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I. The End It took four presidencies for America to finish abandoning Afghanistan. George W. Bush’s attention wandered off soon after American Special Forces rode horseback through the northern mountains and the first schoolgirls gathered in freezing classrooms. Barack Obama, after studying the problem for months, poured in troops and pulled them out in a single ambivalent gesture whose goal was to keep the war on page A13. Donald Trump cut a deal with the Taliban that left the future of the Afghan government, Afghan women, and al‑Qaeda to fate. By then most Americans were barely aware that the war...

Hotel Designs Duravit offers attractive solutions to safety in the bathroom Duravit offers attractive solutions to safety in the bathroom Bathrooms can present us with a range of risks and hazards. With this always in mind, Duravit offers solutions that are both safe as well as aesthetically dynamic… Whether caused by moisture, less than ideal structural conditions, or operator error, typical sources of risk in the bathroom include slipping or stumbling hazards, and scalding hot water. The risk of accidents can be significantly reduced if careful precautions are taken right from the beginning of the design and specification process. Duravit’s...

Last year, Madelynn Furlong decided to downsize. “I got rid of pretty much half of my possessions,” she recalls, trading in her 1,000-plus-square-foot apartment in Los Angeles for a one-bedroom half the size in New York’s West Village neighborhood. “So yeah, it’s tiny.”  Dark Arts Paint, Backdrop. Yet from the Streeteasy listing alone, she was charmed by the crown molding; working fireplace; arched doorways; and 13-foot, floor-to-ceiling windows. The warped kitchen cabinets? The stained walls? She could fix those herself. “It was an ugly duckling with loads of potential. I just had this feeling I could make it supercozy and...

In Renovator’s Notebook, homeowners open up about the nitty-gritty of their remodels: How long it really took; how much it actually cost; what went horribly wrong; and what went wonderfully, serendipitously, it’s-all-worth-it-in-the-end right. For more tips to nail your next project, follow @reno_notebook. Location: Brooklyn Estimated budget: $20,000 Actual budget: $24,000 Top priority: Maximize countertop space while still leaving a spot for laundry.  When Jeremiah Corley, the social media manager for sexual wellness company Maude, and Anthony Espino, the owner of digital marketing agency Miki, bought their first home together in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn, last year, they agreed their dated...

Photography by Farah Prochaska Brace yourselves, New Englanders: Winter is about to flex its muscles in the form of a bomb cyclone, a storm that’s predicted to bring heavy snow and blizzard-like conditions to the Northeast this weekend. (Apparently this wintry wallop gets its name from bombogenesis, a process in which the storm’s central pressure plummets drastically within 24 hours, resulting in a hurricane-like intensity and powerful, damaging winds.) You’ll need to hunker down indoors until it passes, and Netflix can only be so distracting. Here are three easy DIY projects from our most popular stories this month that you...