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THE CROSSING

Anna Badkhen
Anna Badkhen

Three Weeks in a Hopeless Land

I returned to a place I saw liberated in 2001. Now the Taliban are back, and the only thing that has improved is the cell-phone reception.

Anna Badkhen
Anna Badkhen

My Afghan Home

Nearing the end of the road, our diarist reflects on the unlikely sanctuary she found in a blighted land.

Eternal Enemies, One Mile Apart

Our correspondent visits two Afghan villages hardened by centuries of hatred -- and separated by only a short stretch of road.

Anna Badkhen
Anna Badkhen

In the Children’s Ward

Visiting the pediatrics center at an Afghan city hospital, in a country where only three out of four children live to be five.

Anna Badkhen
Anna Badkhen

Homesick for Nowhere

Refugees from a place that no longer exists, these Afghan settlers live in a slapped-together collection of tents on land that belongs to their ancestral enemy.

Sion Touhig/Getty Images
Sion Touhig/Getty Images

Is the U.S. Airlifting Taliban Troops into Northern Afghanistan?

No. But the question itself poses more questions than you might think.

Anna Badkhen
Anna Badkhen

Warped Lives

In a tiny room with no door, in a village with no roads, a drugged woman ties thousands of knots to weave a rug for others to walk on.

Anna Badkhen
Anna Badkhen

Afghanistan’s Little Men

Stopping through Mazar-e-Sharif, our correspondent witnesses one of the most disturbing side effects of the region's poverty: young boys with old faces.

SHAH MARAI/AFP/Getty Images
SHAH MARAI/AFP/Getty Images

Afghanistan’s Boys in Blue

With cops like these, who needs robbers? Our diarist meets one of Afghanistan's finest.

Anna Badkhen
Anna Badkhen

How Do Afghans Relax?

They go take a hike -- and so does our diarist, spending a day of leisure on hills that were once bloody battlefields.

MASSOUD HOSSAINI/AFP/Getty Images
MASSOUD HOSSAINI/AFP/Getty Images

Helpless to Help in Afghanistan’s Local Government

Back in Kunduz, encounters with the unfortunate men whose job it is to keep northern Afghans safe and secure.

Ruins and Reunions

Our correspondent finds her friends, at last.

Anna Badkhen
Anna Badkhen

Earthquakes and Other Disturbances

Beginning the second week of her journey, our diarist encounters some shaky territory on the way to Kunduz.

Majid Saeedi/Getty Images
Majid Saeedi/Getty Images

The Muezzin of the Blue Mosque

Finding some solace with an unlikely old friend.

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China, Ukraine, and How Biden Plans to Balance Both

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Can U.S. President Joe Biden really support Ukraine against Russia for “as long as it takes,” as he has pledged? Congressional support for this aid has largely been bipartisan and wide-r...Show more

Protesters gather during a rally against the government's controversial judicial overhaul bill in Tel Aviv on March 18.
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Ehud Barak on Israel’s Escalating Crisis

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Hundreds of thousands of Israelis have been protesting weekly against their government’s plans to overhaul—and weaken—the country’s judiciary. Several former military officials have ...Show more

BEIJING, CHINA - MARCH 05: A general view of the Great Hall of the People during the Chinese Premier Li Keqiang delivers a speech in the opening of the first session of the 14th National People's Congress at The Great Hall of People on March 5, 2023 in Beijing, China.China's annual political gathering known as the Two Sessions will convene leaders and lawmakers to set the government's agenda for domestic economic and social development for the year. (Photo by Lintao Zhang/Getty Images)
BEIJING, CHINA - MARCH 05: A general view of the Great Hall of the People during the Chinese Premier Li Keqiang delivers a speech in the opening of the first session of the 14th National People's Congress at The Great Hall of People on March 5, 2023 in Beijing, China.China's annual political gathering known as the Two Sessions will convene leaders and lawmakers to set the government's agenda for domestic economic and social development for the year. (Photo by Lintao Zhang/Getty Images)

Inside China’s ‘Two Sessions’

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Every year, the top Chinese legislative and advisory bodies meet for two weeks to rubber-stamp decisions already made by the Chinese Communist Party. It’s called the “two sessions,” ...Show more

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My Afghan Home

Nearing the end of the road, our diarist reflects on the unlikely sanctuary she found in a blighted land.