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With John Kerry stepping down from the seat he held for 28 years to become secretary of state, rumors are swirling about who his short-term replacement will be — and who will run in the special election in six months. Gov. Deval Patrick is appointing the replacement Wednesday.

At Manouba University on the outskirts of the Tunisian capital Tunis, the school's dean has vowed to uphold a rule that bars women from wearing a face veil in the classroom. Salafi students oppose the ban, and see this as a battle for freedom of religion. The issue is a microcosm of a much larger battle between the staunchly secular and the deeply pious in Tunisia.

There's been another massacre in Syria. This time in the city of Aleppo, where bodies were found in a river along the divide that separates the city between government control and rebel control. Meanwhile, major donors are in Kuwait to try to raise money to help the millions of Syrian civilians who've been displaced by the conflict.

There was a time only a few years ago, when the BlackBerry was the undisputed champion of the smartphone market, a title now held by Apple's iPhone or the Samsung Galaxy. Renee Montagne talks to Bloomberg News technology commentator Rich Jaroslovsky about the new BlackBerry model that comes out Wednesday.

Ford Motor Company will soon hand out record profit-sharing checks to its hourly employees. At General Motors, profit-sharing checks are expected to be pretty fat, too. Profit sharing appears to have permanently replaced the expectation of a guaranteed hourly wage increase at Detroit's Big Three.

About 2,300 tiny painting of gnomes have appeared on utility poles all over Oakland, Calif. Since the little guys showed up last year, full-sized residents got into the spirit — blogging and tweeting new sightings. Pacific Gas and Electric was going to evict the bearded figures but when the anonymous artist appealed, PG&E backed off.

NPR's Ken Rudin recaps the week in politics, from the new proposals for immigration policy, to the Senate testimony on gun control legislation. Kathie Obradovich, political columnist for the Des Moines Register, about the retirement of Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and the politics of Iowa in 2014.

Military service is compulsory for most Israelis, but the exemption for ultra-Orthodox Jews is a highly charged issue. The national debate may soon come to a head as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attempts to form a government with parties on both sides of the issue.

Patrice Motsepe made his fortune in the mining business and said he wanted his fortune to benefit the millions of South Africans who have remained poor after white-minority rule ended in 1994.

There's one honor that's long eluded Americans at the top of the culinary field: the coveted Bocuse d'Or. This year was no exception, though Team USA made a valiant effort with an Appalachian-inspired menu that included squash, ham and mushrooms.