The original content of Democracy Now! Headlines appears under the Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 3.0 License (United States). For more, including their other shows and media, visit www.democracynow.org. March 2, 2020 U.S. and Taliban Sign Deal Aimed at Ending 18-Year War ------------------------------------------------------ The U.S. has signed a deal with the Taliban aimed at drawing down its military presence and ending its 18-year war in Afghanistan. The long-anticipated deal comes after a year and a half of negotiations and following a week-long partial truce. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Sunday, however, rejected a prisoner swap with the Taliban, ahead of power-sharing talks that start next week in Oslo, Norway. Afghan women are raising alarm that the deal could further restrict or do away with their rights. This is journalist Nargiss Hurakhsh. Nargiss Hurakhsh: "During the period of negotiations, the Taliban have repeatedly shown that their views on women have not changed, and this is a concern to us. We call on the Afghan government and the team who will negotiate with the Taliban to consider the freedom and achievements of all Afghans, especially women, as the bottom line." We'll have more on the historic U.S.-Afghan deal after headlines. .