The history of Black History Month revealed. Japan reacts to North Korea's militaristic posturing. And LGBT rights make advances in India. It's Fiery Tuesday, our weekly segment on political and societal news from around the world! All this and more for the Pagan News Beagle!
Here in the United States, February is widely known as Black History Month. But how did this tradition get started? The Huffington Post has the details on the history of black history here.
North Korea made news recently when it launched a rocket, believed to serve both as transportation for a satellite as well as a test for the country's ballistic missile capacities. Japan and South Korea, both of which have long had a tense relationship with North Korea, have not let the launch gone unnoticed.
The rise of ultranationalist sentiment throughout the Western world has a lot of people worried. But such movements have rarely gotten further than they have in Poland, where they've landed a considerable amount of influence with the new government. Now, progressive activists are fighting back.
When we talk about the struggle for LGBT rights our attention sits primarily with issues such as same-sex marriage or trans exclusion in the West. But in other countries, the fight for LGBT freedom continues on other fronts. In India, courts recently decided to review a law which currently makes homosexual sex a criminal offense.
In 2014, protesters in Hong Kong rallied to oppose changes to the city's political system, believed imposed by the mainland government in China. Since the government cracked down heavy on the protesters, activists have been more cautious. However, a new confrontation has now emerged in the city, which has brought with it repressive state violence.
Top image by Lukasz2