News Dabba for 23 June 2025: Five stories for a balanced news diet

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 Odisha floods, Gujarat by-polls, to Israel-Iran war.

NDTV on overflowing river flooding Odisha's Balasore

The Subarnarekha River, which flows through Jharkhand, West Bengal and Odisha, has flooded large parts of Balasore district in Odisha, NDTV reports, affecting over 50,000 people and inundating dozens of villages. Heavy rains and the release of excess water from Jharkhand pushed the Subarnarekha River to flow above the danger mark of 10.36 meters, inundating 61 villages in 21 gram panchayats of Baliapal, Basta, Bhograi and Jaleswar blocks. Authorities, on Saturday, issued an alert as the water level in the Subarnarekha river crossed the danger mark, creating a flood threat in some parts of the district, the report says. Read the full report here.

AAP’s Gopal Italia wins Visavadar in Gujarat bypolls: India Today

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) won Visavadar while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) secured Kadi seat in the assembly by-elections Gujarat on Monday. In Visavadar, Junagadh district, India Today reports that AAP’s Gopal Italia, former party state president, won by a margin of 17,581 votes against BJP’s Kirit Patel, with Congress candidate Nitin Ranpariya in third place. The bypoll was necessitated by AAP MLA Bhupendra Bhayani’s resignation in December 2023, after which he joined the BJP. Read the full report here.

Dozens of soldiers seized in Colombian mountains, BBC reports

BBC reports that Colombia's military says 57 soldiers have been kidnapped by civilians in the country's south-western Micay Canyon area. It says 31 soldiers were seized on Saturday while the rest were abducted on Sunday by a group of more than 200 people. As per the report, the military says the civilians are acting under pressure from dissidents of the Farc rebel group, which agreed a peace deal with the government in 2016. The mountainous region is a key zone for cocaine production and remains one of the most tense in the country's ongoing conflict with rebel groups. Read the full report here.

Hindustan Times: Censor board stalls Union Minister Suresh Gopi's film over use of 'Janaki' in title

The release of the Malayalam movie ‘Janaki vs State of Kerala’ starring Union Minister and actor Suresh Gopi, has been stalled following a demand from the Censor Board for Film Certification (CBFC) regarding a change in the film's title. Hindustan Times reports that as per the film’s makers, the censor board asked them to change the name ‘Janaki’ as it also refers to the Hindu goddess Sita. The film tells the story of a woman who faced sexual assault and is pursuing a legal fight against the state, the report says. The board reportedly said that God’s name should not be given to a woman who was assaulted. Read the full report here.

Iran vows to retaliate over US attacks, Al Jazeera reports

Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has promised to punish “the Zionist enemy” in his first comments after the United States joined Israel’s attacks on his country, Al Jazeera reports. US President Donald Trump has hinted at the demise of Iran’s leadership saying: “If the current Iranian regime is unable to make Iran great again, why wouldn’t there be a regime change?” Israel and Iran continued to trade attacks as the world braces for Tehran’s retribution to US bombings, with President Masoud Pezeshkian saying “the Americans must receive a response to their aggression”. Read the fll report here.