UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Be realistic. Show patience. Engage. And above all, don’t isolate. Those are the pillars of an approach emerging in Pakistan to deal with the fledgling government that is suddenly running the country next door once again — Afghanistan’s resurgent, often-volatile Taliban.

Pakistan’s government is proposing that the international community develop a road map that leads to diplomatic recognition of the Taliban — with incentives if they fulfill its requirements — and then sit down face to face and talk it out with the militia’s leaders.

Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi speaks during an interview with The Associated Press, Wednesday, Sept. 22, 2021, in New York. Photo: Mary Altaffer/AP/TT

He said Pakistan “is in sync with the international community” in wanting to see a peaceful, stable Afghanistan.

The AP Interview: Top Pakistan diplomat details Taliban plan

TOKYO (AP) — Guinness World Records has certified two Japanese sisters as the world’s oldest living identical twins at 107, in an announcement Monday coinciding with Respect for the Aged Day, a national holiday in Japan.

Umeno Sumiyama and Koume Kodama were born the third and fourth of 11 siblings on Shodoshima island in western Japan on Nov. 5, 1913.

This combination of two undated photos released by Guinness World Records on Tuesday, Sept. 21, 2021, show sisters Umeno Sumiyama, left, and Koume Kodama at separate nursing homes in Shodoshima island, left, and Oita prefecture, Japan. Photo: Guinness World Records via AP/TT

Umeno Sumiyama and Koume Kodama were born the third and fourth of 11 siblings on Nov. 5, 1913.

Japanese sisters certified as world’s oldest twins at 107

BEIJING (AP) — Global investors are watching nervously as one of China’s biggest real estate developers struggles to avoid defaulting on tens of billions of dollars of debt, fueling fears of possible wider shock waves for the financial system.

Chinese regulators have yet to say what they might do about Evergrande Group. Economists expect Beijing to intervene if Evergrande and lenders can’t agree on how to handle its debts. But any official resolution is expected to involve losses for banks and bondholders.

A construction crane stands on a new housing development project by Evergrande in Beijing. Photo: Andy Wong/AP/TT

China’s biggest real estate developers struggles to avoid defaulting on tens of billions of dollars of debt.

Explainer: Chinese builder’s debt struggle rattles investors

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Warning of a potential new Cold War, the head of the United Nations implored China and the United States to repair their “completely dysfunctional” relationship before problems between the two large and deeply influential countries spill over even further into the rest of the planet.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres spoke to The Associated Press this weekend ahead of this week’s annual United Nations gathering of world leaders — a convening blemished by COVID, climate concerns and contentiousness across the planet.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres talks to media at a press conference, during the High-Level Ministerial Event on the Humanitarian Situation in Afghanistan, at the European headquarters of the United Nation, in Geneva, Switzerland, Monday, Sept. 13, 2021. Photo: Salvatore Di Nolfi: Keystone via AP/TT

The head of the UN implored China and the United States to repair their “completely dysfunctional” relationship before problems spill over into the rest of the planet.