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Abdel Razaq Tlas, 25, the leader of Farouk Brigades in Homs — one of the biggest rebel groups in Syria — has been a charismatic figure of the Syrian uprising.

Today, Tlas is facing questions about a video purporting to show him having Skype sex. It's a video he has said is a fabrication, but it seems to be damaging his popularity on the Syrian street.

Syria's civil war erupted again on Monday, just one day after the U.N. ended its monitoring mission in the country. Reporter Jon Lee Anderson joins NPR's John Donvan to discuss the different factions that are rising up amid the current confusion.

In an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal, former Major League Baseball commissioner Fay Vincent describes incidences of clubs, offices and public spaces posing obstacles for him and his wheelchair. He joins NPR's John Donvan to discuss the places where those in wheelchairs still don't feel welcome.

Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.'s recent diagnosis of bipolar disorder has focused attention on the shame that sometimes accompanies mental health diagnoses in the African-American community. Psychiatrist William Lawson joins NPR's John Donvan to discuss why such a stigma exists.

No one said it would be easy to sell kids on quinoa and kale, but an invitation to the White House's first Kids State Dinner today, complete with fresh fruit topiaries and balloon animals, turned out to be just the ticket for some.

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Changes in the health insurance industry are at the top of NPR's business news.

The giant insurance company Aetna plans to get a little bigger. It's buying Coventry Health Care for more than $5.5 billion. Now, if you want to know why, consider the changing landscape in which Aetna does business. Medicaid is expanding under President Obama's health care law, Medicare is expanding as Americans grow older, and those government-run plans include many opportunities for private insurance companies.

Saying that the comments "don't make sense to the American people" and were "way out there," President Obama just weighed in on the controversial remarks made over the weekend by Rep. Todd Akin, R-Mo., who said in a television interview that "if it's a legitimate rape," it's rare for a woman to get pregnant and therefore want an abortion.

Michael Wayne Hash served 12 years in prison, after he was convicted of capital murder.

In March, a court found deep problems with how prosecutors achieved that conviction, so he threw it out and told the state it needed to make a decision on whether it would take Hash to trial again.

Getting into Syria has been a journalistic obsession since anti-regime protests began there in March 2011. The choices have been risky or next to impossible. The Syrian regime has given out few journalists' visas (full disclosure, I got a legal visa to Syria in June).

Before coming to Austin College, I hosted some bake sales and donated the proceeds to make a difference. Only after joining the student-led Service Station did I realize: To serve others, all I need is my heart.

A federal court in Austin, Texas has dismissed a lawsuit filed by cyclist Lance Armstrong that sought to stop a doping hearing by the United States Anti-Doping Agency.

The AP reports:

"Armstrong has repeatedly denied doping. His lawsuit claimed USADA lacked jurisdiction and that its arbitration process violates his constitutional rights.

"U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks dismissed the lawsuit, allowing the case to proceed. Armstrong can appeal in federal court, go ahead with USADA's arbitration or accept its sanctions."

Breaking news from The Associated Press about a historic day for one of the nation's most historic sporting venues:

"For the first time in its 80-year history, Augusta National Golf Club has female members.

"The home of the Masters has invited former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and South Carolina financier Darla Moore to become the first women in green jackets when the club opens for a new season in October. Both women have accepted."

With a few months left before the presidential election, voter ID laws are in limbo in a number of states. Critics say the laws disenfranchise eligible voters, supporters say they prevent voter fraud. Guest host Viviana Hurtado discusses the court challenges and national implications with NPR's Corey Dade and Pennsylvania activist Bob Previdi.

He sang a gentle song that became a hit and something of a theme song for 1967's "Summer of Love."

"Hundreds of Pakistani Christians are hiding out at a priest's compound, praying for the safety of an 11-year-old member of their community" who is in police custody, NPR's Lauren Freyer reports from Islamabad. The Christians also fear their own safety.

The cause of anger directed toward them by some in the Muslim nation: The girl may have burned some Islamic religious materials. According to The Associated Press:

As Dames Gone Wild, we are traveling the U.S. doing volunteer work after leaving jobs that no longer fulfilled us. In our 50s and 60s, we had the courage to leave our home, St. Petersburg, Fla., in June and we are on our fifteenth stop — Burlington, Vt. — of 33 cities during our Summer Service Adventure.

Good morning.

Our early headlines:

-- In Afghanistan, A Struggle To Stem Deaths From 'Insider Attacks.'

-- Missouri GOP Senate Candidate's Remarks On Rape Stir Controversy.

The death Sunday of director Tony Scott, who appears to have jumped from a Los Angeles County bridge in what's being investigated as a suicide, has "shocked Hollywood and the fans of his memorable movies," as NPR's Neda Ulaby said earlier on Morning Edition.

A few decades ago, a hamburger was just a yummy sandwich.

Saying he apologizes for "any embarrassment I have caused for my colleagues and constituents," Kansas Republican Rep.

The killing Sunday in Afghanistan of an American soldier in what officials say was the latest in a series of "green on blue" attacks by Afghans in uniform against coalition personnel was the 10th in just the past two weeks.

There have been "30 such attacks so far this year, up from 11 in 2011," The Associated Press writes.

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For the residents of Janesville, Wisconsin, Mitt Romney's selection of Paul Ryan as his running mate was a story of a local man becoming the biggest news in the country. But for the librarians of Janesville, it meant something else entirely, as NPR's Don Gonyea found out last week.

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Let's go next to China, where the wife of a fallen Communist Party leader has received a sentence - a suspended death sentence for murdering a British businessman. Her accomplice, a family employee, was sentenced to nine years in prison. Gu Kailai came under suspicion after a scandal involving her husband, who was one of the rising stars of the Communist Party before he lost his job amid suspicions about his behavior. NPR's Frank Langfitt has been following this case from Shanghai.

Hi, Frank.

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India's government has persuaded companies to shut down more than 150 websites. Authorities blame those sites for circulating claims that led to panic. The claims fueled fears of violence during the Muslim festival of Eid. NPR's Julie McCarthy reports.