Politics

For over a century, the Amur River has divided modern China and Russia -- its waters cutting through nearly 1,000 miles of their roughly 2,500 border miles. But the bridge connecting its banks has been a constant pipe dream. As Russia's economic isolation due to its invasion of Ukraine pushes it closer to China, the two countries are working on new infrastructure links. Last Friday, Beijing and Moscow opened another bridge between them -- what state media on both sides have called the first highway bridge over the Amur River. Rockets trailed colorful smoke bursting overhead, and local officials applauded from the riverbanks, while their superiors beamed in from Moscow and Beijing on giant television screens specially brought in for the day. A second crossing — only a railway bridge conn...

Local police drive us to a remote section of a Utah valley where they say a unit of foreign fighters is stationed. The region resembles the one in some parts of Ukraine that were recently struck by shelling. The structures are leveled and bomb craters are visible all over the place. The distant rumble of outgoing artillery can be heard as we walk under the cover of trees. A small snake slithers by and quickly disappears. We walk up a small ramp and into a courtyard where soldiers are hurriedly packing up a vehicle in which they plan to head for the front lines. American accents are heard back and forth on their radio comms. Surprised and baffled to see a group of journalists, they wave us away. Clearly, they have other pressing matters. But after some calls with their commander, we're t...