The Latest: Pakistan hosts meeting of Afghanistan neighbors

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ISLAMABAD — Pakistan is hosting a virtual gathering of overseas ministers from countries neighboring Afghanistan to sermon the concern there.

A overseas ministry connection said Wednesday’s gathering volition beryllium attended by China, Iran, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi volition preside implicit the meeting, which aims “to enactment unneurotic for the shared nonsubjective of a peaceful and unchangeable Afghanistan, which is indispensable to forge beardown economical links."

The improvement comes a time aft the Taliban announced an all-male interim authorities for Afghanistan, stacked with veterans from their hard-line regularisation successful the 1990s and the 20-year conflict against the U.S.-led coalition.

So acold Pakistan has not commented connected the enactment of the interim government.

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MORE ON AFGHANISTAN:

— Taliban sanction caretaker Cabinet that pays homage to aged guard

— US-built databases a imaginable instrumentality of Taliban repression

— Blinken and Austin to sojourn Gulf to code postwar stresses

— Taliban accidental they took Panjshir, past holdout Afghan province

— Over 24 hours successful Kabul, brutality, trauma, moments of grace

— Find much AP sum astatine https://apnews.com/hub/afghanistan

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HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING:

UNITED NATIONS — Former Irish president Mary Robinson, who heads the radical of salient erstwhile leaders founded by Nelson Mandela, called connected China and Russia particularly to archer the Taliban that information of women successful Afghan nine and the acquisition of girls are “non-negotiable and indispensable beryllium respected.”

Robinson recalled visiting Afghanistan successful March 2002 arsenic U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights and being with the past curate of women’s affairs and different Afghan women who had been progressive earlier the Taliban ruled from 1996-2001 erstwhile they drafted a charter of women’s rights.

Now seat of The Elders, Robinson told the U.N. Security Council connected Tuesday this was “an important reminder that women’s rights are not Western rights — they are cardinal quality rights that these Afghan women had reclaimed successful accordance with their taste values.”

Over the past astir 20 years, she said, “hard-won gains successful sex equality and women’s rights person been secured done constitutional, legislative and argumentation changes.”

“We cannot let the women and girls of Afghanistan to beryllium deprived of these rights, including the close to permission the country,” Robinson said.

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UNITED NATIONS — The United Nations is making an exigency entreaty for $606 cardinal to assistance astir 11 cardinal radical successful Afghanistan for the remainder of 2021. It says they look a humanitarian situation exacerbated by drought, displacement, chronic poorness and the crisp summation successful hostilities arsenic the Taliban swept to power.

The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs already has a $1.3 cardinal entreaty for Afghanistan for the full twelvemonth of 2021, but it is lone 39% funded — astatine conscionable $498 million.

The agency’s a “Flash Appeal” launched Tuesday includes $413 cardinal from the archetypal entreaty that has not been funded and $193 cardinal successful caller needs done December.

The wealth aims to assistance 11 cardinal radical with critically needed nutrient and “livelihood assistance,” including 2 cardinal radical not covered successful the archetypal appeal. It is besides meant to supply indispensable wellness services to 3.4 cardinal Afghans, attraction for acute malnutrition for much than 1 cardinal children and women, h2o and sanitation for 2.5 cardinal people, and extortion for 1.5 cardinal radical including children and survivors of sex violence.

The bureau says adjacent anterior to the Taliban takeover, “the humanitarian concern successful Afghanistan was 1 of the worst successful the world.”

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WASHINGTON — The State Department says the U.S. is assessing the caller Afghan authorities announced by the Taliban.

“We enactment the announced database of names consists exclusively of individuals who are members of the Taliban oregon their adjacent associates and nary women,” a State Department connection said. “We besides are acrophobic by the affiliations and way records of immoderate of the individuals.

“We recognize that the Taliban has presented this arsenic a caretaker Cabinet. However, we volition justice the Taliban by its actions, not words. We person made wide our anticipation that the Afghan radical merit an inclusive government,” it said.

On the contented of radical trying to permission Afghanistan, the State Department said the U.S. volition “hold the Taliban to their commitments to let harmless transition for overseas nationals and Afghans with question documents, including permitting flights presently acceptable to alert retired of Afghanistan to agreed-upon onward destinations.”

The connection added: “We besides reiterate our wide anticipation that the Taliban guarantee that Afghan ungraded is not utilized to endanger immoderate different countries and let humanitarian entree successful enactment of the Afghan people.”

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