US Domestic News Roundup: Actress Lori Loughlin faces hearing in U.S. college cheating scandal; Even after Epstein's suicide, his accusers to get day in court

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Exclusive: U.S. officials fear ransomware attack against 2020 election

The U.S. government plans to launch a program in roughly one month that narrowly focuses on protecting voter registration databases and systems ahead of the 2020 presidential election. These systems, which are widely used to validate the eligibility of voters before they cast ballots, were compromised in 2016 by Russian hackers seeking to collect information. Intelligence officials are concerned that foreign hackers in 2020 not only will target the databases but attempt to manipulate, disrupt or destroy the data, according to current and former U.S. officials.

As Trump policies deepen farmers' pain, Democrats see an opening in rural America

Seizing on mounting Farm Belt frustration with President Donald Trump's economic agenda, Democratic rivals are stepping up their push to take back part of rural America, whose overwhelming support for Trump helped propel his upset 2016 election victory. The sparsely populated U.S. heartland has remained loyal to the Republican president even as farmers from Iowa to Wisconsin to Pennsylvania bear the brunt of his tariff war with China. His advisers insist Trump's projection of toughness against China will only delight, not alienate, his base.

Federal judge expected to rule on restrictive Missouri abortion law

A federal judge was expected to decide on Tuesday whether to block a Missouri law banning abortion after eight weeks except in cases of a medical emergency, according to court documents. Women's healthcare provider Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union sued Missouri last month over the law, which also bans abortions sought on the grounds of the fetus' race, sex or disability and makes it a felony for doctors to perform abortions in violation of the law.

Actress Lori Loughlin faces hearing in U.S. college cheating scandal

Actress Lori Loughlin is due in court on Tuesday for a hearing on whether the lawyers defending her against charges that she participated in a large college admissions scam have a conflict and must be disqualified. Federal prosecutors in Boston have accused the "Full House" star and her fashion designer husband Mossimo Giannulli of arranging to pay bribes to get her two daughters admitted to the University of Southern California (USC) as purported crew recruits.

U.S. to seek death penalty for accused Pittsburgh synagogue shooter

U.S. prosecutors will seek the death penalty for a Pennsylvania man accused of bursting into a Pittsburgh synagogue last year with a semi-automatic rifle and shooting 11 people to death, according to court papers filed on Monday. Robert Bowers, 46, shouted "all Jews must die" as he fired on congregants gathered for Sabbath services at the Tree of Life synagogue on Oct. 27, authorities said.

Florida nursing home workers face a first court hearing in post-hurricane deaths

Four Miami-area nursing home workers were due to make their first court appearance on Tuesday to face charges stemming from the 2017 heat-exposure deaths of a dozen patients after Hurricane Irma knocked out the facility's central air conditioning. Three employees of the now-closed Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills, including its administrator, Jorge Carballo, surrendered to police at the Broward County Jail in nearby Fort Lauderdale on Monday, their lawyers said.

Two children dead in Ohio, 10 people injured when stolen police car crashes

Two children were killed and at least 10 people injured, including other children, on Monday in a multi-vehicle crash involving a stolen police car in Dayton, Ohio, police said. The crash began with a reported stabbing in Dayton, police said, and a pickup truck accident in the Dayton suburb of Riverside at about 7:30 p.m. Apparently, the suspect in the reported stabbing fled that scene and then crashed the pickup, police said.

Mass shooting tips to FBI surge 70% after El Paso, Dayton massacres

The number of calls to an FBI tip line designed to head off mass shootings and other attacks surged by 70% in the week after twin massacres in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, federal officials said on Monday. The Federal Bureau of Investigation fielded more than 38,000 phone and online tips during the week after the shootings on the first weekend of August, up from the 22,000 tips it typically receives on a weekly basis.

J&J liable for $572 million in Oklahoma opioid epidemic trial; shares rise

An Oklahoma judge on Monday ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay $572.1 million to the state for its part in fueling an opioid epidemic by deceptively marketing addictive painkillers, a sum that was substantially less than investors had expected, driving up J&J's shares. The state's attorney general had fil

Even after Epstein's suicide, his accusers to get day in court

Women who say they were sexually abused by Jeffrey Epstein will get a chance to discuss their accusations in a courtroom on Tuesday, less than three weeks after the financier killed himself while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. Federal prosecutors in Manhattan are expected to ask U.S. District Judge Richard Berman to dismiss their case against Epstein in light of his death. Multiple alleged victims are also expected at the hearing, according to their lawyer, Gloria Allred.

Also Read: Actress Lori Loughlin faces hearing in U.S. college cheating scandal

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