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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.

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.

Vaclav Havel, the Czech playwright who led a revolution to bring down the country's communist regime, has died. During the communist era, Havel was one of Eastern Europe's foremost dissident writers and champion of human rights. He was 75.

2011 has been a year of social and economic upheaval in Greece. In exchange for bailout money to stave off default, the government is imposing harsh austerity measures. Reporter Joanna Kakissis says the task is especially daunting because Greeks have lost all trust in their civic institutions.

The Obama administration has taken aim at a wave of new laws and policies they say will make it harder for some people to vote on Election Day. Host Audie Cornish talks with two people who hold opposing views on the issue: NAACP president Ben Jealous and Hans von Spakovsky, a senior legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation and a former Justice Department official under President George W. Bush.

There were a lot of lasts at Contingency Operating Base Adder in southern Iraq as U.S. troops prepared to leave: the last briefing, the last patrol, the last hot meal. The base was the main staging ground for all troops exiting the country, and it was the last U.S. base to close.

As Hollywood rolls out Oscar hopefuls over the next two months, there's a curious thread developing: Many of these films are set amidst the backdrop of wars — especially wars involving Great Britain.

Paul Bremer headed the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq and was seen as one of the chief architects of how much of the war played out. Today, he stands by his decisions but believes the U.S. pullout of troops in premature.

The death of North Korea's mercurial and enigmatic leader was announced Monday by state television. Kim's iron rule and nuclear ambitions for his isolated Communist nation dominated world security fears for more than a decade.

Conservatives will be officially sworn into power in Spain this week for the first time in nearly eight years. Since 2004, the country's Socialists have legalized gay marriage, liberalized abortion laws and presided over the country's biggest-ever financial boom — and now downturn. The new year is likely to be marked by extreme austerity and diminished expectations.