US Domestic News Roundup: Tax cut for middle-income earners, U.S. Mega Millions lottery

Dozens of environmental activists cycled from Montenegro's capital to the Albanian border on Saturday to protest over the neighbouring nation's construction of a dam on the Cijevna river that flows through both countries.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Russian charged with conspiring to interfere in U.S. congressional elections

The U.S. government on Friday charged a Russian national with playing a key financial role in a Kremlin-backed plan to conduct "information warfare" against the United States, including ongoing attempts to influence next month's congressional elections. Elena Alekseevna Khusyaynova, 44, became the first person charged with a crime for attempting to interfere in the 2018 U.S. midterm elections, according to a government official with knowledge of the investigation.

Trump says team working on tax cut for middle-income earners

U.S. President Donald Trump said the administration was studying a tax cut for middle-income earners that could be rolled out sometime around the beginning of November, just before pivotal congressional elections. Trump mentioned the proposed tax cut in the same week the U.S. government ended the 2018 fiscal year with a $779 billion deficit, the Treasury Department said on Monday, as previous Republican-led tax cuts squeezed revenues. The deficit figure was the highest in six years.

Remains of more than 60 babies, fetuses found stashed in Detroit funeral home

The remains of more than 60 infants and fetuses were found stashed in a Detroit funeral home, police said on Friday, calling the discovery "deeply disturbing." The incident comes about a week after the badly decomposed bodies of 11 babies were found hidden in a false ceiling at a different funeral home in the Michigan city.

Montenegrins protest against Albanian dam on shared river

Dozens of environmental activists cycled from Montenegro's capital to the Albanian border on Saturday to protest over the neighbouring nation's construction of a dam on the Cijevna river that flows through both countries. As governments hurry to meet renewable energy goals set by the Paris climate change agreement, plans to build almost 3,000 small hydro-power plants have sparked protests across the Balkans this year.

Trump administration trying to define transgender out of existence: NY Times

The government of U.S. President Donald Trump is attempting to strip transgender people of official recognition by creating a narrow definition of gender as being only male or female and unchangeable once it is determined at birth, The New York Times reported on Sunday. The Department of Health and Human Services has undertaken an effort across several government departments to establish a legal definition of sex under Title IX, the federal civil rights law that bans discrimination on the basis of sex, the Times said, citing a government memo that it obtained.

U.S. Mega Millions lottery hits record $1.6 billion after no winners on Friday

The U.S. Mega Millions jackpot grew to $1.6 billion, a world record for a lottery after Friday's drawing produced no winner of the grand prize, officials said. The next Mega Millions draw will be on Tuesday, after no one hit all of the numbers of 15, 23, 53, 65, 70 and the Mega Ball 7 during Friday night's draw.

Florida city official charged in store shooting caught on video

A Florida city commissioner has been arrested and charged with second-degree murder for shooting a man he suspected of trying to shoplift a hatchet from his military surplus store, officials said on Saturday. Michael Dunn, a commissioner in the city of Lakeland between Tampa and Orlando, was acting in self-defence, his attorney told local media. Florida's "stand your ground" law removes the legal responsibility to retreat from a dangerous situation and allows the use of deadly force when a person feels greatly threatened.

Trump criticized for praising congressman who body-slammed reporter

President Donald Trump reiterated his support for a Montana congressman who body-slammed a reporter last year, even as he came under criticism on Friday from U.S. lawmakers and press organizations. Trump's praise for Greg Gianforte, a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives who pleaded guilty to an assault charge for the incident involving the reporter, coincides with an international outcry over the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Lioness kills father of her cubs at Indianapolis zoo

A lioness has killed the father of her three offspring, suffocating her mate by locking her jaws onto his neck at the Indianapolis Zoo in an attack not fully understood by zoo staff. The lions had been held together at the zoo for eight years, producing three cubs in 2015, and zookeepers had never before noticed any aggression between the two, the zoo said in a statement issued on Friday.

(With inputs from Reuters)

(With inputs from agencies.)