The Afghan government weighs the details of an effort aimed at national reconciliation with soldiers of the Taliban. In some provinces, the process has already begun.
Eric Westervelt is a San Francisco-based correspondent for NPR's National Desk. He has reported on major events for the network from wars and revolutions in the Middle East and North Africa to historic wildfires and terrorist attacks in the U.S.
Colombia's capital is home to 11 million people — and to some of the worst traffic jams in the world. Now Chinese companies are building its first metro line.
The Butner federal prison complex in North Carolina is where a quarter of federal inmate deaths occur. It includes a medical facility but inmates aren't getting needed care, there or at other prisons.