ISLAMABAD (Reuters) -Since seizing power in 2021, Afghanistan's Taliban administration has rolled back hard-fought rights won by Afghan women and girls during two decades of rule by American-backed governments.

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.

Afghans who fled after the Taliban seized power have appealed to U.S. President Donald Trump to exempt them from an order suspending the relocation of refugees to the United States, some saying they risked their lives to support U.

The family thanked both the Biden and Trump administrations for "countless hours of negotiations, unwavering support, and determination."

Afghans who fled after the Taliban seized power have appealed to President Donald Trump to exempt them from an order suspending the relocation of refugees to the United States, some saying they risked their lives to support U.

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.

- 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's chief prosecutor on Thursday said he was seeking arrest warrants against senior Taliban leaders in Afghanistan over the persecution of women, a crime against humanity.

Akhundzada took over when his predecessor, Akhtar Mansour, was killed in a U.S. drone strike near the Afghan-Pakistan border in 2016. For 15 years, until his sudden disappearance in May 2016, Akhundzada taught and preached at a mosque in Kuchlak, a town in southwestern Pakistan, associates and students have told Reuters.

The requested warrants target Hibatullah Akhundzada, the reclusive Kandahar-based leader of the Taliban, and Abdul Hakim Haqqani, the group’s chief justice.