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In the run-up to the U.S. military's withdrawal from Iraq over the last few weeks, up to 60 convoys have been roaring across the country at any given time, hauling supplies south to Kuwait. But that's just the equipment the military is taking. Major General Thomas Richardson, the Army's chief logistician in Iraq, tells weekends on All Things Considered host Guy Raz that sometimes it's cheaper to leave it there.

When Tropical Storm Irene swept through the Northeast this summer, the flood decimated the small town of Wilmington, Vt. However, as cleaning crews went to work inside the Wilmington Baptist Church, they found a surprise: a painting marked by a blurry water line, at the height of the flood of 1938. Nancy Cohen from Vermont Public Radio reports.

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.

America's Got Talent champ Landau Eugene Murphy, Jr. is a crooner in the classic style, who has surprised and delighted audiences by being himself.

To keep their closely guarded modesty intact, some Hasidic women in New York City are pushing to start an all-female unit of an Orthodox Jewish ambulance service to help deliver babies in emergencies. But the idea isn't getting a warm welcome from Hasidic men.

As troops withdraw from Iraq, it's a bittersweet day for Brandeis University Professor Kanan Makiya. On April 9, 2003, Makiya watched the fall of Baghdad on television from the Oval Office, alongside President George W. Bush. The former Iraqi exile was an outspoken critic of Saddam Hussein's crimes against the Iraqi people and had advised the President on the invasion of Iraq. Makiya tells weekends on All Things Considered host Guy Raz he believes the war was worth it for the Iraqi people — but perhaps not for the Americans.

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.

House Republicans are rejecting a bipartisan compromise approved overwhelmingly by the Senate Saturday. The deal would have extended the payroll tax holiday and unemployment benefits through February.