Todays Top 15 News Across the World – 21 December 2025

🇮🇳 Sonia Gandhi Attacks Government Over Changes to MGNREGA

Congress leader Sonia Gandhi has sharply criticised the government in a speech that framed proposed changes to
MGNREGA and the new VB‑G RAM G rural jobs law as an assault on the rights of India’s poorest citizens. She
accused the Centre of hollowing out a programme that once stood as a lifeline for rural families, warning that reducing
guaranteed work or weakening safeguards will push crores of people back towards hunger and debt. Her remarks, coming as
Parliament debates welfare priorities, have injected emotional political heat into what is often treated as a technical
policy issue.

Source:

Patrika – School Assembly News Headlines, 21 Dec 2025

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🇮🇳 PM Modi’s Helicopter Unable to Land in West Bengal Due to Weather

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s scheduled programmes in West Bengal ran into trouble after his helicopter was unable
to land because of bad weather and visibility issues, according to state‑level reports. Security and aviation
officials diverted the chopper as a precaution, underscoring how fog, low clouds and safety protocols can suddenly upend
even meticulously planned high‑profile visits. The incident has also fed into Bengal’s charged political atmosphere, with
rival parties trading barbs over infrastructure, protocol and who is to blame when a prime ministerial visit is disrupted.

Sources:

Patrika – School Assembly News Headlines, 21 Dec 2025
;

Prabhat Khabar – Today School Assembly News Headlines, 21 Dec 2025

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🇮🇳 President Murmu’s Good Governance Week Emphasises Last‑Mile Delivery

President Droupadi Murmu’s ongoing Good Governance Week initiative continues to spotlight efforts to improve
last‑mile delivery of government schemes through the “Prashasan Gaon Ki Ore” campaign. Updates summarised for school
assemblies note that central and state officials have been tasked with clearing pending service requests, resolving
grievances and taking government camps directly to villages. The drive is meant to show citizens that governance is not
just about new announcements in Delhi, but about ensuring that benefits actually reach the ration shop, the classroom and
the panchayat office without endless delays.

Source:

CareerIndia – School Assembly News Headlines, 21 Dec 2025

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🇮🇳 India’s T20 World Cup 2026 Squad Announced; Big Names Miss Out

Cricket fans woke up to intense debate as the BCCI unveiled India’s preliminary squad for the ICC Men’s T20 World
Cup 2026, with reports highlighting that opener Shubman Gill has missed out. Selectors appear to have prioritised
power‑hitting depth and all‑round options, banking on new‑age finishers and multi‑skill players for the tournament. For
supporters, the announcement brings both excitement and heartache – a reminder that even hugely popular stars can find
themselves squeezed out as competition for places in the Indian team becomes fiercer every season.

Sources:

Patrika – School Assembly News Headlines, 21 Dec 2025
;

CareerIndia – School Assembly News Headlines, 21 Dec 2025

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🇮🇳 India’s States Step Up Security Amid Bangladesh Unrest

State‑level briefings collated for 21 December note that border states such as Tripura and West Bengal have placed
security forces on high alert in view of unrest and communal tensions spilling over from Bangladesh. Chief
ministers and DGPs say they are monitoring the situation closely, increasing patrols and strengthening coordination with
central agencies to prevent rumours or provocations from igniting local trouble. For residents near the border – especially
minority communities – the heightened security is a double‑edged sword, offering reassurance but also reminding them how
quickly regional crises can reach their doorsteps.

Source:

Prabhat Khabar – Today School Assembly News Headlines, 21 Dec 2025

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🇮🇳 Education Updates: New Colleges, Exams and Scholarship News

Education‑centric headlines for 21 December flag a mix of new college openings, exam notifications and scholarship
schemes across Indian states. Tamil Nadu’s government, for instance, has been opening new arts and science colleges
to expand higher‑education access in rural districts, while other states are issuing fresh exam calendars and updated
guidelines for competitive tests. For students and parents, these granular updates are not flashy but crucial, since they
decide where young people can study next year and what support they might get while doing so.

Sources:

CareerIndia – School Assembly News Headlines, 21 Dec 2025
;

CollegeDekho – Context on New Colleges & Higher Education Push

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🇮🇳 India’s Economy and Labour Reforms Remain in Focus

Economic and governance round‑ups around this weekend build on earlier news that the Centre will issue a compliance
handbook for the new labour codes and continue Good Governance Week outreach, signalling that reforms to the job
market and service delivery remain key priorities. Commentators say simplifying compliance rules and clarifying obligations
can reduce fear among small businesses and encourage formalisation, but stress that implementation will matter more than
slogans. For workers and job‑seekers, the hope is that these reforms will not just look good in presentations but start
showing up as better contracts, timely wages and fewer exploitative loopholes.

Source:

Leverage Edu – Labour Code & Good Governance Week Context (20–21 Dec)

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🇧🇩 Hindu Man Lynched in Bangladesh: Arrests, Grief and India’s Plea for Justice

The story that weighs heaviest in todays top 15 news across the world is still the lynching of Dipu Chandra
Das, a 27‑year‑old Hindu garment worker in Mymensingh, Bangladesh. Investigators now say there is **no direct
evidence** that Dipu ever made the blasphemous remarks he was accused of, yet a mob beat him, burned his body and left his
remains displayed in public, leaving his father to describe, through tears, how his son’s “burnt torso and head were tied
outside” for everyone to see. Ten suspects have been arrested so far, and Bangladesh’s interim government has condemned the
killing, saying there is “no space for such violence in a new Bangladesh”, but for many Hindus the fear that their faith
makes them expendable has only deepened.

India has urged Dhaka to bring every perpetrator to justice and ensure robust protection for minorities,
while protests and prayer meetings have taken place in border towns like Siliguri and across Indian cities. Families in
these gatherings hold photographs and candles, asking a simple question: if a young man can be dragged out, killed and
burned over rumours with no evidence, what does safety even mean for those who share his identity? Their grief turns this
crime from a news item into a warning – about how quickly hate can erase a life if governments and societies do not draw a
hard line against mob justice.

Sources:

NDTV – Father of Hindu Man Lynched in Bangladesh Speaks
;

NDTV – Probe Finds No Direct Evidence of Blasphemy
;

New Indian Express – 10 Arrested, Protests Rage After Hindu Youth’s Lynching

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🇧🇩 Bangladesh Holds State Mourning for Slain Activist as Unrest Continues

Bangladesh has also held state mourning and a funeral for slain student leader Sharif Osman Hadi, whose
death helped ignite the protests and unrest that formed the backdrop to Dipu Chandra Das’s lynching. The interim government
of Muhammad Yunus has condemned both the activist’s killing and the subsequent mob violence, saying it wants to build a
“new Bangladesh” where peaceful dissent is respected and minorities are safe. Yet reports of attacks on media houses and
clashes with security forces show how fragile that promise is, with each new incident deepening a sense of insecurity among
ordinary Bangladeshis already exhausted by turmoil.

Sources:

Al Jazeera – Bangladesh Holds State Mourning for Slain Activist
;

India Blooms – Yunus Govt Reacts: “No Space for Such Violence”

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🇪🇺 After €90bn Loan, Europe Still Split Over Frozen Russian Assets

In Europe, the fallout from the decision to give Ukraine a €90 billion EU loan continues, as analysts and
policymakers argue over why leaders stepped back from directly using frozen Russian central bank assets. Some legal experts
warn that seizing principal amounts could shake confidence in the euro and invite retaliation, while others insist that
allowing Moscow to escape paying for war damage sends the wrong message to future aggressors. Think‑tank commentaries say
the compromise – using joint bonds now and debating asset profits later – buys time, but does not resolve deeper tensions
between justice, deterrence and financial stability.

Sources:

The Economist – Europe Finds €90bn for Ukraine – But Not from Russia
;

ECFR – Seven Things to Know About the EU’s €90bn Loan

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🇺🇦 Ukraine War: Talks, Strikes and a Long Winter Ahead

Live updates from European and US outlets on 21 December depict a Russia–Ukraine war that remains stuck between
limited diplomacy and ongoing strikes. While back‑channel contacts and summit language talk about ceasefires and
security guarantees, Russian drones and missiles continue to hit infrastructure and housing blocks, and Ukrainian forces
struggle with ammunition constraints and fatigue. For civilians huddling in basements or queuing at aid centres, the talk
of plans and packages in distant capitals can feel abstract compared with the daily reality of sirens, power cuts and the
fear that the next explosion might be closer than the last.

Source:

BBC – Ukraine War Live Coverage

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🇵🇰 Gulf Deportations of Pakistani Beggars Echo Across South Asia

Reports of tens of thousands of Pakistani nationals being deported from Gulf states for begging and visa
violations continue to reverberate across South Asia as 2025 draws to a close. Parliamentary briefings in
Islamabad have detailed how organised rackets send vulnerable people abroad with fake promises, only for them to be picked
up by Gulf police and sent back in disgrace. The saga has become a cautionary tale for the region about what happens when
poverty, trafficking networks and weak enforcement converge – and a reminder that migration policy abroad can instantly
reshape livelihoods at home.

Sources:

Pakistan Today – Over 50,000 Pakistanis Deported for Begging This Year
;

India Today – Saudi Arabia Deports 56,000 Pak Beggars

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🇺🇸 Jeffrey Epstein Files Released – Survivors Push for Full Truth

In the US, the release of thousands of pages of Jeffrey Epstein‑related documents has re‑ignited public and
survivor anger over how a wealthy, connected predator evaded meaningful punishment for so long. The files, published under
a new disclosure law, contain FBI notes, internal communications and references to well‑known names that had circled around
Epstein’s world. Survivor advocates say reading the documents is like watching years of warnings being ignored in slow
motion, and many fear that, despite the headlines, the system is still more interested in reputations than in delivering
full justice for those who were abused.

Sources:

CBS News – New Epstein Files Include Photos, Documents
;

ABC News – Jeffrey Epstein Case: News & Videos

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🇺🇸 At Least 16 Epstein Files Disappear From DOJ Website

The sense of mistrust deepened when journalists and watchdogs found that at least 16 Epstein‑related files had been
removed from the Justice Department’s public website after the initial release, some of them containing
photographs. Reports in US media say the removals happened without any clear explanation, sparking speculation about legal
pushback, redaction disputes or attempts to protect powerful individuals. For survivors and ordinary citizens who already
see the case as a symbol of a two‑tier justice system, those vanished files feel like yet another door quietly closing
just when the light had begun to seep in.

Sources:

Newsmax – At Least 16 Epstein‑Related Files Removed From DOJ Website
;

LA Times – Epstein Files Disappear From Justice Department Page
;

Fortune – Missing Epstein Files Disappear From DOJ Site

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🌍 A World Wrestling With Violence, Inequality and Demands for Accountability

When all these threads are woven together, todays top 15 news across the world tell a story of a planet wrestling with
violence against minorities, unequal justice and citizens demanding that power finally answer hard questions.
From a father in Bangladesh describing his son’s burnt body to survivors of Epstein’s abuse combing through redacted PDFs,
the details differ but the emotional core is the same: people who feel small in the face of systems that failed them. For
anyone reading these headlines, the challenge is not only to stay informed, but to refuse to see these stories as distant,
one‑day tragedies – and instead recognise them as warnings about what happens when hatred and impunity are allowed to grow.

Sources:

NDTV – Bangladesh Violence Live: Father of Lynched Hindu Man
;

The Economist – Europe & Ukraine Funding
;

CBS News – Epstein Files Coverage

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