Drugmaker Merck recalls more than one million doses of a childhood vaccine used to prevent meningitis and pneumonia after tests reveal a sterilization problem at one of its plants. The move is likely to heighten a debate over the safety and necessity of childhood vaccines, which are suspected by some parents of being linked to autism.

In their last face-to-face showdown before the Jan. 3 Iowa caucuses, the nine Republican contenders stick to core conservative values like increasing military spending and cutting taxes in a surprisingly tame debate.

Scientists think they have discovered why moms-to-be don't lose their balance and fall over despite the increasing weight up front. "When you think about it, women make it look so very damn easy," one researcher says.