Ex-American Idol contestant told lover he dreamed of killing wife, murder trial hears

Alleigha Botner tells court Caleb Flynn, charged with murder of wife Ashley Flynn, sent her AI love songs

The Ohio former pastor and American Idol contestant accused of fatally shooting his wife fantasized to his then lover about killing his spouse and sent her AI-generated love songs, according to evidence presented at trial this week.

Caleb Flynn, 40, is on trial for aggravated murder in connection with the 16 February shooting death of Ashley Flynn. He also is charged with two counts of felonious assault and three counts of tampering with evidence, according to a March indictment. Flynn has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/sep/25/american-idol-contestant-accused-of-told-lover

Trump and Chinese president Xi end summit without major agreement on AI

Xi’s state visit to the US emphasized personal rapport with the US president, rather than substantial agreements to pause their respective countries’ AI arms race

Donald Trump and Chinese president Xi Jinping wrapped up their Washington summit on Friday, facing criticism that they had squandered an opportunity to pause their countries’ artificial intelligence (AI) arms race.

The three-day state visit emphasised pageantry and personal rapport rather than substantial agreements. The US president and Xi discussed the wars in Iran and Ukraine and the status of Taiwan. Their biggest policy announcement was a modest two-month extension of a trade truce.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/sep/25/trump-xi-ai-arms-race

Nearly 200 people wrongly identified on Nevada’s voter rolls as non-citizens

State election officials said they reviewed 185 records homeland security sent them and confirmed they were US citizens

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) wrongly identified 185 people on Nevada’s voter rolls as non-citizens, state officials said this week, escalating concerns over the shoddy methodology the government is using to raise fear about non-citizen voting ahead of the midterm elections.

In July, Donald Trump gave a speech saying DHS had found a combined 278,000 non-citizens on the rolls in Nevada, California, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Follow-up letters to each of those states weakened the claim, saying there only could be as many as 278,000 non-citizens on the rolls, including up to 15,903 in Nevada.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/sep/24/dhs-nevada-voter-non-citizens-error

Nearly 200 people wrongly identified on Nevada’s voter rolls as non-citizens

State election officials said they reviewed 185 records homeland security sent them and confirmed they were US citizens

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) wrongly identified 185 people on Nevada’s voter rolls as non-citizens, state officials said this week, escalating concerns over the shoddy methodology the government is using to raise fear about non-citizen voting ahead of the midterm elections.

In July, Donald Trump gave a speech saying DHS had found a combined 278,000 non-citizens on the rolls in Nevada, California, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Follow-up letters to each of those states weakened the claim, saying there only could be as many as 278,000 non-citizens on the rolls, including up to 15,903 in Nevada.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/sep/24/dhs-nevada-voter-non-citizens-error

Trump officials ask supreme court to allow third-country deportations

Attorney general Todd Blanche requests that justices overturn lower court ruling that halted such removals

The Trump administration has asked the US supreme court to allow it to deport immigrants to countries other than their own, the latest effort to seek approval for a controversial policy that fulfils Donald Trump’s mass deportation agenda.

Todd Blanche, the US attorney general, said on Thursday morning that the Department of Justice would ask the conservative-majority supreme court for help, nearly a week after a lower court judge rejected the policy.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/sep/24/trump-supreme-court-third-country-deportation

In a first, olive ridley turtles spotted nesting on California’s beaches

Scientists are questioning whether the nestings on Seal and Huntington Beach were freak occurrences or start of a trend

A sea turtle crawled out of the surf in southern California last weekend around sunset and started laying eggs in the sand.

People on Huntington Beach who saw the female olive ridley sea turtle were shocked and excited. And they weren’t the only ones freaking out, said Justin Viezbicke, the California stranding coordinator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (Noaa).

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source https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/sep/23/sea-turtle-nesting-california-beaches

Hats, pencils and baby pacifiers: Yellowstone staffers retrieve record amount of trash from hot springs

The park is the most highly visited and strong winds make trash problem worse, with gusts blowing away items

Hold on to your hats – Yellowstone national park staffers have removed a record-setting 20,100 pieces of trash from hydrothermal areas around the geyser-filled park so far this year

The most commonly found items include 280 hats, 54 camera lens caps, 47 hair ties, 42 pencils, 36 pairs of sunglasses, 20 hotel key cards and 17 baby pacifiers.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/sep/22/yellowstone-trash-record