Afghanistan

In January, one senior official left Afghanistan after speaking out against the ban that has denied education to more than 2 million girls since the Taliban’s return to power.

Faye Hall had been held since February on charges of using a drone without authorization. 

The Taliban had confirmed they were holding Ryan Corbett, who was arrested in August 2022 and whom the State Department had classified as wrongfully detained.

The Taliban is rejecting concerns and criticism raised by the United Nations over new vice and virtue laws that include a ban on women’s voices and bare faces in public.

Fariba Hashimi and Yulduz Hashimi will make history as the first Afghan cyclists when they compete in the women’s road race at the 2024 Paris Games.

The U.N. food agency says more than 300 Afghans have died in flash floods that also destroyed more than 1,000 houses in the northern province of Baghlan.

From Moscow, Russian civil aviation authorities said a Dassault Falcon 10 went missing with four crew members and two passengers