Good morning. The US justice department is reported 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.

More developments in the midterms:

• 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 pulled an attack ad featuring Donna Arthur, the estranged mother of his Democratic opponent, Amy Acton. It followed severe public backlash rooted in 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.

Netanyahu accused of smearing Arab voters to hold on to power

Benjamin Netanyahu has been accused of using smear tactics to cling to power, after he claimed Arab Israeli parties had used foreign backing to “steal” Israel’s election, in which the prime minister’s coalition lost its parliamentary majority. Netanyahu and his allies called on the internal security service, Shin Bet, to investigate alleged vote buying.

Gadi Eisenkot, the leader of the main opposition bloc, accused the prime minister of trying to derail the election results. Netanyahu was also rebuked by the president, Isaac Herzog, for “tarnishing an entire community”, while the acting director general of the central elections committee, Dean Livneh, said there appeared to be no basis for the claims.

• 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.

JD Vance letter may offer last chance to avert fresh conflict between US and Iran

Hopes of averting a major new conflagration between Iran and the US could rest on Iran’s response to a personal letter from the US vice-president, JD Vance. The letter requires Tehran to agree to make commitments on its nuclear program at the start of a process that would lead to the opening of the strait of Hormuz within seven days, in return for US sanctions relief.

DHS cites risk to more than 40,000 personnel in effort to take leaked data offline

The US Department of Homeland Security asked ⁠an Icelandic hosting company on Thursday to take down or limit access to data related to thousands ⁠of agency personnel, saying ⁠the content ​put them at risk. The database “places more than ⁠40,000 identifiable individuals at risk of harassment, stalking and physical harm”, the request said.

In other news …

• Patrick Stewart, the Star Trek: TNG and X-Men actor, has died aged 86. The acclaimed British stage and screen actor died in his LA home after “a brief and poignant journey with Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy body dementia”. Peter Bradshaw described him as “a unique charismatic force” in this tribute, and our picture desk have put together this gallery of his incredible life.

• The US defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, has reportedly dismissed a high-ranking army strategist after allegations he disclosed classified information to the public.

• Amazon offered a mixed picture of its financial health in its quarterly earnings report. It gave a cautious sales forecast for the fourth quarter after its third-quarter results came in below Wall Street analysts’ expectations.

• Polymarket temporarily halted trading on its international platform because of a security incident that compromised a third-party provider, the company said.

• Survivors have been recounting details of the train crash in Spain that claimed at least 68 lives. The Spanish prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has said the victims may include people of up to 27 different nationalities.

• Police in Scotland have said they are investigating time spent by the former prince Andrew, Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell at King Charles’s private estate.

Stat of the day: North Korean group blamed for $6.3bn Binance hack in biggest ever crypto heist

The world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange has been hit by an industry-record $6.3bn hack, with experts identifying North Korea as the likely culprit. Binance’s co-founder Yi He said the company would cover “all hacking losses”.

Culture Pick: ‘I left shellshocked’ – writers on their scariest non-horror movies

As Halloween comes closer, our writers present a selection of great movies that aren’t in the horror genre but that nevertheless are efficiently terrifying. We also have a piece from the woman who lives in the house from the 80s horror movie Poltergeist, and a wonderful interview with Olivia Colman and Alexander Skårsgard on their steamy folk-horror movie Wicker.

Don’t miss this: Writer Jeanette Winterson on AI and the future of humanity

The author believes we are at a turning point as a species but “there is no inevitable dystopia”. Aida Edemariam speaks to her about how the risks of AI aren’t from the technology itself, but because, she says, “our masters are using out-of-date, not-fit-for-purpose economic models”.

… or this: The lawyer who quit her job and became voice of Netflix’s hit show Spike

Emily McGonagle was watching cartoons with her sons when she decided to embark on a career change. A decade on, she is a star of a globally popular children’s series.

Climate check: Record-breaking high tides spark chaos across California

Historic high tides have caused chaos up and down the California coast this week as parts of the state were inundated by record-breaking water levels. The National Weather Service has issued a swathe of flood advisories and warnings that will last for days. Daniel Swain, a climate scientist, said the sharply rising waters were fuelled by the human-caused climate crisis.

Last Thing: Visit Norway makes shithouses ‘great again’ after Trump insult

Days after the US president vented his fury once more over failing to win the Nobel peace prize by describing Norway as a “shithouse country”, the Norwegian tourist board has chosen to lift the lid on some of the nation’s loveliest lavatories.

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