Top news of the day: August 22, 2025

PM Modi, President Putin among 20 world leaders to attend SCO summit: China  

China on Friday (August 22, 2025) said the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit to be held in Tianjin later this month will be the largest in the bloc’s history, with 20 world leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, attending it. The Tianjin meeting of the 10-member grouping from August 31-September 1 is the fifth summit being hosted by China. It will be the largest in SCO history, China’s Assistant Foreign Minister Liu Bin told a media briefing in Beijing.

Bihar SIR row SC hearing updates

A Supreme Court Bench, which heard a plea against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise carried out by the Election Commission of India (ECI) in poll-bound Bihar, instructed the political parties to direct their booth-level agents to assist voters to file claims and objections in the draft rolls. Posting the next hearing for September 8, the Bench remarked it was “surprised” that the political parties didn’t take it up earlier. 

Women’s Cricket World Cup: Bengaluru matches moved to Navi Mumbai  

Navi Mumbai has replaced Bengaluru as a venue to host the ICC Women’s ODI World Cup, to be played in India and Sri Lanka from September 30. The International Cricket Council (ICC) announced on Friday (August 22, 2025) that all the matches that were to be staged at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, including provisionally the final, will now be played at the Dr. D.Y. Patil Stadium.

U.N. declares famine in Gaza, first ever in West Asia 

The United Nations on Friday (August 22, 2025) officially declared a famine in Gaza, the first in West Asia, with its experts saying 500,000 people were facing “catastrophic” hunger. U.N. aid chief Tom Fletcher said the famine was entirely preventable, saying food could not get through to the Palestinian territory “because of systematic obstruction by Israel”.

PM Modi flags off three new metro routes in Kolkata 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday (August 22, 2025) inaugurated three new metro routes in Kolkata, including the first-ever direct link to the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport in Kolkata. The Prime Minister waved a green flag to commence operations on the new routes. He was accompanied by West Bengal Governor C V Ananda Bose, BJP state president Samik Bhattacharya and Union Minister Sukanta Majumdar.

Sri Lanka’s former President Ranil Wickremesinghe arrested 

Sri Lanka’s former President and six-time Premier Ranil Wickremesinghe was on Friday (August 22, 2025) arrested on charges of using state funds for a private trip abroad during his Presidency. “Mr. Wickremesinghe was arrested soon after he was questioned by Sri Lanka Police’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID) on Friday morning (August 22, 2025), over a September 2023 visit to London,” a senior official told The Hindu. “He will be produced today before the Colombo Fort magistrate,” the official said.

Defamation case against Rahul Gandhi: U.P. court adjourns hearing till September 9 

An MP-MLA court in Sultanpur on Friday (August 22, 2025) adjourned the hearing in a defamation case against Rahul Gandhi over his alleged objectionable remarks against Amit Shah till September 9 after the advocate appearing for the Congress leader sought more time.

Actor Madhav Suresh, son of Union Minister Suresh Gopi, briefly detained after road rage incident in Kerala 

Actor Madhav Suresh, son of Union Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas and actor Suresh Gopi, was taken into police custody in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, on Thursday (August 21, 2025) night following a road rage altercation that also involved a Congress leader. According to the Museum police, the confrontation began when the vehicles driven by Mr. Suresh and Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) member Vinod Krishna blocked each other while the latter attempted a U-turn.

FBI searches home of former Trump national security adviser John Bolton 

The FBI is searching the Maryland home of former Trump administration national security adviser John Bolton as part of an investigation into the handling of classified documents, a person familiar with the matter said on Friday (August 22, 2025). The person was not authorised to discuss the investigation by name and spoke on the condition of anonymity to The Associated Press.

Asian Shooting Championship: Elavenil Valarivan strikes 10m air rifle gold 

Indian shooter Elavenil Valarivan clinched the gold medal in women’s 10m air rifle competition of the 16th Asian Championships in Shymkent on Friday (August 22, 2025) with a characteristically composed performance in the final. The 26-year-old from Tamil Nadu, who has won multiple gold medals in World Cups, shot a score of 253.6 to finish on top in the final and claim her second gold in the continental showpiece, the first coming way back in 2019 in Taiwan when she was honing her skills under the tutelage of Olympic medallist shooter Gagan Narang at his Gun for Glory Academy.

Dream11, top gaming apps halt money-based games after ban 

Some of the top mobile gaming apps have suspended real-money games after parliament passed a ban on Thursday (August 22, 2025), threatening the future of a sector once projected to hit $3.6 billion by 2029. The sudden ban on online real-money games, along with related ads and payment services, has jolted an industry backed by investors such as Tiger Global and Peak XV Partners.

NDA is jittery ahead of V-P polls as there is unease among Andhra, Telangana MPs: Raut 

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Friday (August 22, 2025) claimed the BJP was contacting INDIA bloc parties to seek support in the vice-presidential election, as there was “unease” among NDA MPs from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, and it fears cross-voting.