On Sunday, Republican Representative Todd Akin said in an interview that "if it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down." His gaffe became a top headline by Monday morning and is rumored to have the potential to derail his Senate race.

President Obama repeated calls for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down yesterday and, for the first time, threatened military action against Syria if the Assad regime indicates it will use chemical weapons.

Phyllis Diller’s stand up was a staple of nightclubs and television during the 1950s and early 1960s, a time when female comics were extremely rare. She passed away yesterday in her home in Los Angeles, at the age of 95. In adjective-packed obits, journalists described her as “sassy,” “outlandish,” and “tart-tongued.”

There are 70 billion copies of Harvard Medical School Genetics professor George Church’s book, "Regenesis," but very few people have read it. What gives?

The latest major political misstep goes to Todd Akin, Republican Representative from Missouri, who in an interview on Sunday said, "if it's legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down." People quickly came out against Akin for his comments, questioning exactly what he meant by "legitimate rape."

In recent New Yorker articles, staff writer Jon Lee Anderson describes a country torn by civil war without clear factions. The campaign by President Bashar al-Assad against the rebels has been going on for 17 months, with some estimates placing the death toll at around 20,000.

Paul Ryan is perhaps best known as the architect of the leading Republican plan to balance the budget. The book that may very well have influenced his economic ideals is George Gilder’s "Wealth and Poverty," a book regarded as the intellectual guide for Reaganomics and the Reagan White House in the 1980s.

For the United States, the Vietnam War has long been embroiled in debate and analysis, propagated by the war’s three-decade duration, disputed status, and tremendous toll on human life. In a new book on the war, historian Frederik Logevall takes a look at the period of history preceding American involvement to better understand the making of America's Vietnam.

The Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi was a friend and ally to many in Washington. He died on Monday of complications following a long illness at the age of 57. His death, though not unexpected, is likely to cause concern because of the country's strategic importance.