WILL THE UNITED STATES provide humanitarian aid to people in Afghanistan? The Taliban regime says yes.(Shutterstock).

Humanitarian aid may be sent to Afghanistan by the United States, but that hasn’t been confirmed by Washington.

According to the Associated Press, the Taliban regime that conquered that country after the withdrawal of U.S. forces is claimed on Sunday the U.S. would offer aid directly to Afghans, but not give diplomatic recognition to the new Kabul government.

The U.S. State Department didn’t go that far, and said in a statement Sunday that the two sides “discussed the United States’ provision of robust” help to Afghans.

On Saturday, the Taliban stated that it would not cooperate with the U.S. in battling IS, a radical Islamic group considered more extremist than the Taliban, and which is blamed for a series of bombings in recent weeks.

Taiwan won’t “bow to China”

In reply to China’s claim of aiming at “peaceful reunification” with Taiwan, the president of that island nation Tsai Ing-wen shot back Sunday that “There should be absolutely no illusions that the Taiwanese people will bow to pressure.”

Taiwan – officially the Republic of China – will continue to improve its defenses, according to Reuters.com in the face of repeated recent incursions into its air space by warplanes of the mainland People’s Republic of China.

Also in the news….

• A shootout at a tavern in St. Paul resulted in one death and at least 14 people wounded
• Las Vegas Raiders head coach Jon Gruden has come under fire for some racially offensive comments in a 2011 e-mail.

Sports: Chargers outlast the Browns

CHARGERS rallied for a win on Sunday over the Browns.

The Los Angeles Chargers had the last chance, and took advantage of it Sunday at SoFi Stadium, rallying to defeat the Cleveland Browns 47-42 to improve to 4-1 on the season. The Browns fell to 3-2.

Austin Ekeler’s 4-yard TD run proved to be the winning score. Justin Herbert was 26-of-43 passing for 398 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions. Browns QB Baker Mayfield had a good day, too, completing 23-of-32 passes for 305 yards and two TDs.

Georgia on top: After Saturday’s stunning upset of top-ranked Alabama by Texas A&M, the AP Top 25 got reshuffled.  Georgia (6-0) moved to the top spot, and the Crimson Tide (5-1) slid to fifth. Iowa (6-0) is second, Oklahoma (6-0) is third and Cincinnati (5-0) is fifth.

UCLA and USC are unranked.

Weather: Clouds give way to sun

If you can tolerate partly cloudy weather Monday, you have a reward waiting for you: a week or so of sunny skies. Monday will be partly cloudy with a high of 75 (overnight low of 51), followed by five days of clear weather and sun, with temperatures warming to 87 by Friday. In coastal areas of Huntington Beach, daily highs will be two to seven degrees cooler.