President Obama’s camp attacked challenger Mitt Romney’s personal finances on the campaign trail this week—although Romney dismissed it as the Democrats trying to change the conversation from the weak economy. Speaking in Las Vegas, Vice President Biden said Romney was “making a lie out of the old adage ‘Like father, like son’” by not releasing his tax returns as his father, George Romney, did as a candidate for the GOP presidential nomination in 1968. The Obama campaign also released a video on YouTube that asked: “How long can Romney keep information on his investments in overseas tax havens secret? And why did he do so in the first place?” Romney, appearing on Sean Hannity’s Fox News show, insisted he had “followed the law,” although he has released only a single year’s tax return, from 2010.

An investigation into the Jerry Sandusky sex scandal conducted by former FBI head Louis J. Freeh at the behest of Penn State’s board of trustees will be released on Thursday, Freeh said Tuesday. The report will likely include conclusions about who was responsible for the cover-up, which institutional policies allowed it to happen, and what fixes must be made to prevent future scandals. The report is coming after recent releases of emails, possibly leaked from the investigation, which showed that Penn State officials had knowledge of Sandusky’s then-alleged abuse and had worked to keep the matter in-house. The report will be available online starting at 9 a.m. on Thursday, and Freeh will hold a press conference an hour later.

Convicted al Qaeda operative Ibrahim al Qosi has been released from Guantánamo after spending 10 years in the prison. Qosi, who occasionally drove for Osama bin Laden, was captured by Pakistani forces in December 2001 and sent to the prison after being handed over to U.S. forces. In July 2010 he pleaded guilty to providing material support for terrorism in exchange for a potential release after serving a two-year prison term. U.S. troops dropped the newly released Qosi in his home country of Sudan Tuesday night. He is the first convicted war criminal to be sent home since 2008. One of his defense attorneys said, “He is now in his 50s, eager only to spend his life at home with his family in Sudan.”

Greek’s economic collapse hasn’t just brought massive unemployment, austerity, and protests—it has also brought the rise of the far-right Golden Dawn party and an uptick in violence targeting immigrants. Amid the rising influence among the Greek people of Golden Dawn, which has Nazi influences and retains a rather swastika-like symbol, Human Rights Watch has issued a report about the “alarming proportions” of xenophobic attacks. Experts are pointing a finger at Golden Dawn’s victory in last month’s elections, in which the fringe party was able to secure 18 of Parliament’s 300 seats, and they say that the country’s fiscal catastrophe makes its citizens more susceptible to extremist influences.

Eva Rausing, one of the richest women in Britain and wife of the heir to Tetra Pak fortune, was found dead in their home in London—and a man who may be her husband has been arrested in connection to the case and on suspicion of drug possession. Rausing, the American daughter of businessman Tom Kemeny, is married to Hans Kristian Rausing, the son of Swedish packaging billionaire Hans Rausing. The couple, parents to four chldren, has long had problems with drug addiction—they even reportedly met at a rehab clinic—including when Rausing was found carrying crack cocaine and heroin into London’s U.S. embassy. Police refused to comment on the case and won't confirm the identity of the man arrested, saying only that he is 49 years old, which is the same age as Hans Kristian Rausing. Police said the man arrested was receiving medical attention.

The Episcopalian Church on Tuesday became one step closer to approving gay marriage. Episcopal priests will now be able to bless same-sex relationships in a ceremony known as "The Witnessing and Blessing of a Lifelong Covenant," making the church the largest denomination in the country to endorse gay unions. Church officials were quick to point out that the service is not a marriage ceremony and that the blessing service will undergo a three-year trial run. But, the church has been more progressive than most when it comes to gay rights, and has allowed the ordination of gay priests since 2009.

Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. denied reports that his son, Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., had attempted suicide. The congressman has not been seen on Capitol Hill since June 10, and his office said in a June 26 statement that he would take a “medical leave of absence” to treat a health condition. The mystery has deepened since then, and sources say it may be months before his return, if he comes back at all. But his father pushed back on rumors that the congressman had tried to kill himself. “No, it’s not true,” he said. “He’s with his doctor and getting treatment, regaining his strength. That’s all I really want to say at this point.”

Katie Holmes’s path to divorce is beginning to sound a little bit like a mystery novel. According to reports on Tuesday, Holmes used a disposable cellphone to set in motion her divorce from actor Tom Cruise. She used the phone to talk with her lawyers and prep her case without anyone on Cruise’s staff knowing. In the end, she wound up hiring three law firms and retaining primary custody of the couple’s daughter, Suri. Cruise will still have visitation rights.

A Twilight fan, who had been waiting to meet the films’ stars at Comic-Con, was fatally struck by a car outside of the San Diego Convention. Although police have yet to confirm the woman’s identity, they said she was in her 40s and was bleeding from the head when she was transported to the hospital. She was later pronounced dead. Fans who had been camping out near the convention center said that the woman had been camping with them since Sunday. One member of the group said, “One of the best parts of this fandom is the way we all come together. It’s a huge family.”

Comedian Daniel Tosh has apologized for a series of rape joke, after a blogger posted about a female heckler’s experience during one of his recent shows in Los Angeles. During the show, the Tosh 2.0 star was interrupted by a heckler who said that rape jokes are “never funny.” According to the blogger, Tosh responded by saying, “Wouldn’t it be funny if that girl got raped by like, 5 guys right now?” After the post went viral, Tosh tweeted, “All out of context misquotes aside, I’d like to sincerely apologize.” But a minute later he posted, “The point I was making before I was heckled is there are awful things in the world but you can still make jokes about them. #deadbabies.”

Is this the revenge of Ann Curry? Savannah Guthrie made her official debut as the new Today co-host on Monday, but the numbers suggest she may not be the draw producers hoped. The first numbers show that the broadcast came in below ABC’s Good Morning America in both total viewers and adults 24-54. Early ratings suggest GMA had 1.68 million viewers among adults 24-54, compared with Today’s 1.674 million. GMA also posted a 356,000 advantage among total viewers (4.425 million to 4.069 million). If the numbers are confirmed, it would be the first time GMA has won in both measurements since February 2006.

Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes reached a settlement Monday, not even two weeks after the young actress filed for divorce from her superstar Scientologist husband. The settlement was reached surprisingly quickly, and, as TMZ reports Tuesday, it’s all because of Suri. The Hollywood couple were fighting over their daughter when it became clear that a war between her parents would cause the most harm to Suri. “It registered big time with both Tom and Katie, and it allowed their lawyers to strike a deal in what could be record time for this type of divorce,” reports the entertainment news site. “Fact is ... it generally takes celebs in these high-profile divorces a lot longer to realize how bitterness affects small kids, so credit to both.”

A federal hearing officer on Tuesday ruled an Indiana law illegal that would have barred low-income women from using Medicaid to receive any kind of reproductive care from Planned Parenthood. The law was deemed illegal because it would deny women the freedom to choose their health-care provider. Tuesday’s hearing upheld an earlier decision by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services of the Department of Health and Human Services, which had ruled that it alters the way Medicaid is run in Indiana, thus making it unacceptable. Federal law already bans women from using Medicaid to pay for abortions, but the Indiana law, signed in 2011 by Gov. Mitch Daniels, had been designed to prevent Planned Parenthood from performing abortions, since it would lose all Medicaid funds.

European Union finance ministers agreed on the terms of a bailout for Spain’s banks. Finance ministers for the 17 countries that use the Euro will return to Brussels on July 20 to finalize the agreement, but 30 billion euros can be ready by the end of the month. Overall, Dutch finance minister Jan Kees de Jager said Spanish banks will most likely receive 100 billion euros. Under the agreement, finance ministers from all 27 European Union countries are expected to approve a one-year extension, until 2014, of Spain’s deadline for achieving a budget deficit of 3 percent. Additionally, specific banks will have specific conditions associated with the agreement. Eurozone chief Jean-Claude Juncker said, “We are convinced that this conditionality will succeed in addressing the remaining weakness in the Spanish banking sector.”

One hug at a Detroit house party went from friendly to fatal when a woman accidentally triggered an off-duty cop’s gun. The police officer had been hosting a fish fry at his Detroit home when he began to dance with 24-year-old Adaisha Miller, who hugged him from behind and accidentally set off his gun, which fired and killed her. While the incident has been explained as an accident, Miller’s mother told the Detroit Free Press that she’s heard several versions of what happened before her daughter died and asks why the officer had “a weapon with a round in the chamber” at his own party. One gun-safety expert weighed in, conceding that shifting the officer’s waistband could have pulled the gun out of his holster, which could have made him instinctively push it back down. “If something got caught on trigger, it could have fired,” she explained. The prosecutor’s office is determining whether any charges can be pressed.

Yesterday President Obama called on Congress to renew Bush-era tax cuts for just one year for Americans making under $250,000. He was expecting trouble from Republicans eager to keep the tax cuts for wealthiest Americans around forever, but he’s also getting some push-back from his own party. Embattled members of both the House and Senate, such as Sen. Claire McCaskill from Missouri, Senate hopeful Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, and Rep. Shelley Berkley of Nevada, say they’d either prefer to raise taxes on people making more than $1 million per year, or permanently extend the Bush-era cuts for anyone making less than that. This divergence exemplifies a group of Democrats who are more concerned with winning or preserving their seats in Congress than appeasing the president.

Following talks with the Iranian foreign minister, U.N. envoy to Syria Kofi Annan argued, in a press conference Tuesday, that Iran should be “part of the solution” to Syrian turmoil. “My presence here [in Tehran] proves that I believe Iran can play a positive role,” he said. Since violence began in Syria about 16 months ago, the U.S. and European Union have remained opposed to getting Iran involved—as the volatile country is an ally of Bashar al-Assad’s. Annan clarified Tuesday that he was speaking for himself when he suggested Iran do its part to help. Meanwhile, Syria’s main opposition group, the Syrian National Council, is headed to Russia tomorrow for its own talks on the crisis. They’ve said they are committed to first removing the government of tyrannical President Bashar al-Assad and then moving toward transition. Russia and China both stand with the Syrian president and argue for his involvement in any transition.  

Kim Jong-un has a new lady in his life and it’s not Minnie Mouse. He’s been spotted on more than one official engagement with a woman by his side, sparking much speculation over whether she’s the young North Korean leader’s wife, girlfriend, or even sister. Nobody knows! Not unlike Mitt Romney, he might just be using his female companion to make him seem “much more approachable, humanlike” to the masses, said Andrei Lankov, an expert on the secluded nation from the University of South Korea. After all, his father and predecessor, Kim Jong-il, wasn’t exactly a man of the people. “Everything related to Kim Jong-il’s children is a deadly secret,” Lankov said. “No sane North Korean who knows it would share this out for very special reasons.”

After three years as prime minister of Israel, Ehud Olmert resigned in 2008 amid a high-profile corruption scandal. Now Olmert has been cleared on two charges of corruption. He was convicted on a third, less drastic charge—of breach of trust—which he’s expected to appeal. Before stepping down, Olmert’s tenure included major peace talks with Palestinians that were broken by the 2008–09 Israeli winter offensive in Gaza and have been pretty much stalled ever since. Though Olmert still actually has another corruption scandal underway—he’s being charged with taking bribes as mayor of Jerusalem—today’s news might spark talk of his potential comeback.

In April, an official from the Centers for Disease Control warned Florida officials that a tuberculosis outbreak in Jacksonville, Fla. which had killed 13 and sickened 99 people was the worst his group had seen in decades. But the report, issued as the state was shrinking its health department — and shuttering the hospital where tough TB cases had typically been treated — in the wake of budget cuts championed by Governor Rick Scott, went mostly ignored. As a result, key decision makers went uninformed about the outbreak, and it wasn’t revealed to the public until June, meaning it has continued to spread and to this day isn’t fully contained. In addition to the potential for more illnesses and deaths, this could cost Florida a lot of money: Treating TB is expensive, but it becomes much more so if the patient’s body develops a resistance to the medicine by not taking it consistently—the cost can jump from $500 to more than $275,000.

A 29-year-old Minnesota woman died in a St. Paul hospital Saturday night, five days after lighting herself on fire in her mother’s backyard. Last month Toni Medrano had been charged with two counts of manslaughter for drunkenly rolling over onto her 1-year-old son on Nov. 22, asphyxiating him. She admitted to drinking a fifth of vodka before passing out. A week after charges were leveled against Medrano, Nancy Grace featured the story on the CNN show she hosts. During the segment she called Medrano “vodka mom” and poured nine glasses of liquor to demonstrate how much Medrano had drunk. According to Medrano’s sister, Medrano watched the segment and was “shaking and couldn't take a breath” as she did so.

Most U.S. stock indexes closed lower Tuesday, with the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index posting its longest streak of declines since May amid concerns over corporate profits. The euro hit a two-year low. The Dow Jones industrials closed at 12,653.28, down 84.01 points, or .66 percent as the share price of component Alcoa fell more than 4 percent on tepid earnings. Nasdaq stock indexes slipped as well. Earlier in the session, European shares rallied, although the euro weakened against all 16 major peers.

One man was killed and two were injured at a stabbing in Boston’s Dudley Square this afternoon, near where Sandra Bullock is currently filming a movie. The stabbings occurred around 1:50 p.m. when an argument spilled into the parking lot of the Social Security Administration office in Roxbury. A suspect is in custody. The victims were all between the ages of 17 and 21, and the two who were hurt only sustained non-life-threatening injuries. Bullock is filming The Heat, a new cop movie, roughly a block away from where the incident took place. Police said that a “quick-thinking detail officer” from the movie set helped nab the suspect.

It could have been worse. Hope Solo, one of the stars of the U.S. Olympic soccer team, was given a warning by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency after she tested positive for canrenone, a banned diuretic. Solo had taken a prescription drug to help with her menstrual cycle and said she was unaware that the medication included an illicit substance. Since the medication was prescribed by a doctor, Solo was given a warning instead of a suspension. She is still expected to compete for the U.S. in London.

Things may have cooled off somewhat in most of the country, but now the Southwest gets to join in the scorching fun, according to a heat warning issued by the National Weather Service for areas of Arizona, California, and Nevada. Parts of all three states are expected to see temperatures exceeding 110 degrees between now and Wednesday, when the heat warning is scheduled to end. Meanwhile, the cold front pushing through the Midwest and parts of the South and Mid-Atlantic brought significant relief—but also severe storms and flash floods in certain areas. Las Vegas is expected to tie—or even break—its record-high temperature for July 10 of 114 degrees. Monday's temperature of 113 tied the record-high for the day, set in 1943.

Former-CEO Robert Diamond is giving up $31 million in deferred bonuses. New insight into the Barclays Libor scandal reveals that the Federal Reserve Bank of New York may have known that the British bank was manipulating global interest rates as early as August of 2007. In 2008 the Fed even offered up some suggestions to British authorities on how to fix the system. In an online statement, a spokesperson for the New York Fed said, “In the context of our market monitoring following the onset of the financial crisis in late 2007, involving thousands of calls and emails with market participants over a period of many months, we received occasional anecdotal reports from Barclays of problems with Libor.” They said they shared these observations and suggestions for improvement with British authorities.

Legislators gathered in Cairo Tuesday for a meeting of Egypt’s now-dissolved Parliament, despite opposition from the senior military generals and high-court judges. During the short meeting, lawmakers approved a proposal by the speaker—a member of the Muslim Brotherhood—to appeal an earlier ruling that reviving the defunct Parliament went outside the law. Authorities made no real effort to prevent the parliamentary assembly—made up mostly of the Muslim Brotherhood—from meeting. The divergence between Parliament and military generals, backed by the court, exemplifies a long-held rivalry between the Muslim Brotherhood and the Egyptian military over political control of the country.