology experts said that Holmes is sending a strong message that she won’t be cowed by Cruise or others within the church. “Katie ambushed Tom Cruise and in doing so, outwitted some of the most controlling people on earth,” said Karen De La Carriere, who was once one of the executives within Scientology and married to the church’s former president. A former Scientologist with close ties to Cruise’s family says that Cruise’s daughter, Isabella, from his marriage to Nicole Kidman, had worked for Holmes’s clothing line Holmes and Yang and was abruptly fired about two months ago.

Katie Holmes and daughter Suri were spotted laughing and eating ice cream in New York City Tuesday. TMZ reports that the two laughed as they shared a cold treat in the East Village, surrounded by four large bodyguards. Holmes filed for divorce from Tom Cruise in New York last week and is suing for sole custody of Suri. The actress is reportedly renting an apartment in New York City while her divorce and custody battle is carried out.

Muammar Gaddafi's son Saadi is hanging out in Niger, clubbing, dining, dancing until sunrise—the usual. You wouldn't even know his home country, Libya, is demanding his extradition. Yet Interpol has issued a "red notice" to all member countries, asking them to arrest the "playboy" Gaddafi son if he's spotted on their soil. Saadi is also the subject of U.N. sanctions for instructing military units to attack protesters during Libya's Arab Spring uprising and has been banned from other countries. Yet he is safe, at least for now, in Niger, where his father is still considered popular for the tens of millions of dollars he invested in jobs and construction of mosques and roads there.

Mitt Romney gave the United States a big wet birthday kiss Wednesday with a special Fourth of July statement. “Today we celebrate 236 years of the world’s greatest design for liberty and self-government. As we gather to enjoy food and fireworks, let us also take a moment to pay tribute to the patriots who signed the Declaration of Independence—and the brave men and women who have fought to protect our freedoms through every generation that has followed,” he said. “With so many around the world still consigned by tyranny, the Fourth of July is a time to appreciate the blessing of liberty and be thankful that we are Americans.”

It’s tough times for fireworks this year. Fireworks for July 4 have been canceled across the country due to fear of fires and tight budgets—and in one case, worries over bald eagles. From Colorado to Indiana, various areas have decided to forgo the Independence Day tradition as the exceedingly dry summer has many concerned about wildfires—especially as Colorado has seen one of its worst ever. Other communities have been forced to cut back this year due to tight budgets. In upstate New York, Narrowsburg officials canceled the annual show due to worries over harming the endangered bald eagle, the nation’s symbol. All the canceled shows have taken their toll on the fireworks industry, which is in its biggest recession since the Vietnam War.

An anti-abortion group failed Tuesday to collect enough signatures before the deadline to put a so-called “personhood” amendment on the ballot. The group wanted to alter to the state’s constitution to declare that life begins when a human egg is fertilized. Personhood Ohio had collected only about 30,000 signatures for the proposed amendment, which requires 385,000 to be placed on the ballot. The amendment’s supporters had hoped they would buck the tide of failures of similar bills in other states by saying it wouldn’t affect “genuine contraception” or in vitro procedures. The group pledged to continue to collect signatures into 2013.

Mexico’s leftist party leader on Tuesday called for a recount in the country’s presidential election after Enrique Peña Nieto declared himself the winner on Monday. Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the leader of the Party of the Democratic Revolution, said Sunday’s vote had been “plagued by irregularities.” The Federal Election Institute says it expects the final results on Sunday, after counting votes at all 143,000 polling stations. Meanwhile, a top aide to presumptive president-elect Peña Nieto said Nieto plans on doubling security spending to around 2 percent of GDP to fight the drug wars, rampant crime, and transborder security.

Ninety-five are dead and almost 2 million have been left homeless after devastating floods tore through India's Assam state. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh described the Brahmaputra River's overflowing—caused by monsoon rains this past week—as the worst flood of recent times. Those killed were either swept up by the water or buried in landslides. Singh told reporters Monday that nearly half a million displaced people were living in relief camps, the rest staying with family or out in the open. Water levels have since begun to recede, allowing thousands to return to their devastated homes.

In a few months, Americans will be able to purchase an HIV test over the counter at their local pharmacy for under $60 and find out if they have the potentially life-threatening virus in 20 to 40 minutes. The Food and Drug Administration has approved the at-home HIV test, which uses saliva from a mouth swab to determine whether someone is HIV-positive. As many as 30,000 pharmacies and other stores are expected to carry the test and it will be available online as well. The U.S. government estimates that 1.2 million Americans are HIV-positive but 20 percent of them don't know. The at-home test is aimed at creating more awareness and helping those who might not have access to doctors find out whether they've been infected.

NATO said Wednesday that several of its troops have been shot and wounded by a man in an Afghan Army uniform. According to a statement, the NATO troops were being treated at a medical facility in the Sayed Abad district of Afghanistan's eastern Wardak province at the time of the attack. This incident is just the latest insider attack on NATO troops (an Afghan policeman killed three British soldiers last weekend) bringing the total number of attacks by Afghan security officials on NATO troops this year to 18.

Turkey has found the bodies of two pilots who were manning a jet that was shot down by Syrian fire last month. Turkey’s military general said that they were currently working on removing the bodies from the Mediterranean. On Tuesday, Syria President Bashar al-Assad issued a half-apology for the incident, saying that he “regrets” that the plane was shot down. The imbroglio has heightened tensions between the nations, with Turkey sending jets to defend its border with Syria—and threatening to retaliate against any military aggression.

“I think we have it,” declared Rolf Heuer, director of the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN). CERN physicists announced Wednesday that they may have discovered the Higgs boson, known as the elusive "God particle," a potential key to better understanding the origins of matter, life, and the universe. The subatomic particle CERN’s scientists have found is one of the heaviest, at 125 billion electric volts, and very closely fits the description of the Higgs boson. Heuer called the discovery “a historic milestone,” marking what could be the end of one of science’s longest and costliest searches.

Joey "Jaws" Chestnut successfully defended his hot dog-eating championship, eating 68 hot dogs (he tied his record) in ten minutes. Sonya "The Black Widow" Thomas also defended her title, and set a new record of 45 hot dogs at Nathan's Famous Restaurant hot dog-eating competition on Brooklyn's Coney Island. Before the competition Thomas said, "My technique is I dunk two hot dogs in the water cup and then eat." Chestnut won for the sixth time and prefers to eat "like a beast." Last year was the first time men and women were divided up into separate competitions.

It's been a big week for celebrity outings. First, news anchor Anderson Cooper finally acknowledged what most already assumed was true, telling The Daily Beast's Andrew Sullivan, "The fact is, I'm gay." Now Odd Future singer Frank Ocean is following Cooper's lead. The 24-year-old announced on his Tumblr today that his first love was a man. "4 summers ago, I met somebody. I was 19. He was too. We spent that summer, the summer afar, together. Everyday almost. And on the days we were together, time could glide," he wrote. "I don't have any secrets I need to keep anymore…I feel like a free man. If I listen closely. I can hear the sky falling too." Fellow Odd Future member, Tyler, The Creator, who was called "irresponsible" last year by the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, tweeted that he was proud of his friend, "cause I know that shit is difficult or whatever."