The New York Times

1. Trump Previews Fall Strategy With Baseless Claims of California Vote Fraud

   The president is using the slow count of mail ballots in California to renew his effort to cast doubt on election outcomes he doesn’t like, despite a lack of evidence of any widespread fraud.

2. Nithya Raman Secures Second LA Mayor Spot, Ending Spencer Pratt’s Run

   Nithya Raman, a progressive Democrat who entered the mayoral race at the last minute, secured the second spot to face Mayor Karen Bass in November. Her comeback sets up an intraparty battle.

3. San Francisco Voters Appear to Reject Tax Hike on Highly Paid C.E.O.s

   The proposal was seen as a possible measure of how residents felt about the recent flood of money into the city as a result of the A.I. boom.

4. Ken Paxton’s Former Defense Lawyer Endorses James Talarico

   The lawyer, Dan Cogdell, helped save Mr. Paxton from criminal charges and an impeachment, but now he says the Texas attorney general has “lost sight of his mission.”

5. Trump Wants to Call the Shots. But in Iran, He Keeps Hitting His Limits.

   President Trump is grappling with his own version of the sort of Middle East crisis that beset his predecessors, and that he promised to avoid.