The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday approved a new round of sanctions against Iran that “seek to tighten chokehold on the regime beyond anything that has been done before,” according to one lawmaker. The new sanctions are aimed at banks, insurance companies and shipping companies that help Iran sell its oil. The bill will next go to the Senate, where a vote has not yet been scheduled although it is expected to be held before lawmakers leave at the end of the week for the August recess. If it passes the Senate, President Obama would still have to sign it—and the White House said the president is still reviewing the bill. Although it passed the House 421-6, two prominent lawmakers opposed it: Republican Ron Paul and Democrat Dennis Kucinich.

Looks like Wednesday’s lunch options are loaded with politics. Thousands turned out to support Chick-fil-A Wednesday after Fox News’s Mike Huckabee declared it “Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day”—although the company itself hasn’t endorsed the day. The former Republican candidate for president called for the appreciation day after the company lost supporters and sponsors—including the cities of Boston and Chicago—in a boycott of the restaurant after Chick-fil-A president Dan Cathy said he supports the “Biblical definition of the family unit.”  Not everyone is enamored with Chick-fil-A, though: the manager of a Nashua, N.H. chain said Wednesday he would be donating sandwiches to the upcoming gay pride festival and Schnippers in New York City said it would donate a dollar from every chicken filet sandwich sold in August to Marriage Equality USA.

More than half the counties in the United States have been designated disaster areas and 90 percent of those designations are due to drought conditions. Officials announced on Wednesday that 218 more counties in 12 states have been given the designation, which brings the total this year to 1,584 counties, or 50.3 percent of all U.S. counties. The ongoing drought is expected to have an impact on food prices and the federal government is opening roughly 3.8 million acres of conservation land for grazing and haying.

President Obama has authorized U.S. support for the rebels who are trying to oust Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The president issued a secret order earlier this year that allows the Central Intelligence Agency and other departments to help the rebels organize against the dictator, though the U.S. government won’t be arming the resistance fighters. The United States is also working with a Turkish secret command center that was set up to support Assad’s opponents.

A letter from President Mohammed Morsi of Egypt to Israeli President Shimon Peres caused a bit of controversy, after Egyptian officials claimed it was not real. The letter stated, “I am looking forward to exerting our best efforts to get the Middle east Peace Process back to its right track in order to achieve security and stability for all peoples of the region, including that Israeli people.” A spokesman for Morsi denied that the president had written the letter, calling it “totally untrue” and a “fabrication.” But an official in Israeli President Shimon Peres’s office said that aides had received the official communiqué from the Egyptian ambassador to Israel by registered mail and by fax from the embassy in Tel Aviv.

Olympic boxing judges and referees’ calls are being questioned after a boxer accused them of fixing a match while another boxer successfully appealed a loss. Iranian heavyweight Ali Mazaheri said he was disqualified because the match was fixed, although the International Amateur Boxing Association said the boxer had received three warnings before he was disqualified. Japanese bantamweight Satoshi Shimizu’s team is also appealing a match where Shimizu believed his opponent should have had three warnings against him—which would have resulted in disqualification. This time, The AIBA ruled in Shimizu’s favor and overturned the result.

He didn’t go unnoticed. James Holmes was flagged by psychiatrists on a threat assessment committee before the Colorado shooting, sources tell ABC News. The psychiatrist treating Holmes at The University of Colorado reportedly brought the alleged shooter to the attention of the committee meant to protect students from potentially violent students. No further action was taken after Holmes dropped out of school a month before the attack. “ We did everything we think we could have done,” University of Colorado Chancellor Don Elliman said.

It looks like somebody has mastered the art of the soundbite. Pennsylvania Republican Mike Kelly said Wednesday that the implementation of the health-care law that requires insurance companies cover contraception is similar to Pearl Harbor and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. After invoking Pearl Harbor and Sept. 11 as “times when America was attacked,” Kelly said, “I want you to remember August the 1st, 2012, the attack on our religious freedom. That is a day that will live in infamy, along with those other dates.”

Looks like readers weren’t so wild about that breast-feeding cover. Time Inc. reported on Wednesday that its publishing unit’s revenue was down 9 percent—and operating income was down 43 percent. CFO John Martin admitted the “environment around here remains challenging,” especially since subscription revenue was down 11 percent and ad revenue was down 7 percent. The numbers would have been even more dismal except Time had retaken control of SI.com and Golf.com from Turner during the quarter—and Martin admitted ads overall would have been 9 percent without those two sites. The only solace for Time Inc. is that digital ads stayed flat.

The female bartender who was allegedly shoved by Cuba Gooding Jr. in New Orleans will not be pressing criminal charges. The bartender reportedly asked Gooding to quiet down at a bar and he allegedly shoved her twice. A warrant was issued for his arrest after he fled. A spokeswoman for Gooding said, “Mr. Gooding, his representative, and the New Orleans authorities met this morning and are moving swiftly to resolve this misunderstanding.”

Tetra Pak heir Hans Rausing has been given a suspended 10-month jail term after pleading guilty to “preventing the lawful and decent burial” of his wife—and revealed some of the sad details in his wife's death. Eva Rausing’s body was discovered buried under clothing and garbage bags at the couple’s home on July 9, but she is believed to have died on May 7. It was also revealed that Eva Rausing's parents were in the room when her body was discovered. Judge Richard McGregor noted Hans Rausing's claim that he is suffering from mental problems, and said if Hans had been "another rich drug user," the judge would not have been so lenient.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s little sister is now working for the competition. Arielle Zuckerberg posted on Facebook Tuesday that she is officially a Google employee. The youngest Zuck is a product manager at the social-media ad firm Wildfire Interactive, which was recently acquired by Google. “Not gonna lie…This feels pretty awkward,” she wrote on Facebook after learning the news. Will she be required to start a Google+ account?

After the country’s first gold-medal win of the 2012 Olympics Tuesday, spirits in Britain were flying high. So was London Mayor Boris Johnson. The politico gamely agreed to travel down a zip line waving two tiny Union Jack flags to celebrate the occasion, only to get stuck halfway through the precarious trip. “Get me a rope, get me a ladder,” Johnson was heard shouting to the giggling crowd. “I think the brakes got stuck.” He was eventually pulled the rest of the way by a grounds crew.

Eight Olympic players have been expelled from the Olympic games following an investigation by the Badminton World Federation into accusations that the players had been deliberately losing their matches. Two of those players are from China, prompting the Chinese Olympic sports delegation to launch an investigation. A spokesman for China's Olympic Committee said it was against any behavior going against "sporting spirit and morality," and the committee could take further action against the players based on the results of the investigation. The other players charged with "not using one's best efforts to win" were from South Korea and Indonesia. According to reports, both the Chinese and South Koreans appeared to deliberately play poorly in order to guarantee an easier draw in the finals. When the players were warned by a referee, one Chinese player insisted that they'd simply been trying to save their strength. "We've already qualified, so why would we waste energy?" said Yu Yang.

As the European Central Bank gears up for a decisive meeting, the United States urges euro-zone leaders to step up and take action to finally solve the debt crisis. U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told Bloomberg Television that the euro zone's effort must include "bringing down interest rates in the countries that are reforming, and making sure those banking systems can provide the credit those economies need." The day before, he'd been in Germany meeting with that country's finance minister and the president of the ECB, who he said guided him through their plans for solving the crisis. Still, he warned not to expect immediate action. "What you know, from what Europe has said, that they are committed to doing what's necessary to hold the European Union together," he said. "I absolutely believe they have the means to do it."

This is a big day for Michael Phelps. The swimmer took home the gold medal in the 4x200 freestyle relay—earning him his 19th Olympic medal, the most ever. It's also his 15th gold medal. Earlier on Tuesday, Phelps won silver in the finals of the 200m butterfly. He went into the fly final with the fourth-fastest qualifying time of 1:54.53, but was only 0.28 seconds behind Japan’s Takeshi Matsuda. He only had about an hour to rest before the men's 4x200 relay, where he edged past Serbia's Milorad Cavic by 0.01 seconds.

Yet another needle was found in an airplane sandwich this week, this time on an Air Canada flight from Victoria, British Columbia, to Toronto. The FBI and Dutch authorities are still in the midst of an investigation into needles found in six sandwiches aboard Delta flights from Amsterdam to the U.S. that were catered by a Gate Gourmet facility in Amsterdam. While Gate Gourmet does provide food for Air Canada, the company said it does not cater to flights out of Victoria. "We are cooperating fully with Air Canada and have complied with our customers’ request to its caterers to heighten food safety procedures, including inspection and screening of all products boarded on flights," a Gate Gourmet spokeswoman said. "We are working closely to support our customers, including cooperating with authorities investigating the incident."

As the contrasts between the GOP establishment and grassroots activist groups continue to widen, Tuesday’s Republican runoff in Texas for a U.S. Senate seat was one of the most closely watched races in the nation. Buoyed by strong support from the Tea Party, charismatic former state solicitor Ted Cruz handily defeated Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst in the race. Cruz, whose father emigrated to the United States from Cuba, now goes into November’s election as the heavy favorite against Democratic nominee Paul Sadler.

Iran isn't the only country affected by new U.S. sanctions. President Obama announced Tuesday the U.S. would be "cutting off" China's Bank of Kunlun and the Elaf Islamic Bank in Iraq, which "facilitated transactions worth millions of dollars" for Iranian banks despite being under sanctions. Obama explained his goals in sanctioning the Chinese and Iraqi banks were to make clear "that we will expose any financial institution, no matter where they are located, that allow the increasingly desperate Iranian regime to retain access to the international financial system." Ultimately the U.S. is trying to get Iran to make serious negotiations over its nuclear program, and until it does the U.S. will continue to "look for ways to increase the impact" of sanctions against the country, the U.S.'s deputy national security adviser for strategic communications explained. "It's only going to get worse for the Iranian government."

Author, playwright, and commentator Gore Vidal died on Tuesday from pneumonia, his nephew confirmed. Vidal was 86. The controversial author began his writing career at the age of 19 and wrote 25 novels, including Lincoln, Burr, and Myra Breckinridge, as well as several essays. The winner of the National Book Award in 1993, Vidal was famously rebellious and caused a stir with 1948’s The City and the Pillar, which featured openly gay characters. The New York Times even refused to review Vidal’s next few books. Vidal occasionally popped up in films and twice ran unsuccessfully for office.

In a written statement, the embattled president—whose whereabouts are still unknown—said that the fate of the nation rests on the battle against the rebels. The Syrian government is apparently using fighter jets to shoot down rebels in Aleppo, one day after the opposition fighters took hold of the country's largest city. A spokeswoman for the U.N. mission in Syria also confirmed that the rebels were using their own "heavy weapons, including tanks, helicopters, heavy machine guns, as well as artillery." Rebels reportedly yelled "God is great," as they took a victory drive through Aleppo Tuesday.

Bruised from the shocking news of girlfriend Kristen Stewart’s affair, Robert Pattinson is reportedly laying low at the holiday home of Reese Witherspoon. The two costarred as lovers in 2011’s Water for Elephants, and the pregnant Oscar winner, 36, offered her $7 million Ojai, Calif., mansion to the Twilight actor as a hideout until the tabloid scandal surrounding Stewart’s affair dies down. Us Weekly broke the news that Stewart cheated on Pattinson with her Snow White and the Huntsman director last week.

Another wave of volatile stocks roiled Wall Street on Wednesday, prompting some exchanges to halt trading and reinforcing anxieties that another software problem would turn off investors. U.S. exchanges said they were looking into potentially erroneous trading in more than 100 securities that saw notable upswings in price. The swings occurred amid buy and sell orders on electronic trading platforms, causing Knight Capital Group—one of the largest trading firms—to suddenly lose a fifth of its market value. Radio Shack Corp. also experienced price swings. Meanwhile, investors called on the Federal Reserve to help stimulate the market.

Electricity has been restored to India, and the country’s power minister is really trying to avoid “a blame game between the state and the center.” An area consisting of around 670 million people, half of India and nearly 10 percent of the world population, was affected by the blackout that began Tuesday, after three power grids went down. Coal miners were trapped, cars were jammed on highways, and commuters were stranded on trains. While the federal government initially pointed its finger at a few northern states for taking more electricity from their grid than allotted, the power secretary from one of those states pointed out that it is the federal government’s job to warn states if they are using too much power. “This hype that states are overdrawing is the reason for the collapse is not right,” he said, insisting it’s still too soon to place blame.

Voters in Ohio, Florida, and Pennsylvania are leaning currently toward President Obama because of his personal appeal, according to a new slew of polls from Quinnipiac University, The New York Times, and CBS News. When it comes to the economy, the issue that Mitt Romney has championed in this election, voters surveyed in those same battleground states assess the president and his Republican challenger pretty evenly. The New York Times argues that whoever wins the general election should win at least two of the three key states polled—Obama won all three in 2008. It seems the president's advertising campaign is working in Ohio, at least, where voters said they think Romney's experience is too narrow to be able to create jobs for the country.

Japan's Kohei Uchimura, nicknamed "Superman," clinched the gold medal at the men's gymnastics all-around competition Wednesday in London. After struggling early in the day on the pommel horse, the same element that gave him trouble during Monday's team competition, Team U.S.A.'s Danell Levya came from behind to win the bronze medal. Germany's Marcel Nguyen took silver. Though China won the team gold, the country had no individual competitors in the all-around finals.

The world, it seems, is a safer place without Osama bin Laden. New State Department numbers reveal that worldwide terror attacks dropped from 11,641 to 10,283 last year following the death of the al Qaeda leader and other top members—the lowest number since 2005. Still, the State Department warned that al Qaeda affiliates in Yemen and parts of Africa are still active. "Inspiring as the moment may be, we are not blind to the attendant perils," Dan Benjamin, the counterterrorism coordinator said. "Terrorists could still cause significant disruptions for states undergoing very challenging democratic transitions.” He mentioned, particularly, countries like Egypt and Iraq becoming susceptible to the influence of terror groups following the Arab Spring.

Twelve-year-old Dejamon Baker was Tasered by police after she attempted to stop an officer from arresting her mother while the two were shopping at a Victoria's Secret in St. Louis, last week. Baker's mother, Charlene Bratton, was approached in the lingerie store by an unnamed St. Louis County police officer who, she says, tackled her to the ground. Baker told a local NBC news station that she began crying and that's when the officer used his Taser gun on her. A police spokesperson said Baker was actually trying to get physically involved in the encounter, but she and her mother deny that. "I had fell on the floor and couldn't control myself I just kept on shaking," said Baker, who now has wounds on her stomach and chest where she was stuck with the gun.

A controversial Arizona state law that was set to go into effect Thursday banning abortion at 20 weeks into a woman’s pregnancy has been blocked by a panel of judges on the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The polarizing law, signed by Gov. Jan Brewer, would have made it illegal for a woman to have an abortion at 20 weeks after her last menstrual period unless she is experiencing a dire and possibly life-threatening emergency. The appeal was filed by the Center for Reproductive Rights and the American Civil Liberties Union. Consideration of the appeal could take months.

When the Syrian uprising launched in March 2011, most analysts believed that President Bashar al-Assad’s cadre would remain loyal and defend the regime. Now, though officials and diplomats are given strict loyalty tests before being appointed to their posts, Al Jazeera is reporting that high-level defections from al-Assad’s regime are on the rise. A new interactive chart on the news service’s website reveals that defections now number 38, including senior military and security officials, cabinet members, parliament members, and diplomats.  Still, the overwhelming majority of government representatives have remained loyal.

San Antonio International Airport has been cleared after being evacuated on Wednesday after a credible bomb threat was phoned in around 2:30 p.m. local time. According to police, bomb dogs detected possible explosives in three separate cars at the airport parking garage. The city sent fire and HazMat crews to the airport to investigate. Buses shuttled people from the terminals to an undisclosed shelter. Flights to and from the airport have also been delayed, and San Antonio officials asked that people steer clear of the area. By 4:30 p.m. local time, the airport reopened and 2,000 passengers returned to the terminals. No suspicious packages were found after cars were searched, and the parking garage reopened at 6:30 local time.

With just one-hundredth of a second to spare, Nathan Adrian is the United States’ newest golden boy. In the closest races of the London Olympics, Adrian won gold in the 100-meter freestyle after out-touching Australia’s James “The Missile” Magnussen by the smallest of margins. Adrian finished the sprint in 47.52 seconds; Magnussen completed in 47.53. Brent Hayden of Canada secured the bronze.

President Obama’s tax plan, which would raise taxes for the U.S.’s top earners, was rejected by the House of Representatives Wednesday. The proposal would have extended George W. Bush-era tax cuts for most Americans, while ending the cuts for individuals with incomes more than $200,000 a year and married couples with incomes above $250,000. Rejecting the measure 170-257, the House plans to instead vote to extend the tax cuts, which expire Dec. 31, to individuals of all income levels.