At least 21 people, including foreign nationals, were killed when a fire swept through a multi-storey building in Delhi’s Malviya Nagar. More than 40 people were rescued as authorities investigated the cause and whether the building had proper permissions.
Posts tagged as “South Asian”
An aid convoy has been allowed to enter the Gaza-Egypt border crossing at Rafah, providing desperately needed aid to the besieged Palestinian territory for the first time since Israel sealed it off two weeks ago. The situation in Gaza is dire, with UNRWA reporting that the region is running out of water and life, and the attack having a devastating impact on the health of the population. The UNRWA is calling for an immediate ceasefire and for the international community to provide humanitarian assistance to the region.
Transgender activists in Pakistan are challenging a ruling from the Federal Shariat Court that struck down several provisions of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, a landmark law passed in 2018 to secure the fundamental rights of transgender Pakistanis. Human rights groups have condemned the ruling and called on the government to take action to protect transgender rights. Activists are now appealing to the Supreme Court of Pakistan in the hopes of overturning the ruling and restoring the protections of the Act.
California is taking a stand against caste discrimination with a new bill introduced in the state Senate on Wednesday. The bill, authored by state Sen. Aisha Wahab, would add caste as a protected class to California’s anti-discrimination laws, making it the first effort of its kind by a US state legislature to explicitly ban caste discrimination. If passed, it would be a major step forward in the fight for civil rights and human rights, helping to combat discrimination against Dalits, those born at the bottom of the caste hierarchy.
The Biden administration is considering updating the nation's racial and ethnic categories for the first time since 1997, based on the more than 4,600 comments submitted by various individuals and organizations. The changes are part of the administration's goal of creating a more equitable society, and the decision is expected to be announced in the near future.