A US military contractor sentenced for taking bribes this week to three years and 10 months in prison for accepting bribes from an Afghan contractor in Afghanistan.

Nine of eleven policewomen have returned to their duties, officials of Kandahar's central prison said.

The leadership of Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) released almost 285 detainees from the central prison of Kandahar province.

An exposed database could have revealed thousands of private chats.

A new report on the human rights situation in Bahrain shows that authorities committed more than 130 cases of abuse against imprisoned anti-regime activists and political dissidents last December as the ruling Al Khalifah regime presses ahead with its heavy-handed clampdown on pro-democracy campaigners in the Persian Gulf kingdom.

Ousted Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has been moved from house arrest to prison, according to media reports on Wednesday.