ISLAMABAD/KABUL — Afghanistan and Pakistan agreed to an immediate ceasefire during talks in Doha after a week of fierce border clashes that were the worst violence between the two countries since the Taliban seized power in Kabul in 2021.

The ceasefire between the South Asian neighbors “has been finalized,” Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif posted on X on Sunday, saying both sides would meet again on Oct. 25 in Istanbul to discuss “detailed matters.”

Qatar’s foreign ministry, which mediated Saturday’s talks along with Turkey, said the follow-up meetings were meant “to ensure the sustainability of the ceasefire and verify its implementation in a reliable and sustainable manner.”

MILITANT ATTACKS, AIRSTRIKES
Pakistan and Afghanistan are seeking a way forward after the clashes killed dozens and wounded hundreds. The talks were led by Asif and his Afghan counterpart, Mullah Muhammad Yaqoob, both sides said.

The ground fighting between the one-time allies and Pakistani airstrikes across their contested 2,600-km (1,600-mile) frontier were triggered after Islamabad demanded that Kabul rein in militants who had stepped up attacks in Pakistan, saying they operated from havens in Afghanistan.

The Taliban denies giving haven to militants to attack Pakistan and accuses the Pakistani military of spreading misinformation about Afghanistan and sheltering Islamic State-linked militants to undermine its stability and sovereignty. Islamabad denies the accusations.

Militants have been waging a war for years against the Pakistani state in a bid to overthrow the government and replace it with their strict brand of Islamic governance.

On Friday, a suicide attack near the border killed seven Pakistani soldiers and wounded 13, security officials said.

“The Afghan regime must rein in the proxies who have sanctuaries in Afghanistan and are using Afghan soil to perpetrate heinous attacks inside Pakistan,” the Pakistan Army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, said on Saturday, addressing a graduation ceremony of cadets.

AFGHANISTAN WITHDRAWS FROM CRICKET SERIES OVER STRIKES
Afghan government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said Pakistan had conducted airstrikes in Afghanistan hours after the ceasefire, which began on Wednesday, was extended on Friday for as long as the Doha talks continued.

He said the attacks targeted civilians, adding that Kabul reserved the right to respond but that Afghan fighters had been directed to refrain from retaliating to respect the negotiating team.

Afghanistan withdrew from the cricket Twenty20 international tri-series in Pakistan next month after the death of three local cricketers that the Afghanistan Cricket Board said were due to military strikes in Paktika province.

Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said in a post on X on Saturday that Pakistan had struck “verified” camps of Islamist militants along the border areas and rejected that the strikes had targeted civilians.

He said militants had attempted to launch multiple attacks inside Pakistan during the ceasefire period.

He said more than 100 militants were killed by Pakistani security forces, the majority of them in strikes against a militant group that he said had carried out Friday’s suicide attack on the military camp.

Reuters could not independently verify the militant death toll given or any targets. — Reuters

Protesters spanning all age groups took to the streets en masse for “No Kings” rallies across the United States on Saturday, denouncing what they view as authoritarian tendencies and unbridled corruption of US President Donald J. Trump.

Organizers expected millions of people to turn out by day’s end at more than 2,600 planned rallies in major cities, small towns and suburbs, challenging a Trump-led agenda that has reshaped the government and upended democratic norms with unprecedented speed since he took office in January.

By all accounts, the demonstrations were largely festive, often featuring inflatable characters and marchers dressed in costumes. The demographically mixed crowds included parents pushing youngsters in strollers alongside retirees and people with pets in tow.

Little, if any, lawlessness was reported.

DISILLUSIONED WITH TRUMP
“There is nothing more American than saying, ‘We don’t have kings’ and exercising our right to peacefully protest,” said Leah Greenberg, co-founder of Indivisible, a progressive organization that led planning of Saturday’s events.

Demonstrators filled Times Square in New York City, where police said they made “zero protest-related arrests” even as more than 100,000 people rallied peacefully across all five boroughs.

Events in Boston, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Denver, Chicago and Seattle also drew crowds that each appeared to encompass thousands, if not tens of thousands, of people.

On the West Coast, more than a dozen rallies occurred around the Los Angeles area, including the primary site downtown. In Seattle, demonstrators filled a parade route that stretched for more than a mile from downtown through the Seattle Center plaza around the city’s landmark Space Needle. More than 25,000 protested peacefully in San Diego, police said.

The protests reflected growing unease among many Americans, mainly on the ideological left, with developments such as the criminal prosecution of Mr. Trump’s perceived political enemies, his militarized immigration crackdown and the sending of National Guard troops into US cities — a move Mr. Trump has said was aimed at fighting crime and protecting immigration agents.

As his administration has tried to rapidly implement its policies, Mr. Trump has installed inexperienced loyalists throughout the ranks of his administration and sought to apply pressure on the news media, law firms and universities.

Saturday’s rallies were boisterous but orderly, with police largely keeping a low profile.

Demonstrators filled a street in Washington, D.C., to march toward the US Capitol, chanting and carrying signs, US flags and balloons, as a carnival-like atmosphere prevailed.

Aliston Elliot, wearing a Statue of Liberty headpiece and holding a “No Wannabe Dictators” sign, said: “We want to show our support for democracy and fighting for what is right. I’m against the overreach of power.”

In downtown Houston, US Marine Corps veteran Daniel Aboyte Gamez, 30, joined a crowd that officials said numbered about 5,000 at city hall.

“I don’t understand what’s going on in this nation right now,” said Mr. Gamez, who served in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria.

‘FORMER REPUBLICAN’
Kevin Brice, 70, a military veteran among thousands of protesters streaming into the riverfront of Portland, Oregon, wore a black sweatshirt emblazoned with the slogan “No Kings since 1776” — referring to the year of the Declaration of Independence.

“Everything that I thought that I stood for while I was serving in the military seems to be at risk,” Mr. Brice said. “So even though I’m a lifelong Republican, I don’t support the direction the party is going.”

Steve Klopp, 74, a Houston-based oil industry retiree, expressed similar sentiments as he wore a shirt printed with the words “Former Republican.”

“I’ve been a Republican forever,” Mr. Klopp said. “My family’s been Republican forever and ever. And the idea that one individual could have turned me away from the Republican Party is insane.”

Kelly Kinsella, 38, standing among several thousand people outside the Colorado statehouse in Denver, was dressed as Lady Liberty with bloody tears dripping down her face.

“Everyone comes to work stressed, and it’s because of the current conditions,” said Ms. Kinsella, who said she was motivated to turn out largely because of renewed inflation that she blamed on Mr. Trump’s tariff policies.

Mr. Trump has said little about Saturday’s protests. But in an interview with Fox Business aired on Friday he said that “they’re referring to me as a king — I’m not a king.”

While the Democratic Party has coped with internal divisions since Mr. Trump won re-election last year, party establishment figures such as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and progressive firebrands like US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez both voiced support for the “No Kings” movement.

Saturday’s protests were aimed at building on momentum gained from more than 2,000 “No Kings” protests that were staged on June 14, coinciding with Mr. Trump’s 79th birthday and a rare military parade in Washington.

HOUSE SPEAKER CALLS PROTESTS ANTI-AMERICAN
House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, on Friday echoed a common refrain among his party, labeling the “No Kings” protests “the hate America rally.”

Other Republicans have accused protest organizers of stoking an atmosphere that they said might spur political violence, especially in the wake of the September assassination of right-wing activist and Mr. Trump ally Charlie Kirk.

Vice President JD Vance, speaking on Saturday to a gathering of Marines at Camp Pendleton in Southern California, made no mention of the protests. But he criticized Democrats over the government shutdown that began early this month in a partisan standoff over federal appropriations.

Dana Fisher, an American University professor in Washington and author of several books on political activism, predicted that Saturday could see one of the largest protest turnouts in modern US history.

She expected that over 3 million people would take part based on registrations and participation in the June events. Overall turnout for the June 14 rallies was estimated at 4 million to 6 million, according to a crowd-sourcing analysis published by prominent data journalist G. Elliott Morris. — Reuters

TOKYO — Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the Japan Innovation Party have broadly agreed to form a coalition government, setting the stage for the country’s first female prime minister, Kyodo news agency reported on Sunday.

Sanae Takaichi, leader of the conservative LDP, and Hirofumi Yoshimura, head of the smaller right-leaning group known as Ishin, are set to sign an agreement sealing their alliance on Monday, Kyodo said.

Calls to the LDP and Ishin headquarters to seek comment went unanswered outside business hours.

ALLIANCE MAY BE SHAKIER THAN PREVIOUS COALITION
Ishin’s co-head, Fumitake Fujita, raised expectations for a deal on Friday, saying the two parties had made “big progress” in coalition talks.

Ishin lawmakers will vote for Ms. Takaichi in an election to choose the prime minister in parliament on Tuesday, but the party does not plan to send ministers to Takaichi’s cabinet, at least initially, Kyodo said.

That would fall short of the full-fledged alliance the LDP maintained with the Komeito party until the junior partner quit the coalition this month, raising concern over the stability of the forthcoming government.

Ms. Takaichi’s path to succeed Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba had seemed all but certain after she won the presidency of the long-ruling LDP early this month. But then Komeito quit their 26-year coalition, setting off a flurry of negotiations with rival parties to select the next premier.

In an effort to get Ishin on board, the LDP offered to keep working towards banning donations from companies and other organizations and exempting food items from Japan’s sales tax, Kyodo said.

Ishin has proposed eliminating the tax on food items for two years.

Ms. Takaichi, a fiscal dove, has called for higher spending and tax cuts to cushion consumers from rising inflation and has criticized the Bank of Japan’s decision to raise interest rates.

She favors revising Japan’s pacifist postwar constitution to recognize the role of its expanding military.

Ms. Takaichi is a regular visitor to the Yasukuni shrine honoring Japan’s war dead — including some executed war criminals — and is viewed by some Asian neighbors as a symbol of the nation’s past militarism. — Reuters