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Nvidia stocks tumble as CEO investigated over spy claims | First Thing

Jensen Huang reportedly had close relationship ‌with Chinese businesswoman accused of passing information to ‌Beijing. Plus, tennis legend Billie Jean King tells all

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Good morning. Nvidia’s chief executive, Jensen Huang, has been placed under “independent investigation” by the tech company after reports emerged he had been “the target of a foreign intelligence effort”, namely a close relationship ‌with a Chinese businesswoman who is accused of passing information to ‌Beijing. Nvidia stock is down 5% in pre-market trading as a result.

The company’s board said in a statement that while it had no reason to believe that either US national security or Nvidia secrets were compromised, its inquiry would examine all available information. Republican lawmakers have expressed alarm, asking Huang to give the House foreign affairs and intelligence committees a closed-door briefing next week on Nvidia’s “security protocols against foreign adversary espionage”.

The Guardian will have extensive coverage of the Cop31 conference, including a daily live blog, and these explainers on what is at stake and what the talks can achieve, and who the key players are. Find all of our Cop31 coverage here.

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© Photograph: Dpa Picture Alliance/Alamy Stock Photo/Alamy Live News.

© Photograph: Dpa Picture Alliance/Alamy Stock Photo/Alamy Live News.

© Photograph: Dpa Picture Alliance/Alamy Stock Photo/Alamy Live News.

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Global tech stocks wobble over AI regulation fears after midterms | First Thing

Anticipation that Democrats’ ‘blue wave’ will lead to tighter rules on AI and datacenters sends tech stock plunging. Plus a big eight-legged surprise for customs officials in Peru

Good morning. Stock markets around the world have fallen sharply as a rout in US tech stocks spread across the Atlantic after the Democrats’ midterms victory led to fears of a slowdown in the AI industry. A sell-off on Wall Street on Thursday was followed by sharp falls in Asian stock markets on Friday morning. The dip in investor sentiment has also reached London.

Susannah Streeter, the chief investment strategist at Wealth Club, said: “The tech sell-off has intensified. Big worries are colliding – the build-out of datacenters looks set to slow, which risks shredding the spending spree underpinning the boom, right at the time that investors have become super nervous about returns on this massive investment.”

What happened to the Nasdaq? The Nasdaq share index had its worst day in 19 months after slumping 5.5% on Thursday amid growing signs that the AI industry will face tougher regulation.

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© Photograph: John Angelillo/UPI/Shutterstock

© Photograph: John Angelillo/UPI/Shutterstock

© Photograph: John Angelillo/UPI/Shutterstock

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Trump accepts election results as Republicans face midterm reckoning | First Thing

Criticism of US-Israel war on Iran seen as huge factor in Democrats’ sweeping victory. Plus, a spiky customer steps into a North Carolina bagel store

Good morning.

Donald Trump has accepted the results of the US midterm elections as the system held up against attempts at election interference. His administration had waged an aggressive effort to sow doubt about the results in advance, but the worst fears have not been realized. “It was essentially too big to rig,” an unnamed Trump adviser told CNN, after Democrats swept into power across the nation on a “blue wave”. Trump made a public appearance the day after the seismic results – chiefly to talk about his new White House ballroom plans.

Follow our continued live coverage of the election results and find our full midterms coverage here.

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© Photograph: Alex Brandon/AP

© Photograph: Alex Brandon/AP

© Photograph: Alex Brandon/AP

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Democrats sweep into control of Congress after historic midterm victories | First Thing

Both the House and Senate will be under Democratic control for the rest of Donald Trump’s term in office. Plus, the French Homer and Marge who found true love in real life

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© Photograph: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA

© Photograph: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA

© Photograph: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA

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First Thing: US goes to polls in vote that will define the last years of Trump’s presidency

Democrats are hoping to seize control in the Capitol and rein in the president’s power. Plus, a peacock that loves admiring itself in the mirror a little too much

Good morning. Americans are heading to the polls today in US midterm elections widely seen as a referendum on Donald Trump’s second presidency and a chance for opponents to rein in his power. The party holding the White House typically loses congressional seats at midterm elections and Democrats are hoping the president’s nose-diving popularity can be exploited.

Meanwhile, the US Department of Justice in California has charged six more people with alleged voter fraud crimes, an escalation of the administration’s campaign against election integrity. However, in a blow to Trump, the supreme court has ruled against attempts to force California election officials to segregate and not count ballots from people the justice department claims are non-citizens.

Where have our reporters been covering the crucial midterm races? We have a dispatch from Shrai Popat in New Hampshire, where Republicans were hoping to flip a Senate seat but now worry Trump may be dragging them down, and David Smith has been in Austin, where James Talarico is making an extraordinary bid to break the Texas Democrats’ losing streak. Lauren Gambino has been in Los Angeles, casting her eye over Xavier Becerra’s California shoo-in to be governer, while Joseph Gedeon offers this analysis from Detroit of how Israel is at the heart of Haley Stevens’s extraordinary reversal to back Abdul El-Sayed’s Republican opponent in Michigan.

Where can you find the Guardian’s election coverage? This explainer has everything you need to know about how winners are called, how states count ballots and Trump’s election denialism. We also have an hour-by-hour rundown of when polls close around the US, and this valuable guide to the candidates and races that will decide the elections.

We will be live blogging the election and results round-the-clock. You can join my colleagues on the live blog here.

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© Photograph: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

© Photograph: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

© Photograph: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

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Stevens defects to back El-Sayed’s Michigan opponent as Trump delivers anti-Muslim tirade | First Thing

Trump called Democratic candidate a ‘jihadist’ as El-Sayed’s defeated primary opponent backs Republican Mike Rogers. Plus an Australian fish worth its weight in gold

Good morning. Congresswoman Haley Stevens, who lost the Michigan Democratic Senate primary to Abdul El-Sayed, has endorsed his Republican rival in an extraordinary rebuke of her party’s nominee on the eve of the midterm elections. Tensions between El-Sayed and Stevens had already led to him asking her to stay away from his campaign events, and her endorsement of Mike Rogers comes as the US president unleashed a racist tirade against El-Sayed in Iowa.

What did Stevens do? Her endorsement came in a video posted to X after she attended an event with Rogers at the predominantly Black Perfecting church in Detroit on Sunday. Stevens’s endorsement was the culmination of an escalating feud between the former primary rivals – primarily over support for Israel – that has roiled one of the most fiercely contested Senate contests of the cycle.

What did Trump say? The president bashed El-Sayed, a practicing Muslim, in brazenly racist terms, saying that Congress would have to “get a special metal detector for Abdul” if he were elected. “If you vote for this jihadist lunatic that wants to destroy you, you’re crazy. Mike Rodgers is apple pie. And you know what this country needs? A little apple pie. We don’t need the communists or jihadists, the Muslim Brotherhood. We need apple pie.”

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© Photograph: Dominic Gwinn/SOPA Images/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Dominic Gwinn/SOPA Images/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Dominic Gwinn/SOPA Images/Shutterstock

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First Thing: Alaska Senate race descends into legal acrimony over second Dan Sullivan

DoJ reportedly issues subpoenas after reports Democrat campaign sought candidate with same name as Republican incumbent. Plus, tributes pour in for Patrick Stewart

Good morning. The US justice department is said to have issued subpoenas after a report that the Alaska Democrat Mary Peltola’s campaign collaborated with party operatives to get a challenger with the same name as the Republican senator Dan Sullivan on to the midterm ballot.

Ballot stacking is a political tactic used in elections to draw votes away from an opponent by “stacking” the ballot with other candidates. While it is not illegal, the US president and the justice department have filed a lawsuit pre-emptively to block the certification of the Senate election results if the incumbent senator loses. Ariana Baio explains what is going on.

The Trump administration has opened a criminal investigation in California over claims that thousands of noncitizens are registered to vote. Donald Trump has repeatedly alleged that California’s elections are “corrupt” and “rigged”. Some employees from the office of the Los Angeles county registrar-recorder received grand jury subpoenas, the office confirmed.

Government corruption has emerged as a top issue in the upcoming elections, with an overwhelming majority of Americans saying US government officials use their public office for personal financial gain, according to an exclusive Harris poll for the Guardian. Three-quarters of voters said they thought elected officials cared more about enriching themselves than improving the economy for ordinary people.

Vivek Ramaswamy, the Republican nominee for Ohio governor, confirmed his campaign had pulled an attack ad featuring Donna Arthur, the estranged mother of his Democratic opponent, Amy Acton. It followed a public backlash after the revelation that Arthur lost custody of Acton in 1978 after Arthur’s second husband was charged with repeatedly raping the then child.

The Canadian rocker Bryan Adams has trolled Donald Trump with a new song criticising his attempt to rename Lake Ontario, and another track called 51st State about Trump’s efforts to annex Canada.

This video explainer gives an overview in three and a half minutes of whether Israel’s opposition parties can work with new Palestinian Knesset members to oust Netanyahu.

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© Photograph: Becky Bohrer/AP

© Photograph: Becky Bohrer/AP

© Photograph: Becky Bohrer/AP

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Explosive book targets Jared Kushner’s role in US foreign policy | First Thing

President’s son-in-law denies ‘completely insane’ claims he profited from unofficial position. Plus, the battle between psychics and AI

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Good morning. A book that contains incendiary claims about Jared Kushner’s financial dealings during Donald Trump’s first term has ignited a political and media storm. The book, by the author Matthew Cole, drew a furious response from Kushner, who called its claims “completely insane”.

It contains numerous allegations about Kushner, who has served as one of Donald Trump’s top diplomatic envoys in the Middle East. The most explosive are claims linking him to huge bank accounts allegedly funded by Gulf states. Kushner continues to steer US foreign policy despite having no official role. The Guardian contacted Kushner’s legal counsel and received no response.

Barack Obama offered a closing argument for Democrats in the final week of the campaign. “These are not serious people,” he said of Trump and the Republican party. “And we’re all paying the price for their lack of seriousness.”

The campaign of the Alaska Democrat Mary Peltola was behind an effort to recruit a challenger with almost the same name as the Republican US senator Dan Sullivan. Both men will appear on the ballot in next week’s midterm elections, the New York Times reported on Wednesday. Peltola’s campaign has denied involvement with the other Dan Sullivan, who will be listed on the ballot as “Sullivan, Daniel J Jr”.

Two rightwing influencers have been charged with felonies in Minneapolis over attempts in the state’s election primary to disguise themselves in what they called “Muslim garb” and claim they were local voters.

If you are having trouble keeping track of all the ways Trump and his administration have been attempting to disrupt the midterms, this four-minute video explainer has you covered. And the Guardian’s Washington bureau chief, David Smith, has this analysis piece looking at Trump’s midterm rally bigotry, with the president’s repeated attacks on Muslims and his strange obsession with people’s bodies.

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© Photograph: Jacquelyn Martin/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Jacquelyn Martin/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Jacquelyn Martin/AFP/Getty Images

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