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With the Iraq war officially over and the pullout of U.S. forces nearly complete, host Scott Simon talks with Tom Ricks, author of The Best Defense blog, and Jon Lee Anderson from The New Yorker about the most influential turning points of the war.

Paroled U.S. activist Lori Berenson said Saturday that she and her toddler son were not permitted to leave Peru despite being granted permission in court to spend the holidays in New York with her family.

Somalis in the U.S. have long supported their families in East Africa, many of whom were driven from their homes by war or famine. Now the last American bank to work with Somali money-wiring companies is eliminating that service, and some worry that the cutoff could lead to a humanitarian crisis.

Nicknamed the "barefoot diva," Évora was perhaps the most widely known performer of morna, a style of music indigenous to Cape Verde. She was 70.

Each year, as Congress works to wrap up budget and tax bills and other "must-pass" legislation, inevitably not so must-pass items creep into the mix — inserted either to smooth passage for the more important things, or in the hopes that no one will notice. This year marks the first time that leadership has been unable to use earmarks to buy off reluctant votes, and has turned to other forms of grease instead. NPR's David Welna reports.

Homemade bombs became the weapon of choice for the insurgency in Iraq. The U.S. has officially declared the end of the war, but one lasting legacy will be how the improvised explosive device, or IED, changed the way the military thinks about warfare.

Objects excavated from the Machu Picchu ruins in the early 1900s have finally come home. The artifacts were taken by Yale explorer Hiram Bingham III. After 100 years, an international custody battle and an angry letter from Yale alumni, they're are back on display in their country of origin.

Christmas wouldn't be Christmas in Spain without El Gordo, but "The Fat One" isn't Santa Claus. It's the state lottery, the biggest of the year. Tickets sell for nearly $300, yet more than 95 percent of Spaniards buy them — or at least a share in one.

As the United States winds down its involvement in Iraq, Host Audie Cornish takes a look at how much money and lives it has taken. Todd Harrison of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments tracks the amount of money spent, while Michael White, of iCasualties.org, shares how many lives have been lost.

At one time, marriage and divorce were dictated by romance, the falling in and out of love. Nowadays, those decisions are being increasingly influenced by economic factors. Host Audie Cornish talks to NPR's Jennifer Ludden and Shankar Vedantam about mobility in marriage and divorce.