A gay man in Indonesia explains what life is like for homosexuals in the country. Kenya closes its doors to refugees from nearby Somalia. And the troubling implications of Donald Trump's candidacy are considered. It's Fiery Tuesday, our weekly segment on political and societal news from around the globe. All this and more for the Pagan News Beagle!
In the world's most populous Muslim majority country, being gay isn't always easy. Although homosexuality is legal in Indonesia, there are strong cultural reservations against it, which contribute to discrimination. But that doesn't mean the Indonesian gay community is giving up. The Jakarta Post interviews Gunawan Wibisono, an Indonesian gay man and devoted Indonesian Muslim.
Although the refugee crisis in Europe has gained the most attention from the media, Europe isn't the only destination of refugees fleeing violence and terror in their home countries. The East African country of Kenya is also a destination for many fleeing war in the nearby war-torn country of Somalia. But now, Kenya may be closing its doors.
As the evidence of global warming continues to accumulate, activists are getting more and more proactive in trying to raise awareness of the threat it poses. In Washington state this led to a confrontation between activists and law enforcement over railroad tracks leading to oil refineries. U.S. News has more.
The election of Tsai Ing-wen as the President of the Republic of China (aka Taiwan) was monumental for many reasons. Taiwan's first woman president, only the second president in the country's history not to belong to the dominant Nationalist Party, etc. But what caught the attention of most international observers is her party's official view of Taiwan as an independent state separate from mainland China, breaking with the orthodoxy of both Taiwanese and Chinese public policy.
Meanwhile in the United States, our own presidential election has drawn considerable attention and concern from foreign media. Writing for the German newspaper Der Spiegel, Holger Stark speculates about the implications of de facto Republican nominee Donald Trump's candidacy and the similarities it shows to fascist movements in 1930s Europe.
Top image by Neon Tommy