- Taliban authorities have said Afghan women will no longer be allowed into public and amusement parks. - Gyms and fitness centres for women have been banned across the country. - The Taliban ordered the closing down of hundreds of beauty salons meant for women.

The International Criminal Court prosecutor said on Thursday he had applied for arrest warrants for two Taliban leaders in Afghanistan.

Karim Khan said in a statement he asked judges to approve warrants for the group’s supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhunzada, and the head of Afghanistan's Supreme Court, Abdul Hakim Haqqani, accusing the men of crimes against humanity for gender-based persecution.

In the very last hours of President Joe Biden’s time in office, a prisoner exchange years in the making was finally struck: the Taliban agreed to swap two Americans being held in Afghanistan for one Taliban member serving a life sentence in a US prison.

Afghan refugees appeal to President Trump to exempt them from an order suspending relocations; some say they risked their lives to support U.S. troops.

An Afghan police official says a Chinese citizen has been killed in the country's northeast. The killing of foreigners is rare in Afghanistan, especially since the withdrawal of foreign troops in 2021.

The International Criminal Court prosecutor on Thursday said he had applied for arrest warrants for Taliban leaders in Afghanistan, including supreme spiritual leader Haibatullah Akhundzada, accusing them of crimes against humanity for widespread discrimination against women and girls.

FRANCE 24 spoke to prominent Afghan women's rights activist Mahbouba Seraj, on the day the International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor announced that he was seeking arrest warrants against

Both leaders are implicated in the systemic persecution of Afghan women, girls, and those perceived as allies of women

The U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants is advocating to have pending cases rebooked to arrive in the country before Jan. 27.