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Saturday Night Live recently announced that they were hiring Sasheer Zamata, the first black woman to join the cast in six years. For our series This Week's Must Read, author Danielle Evans recommends a book that can give readers an idea of how Zamata might feel: Get Down, a short story collection by Asali Solomon.

Reporting from inside Iran has been very difficult for Western reporters over the last several years. The disputed 2009 elections triggered massive anti-government protests. In response, Iran cracked down hard on protesters, and clamped down tightly on journalists' access. That has begun to change with Iran's newly elected president, Hassan Rouhani. Scott Peterson, reporter for the Christian Science Monitor, was recently able to visit and report from Iran for the first time in more than four years. Peterson speaks with host Arun Rath about his trip.

Former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon died Saturday at the age of 85. Israelis mourned the death of the celebrated politician and army general. But Palestinians reacted differently to the death of the controversial leader, who pushed for Jewish settlement of Palestinian territories.

Former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has a new memoir out that serves up some tough criticism of President Obama and Congress. NPR's Arun Rath talks to correspondent Liz Halloran about the punches being thrown.

Secretary of State John Kerry is in Paris preparing for a long-delayed peace conference on Syria next week. He's urging the Syrian opposition to negotiate with a regime they've been trying to topple. The war in Syria has raged for three years and has befuddled the international community.

Organizers of the Winter Games are preparing to serve up quite a bit of the hearty, deep-red Russian soup. Which is kind of ironic, says Russian food writer Anya von Bremzen, since borscht carries with it complicated political implications. And not all borschts are created equal, she warns.

In Little Rock, Ark., a federal judge approved a settlement that brings an end to a landmark school desegregation case. The case dates back to 1957, when nine black students integrated Central High School, which up until that point was all-white. But after 60 years of desegregation efforts, are the classes really integrated?

The drought in California has become so severe that cities are preparing to impose restrictions on water use in homes. In Northern California, the water level in Folsom Lake is so low that remnants of Gold Rush life, which have long been underwater, are now exposed and being collected.

Celebrations in Tunisia on Tuesday are marking the third anniversary of the revolution that led to the ouster of its dictator and set in motion the regional uprisings of the Arab Spring. As huge crowds gather in the streets of the capital, members of the National Assembly are voting on a new constitution that has the approval of both secular groups, which are popular in the capital, and Islamists, whose strongholds are in the countryside. New parliamentary elections are expected later this year.

Mayor Danny Jones says he's not "even sure they cared what happened to the public." Jones adds the West Virginia capital is considering taking legal action.