Afghanistan

The U.N. finds that nearly half of all children younger than 5 in Afghanistan, some 3.1 million, are facing acute malnutrition. Mothers share their plight to provide the children sustenance.

The Taliban have waged attacks across the country, prompting a call to reduce the violence from Gen. Mark Milley. In Kabul, the public worries about the Taliban's return.

Mahbubullah Muhibbi is the latest, and one of the highest-profile victims of shadowy assailants, who've killed journalists, police, security forces, judicial authorities and senior administrators.

The two sides have agreed on a way forward for substantive negotiations aimed at ending decades of almost continuous war in the country, representatives said in near-twin tweets.

The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attacks, which killed at least eight in the Afghan capital and came on a day when Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was to discuss Afghan peace talks.

"Only through a series of independent inquiries will we uncover the true extent of this disregard for Afghan life, which normalized murder, and resulted in war crimes," an Afghan rights group says.

The findings indicate that Australia's special forces soldiers unlawfully killed 39 Afghans nationals or noncombatants during operations from 2009 to 2013.

Biden's record, especially as vice president, helps illuminate what he may do once he is sworn in. Amid an uptick in violence, some Afghans hope for a reassessment of the U.S.-Taliban peace agreement.

The American troop presence will decline in Afghanistan from 4,500 to 2,500, and in Iraq from 3,000 to 2,500. Senior military leaders reportedly oppose the move.

At the championship of the Afghan women's soccer league, players sprint across the field. Hoodie-style hijabs cover their hair. The scene was once unthinkable. But now the players face new obstacles.

The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for an attack by heavily armed gunmen who stormed the campus, firing on students, some of whom jumped out of windows to flee the attackers.

It looked as if polio would be the second human disease to be eliminated — after smallpox. But "2020 has been a terrible year," the head of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative says.