Quick Reads
News Dabba for 16 September 2025: Five stories for a balanced news diet
Here are the daily updates that the internet is talking about through various news websites.
Indie Journal brings you the daily updates that the internet is talking about through various news websites. Here's a glance through some of the National and International news updates, from SC's deadline for Maharashtra local body polls, UN's report on Israel's genocide in Gaza, to landslide and flash floods in Dehradun.
Hindustan Times: SC orders Maharashtra local body polls by Jan 31, 2026
Hindustan Times reports that the Supreme Court on Tuesday fixed January 31, 2026 as the final deadline for conducting all local body elections in Maharashtra, while reproaching the State Election Commission (SEC) for its “failure to take prompt action” and comply with earlier timelines. Extending the schedule as a “one-time concession,” the Court made it clear that no further extension will be granted. A bench of justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi said that elections to all Zila Parishads, Panchayat Samitis, and municipalities must be completed within the stipulated period, the report adds. Read the full report here.
Heavy rain triggers landslides in Dehradun amid red alert, Indian Express
Dehradun district in Uttarakhand has been placed under a red alert on Tuesday as heavy rain battered the region, triggering landslides in several areas and causing rivers to swell, Indian Express reports. At least five people have reportedly been swept away in Tapkeshwar, DIT College area, Rajpur Shikhar Falls and Bhagat Singh Colony. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah spoke with Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Tuesday about the situation, the state government said. The red alert was issued around 5 am on Tuesday by the India Meteorological Department (IMD), Dehradun, and the Disaster Alert Portal of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA). Read the full report here.
BBC report: Israel has committed genocide in Gaza, UN commission of inquiry says
A United Nations commission of inquiry says Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, BBC reports. A new report says there are reasonable grounds to conclude that four of the five genocidal acts defined under international law have been carried out since the start of the war with Hamas in 2023: killing members of a group, causing them serious bodily and mental harm, deliberately inflicting conditions calculated to destroy the group, and preventing births. The report adds that it cites statements by Israeli leaders, and the pattern of conduct by Israeli forces, as evidence of genocidal intent. Read the full report here.
ICC rejects Pak's demand to drop Asia Cup match referee over handshake row: India Today
The International Cricket Council has rejected Pakistan's demand to remove match referee Andy Pycroft from the remainder of the Asia Cup, India Today reports. Sources told India Today that ICC was not going to entertain Pakistan's demands in the aftermath of the handshake controversy from the India-Pakistan group stage game. The ICC has conveyed the decision to the PCB after investigating the matter. India Today also says as per its sources that some of the Asian Cricket Council officials, including the PCB director, were well aware in advance that there would be no handshake between the two captains. Read the full report here.
Polls open in Malawi presidential election, in nation hit by soaring costs, Al Jazeera
Polls have opened in Malawi with the incumbent president and his predecessor vying for a second chance to govern the largely poor southern African nation, battered by soaring costs and severe fuel shortages, Al Jazeera reports, in a closely and fiercely contested election where a run-off is widely expected. Polls opened at 6:00am local time on Tuesday with 17 names on the ballot. Analysts say the race is between President Lazarus Chakwera, 70, and his predecessor, law professor Peter Mutharika, 85, both of whom have campaigned on improving the agriculture-dependent economy battered by a series of climate shocks, with inflation topping 27 percent. Read the full report here.
