INDIA: A fire swept through a building in a New Delhi neighbourhood today, killing at least 21 people and injuring several others, officials said.

The building in the Malviya Nagar neighbourhood in the southern part of the city had a restaurant on the ground floor and residential units above. Fire crews rescued 37 people from the building, fire official Abhilash Malik said.

The cause of the fire was not immediately clear.

THAILAND: Former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra formally completed all his obligations related to a prison sentence today, when a royal pardon ended his four-month probation early.

The right-wing billionaire was released from a Bangkok prison last month.

INDONESIA: The recently dismissed head of the National Nutrition Agency, Dadan Hindayana, was arrested today on corruption charges related to a multibillion-dollar free-meals programme.

The programme to feed nearly 90 million children and pregnant women has come under steep criticism due to high costs and cases of food poisoning.

Investigators carried out a full search of the agency’s offices early today.

ITALY: Italian police arrested two people on Tuesday on suspicion of causing the deaths of four migrant farmworkers who were burned alive in a car, a gruesome attack captured on video surveillance cameras, police and news reports said.

According to the video, which was broadcast on Tuesday on RAI television and other Italian media, assailants poured liquid into the back of the car and set it ablaze as it was parked at a gas station in Amendolara, near Cosenza in the southern Calabria region, RAI said.