A drone view shows supporters of Iraqi Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr attending Friday prayers to protest against repeated violations of Iraqi airspace and to denounce attacks on Iran, amid the Iran-Israel conflict, in Baghdad, Iraq on June 20, 2025. — Reuters/Thaier Al-Sudani
A drone view shows supporters of Iraqi Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr attending Friday prayers to protest against repeated violations of Iraqi airspace and to denounce attacks on Iran, amid the Iran-Israel conflict, in Baghdad, Iraq on June 20, 2025. — Reuters/Thaier Al-Sudani

 Supporters of Iraqi Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr walk past posters of Sadr and his father, the late Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Sadeq al-Sadr, during a protest following Friday prayers against repeated violations of Iraqi airspace, amid the Iran-Israel conflict, in Basra, Iraq on June 20, 2025. — Reuters/Essam Al-Sudani
Supporters of Iraqi Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr walk past posters of Sadr and his father, the late Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Sadeq al-Sadr, during a protest following Friday prayers against repeated violations of Iraqi airspace, amid the Iran-Israel conflict, in Basra, Iraq on June 20, 2025. — Reuters/Essam Al-Sudani

 Supporters of Iraqi Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr protest Israel’s strikes on Iran, following the weekly Friday noon prayers in Baghdad’s Sadr City on June 20, 2025. — AFP
Supporters of Iraqi Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr protest Israel’s strikes on Iran, following the weekly Friday noon prayers in Baghdad’s Sadr City on June 20, 2025. — AFP

 Supporters of Iraq’s Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr burn the flag of Israel after Friday prayers to protest Israel’s strikes on Iran in the holy shrine city of Najaf on June 20, 2025. — AFP
Supporters of Iraq’s Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr burn the flag of Israel after Friday prayers to protest Israel’s strikes on Iran in the holy shrine city of Najaf on June 20, 2025. — AFP

 Supporters of Iraqi Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr gather to attend Friday prayers to protest against repeated violations of Iraqi airspace, amid the Iran-Israel conflict, in Baghdad, Iraq on June 20, 2025. — Reuters/Thaier Al-Sudani
Supporters of Iraqi Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr gather to attend Friday prayers to protest against repeated violations of Iraqi airspace, amid the Iran-Israel conflict, in Baghdad, Iraq on June 20, 2025. — Reuters/Thaier Al-Sudani

Opinion

Editorial

Budget presser
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Budget presser

OFFICIAL post-budget media briefings in Pakistan are carefully choreographed affairs, full of reassuring phrases ...
Muharram precautions
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Muharram precautions

WITH Muharram due to start next week, the authorities have already begun annual exercises to ensure that the ...
Blood bequests
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Blood bequests

WORLD Blood Donor Day offers a moment of “gratitude, advocacy and renewed commitment” for thalassaemia patients...
Sustainable path?
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Sustainable path?

The FY27 budget is the first clear signal that the government is ready to transition from stabilisation to growth.
Prioritising education
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Prioritising education

THOUGH the improvement in the country’s literacy rate may be slight, as highlighted by the Economic Survey, it ...
Poverty’s rise
13 Jun, 2026

Poverty’s rise

AS attention turns to the government’s plans for the coming fiscal year, one set of figures deserves particular...