Musk Pours $276 Million Into the Midterms, and Federal Agents Raid Home of Rep. Ilhan Omar

Plus, setting a record on Mars.
Here’s what we’re covering:
• Inside Elon Musk’s $276 Million Midterm Rescue Mission for Republicans (nytimes.com/2026/10/12/us/politics/elon-musk-m…), by Theodore Schleifer
• Homeland Security Agents Search Home of Rep. Ilhan Omar (nytimes.com/2026/10/12/us/politics/ilhan-omar-…), by Devlin Barrett, Hamed Aleaziz, Ernesto Londoño and Alan Feuer
• U.K. and Europe Recoil From Trump’s Diesel Deal With Putin (nytimes.com/2026/10/13/world/europe/trump-puti…), by Michael D. Shear and Jeanna Smialek
• Israel’s Destruction of Southern Lebanon Intensified After the Cease-Fire (nytimes.com/interactive/2026/10/12/world/middl…), by Christina Goldbaum, Samuel Granados and Adina Renner
• 28 Miles and Counting: NASA’s Perseverance Rover Sets a Mars Driving Record (nytimes.com/2026/10/12/science/mars-rover-sets…), by Kenneth Chang

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.