Indian Sub-continent

ISLAMABAD, Aug 22 (APP): Former Prime Minister of Afghanistan and Chief of Hizb-e-Islami Engineer Gulbuddin Hekmatyar while appreciating Pakistan’s efforts for the peaceful settlement of the Afghan conflict on Sunday said that India should also play positive role for peace in Afghanistan.

New Delhi should focus on its internal issues instead of issuing statements regarding the future of Afghanistan, Hikmatyar said while talking to Pakistani media in Kabul.

The former Prime Minister of Afghanistan said the Indian government should not fight Kashmir war from Afghan soil.

22 Aug 2021; MEMO: Britain would have to turn to Russia and China to exercise a "moderating influence" over the Taliban, despite a mistrust between the UK and those governments, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said, reports Reuters.

"We're going to have to bring in countries with a potentially moderating influence like Russia and China, however uncomfortable that is," Raab told The Sunday Telegraph newspaper.

22 Aug 2021; MEMO: Thousands of Afghans remain camped at the airport in Afghanistan's capital Kabul, anxiously waiting for a chance to leave the country after the Taliban takeover, Anadolu Agency reported.

Food, water, and other essential supplies are scarce, leaving men, women, children, and the elderly increasingly desperate after five long days of what they say has been an agonizing wait.

22 Aug 2021; MEMO: Seven people were killed on Saturday in crowds near Kabul airport where people have been gathering to try to flee Afghanistan after the Taliban took control, according to Britain's Ministry of Defence, reports Reuters.

Since the Islamist militants entered Kabul last weekend, thousands of people have tried to get on flights abroad, fearing a return to the austere interpretation of Islamic law imposed during the previous Taliban rule that ended 20 years ago.

KABUL, Aug 22 (Reuters) - The Taliban fired in the air and used batons to make people line up in orderly queues outside Kabul airport on Sunday, witnesses said, a day after seven people were killed in a crush at the gates.

On Sunday, there were no major injuries as gunmen beat back the crowds and long lines of people were being formed, the witnesses said.

22 Aug 2021; MEMO: Hena Al-Gul is an activist and entrepreneur who wants to increase social awareness in Palestinian society by highlighting the importance of natural resources and the environment.

The leisure centre welcomes people with chairs made of car tyres, windows with recycle washing machine door panes and paintings from fabric and yarn.

ISLAMABAD, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan on Sunday dispelled speculations regarding visit of the country's foreign minister to Kabul, according to the Foreign Ministry of Pakistan.

"No visit by Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi to Kabul is scheduled. Any speculation in this regard is baseless," Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri said.

New Delhi, Aug 22 (PTI) India on Sunday evacuated 168 people including 107 Indians from Kabul in a military transport aircraft of the IAF amid the deteriorating security situation in the Afghan capital city following its takeover by the Taliban a week back.

Another group of 87 Indians and two Nepalese nationals who were flown in an Indian Air Force (IAF) aircraft to the Tajikistan capital of Dushanbe from Kabul on Saturday, arrived in Delhi on Sunday morning, people familiar with the development said.

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Potential Islamic State threats against Americans in Afghanistan are forcing the U.S. military to develop new ways to get evacuees to the airport in Kabul, a senior U.S. official said Saturday, adding a new complication to the already chaotic efforts to get people out of the country after its swift fall to the Taliban.

Srinagar, Aug 22 (PTI) The People's Alliance for Gupkar Declaration is likely to meet here on Tuesday to discuss the prevailing situation in Jammu and Kashmir, and have wider consultations on the way forward.

The PAGD is an alliance of six mainstream political parties seeking the restoration of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, which was revoked by the Centre in August 2019.