A Surge of Russian Sabotage Attacks in Europe, and Musk’s Political War Chest

Plus, your Friday news quiz.
Here’s what we’re covering:
• The Risk of Russian Sabotage in Europe: A Fight That Spirals Out of Control (nytimes.com/2026/09/04/world/europe/russia-eur…), by Michael Schwirtz and Adam Goldman
• ‘I Wouldn’t Call It a War’: Vance Plays Down Recent Iran Strikes (nytimes.com/2026/09/03/us/politics/vance-iran-…), by Maggie Haberman
• Trump Administration Begins Blitz to Find Elusive Voter Fraud Ahead of Midterms (nytimes.com/2026/09/02/us/politics/trump-elect…), by Nick Corasaniti and Hamed Aleaziz
• Trump to Break Ground on Arch Before Getting Approval (nytimes.com/2026/09/03/us/politics/trump-trium…), by Luke Broadwater and Emily Badger
• Elon Musk Makes His First Spending Push in Key Midterm Races (nytimes.com/2026/09/03/us/elon-musk-republican…), by Theodore Schleifer
• Rescuers Search Nepal Tunnel for Survivors After Finding 2 Alive (nytimes.com/live/2026/09/04/world/nepal-flash-…), by Anupreeta Das, Binod Ghimire, Sajal Pradhan, Mujib Mashal and Hari Raj
• A.I. Is Everywhere in China. See For Yourself. (nytimes.com/interactive/2026/08/21/world/asia/…), by Agnes Chang, Vivian Wang, Jiwoong Hong, Aaron Byrd and Qilai Shen

Tune in every weekday morning, and tell us what you think at: theheadlines@nytimes.com.

Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podca…. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.