Families of American hostages held by the Taliban in Afghanistan have asked Joe Biden “to do the right thing” and bring the men home before he leaves office, after months of lobbying the outgoing president to broker a deal with the hardline Islamist regime.

President Biden spoke by phone Sunday with the families of three Americans held by the Taliban, Ryan Corbett, George Glezmann and Mahmood Habibi.

Fmr CIA analyst Sarah Adams made the case for US to stop funding Taliban, predicting, "2025 will be a reckoning..."

In an exit interview with NPR's Mary Louise Kelly, CIA Director William Burns says he still thinks "there's a chance" for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war.

The Taliban, who deny holding Habibi ... Rahim was "the last person brought into the CIA torture program," said Connell, referring to an agency program instituted after the Sept.

The Taliban say they are demanding the release of three people, including Muhammad Rahim, the only Afghan national left at Guantánamo Bay.

The White House said President Joe Biden spoke to the families of three Americans held by the Taliban in Afghanistan since 2022 and promised to do all possible to bring them home as he heads into the final days of his presidency.

Talks center on release of at least 1 Guantanamo detainee in exchange for release of Americans held in Afghanistan, Wall Street Journal suggests - Anadolu Ajansı

The Taliban are now reducing their over-reliance on Pakistan and exploring alliances and friendships beyond Islamabad

Representatives for the Afghan Taliban also did not immediately respond ... as a high-level al-Qaeda operative who was transferred to Guantanamo in 2008 from CIA custody. The talks have been in motion since July, according to the WSJ, which cited sources ...

But in Burns—a 33-year veteran of the Foreign Service, only the second career diplomat to become deputy secretary of state, a former ambassador to Russia and Jordan—Biden got a spymaster with an unusual set of skills.