WASHINGTON( Reuters)-Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman spoke on Wednesday with a representative of Myanmar's government in exile, the first announced contact between a senior U.S. official and the rival administration to the generals who overthrew a democratically elected government. The State Department said Sherman spoke with Zin Mar Aung, who has been appointed acting foreign minister in the shadow National Unity Government for Myanmar, also known as Burma." They discussed ongoing effor

When the Taliban last held power from 1996 to 2001, they brutally enforced an interpretation of Sunni Islam that banned women from work and school. Sayeed and her fiance Hasib Sayed made reservations on a commercial flight scheduled Aug.... The next day, they heard Taliban forces were searching door-to-door in their neighborhood.... Sayeed again went to the airport, wearing a veil that revealed only her eyes and traveling with Sayed's young cousin as if on a family outing." We passed through f