US Domestic News Summary: Rod Stewart, son face charges over New Year's Eve fracas in Florida

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs. Rod Stewart, son face charges over New Year's Eve fracas in Florida

The British rock singer Rod Stewart and his eldest son, Sean, are facing battery charges for an altercation with a hotel security guard at a New Year's Eve party in Palm Beach, Florida, local media reported. The two men are due to appear in court on Sunday to each face a single charge of simple battery, the Palm Beach Post reported. Judges struggle over Trump bid to block McGahn congressional testimony

U.S. appeals court judges on Friday appeared skeptical about broad legal arguments by President Donald Trump's administration seeking to block a former White House lawyer from testifying to Congress as part of the impeachment effort against Trump, but also seemed wary about stepping into the heated political fight. Judge Thomas Griffith asked tough questions of the Justice Department lawyer who argued on the administration's behalf and the lawyer for the Democratic-led House of Representatives Judiciary Committee that subpoenaed former White House Counsel Don McGahn, and could be the pivotal vote in deciding the case. Hanukkah machete suspect indicted in New York on six counts of attempted murder

The man accused of going on a machete rampage at the New York-area home of a Hasidic rabbi during a Hanukkah celebration was indicted on Friday on six counts of attempted murder, up from five counts the suspect was charged with previously. The indictment also charges Grafton Thomas, 37, with three counts of assault, three counts of attempted assault and two counts of burglary stemming from the Dec. 28 attack, Rockland County District Attorney Thomas Walsh announced at a brief news conference. U.S. Senator Booker raised $6.6 million for presidential bid

U.S. Senator Cory Booker raised $6.6 million in the last three months of 2019 for his bid to win the Democratic nomination for president, a haul nearly identical to the prior quarter's total, his campaign announced on Friday. Booker has struggled in public opinion polls and did not qualify to participate in the December debate. Conservative, liberal Methodists to split over gay marriage

The United Methodist Church plans to split into two later this year, church officials said on Friday, a schism that follows years of contention over whether the church should end its ban on same-sex marriage and gay clergy. The plan, if approved at the church's worldwide conference in Minneapolis in May, would divide the third-largest U.S. Christian denomination into two branches: A traditionalist side opposed to gay marriage and the ordination of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender clergy, and a progressive wing that will allow same-sex marriage and LGBT clergy. U.S. Democratic contenders condemn Iran strike, warn of war

Democratic presidential contenders on Friday condemned the air strike that killed Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani, saying President Donald Trump's decision was reckless and could lead the United States to another war in the Middle East. "President Trump just tossed a stick of dynamite into a tinderbox," said former Vice President Joe Biden. His campaign released a 30-second online ad that portrayed Biden as "tested and trusted around the world" against Trump's "erratic, unstable" presidency. Rumbling Alaska volcano sends ash plume 5 miles into the air

One of Alaska’s most active volcanoes, a towering ice-covered cone in the Aleutian Islands, shot a cloud of ash more than 5 miles high on Friday, triggering a warning to aviators and putting on a show that was captured in satellite imagery. The ash burst from Shishaldin Volcano, about 670 miles southwest of Anchorage, was part of an on-and-off, mostly low-level series of eruptions that began in July with a stream of lava from the crater at the peak of the 9,373-foot-tall mountain. U.S. Senate in stalemate over how to proceed with Trump impeachment trial

The U.S. Senate remained at a stalemate on Friday over how to proceed with the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump, as the chamber's leaders wrangled over whether White House aides will be called as witnesses and the top Democrat appealed to a handful of Republicans who could help break the impasse. After a two-week holiday recess, there was still no clarity about when Trump's impeachment trial might begin. Avenatti says evidence he's cash-strapped doesn't belong in Nike extortion trial

Michael Avenatti does not want U.S. prosecutors to present evidence at his criminal trial this month that his alleged financial straits, including an inability to pay child support, gave the celebrity lawyer a motive to extort Nike Inc. In a filing on Friday, lawyers for Avenatti said it would be "so prejudicial to Mr. Avenatti as to deprive him of a fair trial" for prosecutors to suggest he was more than $15 million in debt, a claim Avenatti "vehemently disputes," when he allegedly tried to extort up to $25 million from Nike. Trump tells evangelical rally he will put prayer in schools

U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday said his Democratic opponents would tear down crosses and pledged to bring prayer to public schools at a re-election rally to shore up evangelical support. Trump spoke on the outskirts of Miami at the King Jesus International Ministry, a "prosperity gospel" church that teaches that the faithful will be rewarded with health and wealth on earth.

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