From pariah to demi-god: transgender leader a star at massive Indian festival

Tripathi is one of the best known. But her support for building a controversial Hindu temple on the site of a demolished mosque has angered some in the LGBT community, who allege she is courting support from India’s powerful religious right to further her own influence.

World War 3 Alert: Israel, Iran Edging Dangerously Close to State of All-Out War

Israel and Iran are edging dangerously close to a state of all-out war. On Sunday night, Israeli forces rained missiles down on Iranian forces based in the Damascus area "for nearly an hour." According to the IDF, this was a response to "dozens" of missiles that were fired by Iranian forces in Syria toward targets in Israel earlier that day. The Israelis were able to intercept the Iranian missiles, but if any of them had gotten through they could have caused a tremendous amount of damage. Some of the missiles that Israel fired at the Iranians were reportedly intercepted, but quite a few of them did hit their intended targets. If the violence continues to escalate, we could potentially soon be talking about an all-out war between Israel and Iran in which both sides use their weapons of mass destruction.

The missile strikes against Iranian targets in Damascus made headlines all over the globe. According to Syrian state media, there were "consecutive waves of guided missiles."

Syrian state media cited a Syrian military source as saying Israel launched an "intense attack through consecutive waves of guided missiles," but that Syrian air defenses destroyed most of the "hostile targets."

Witnesses in Damascus said loud explosions rang out in the night sky for nearly an hour.

The Syrians are boasting that they were able to destroy quite a few of the Israeli missiles, but independent observers confirm that quite a few Iranian targets were destroyed.

In the past, the Israelis have not always publicly acknowledged their attacks in Syria, but on Sunday night they released an immediate statement:

"We have started striking Iranian Quds targets in Syrian territory," Israel's military said in a statement.

"We warn the Syrian Armed Forces against attempting to harm Israeli forces or territory."

You can see some footage of the missile strikes right here. Among the targets were"weapons warehouses at the Damascus International Airport.":

Targets striked by the IDF, which number at around 10 according to its statement, include weapons warehouses at the Damascus International Airport and in other locations, an Iranian intelligence site and an Iranian training camp in Syria's south.

New York Dems Flex Muscles, Pass Reproductive Health Act
January 22, 2019 at 6:36 pm

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — A re-write of New York abortion laws had been held up by Republicans for more than a decade.

On Tuesday, the 46th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision, Senate Democrats passed the Reproductive Health Act, 38-24. Gov. Andrew Cuomo hoped to sign the bill later in the evening, CBS2’s Tony Aiello reported.

Critics call the legislation a radical over-reach that benefits people who harm pregnant women.

All the power in Albany is now in the hands of Democrats and they quickly moved to pass an abortion rights bill.

“We’re saying here in New York, women’s lives matter. We’re saying here in New York, women’s decisions matter,” Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said.

Andrea Stewart-Cousins speaks during the One Fair Wage Event at the Rockefeller Foundation on Feb. 20, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images)

New York legalized abortion in 1970, three years before the Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade. Supporters say almost 50 years later, the Empire State has simply moved to codify abortion rights, with Cuomo often pointing to new members of the high court.

“Kavanaugh is going to reverse Roe v. Wade, I have no doubt,” the governor said.

But critics say the Reproductive Health Act goes beyond codifying — to expanding.

Timothy Cardinal Dolan spoke about it Tuesday on his radio show.

“Any, any, any limit on the unfettered, unquestioned absolute right to abortion, they want none of it,” Dolan said.

Provisions in the bill include dropping most restrictions on abortions after 24 weeks, allowing midwives and nurse practitioners to perform abortions and ending criminal charges for harming children in the womb.

Livia Abreu of the Bronx lost her baby in a 2018 domestic violence attack. Charges against her ex-boyfriend, Oscar Alvarez, include abortion in the first degree.

“The passing of RHA will exonerate him from those charges. I cannot imagine living in a world where harming or killing an unborn child is not a crime,” Abreu said.

Democrats say voters put them in control to pass progressive legislation — and the Reproductive Health Act is one of the first on a long list of bills Republicans can no longer stop.


(CBS New York)