Two Americans released by Taliban in final Biden administration deal
The Taliban has released two American citizens in a prisoner exchange negotiated by the outgoing Biden administration, US media reports and the families of the two men said.
The two Americans – Ryan Corbett and William McKenty – were exchanged for a member of the Afghan Taliban named Khan Mohammed who was convicted in 2008 on narco-terrorism charges.
In a statement provided to The Independent, Mr Corbett’s family first thanked the new US president Donald Trump, and then his predecessor Joe Biden, for their efforts to secure his release.
“Today, our hearts are filled with overwhelming gratitude and praise to God for sustaining Ryan’s life and bringing him back home after what has been the most challenging and uncertain 894 days of our lives,” Mr Corbett’s family said.
No statement was provided from the family of Mr McKenty, 69, due to his family’s request to the US government for privacy.
Khan Mohammad, 55, was a narcotics trafficker who sought to kill American soldiers in Afghanistan using rockets, according to the US Department of Justice. He was sentenced to life in prison in the US’s first conviction on narco-terror charges.
The exchange took place after Mr Biden had left the White House but was negotiated by his administration, with several rounds of talks mediated by Qatar, according to multiple people aware of the details of the swap. Qatar also provided logistical support to get the two American men out of Kabul safely, officials said.
Mr Corbett’s family also thanked the Qatari government. “Your efforts as mediators, your compassion, and your commitment to diplomacy have given our family the most precious gift imaginable: Ryan’s freedom,” they said.
While negotiations had been taking place for many months the “very latest push happened in the course of the past week”, Mr Corbett’s lawyer Ryan Fayhee told The Independent.
An official from the Biden administration told CNN that the details of the exchange were communicated to Donald Trump’s national security adviser Mike Waltz. The incoming administration was “on board with this deal, acknowledged it and [had] not objected to it”, they said.
Explaining the delay, one person briefed on the swap told CNN that the Taliban preferred to let Mr Trump take the credit for the deal and did not want the news to be lost during buzz around the inauguration itself. Bad weather in both Washington and Kabul was also partly blamed.
A senior Trump administration official indicated some disapproval of the terms of the deal but welcomed the release of the two Americans. “While we would not do the deal that the Biden administration did at the end, we are always happy to have two Americans home,” the Trump official was quoted as saying.
Mr Corbett, a New York resident, started an enterprise called “Bloom Afghanistan” in 2017 to boost the country’s private sector by providing business consulting services, microfinance lending and evaluation of international development projects. He wanted to help Afghans start their own businesses but had to flee in 2021 as the Taliban returned to power in the country.
He returned, apparently to train the Bloom Afghanistan staff, but was detained in August 2022 despite having a valid visa. The State Department said last year that he was wrongfully detained.
The Taliban are believed to have two other American nationals in their custody – Mahmoud Shah Habibi, a senior civil aviation official under the previous Nato-backed government of Afghanistan and George Glezmann, a tourist. The Taliban have not acknowledged holding Mr Habibi in their custody, and details about his condition are unknown.
Mr Habibi is an Afghan-American businessman who worked as a contractor for a Kabul-based telecommunications company and also went missing in 2022. He is believed to have been arrested by the Taliban in August 2022 after a drone strike killed al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri.
Mr Biden had promised last week that an exchange deal would not take place if all three Americans – Mr Corbett, Mr Glezmann and Mr Habibi – were not included in the deal. There was no public discussion of talks around Mr McKenty at that time.
The Taliban had reportedly sought the release of Afghan national Muhammad Rahim, a Guantanamo Bay detainee and a close aide of the late al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
“During the phone call with Mr Biden, he assured me that he will not finalise the trade unless my brother is included,” Mr Habibi’s brother Ahmad Shah Habibi told The Independent after the call, adding that the Taliban wanted the al-Qaeda adviser in return.
Mr Corbett’s family said they were still hoping for the release of the remaining Americans from Taliban custody. “It was our hope that Ryan, George and Mahmoud would be returned to their families together, and we cannot imagine the pain that our good fortune will bring them. We recognise the immense privilege of our family’s reunion today, and pledge to keep praying – and fighting – for George and Mahmoud’s swift release,” they said in a statement.
Indonesia tightens polygamy rules for civil servants
A recent decree aimed at regulating polygamy among Jakarta’s male civil servants has sparked a backlash as critics are calling for the practice to be abolished entirely, citing its discriminatory nature and harmful impact on women.
The Jakarta gubernatorial regulation, issued on 6 January by acting governor Teguh Setyabudi, reaffirms and tightens existing provisions under Indonesia’s 1974 Marriage Law, which permits polygamy under specific conditions.
The decree outlines the strict requirements civil servants must meet to take additional wives, including medical proof that the first wife is unable to perform her marital responsibilities due to disability or illness, evidence of infertility after ten years of marriage, written consent from the first wife, and a court’s approval.
The Jakarta Employment Agency – a government regional civil service agency – has defended the move, describing it as an effort to reduce the city’s high divorce rates among government employees.
“[Hopefully] after the issuance of the [decree], there will be no more civil servants who divorce without permission from their institutions and have more than one wife without complying with the prevailing regulations,” said Chaidir, head of the Jakarta Employment Agency, in a statement last Friday.
However, the decree has drawn sharp criticism from human rights groups and gender equality advocates, who argue that such regulations perpetuate patriarchal norms, enable domestic violence, and fail to protect women and children in polygamous marriages.
Amnesty International Indonesia condemned the regulation as a violation of international human rights treaties that Indonesia has ratified, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).
“Both international human rights treaties emphasise that polygamy is a form of discrimination against women because it creates inequality in marital relations,” said the group’s executive director Usman Hamid.
He called for the abolition of polygamy and urged the Jakarta administration to focus on policies that promote gender equality, such as improving women’s access to divorce and child custody rights.
The National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan) echoed these concerns, describing the existing legal framework as a reflection of deeply entrenched patriarchal values.
“[The conditions for polygamy] are subjective and mirror the construction of a patriarchal society that places women in a subordinate position and makes them exclusively responsible for domestic roles such as child care and nurture,” the commission said.
It further highlighted the link between polygamy and domestic violence, citing emotional neglect as a common consequence of such marriages.
Emotional neglect accounts for a significant portion of the domestic violence cases reported since the ratification of the 2004 Domestic Violence Elimination Law, with half of the 3,079 cases involving psychological violence, according to Komnas Perempuan.
Public policy analyst Achmad Nur Hidayat attempted to clarify misconceptions about the regulation during a discussion hosted by BTV.
He argued that the decree was not an endorsement of polygamy but rather an effort to impose stricter conditions on its practice.
“Some members of the public mistakenly view this regulation as an incentive for male civil servants to take additional wives. In reality, it makes it significantly harder for them to do so,” he said.
Acting governor Teguh Setyabudi has also defended the regulation, asserting that it was designed to protect families rather than encourage polygamy.
“The primary goal of this regulation is to protect the families of our civil servants,” he said on Friday, adding that discussions on the decree had been ongoing since 2023 and involved officials from the Justice Ministry and other stakeholders.
Nevertheless, critics argue that the regulation does little to address the systemic issues underlying polygamous practices and may exacerbate existing inequalities.
While men civil servants are allowed more than one wife, their women counterparts remain barred from becoming a second, third, or fourth wife under the law, highlighting the inherent gender bias in the policy, reported Indonesian national daily Kompas in June 2023.
The regulation has also faced scrutiny from the National Commission for Women, which pointed out that many polygamous marriages remain unregistered, leaving women and children in these unions vulnerable. “In many cases, second or third marriages are not officially registered with the authorities, which leaves women and children in these marriages vulnerable,” Siti Aminah Tardi, a commissioner with the organisation was quoted as saying by the Jakarta Globe.
Indonesia’s 1974 Marriage Law, which first introduced conditions for polygamy, has faced growing calls for reform from activists and human rights organisations.
Komnas Perempuan has urged the government to prioritise revising the law to eliminate discriminatory provisions and protect women’s rights.
“Revisions to the 1974 Marriage Law should focus on the fulfilment of women’s rights and the liberation of women from discrimination and violence,” the commission said.
New Zealanders upset after Trump falsely claims US split the atom
Donald Trump vexed New Zealanders on the first day of his presidency after he claimed that America split the atom – a feat achieved by Sir Ernest Rutherford from Nelson in New Zealand.
Mr Trump was highlighting America’s achievements during his swearing-in ceremony for his second term in the White House when he gave credit to the US for the historic achievement by the revered physicist.
Mr Trump was called out on social media by Nick Smith, the mayor of the city of Nelson near where the physicist grew up, who said he was surprised by the US president making such a claim.
“I was a bit surprised by new president Donald Trump in his inauguration speech about US greatness claiming today Americans split the atom when that honour belongs to Nelson’s most famous and favourite son Sir Ernest Rutherford,” Mr Smith said.
He said he would be inviting the US Ambassador to New Zealand to Nelson so that he can visit the Lord Rutherford Memorial in Brightwater “so we can keep the historic record on who split the atom first accurate”.
Rutherford, a farmer’s son who worked in the UK and Canada, was a researcher in both atomic and nuclear physics. Awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, he was the first to split an atom in 1917 at Victoria University of Manchester in England.
The atom was fully split in a controlled manner in 1932 by British and Irish researchers John Cockcroft and Ernest Walton under Rutherford’s supervision.
Mr Trump was addressing a high-profile gathering of world leaders, billionaires and politicians when he said: “Americans pushed thousands of miles through a rugged land of untamed wilderness, they crossed deserts, scaled mountains, braved untold dangers, won the wild west, ended slavery, rescued millions from tyranny, lifted billions from poverty, harnessed electricity, split the atom, launched mankind into the heavens and put the universe of human knowledge into the palm of the human hand.”
Trump’s remarks provoked a flurry of online posts by New Zealanders about Rutherford, whose work is studied by New Zealand schoolchildren and whose name appears on buildings, streets and institutions. His portrait features on the 100-dollar banknote. “Okay, I’ve gotta call time. Trump just claimed America split the atom,” Ben Uffindell, editor of the satirical New Zealand news website The Civilian, wrote on X. “That’s THE ONE THING WE DID.”
This is, however, not the first time Mr Trump has made this inaccurate claim.
In a speech in 2020 at Mount Rushmore Mr Trump said: “Americans harnessed electricity, split the atom, and gave the world the telephone and the internet. We settled the wild west, won two world wars, landed American astronauts on the moon – and one day soon, we will plant our flag on Mars!”
Trump signs order delaying TikTok ban for 75 days
US president Donald Trump has signed a new executive order delaying the enforcement of a ban on the popular social media platformTikTok by 75 days.
Mr Trump, who had initially called for a ban on TikTok in 2020, told reporters on Monday that he changed his mind as he “got to use” the platform, adding that he aimed to give its parent company ByteDance more time to find a suitable buyer.
Dismissing initial privacy concerns, he said “TikTok is largely about kids, young kids”.
“If China is going to get information about young kids out of it, to be honest, I think we have bigger problems than that,” the 47th US president said.
The move comes as the US Supreme Court ruled in favour of a law last week that barred TikTok from US consumers after former president Joe Biden signed a legislation in April requiring TikTok to either be sold by its owner or face a ban.
The short video platform, used by 170 million Americans, was briefly taken offline for US users on Saturday.
A message on the app for users hinted that the new US president would “work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office”.
Mr Trump said he would not hold TikTok’s technology partners, including Apple and Google, liable for continuing to make the app available until he signed the order.
The app restored access to its US users on Sunday and thanked the president for his assurances.
On Monday, the new US president directed the attorney general to not enforce the law “to permit my administration an opportunity to determine the appropriate course of action with respect to TikTok”.
His new order instructed the Department of Justice to “not take any action to enforce the Act or impose any penalties against any entity for any noncompliance with the Act” for the next 75 days, “including the period of time from 19 January 2025, to the signing of this order”.
“I intend to consult with my advisors, including the heads of relevant departments and agencies on the national security concerns posed by TikTok, and to pursue a resolution that protects national security while saving a platform used by 170 million Americans,” Mr Trump said.
“My administration must also review sensitive intelligence related to those concerns and evaluate the sufficiency of mitigation measures TikTok has taken to date,” the order, issued by the White House, noted.
The president said he “could see” the US government taking a 50 per cent stake in TikTok, with this stake allowing the US to potentially police the site.
Mystery illness ravages three families in remote Kashmir village
A mysterious illness has devastated three families in a remote Indian village in the federal territory of Jammu and Kashmir, killing 17 people in just over a month.
The deaths, all occurring in the Budhal village in Rajouri district, have left the local community paralysed with fear as experts raced to investigate the cause.
On Sunday, Yasmeen Kousar, 16, succumbed to the illness at a hospital in Jammu. Kousar was the last surviving child of Mohammad Aslam, who had already lost five of his children and two other relatives last week.
The fatalities were concentrated within three interrelated families, with nine members of two families having died between 7 and 12 December.
Budhal, a remote village with a predominantly Scheduled Tribe population – one of India’s most disadvantaged groups – is now a place of mourning and fear. The victims have been buried in two rows across two graveyards – a grim reminder of the tragedy that unfolded. Community gatherings have ceased, and many residents have refused to consume food prepared outside their homes.
Federal home minister Amit Shah dispatched a high-level inter-ministerial team to investigate the situation. The team, composed of experts from the ministries of health, agriculture, chemicals, and water resources, arrived in Rajouri on Sunday evening and is investigating the cause.
Jammu and Kashmir lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha acknowledged the gravity of the situation, stating: “The health department and other agencies have probed the deaths, but the exact cause has not been determined yet. The Home Minister’s team will work with local authorities to provide relief and uncover the truth.”
He also confirmed that police have formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to explore other angles, including the possibility of foul play.
The illness, which initially presented with fever, abdominal pain, vomiting, and episodic loss of consciousness, claimed its first victim on 7 December.
Fazal Hussain, a resident of Budhal, fell ill after attending a community meal during his daughter’s wedding. Within days, four more family members, including children aged 5 to 14, also perished. The second wave of deaths occurred on 12 December, when three children from Mohammad Rafiq’s family died. The third cluster, involving Mohammad Aslam’s family, began on 12 January and culminated with Yasmeen’s death.
The medical teams have screened over 3,000 individuals in the area but they did not find a trace of any communicable disease from bacteria or virus that lead to the deaths, reported the Hindu Businessline.
Over 12,500 samples, including blood, food, and environmental specimens, have been collected and tested by leading national health agencies. Preliminary findings indicate the presence of neurotoxins, but the exact toxin and its source remain unidentified, reported The Print, citing sources.
Investigators suspect contaminated food or water may have been the delivery mechanism. Water samples from the village spring tested positive for pesticides or insecticides, prompting authorities to seal and sanitise the area and relocate affected families to isolated shelters.
“Despite extensive testing and surveillance, we are still in the dark about what is killing these people,” said Jammu and Kashmir health minister Sakina Itoo. “We have ruled out bacterial and viral infections, but this only deepens the mystery,” Ms Itoo said.
Experts from institutions such as the National Institute of Virology, the National Centre for Disease Control, and PGIMER Chandigarh have been roped in to expedite the investigation.
Local residents are gripped by fear and frustration as the deaths have disrupted their daily life. Nasir Ahmed, a villager, voiced the community’s concerns: “How can this be a virus when only three families are affected? If it were a disease, it would have spread to others. We’re terrified to eat or drink anything.”
The recurring pattern of deaths following community meals has fuelled speculation about intentional poisoning. While the SIT is interrogating suspects and collecting evidence, no arrests have been made so far.
Senior Taliban official hits out at own group’s policies towards women
A senior Taliban official has called on the militant group to open schools for women and girls, a rare sign of internal divisions around one of the flagship policies of Afghanistan’s de facto rulers.
Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, the Taliban’s acting deputy foreign minister, said the edict forbidding girls and women from schools was not in line with Sharia law as claimed.
“We request the leaders of the Islamic Emirate to open the doors of education,” he said, claiming that “there is no excuse for this and never will be”. “In the time of the Prophet Muhammad, the doors of knowledge were open to both men and women,” the Taliban minister said at a Madrassa graduation ceremony in Khost province.
The 62-year-old UN-sanctioned official said his own leaders were “committing injustice against 20 million people”, referring to the women who make up roughly half of the Afghan population.
“We have deprived them of all their rights; they have no inheritance rights, no share in determining their husband’s rights, they are sacrificed in forced marriages, they are not allowed to study, they cannot go to mosques, the doors of universities and schools are closed to them, and they are not allowed in religious schools either,” the acting deputy foreign minister said.
After taking control of Afghanistan in August 2021, the Taliban pledged to govern the country based on a moderate interpretation of Sharia law, and to maintain many of the rights and freedoms enjoyed by women under the previous Western-backed government. Yet within months they had shut classes for girls beyond grade six, and colleges were closed to female students at the end of 2022. In some cases students were sent home at gun-point.
Mr Stanikzai led a team of negotiators at the Taliban’s political office in Doha before US forces withdrew from Afghanistan in 2021, and he has criticised the crackdown on girls’ education before. But his latest comments represent the first call for a change in policy and a direct appeal to Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada.
The international community has cited the gender apartheid in Afghanistan as it has denied recognition to the Taliban regime, including in resolutions at the United Nations. Experts and human rights activists monitoring the situation in Afghanistan have said the ban will deeply affect the country’s female population.
The Taliban claims it plans to reopen schools and universities for women but has given no clear details of when or how it plans to do so. Meanwhile, a number of the Taliban’s senior leaders are reported to have sent their children to school overseas.
TSMC evacuates Taiwan factories after 6.4-magnitude earthquake
A 6.4-magnitude earthquake struck Taiwan’s southern Chiayi county on Tuesday, causing minor injuries and damage to houses and prompting evacuations at a prominent chipmaker’s factories.
The earthquake struck near the Dapu township at 12.17am local time, with its epicentre located 38km southeast of Chiayi County Hall, at a depth of 10km, according to Taiwan’s Central Weather Administration.
The quake shook buildings as far as Taipei and prompted evacuations at chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) factories, local media reported.
TSMC confirmed in a statement that evacuations were conducted at its facilities in the Central Taiwan Science Park in Taichung and the Southern Taiwan Science Park in Tainan as part of its emergency response protocols.
Rescuers reported no major casualties, but 27 people sustained minor injuries, including six rescued from a collapsed house in Tainan city.
TSMC said all of its employees were safe. Nikkei Asia reported that workers returned to their job sites hours after the quake.
The earthquake struck near Chiayi where TSMC operates clusters of its cutting-edge chip plants that supply AI and mobile processors to global companies such as Nvidia, Apple, and Advanced Micro Devices.
A video shared on Facebook showed local fire authorities rescuing three individuals, including a child, from a house that had collapsed in the nearby Nanxi district.
In Nanxi district, the ceilings of several houses caved in. Elsewhere, one person sustained injuries from falling debris, and two others were reported trapped in elevators, according to authorities.
The health ministry confirmed a total of 27 injuries, while the Nanxi district fire brigade stated that “no major damage” had been reported.
The earthquake triggered a fire at a printing factory in Chiayi, but it was quickly extinguished, and no injuries were reported
Taiwan, situated near the junction of two tectonic plates, is highly prone to earthquakes. The Meishan earthquake near Chiayi in 1906 claimed over 1,200 lives.
The island’s most recent major earthquake occurred in April, when a 7.2-magnitude tremor struck Hualien on the east coast, resulting in 13 deaths.
Additional reporting by agencies
Indian Olympic star Neeraj Chopra marries tennis player Himani Mor
India’s star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra has revealed that he is now married in a brief announcement on social media.
The two-time Olympic medalist, one of the country’s most famous sports stars, posted a series of pictures from the intimate ceremony following his marriage to tennis player Himani Mor.
The pictures were accompanied by a simple caption: “Started a new chapter of life with my family. Grateful for every blessing that brought us to this moment together. Bound by love, happily ever after.”
Chopra’s uncle Bhim Chopra told Indian media that details of the wedding were kept private, something that the newlyweds had asked for.
“The wedding took place on 16 January in Himachal Pradesh. Both the families were present during the wedding, which was arranged by the two families,” he told The Indian Express.
“It’s a new journey for Neeraj and Himani. We cannot share details of the ceremony since Neeraj and Himani’s families want it to be that way. Neeraj and Himani are currently out of the country. The whole Chopra family is delighted.”
According to Indian media reports, Mor is a former tennis player from Sonipat, located in the northern Indian state of Haryana.
As soon as Chopra posted the news of his wedding congratulations started pouring in from fans, as well as peers from the sporting community.
Former cricketer Suresh Raina congratulated Chopra with a post on X, formerly Twitter, writing: “Many congratulations Neeraj Chopra. May your journey together be filled with beautiful memories and unwavering companionship.”
“Congratulations, Neeraj and Himani! Wishing you both a lifetime filled with love, laughter, and endless happiness,” Indian badminton player PV Sindhu commented on Chopra’s post.
Actor Rajkummar Rao wrote: “Aap donon ko Bahut bahut Badhaai ho mere bhai. Hamesha khush raho (Many congratulations to you both, my brother. Always stay happy).”
Born to an agricultural family in rural Haryana, Chopra won the gold medal at the 2020 Olympics, becoming the first Asian javelin throw athlete to do so.
“My goal was always the Tokyo Olympics,” Chopra said at the time. “I put in the hard work and trusted the process since every single effort counts when it comes to success at the highest level.
“They say a lion always takes a step back before attacking. I think of a setback in an athlete’s life like that, so I ensured that I gave my 100 per cent during the rehab phase so that I could be at my best possible shape on return.”
Chopra won silver at the 2024 Paris Olympics, where he threw 88.13m in the finals.