clare: joining me in the studio is dw's chief correspondent melinda crane. w much leverage do the u.s. and germany have with the interim taliban government? melinda: hard to say at the moment. they are hoping their leverage will be money and humanitarian help. the afghan government prior to this was dependent on 75% of its finances on outside donors. clearly, this taliban government is going to be facing an economic emergency, and we also have a humanitarian crisis already in the works. now, the west, frankly, has to ensure that we do not see terrible suffering amongst afghans because that will undoubtedly be laid also at the doorstep of the west due to this shambolic withdrawal. nonetheless, there are other countries out there that are certainly going to be willing to provide financial support and humanitarian help to the taliban with very few questions asked about what kind of government they have formed or whose rights they are respecting. i refer here to china, but also iran, pakistan, countries whose foreign ministers were also meeting today, interesting