Eshaan Mani

National and International Stories covered for Redefy

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Moving Toward Healthcare Equity During the Pandemic | Redefy Stories

A workplace forces everyone to return without exception, leaving an immunocompromised person torn between high risk and being paid. They choose the latter, end up infected and in critical condition, and now their family is in a stressful, precarious position, evaluating the next step.

This situation has befallen thousands since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Inequity on multiple fronts — principally workplace policies and vaccine availability – has placed countless families in sticky s
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Here's How We Can Support the AAPI Community | Redefy Stories

Trigger Warning: This article discusses matters of sexual assault and violence. If you are sensitive to this topic, please exercise caution while reading.

Gunshots rang out across Atlanta, Georgia on Tuesday night, as eight individuals, six of whom were Asian women, were shot to death and one was wounded. The offending gun was a 9 mm. pistol and the killings took place at three massage parlors. According to the police, 21-year-old Robert Aaron Long is in custody as a prime suspect. The BBC iden
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‘We Want Water’: Water Shortage in Iran Turns Violent | Redefy Stories

Iran is adjusting to a new president and combatting a fifth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, a plummeting economy, and stalled nuclear talks. Now, protests are breaking out in the oil-rich Khuzestan Province and neighboring Lorestan Province due to a not-so-new crisis: a severe water shortage. A prolonged drought, summer heatwaves, seasonal sandstorms from Saudi Arabia and Iraq, as well as rising temperatures caused by climate change have been compounded by decades of mismanaged natural resources
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Crackdowns in Hong Kong Echo the 1989 Tiananmen Protests | Redefy Stories

From April 15 to June 4, 1989, Chinese college students led pro-democracy demonstrations in Tiananmen Square, Beijing. At one point, the protests ballooned to approximately a million people and were accompanied by other blockades and riots in cities like Shanghai. Many in China who were starting to become exposed to foreign ideas and liberalization were dissatisfied by the inflation, corruption, and low standards of living they had been subject to in their own country. In 1986 and 1987, student-
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Simone Biles' Withdrawal from the Olympics: It's Okay to not be Okay | Redefy Stories

Breathing heavily, Biles stepped up to perform the all-around during the qualifying rounds of the Tokyo Olympics. Bouncing off her floor landing, she stumbled. The crowd gasped and a sinking feeling overtook the Ariake Gymnastics Center. Even so, she still placed first.


Again, in the warm-ups for the first rotation of the team final, Biles stumbled. She only performed 1.5 twists instead of the expected 2.5, with a lunge and near-fall on her landing. Scoring only 5.0 out of 5.8, she left the
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What's Happening in Ethiopia and Why You Should Care | Redefy Stories

Ethiopia: Africa’s oldest independent nation, birthplace of coffee, and a beautiful script. Unfortunately, coffee is not the only thing brewing in this East African country. In recent months, a conflict between the Ethiopian government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front in the northern Tigray region has thrown the country into turmoil and destabilized the entire region. The cause of this crisis can be traced back to the fact that Ethiopia is a federal republic, with various tribes coming t

2021 Rewind: The Year in Review | Redefy Stories

In 2021, we’ve seen barriers broken, limits challenged, expectations defied. We’ve also seen rights stood up for and changes made. We’ve adapted to the ebb and flow of COVID-19 waves, though it hasn’t been easy. And the one word that comes to mind to describe this year is a journey. So let’s take a small trip in retrospection, examining one heartbreaking, day-making, or groundbreaking global event from each of the last 12 months and its impact.

Alrighty, I’m going to cheat right off the bat and
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"You Are Not Alone": An Interview With Caren Howard | Redefy Stories

Recently, I had the honor of sitting down with Caren Howard who currently serves as the Advocacy Manager for Mental Health America (MHA) and has 12 years of experience in legislative and political affairs. Ms. Howard joined MHA in January 2017 after serving as a leading fundraiser for several members of the House of Representatives. As Advocacy Manager, an integral part of Ms. Howard’s job is building the MHA Regional Policy Council’s four yearly conferences, advising strategy for influencing fe
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The Protests in Belarus and What This Means for Democracy Worldwide | Redefy Stories

2020 has been a year of seeking social justice within the moral fabric of society - not just in America, but in countries such as India, Yemen, and, most recently, in Belarus. You might not have heard of this former Soviet-bloc country that lies nestled at the bosom of Russia and the Baltic states. For the past three decades, this land, nicknamed White Rus, has been governed by Aleksandr Lukashenko, a brutal Communist dictator with many human rights violations to his name.

President Lukashenko,
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The Beirut Explosions of August 2020: What Happened and Why You Should Care | Redefy Stories

Standing in the Port of Beirut, you look out to sea. Suddenly, you feel the earth shake beneath you. Buildings just meters in front of you topple to the ground, ripping steel frames off buildings like lavash bread. A massive crater spanning just under four-hundred feet in diameter is carved into the earth, and all you can hear are people screaming…sobbing. More than half of Beirut is destroyed, as are the lives of thousands.

The Lebanese capital of Beirut, known as the Paris of the East, recent
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The Utsuls: Another Ethnocide with International Consequences | Redefy Stories

Over the past several years, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), under President Xi, has been expanding its despotic power over several minority groups, including the Uighurs of Western China. You’ve most likely heard of the Uyghur genocide in western China; if not, check out this Redefy article. Beijing has been oppressing the Uyghur people group for three years and counting, and now they have another target: the Utsuls of Hainan Island.

Another Muslim people group, the 10,000 peaceful inhabita
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The Ongoing Digital Apartheid in Kashmir | Redefy Stories

The valley of Kashmir in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent was once a summer-getaway destination and a paradise of culture, serenity, and beauty. Think of it like the Swiss Alps. But ever since the partition of India and Pakistan in 1947, a debate over Kashmir’s status has been raging.

Namely, a debate about whether the region of Kashmir is an Indian or Pakistani territory, with even China laying claim to a minor part as well. The Pakistani government administers the western part of
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Kids Approved to Receive COVID-19 Vaccines | Redefy Stories

On October 29, the Food and Drug Administration authorized the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for children aged 5-11, and the CDC signed off on November 3.

Since the start of the pandemic, about 1.9 million children ages 5-11 years have been infected. More than 8,300 have been hospitalized, and 94 have died, according to federal data. The death toll in the past year puts COVID-19 in the top 10 causes of death for this age group.

The euphoria at schools across the nation was unanimous. Ultima
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Rest in Peace, Danish Siddiqui | Redefy Stories

Journalism has long been a high-stakes pursuit, where one’s only job is to provide earnest scoops in what are oftentimes treacherous situations so that the rest of the world, the news-consuming public, knows the full truth. On July 16, another journalist was killed in pursuit of one such scoop.

"I shoot for the common man who wants to see and feel a story from a place where he can't be present himself," Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Danish Siddiqui once wrote of his photography. His mi
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"Guilty of Being Human": Sha’Carri Richardson Suspended From Olympics Due to Marijuana Use | Redefy Stories

American sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson was set for a spectacular run at the Tokyo Olympics this month, but she has been suspended from the Games for one month after testing positive for tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the chemical found in cannabis.


The Texan track sensation is known for her iconic quotes: “I am it,” “I am who I say I am,” and “Talent is talent. If you got it, you go fast.” With equally momentous performances, the 21-year-old could be America’s fastest woman after winning the 10
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Why Darnella Frazier’s Pulitzer Special Citation Matters | Redefy Stories

Over the course of the past year, our world has been permanently altered by the death of George Floyd, whose murder caused an ongoing series of protests against police brutality and systemic racism in the United States and internationally. Millions of people heard his voice growing weaker on the recording and his pleas of “Sir, please, I cannot breathe” (said at least 16 times), “water,” “Mama” and a final “Don't kill me…I'm about to die…Everything hurts…Mama.” The video of Floyd’s murder was ci
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Rest in Power, Chadwick Boseman | Redefy Stories

An icon. An artistic virtuoso. A kind and gentle soul. These are all phrases that have been used to describe the late Chadwick Boseman, most famed for his role in Marvel’s Black Panther. On August 28th, at the young age of 43, Boseman sadly passed away from stage IV colon cancer, which he had valiantly fought for the past four years.

Boseman wasn’t just a superhero in his movies; off screen, to so many Black and minority children, he was a true inspiration. He is a testament that heroes don’t j