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Afghanistan is facing a breakdown of its economic and social systems that risks turning into a humanitarian catastrophe, the European Union's foreign policy chief said on Sunday.

Avoiding the worst-case scenario would require the Taliban to comply with conditions that would enable more international assistance, Josep Borrell wrote in a blog post.

"Afghanistan is experiencing a serious humanitarian crisis and a socio-economic collapse is looming, which would be dangerous for Afghans, the region and international security," Borrell wrote.

Food prices in the country have jumped more than 50% since the Taliban took power in August as the freezing of $9 billion of Afghanistan's assets held in foreign central bank reserves and the withdrawal of foreign income stokes inflation.

The Afghan banking system is largely paralysed, with people unable to withdraw money, while the country's health system - which was heavily dependent on foreign aid - is close to collapse, according to Borrell.

"If the situation continues and with winter approaching, this risks turning into a humanitarian catastrophe," he wrote, adding that this could trigger mass migration into neighbouring states.

The 27-country EU has increased its humanitarian aid to Afghanistan since the Taliban took power, but halted its development assistance - a move also taken by other countries and the World Bank.

The EU response to the crisis would depend on the behaviour of the new Afghan authorities, Borrell said, and any resumption of relations would require compliance with conditions including human rights.

"This requires above all that the Taliban take the steps that will enable the international community to assist the Afghan people," he said, adding that female staff from international agencies must be able to do their job.

Widespread reports of human rights abuses and the exclusion of girls from schools have dented optimism that the Taliban's approach has changed since it first ran Afghanistan between 1996 and 2001.

Borrell met Qatari officials last week in the Qatari capital Doha, where the Taliban have a representation.

He said Qatar's contacts with the Taliban were aimed at moderating their behaviour, and urged Doha to use its contacts with them to ensure the "worst scenario" for Afghanistan could be avoided. (Reuters)

A man walks past a wall mural depicting the Taliban flag in Kabul - 

More than 1,500 Taliban supporters attended a rally on Sunday (Oct 3) in a vast field to the north of Kabul, in a show of strength as they consolidate their rule of Afghanistan.

The crowd, exclusively men and boys, heard speeches by leading Taliban officials and commanders at Kohdaman township in the hilly outskirts of the capital.

The rally was the first of its kind in the capital since the Islamist group seized control of the country seven weeks ago following a lightning offensive.

Flanked by white and black Taliban standards and fighters in combat gear carrying assault rifles, the speakers addressed an audience sat in rows of chairs under awnings.

As the event went on, more and more supporters arrived, leaving several hundred sitting to watch from chairs in the midday sun.

Mawlawi Muslim Haqqani, the deputy minister of Hajj and Religious Affairs, hailed the Islamist hardliners' takeover, saying Christians and Westerners had been defeated.

A string of men also railed against the United States, and one told the crowd to "respect elders" because they were the "mujahids who fought against the Soviets" in the 1980s.

A speaker introduced as Rahmatullah, from nearby Mir Bacha Kot, said the Taliban's victory was "the result of those youths who stood in queues to register for suicide attacks".

To kick off proceedings, a procession of fighters carrying flags and weapons - including rocket launchers - paraded around the crowd.

Some of the mainly unarmed supporters waved homemade posters, while others sported red or white Taliban headbands.

Tribal elders watched on cross-legged from the side of the stage.

As people arrived, music honouring the Taliban's victories echoed around the site as dozens of heavily armed fighters in military combat fatigues stood guard.

"America is defeated, impossible, impossible - but possible!" one song said.

Some chanted pro-Taliban slogans as they drove down the dusty road on pick-up trucks to the site, as others shouted "Allahu Akbar" (God is greatest) when they walked into the shaded area in front of the stage.

At the turn-off towards the township, about 10 armed fighters lined the road beneath a large banner honouring a deceased Taliban commander and professing the "support of the people of Kohdaman for the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan in the action of liberating the country".

Last Thursday, the Taliban had violently cracked down on a small women's rights demonstration in eastern Kabul, firing shots into the air to disperse protesters.

Then, gunmen pushed back the women protesters as they tried to continue with the demonstration, while a foreign journalist was hit with a rifle and blocked from filming.

A Taliban fighter released a brief burst of gunfire into the air with his automatic weapon, AFP journalists saw.

Isolated anti-Taliban rallies - with women at the forefront - were staged in cities around the country after the group seized power, including in the western city of Herat where two people were shot dead.

But protests have dwindled since the government issued an order banning demonstrations that did not have prior authorisation, warning of "severe legal action" for violators.

The handful that have gone ahead have been criticised as carefully orchestrated publicity stunts, including a rally at a Kabul university where hundreds of fully veiled women professed support for the new regime//CNA

FILE PHOTO: A newly developed anti-aircraft missile is seen during a test conducted by the Academy of Defence Science, in this undated photo released on October 1, 2021 by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). KCNA via REUTERS - 

North Korea said on Sunday (Oct 3) the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) applied double standards over military activities among UN member states, state media KCNA said, amid international criticism over its recent missile tests.

The Council met behind closed doors on Friday upon requests from the United States and other countries over the North's missile launches.

The meeting came a day after Pyongyang fired a newly developed anti-aircraft missile, the latest in a recent series of weapons tests including the launches of a previously unseen hypersonic missile, ballistic missiles and a cruise missile with potential nuclear capabilities.

Jo Chol Su, director of the North Korean foreign ministry's Department of International Organisations, said the UNSC meeting means an "open ignorance of and wanton encroachment" on its sovereignty and "serious intolerable provocation".

Jo accused the Council of double standards as it remains silent about US joint military exercises and weapons tests with allies, while taking issue with the North's "self-defensive" activities.

"This is a denial of impartiality, objectivity and equilibrium, lifelines of the UN activities, and an evident manifestation of double-dealing standard," Jo said in a statement carried by the official KCNA news agency.

Jo warned the council could face consequences if it continues to breach the North's sovereignty "with the double-dealing stick" and rely on "the US-style brigandish way of thinking and judgment".

Pyongyang has said in recent weeks that its weapons tests are aimed at boosting its defence capabilities just as other countries do, accusing Washington and Seoul of "double standards" and "hostile policy" toward it.

The tests underscored how the reclusive state has been constantly developing increasingly sophisticated weapons, raising the stakes for stalled talks aimed at dismantling its nuclear and missile programmes in return for US sanctions relief.

The United States has criticised the launches as "destabilising" and posing regional threats, but said it has no hostile intent toward North Korea, urging it to accept offers to resume negotiations.

White House spokesperson Jen Psaki said on Friday that Washington remained ready to discuss a "full range of issues."

"We've made specific proposals for discussions with the North Koreans, but have not received a response to date," she told reporters//CNA

Olaf Scholz will scramble for coalition partners after his SPD party beat the conservatives - 

German political parties will hold exploratory talks from Sunday (Oct 3) as they jostle to form the next government after a close election, with the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) battling Angela Merkel's conservatives for the chancellery.

The SPD and its candidate Olaf Scholz narrowly won last week's vote on 25.7 per cent, with Merkel's CDU-CSU alliance plunging to an all-time low of 24.1 per cent as she prepares to leave the stage after 16 years in power.

The result leaves the SPD in pole position to form a government, but conservative leader Armin Laschet has also vowed to begin coalition talks in a last-ditch effort to keep the ailing CDU-CSU in power.

In the complex calculations for a coalition, the makeup of the next German government essentially hinges on which of the two parties can persuade the Greens and the liberal FDP to sign up for a partnership.

First up in what Der Spiegel magazine has described as the "poker game for power" is the SPD, which will huddle with the FDP on Sunday afternoon and the Greens in the evening.

Their rivals, the CDU-CSU, will meet with the FDP on Sunday evening and the Greens on Tuesday.

In a poll for the ZDF broadcaster on Friday, 59 per cent of respondents said they were in favour of an SPD-Greens-FDP coalition, also known as the "traffic-light" combination after the parties' colours.

Only 24 per cent said they would prefer the combination led by the CDU, a coalition known as "Jamaica" after the colours of that country's flag.

About 76 per cent said they thought Scholz should be the next German chancellor, with just 13 per cent backing Laschet.

In an interview with Der Spiegel magazine on Friday, Scholz said it was "clear from every poll that people don't want the (CDU-CSU) to be part of the next government".

"The election result is clear. The CDU and CSU have suffered a historic defeat and have been voted out," he said.

But the conservatives are not giving up, with Markus Blume, general secretary of the CSU, insisting on Friday that "Jamaica has a chance".

The CSU, the smaller Bavarian partner in the conservative alliance, had provoked consternation earlier in the week by conceding that Scholz had won the election and should be first in the queue to form a government.

The stance broke ranks with Laschet, who at that point had not publicly congratulated Scholz and had claimed "no party" - not even the SPD - could claim a mandate to govern from the vote outcome.

Laschet has faced a barrage of criticism over his election performance and his refusal to admit defeat, including calls to resign from within his own party - but has so far given no indication that he plans to do so.

With the SPD and the conservatives scrambling for the affections of the Greens and the FDP, the smaller parties find themselves in an outsize position of power as potential kingmakers.

"For now, Greens and FDP are in the driver's seat," said Holger Schmieding, an analyst for the Berenberg bank.

The two parties have aready held two sounding-out sessions, with their leaders posting a much-shared selfie on social media in a show of unity after a secret gathering on Tuesday.

But it remains to be seen "whether they can really choose between traffic light and Jamaica, and the extent to which they can shape the agenda", Schmieding said.

The two smaller parties are not natural bedfellows, diverging on issues like tax hikes and public investment in climate protection.

After Germany's last election in 2017, the FDP dramatically walked out of negotiations with the CDU-CSU and the Greens, with leader Christian Lindner declaring it was "better not to govern at all than to govern badly"//CNA