Activists says government troops in Syria are laying siege to the city of Homs. A British human rights organization says at least a dozen people have been killed in the latest round violence.

Over the weekend, China and Russia vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution that would have supported an Arab League peace plan for Syria, claiming the plan would have violated Syria’s sovereignty. On Sunday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton addressed the veto during a speech in Sofia, Bulgaria, stating, "Faced with a neutered Security Council we have to redouble our efforts outside of the United Nations with those allies and partners who support the Syrian people's right to have a better future."

The New York Giants beat New England 21-17 in a game that most certainly would be consider an instant classic. Eli Manning was the game's MVP, completing 30 of 40 passes and engineering the late 4th quarter touchdown drive that would win the Giants the game. Tom Brady could not execute a successful one-minute drive after launching a Hail Mary pass that went unanswered.

Every Monday, The Takeaway looks at the big news stories from the week ahead. Republican presidential candidates head to Colorado, Minnesota and Maine this week; Colorado and Minnesota's caucuses are tomorrow. In Washington, President Obama holds talks on the European debt crisis with Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti while Congress takes up the STOCK Act.

Next month, the final volume of the Dictionary of American Regional English will be released. A project initially undertaken in the 1950s by linguist Federic Cassidy, the goal was to record all the words and phrases that are unique to specific parts of the U.S. Listeners responded with their favorite regionalisms.

Since its humble beginnings in the Bronx during the 1970s, hip hop has become a global musical phenomenon with attendant forms of style and protest. Perhaps one of the greatest examples of hip hop's recent impact is in the Arab world where formed the soundtrack to the revolution with rappers like Hamada Ben Amor from Tunisia, Cheikh Oumar Cyrille from Senegal, and Mohamed el Deeb from Egypt.

President Obama makes some revealing comments over tensions between Israel and Iran. In a pre-Super Bowl interview with NBC, the president said Israel has not made a decision to strike Iran even as worries grow Tehran is building a nuclear weapon. However, the president wouldn't say if the U.S. would be privy to knowledge of any Israeli-led action before it happens.

It was another decisive victory for Mitt Romney as he easily took Nevada this weekend. Things appear to be looking up for the on-again, off-again Republican front-runner. This month's Primary schedule favor the former Massachusetts governor. But with a long road ahead to the Republican National Convention in September, it's still possible that Romney's key GOP antagonist Newt Gingrich could regain his momentum.

As famous for its commercials as the big game itself, this year the Super Bowl premiered an ad starring New York mayor Michael Bloomberg and Boston mayor Tom Menino. The thirty-second spot promoted Mayors Against Illegal Guns, a coalition group of 600 mayors organized to promote urban safety by preventing the flow of illegal weapons into cities across the United States. While the ad may have seemed out of place alongside ads for cars, websites, and beers, the message it promoted was, in many ways, as uncontroversial as the aforementioned products.

Over the weekend, Egypt’s international cooperation minister, a former Mubarak regime member, said an investigation by her bureau had uncovered "plots aimed at striking at Egypt's stability."  Egyptian authorities referred 19 Americans and 2 dozen other NGO employees in Cairo to trial, and are reportedly charged with brewing unrest in Egypt. 400 Egyptian NGOs are also under investigation at this time.

Despite having a higher rate of acceptance in American society and greater media presence than ever before, being gay or transgendered is still difficult, especially for those living in non-metropolitan areas. Approximately 20 to 40 percent of homeless youth are LGBT, experiencing a higher rate of suicide than heterosexuals. But sometimes discrimination and pressure to conform comes just as much from inside the gay community as it does from the outside.

Mitt Romney has taken a lot of criticism for saying he wasn't "concerned about the very poor" in a post-Florida primary victory interview last week. But some middle-class Americans agree with Romney's sentiment. Kate, a Takeaway listener and delivery driver from Maryland, is frustrated with the very poor, who she believes abuse the system and take opportunities away from people like her.