World News Roundup: Under pressure, Biden drifts leftward on abortion; 'No going back' in fight for LGBTQ rights

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

New York man plotted killing police, attacking Times Square: prosecutors

A New York man who prosecutors say plotted an attack on Times Square, spoke about killing police officers and praised Islamic militants appeared in court on firearms charges on Friday and was denied bail. Ashiqul Alam, 22, from Jackson Heights in the city's Queens borough, was charged with illegally acquiring firearms as part of the attack plan, federal officials said.

Attorney calls California charges against Mexican church leader 'high-tech hit job'

The head of a Mexico-based church charged in Los Angeles with multiple sex crimes, including rape of a minor and a woman, is the victim of false accusations in a "high-tech hit job", his attorney said on Friday. An attorney for La Luz Del Mundo (Light of the World) church leader Naason Joaquin Garcia defended his client one day after California's Attorney General Xavier Becerra appealed for more people to come forward who may have been sexually abused.

California utility PG&E cuts off power to some customers to reduce wildfire risk

Utility PG&E Corp proactively shut off power on Saturday to around 1,600 customers in northern California and said it might expand the shutdown to tens of thousands more due to an increased risk of wildfires. The affected customers in Napa, Solano and Yolo counties will not have electricity until at least the afternoon, PG&E said, after forecasters said a combination of strong winds, dry conditions and warm temperatures had raised the fire danger in areas north of San Francisco.

Democrats to pour into Iowa for biggest event yet in 2020 White House race

Nineteen Democratic presidential candidates will swarm Iowa this weekend for the biggest political gathering of the 2020 election cycle so far, as the White House race picks up steam ahead of debates and a key fundraising deadline at the end of the month. The state party's Hall of Fame dinner on Sunday will give voters in Iowa, where the nominating contest kicks off in February, an early chance to compare the contenders and test the organizational power of still-forming campaign teams.

Woman with opioid addiction to get regular methadone treatment in prison

A Massachusetts woman will become the first known person to win approval from the U.S. Justice Department's Bureau of Prisons (BOP) to receive ongoing methadone treatment for her heroin addiction while she serves a sentence in federal prison. The decision by the BOP to buck its own policy and provide Stephanie DiPierro with methadone on a regular basis could pave the way for other federal inmates who also have opioid addictions to receive treatments to help block cravings and avoid painful withdrawal symptoms. Democratic candidate Buttigieg:

'No going back' in fight for LGBTQ rights

Democrat Pete Buttigieg, running to become the first openly gay U.S. president, told activists at an Iowa Pride festival on Saturday there was "no going back to normal" in fighting discrimination against the LGBTQ community. Buttigieg, speaking at a rally on the steps outside the Iowa state capitol in Des Moines, said rights for the community were still under threat from Republican President Donald Trump, and he warned against complacency.

Biden reverses position on federal funding for abortion

U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden said on Thursday he no longer supported a ban on the use of federal funds for most abortions, reversing course after sharp criticism from abortion-rights proponents. Biden, the front-runner in the race for the 2020 Democratic nomination and a former vice president, said he had changed his long-held position on the Hyde Amendment because the right to an abortion was now under assault in many states and increasingly inaccessible for low-income women.

House panel weighs holding Trump Cabinet members in contempt over census

The U.S. House Oversight Committee plans to vote next week on holding Attorney General William Barr and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in contempt of Congress for stonewalling a probe into an alleged scheme to politicize the 2020 U.S. Census. On Friday, the committee's majority Democrats released a memo alleging that the White House "interfered directly and aggressively" with an attempt by the panel to interview Kris Kobach, a former Kansas Secretary of State, about a plan by President Donald Trump's administration to add a question on citizenship to next year's U.S. Census questionnaire.

Minnesota ex-officer gets 12-1/2 years in prison for Australian woman's shooting death

A former Minneapolis police officer was sentenced to 12-1/2 years in prison on Friday for the fatal shooting of an Australian woman nearly two years ago after she had called police to report a possible sexual assault. Mohamed Noor, 33, was found guilty on April 30 of third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter for killing 40-year-old Justine Ruszczyk Damond outside her home in a case that drew international attention.

Under pressure, Biden drifts leftward on abortion, climate change

The Joe Biden Express to the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination went a bit off track this week. Since Biden joined the race in April, his campaign has worked to craft an aura of inevitability around the former vice president's bid. Biden has engaged President Donald Trump more often than his Democratic rivals, while speaking in broad, thematic outlines rather pinpointing policy.