 The LIV series had challenged the supremacy of the PGA Tour.Doug Mills/The New York Times |
| A PGA-LIV deal increases Saudi influence in golf |
| The PGA Tour and LIV Golf, the new league bankrolled by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, announced a merger, ending a bitter fight for supremacy of men’s professional golf that had divided players, fans and sponsors. It is the most stunning success to date of Saudi Arabia’s ambition to become a player in global sports. (Here are the basics of the deal.) |
| LIV Golf had sparked a crisis for the PGA Tour, which has scrambled to reinvent its economic model as some of its biggest stars switched circuits. Some in the PGA had sharply criticized LIV, both for dividing golf and for associating with Saudi Arabia and its poor human rights record. All lawsuits will now end between the former rivals. |
| By merging with the PGA Tour, LIV Golf has a foothold that guarantees its outsize influence in the game’s future. Yasir al-Rumayyan, who runs the sovereign wealth fund, will become chairman of the new organization. |
| Background: LIV lured some of the world’s most prominent players, some with contracts said to be worth $200 million, and offered tournament prize funds that were the richest in golf history. Tiger Woods, who rebuffed a nine-figure offer from LIV, has harshly criticized the league’s approach to competition. |
| Donald Trump: One of the few people who accurately predicted the outcome of the rivalry was the former president, who remains close to Saudi officials and whose clubs hosted several LIV events. |
| Wildfires in Canada are casting a haze over much of the northeastern U.S., causing the air quality to hit dangerous levels in some areas.France witnessed another day of protests against a widely unpopular pension overhaul, in what may be a final stand against the changes.The World Bank warned of sluggish growth in the global economy this year and next, as rising interest rates slow spending and investment. |
| Other Big Stories |
 Markus Rex, Alfred Wegener Institute, via Associated Press |
| The first Arctic summer without sea ice could arrive as early as the 2030s, a new study found, about a decade earlier than scientists studying climate change had predicted.Federal authorities in the U.S. sued the cryptocurrency trading platform Coinbase, claiming that the company broke securities law by not registering as a broker.Cuba Gooding Jr. settled a lawsuit that had accused him of rape, allowing him to avoid going to trial.Chris Christie has entered the 2024 presidential race. The former governor of New Jersey was eclipsed by Donald Trump in the 2016 primaries. |
| Science Times |
| “Thick, muddy, icky beaches that are full of bird poop”: How scientists stay one step ahead of avian flu. |
| Homo naledi, a relative of ancient humans, was long considered too primitive for rituals. Now, scientists have evidence that they buried their dead in caves.The pharmaceutical company Merck sued the U.S. government over a law that empowers Medicare to negotiate prices directly with drugmakers.Gene therapy may offer birth control for cats, potentially curbing vast stray feline populations.Birds warm up before singing and host rehearsals and singing contests. But are their songs really music? |
| A Morning Read |
 Andrea Mantovani for The New York Times |
| As climate change speeds coastal erosion in France, can memory be preserved if the landing sites of the Allied invasion on D-Day disappear? |
| “If I don’t have the site, I lose the history of what happened here,” a battle monument superintendent said. “You may as well stay at home on the couch and read a book.” |
| Lives Lived |
| Françoise Gilot, who began an affair with Pablo Picasso when she was 22 and he was 62 before becoming an accomplished painter and memoirist in her own right, has died at 101. |
| SPORTS NEWS FROM THE ATHLETIC |
| The overhaul of Saudi soccer, explained: Why more of the biggest soccer stars are set for a move to Saudi Arabia. |
| This is Ange Postecoglou: The history, track record and philosophy of Tottenham’s new manager. |
| Spanish Grand Prix: A big moment for Mercedes, not only in the current season, but in the entire generation of technical rules currently used in F1. |
| ARTS AND IDEAS |
 Metropolitan Museum of Art |
| Ancient Egyptian birds |
| Beholding the migrations of birds between Europe and central and southern Africa, ancient Egyptians regarded them as living symbols of fertility, life and regeneration. With the possible exception of cats, no other animal has been so frequently drawn, painted or sculpted in Egyptian art. |
| Birds appear in lush and skillful detail on panels on a wall of a 3,300-year-old Egyptian palace in Amarna, above. British researchers recently identified some of the species depicted and tried to solve a mystery: why two of them have triangular tail markings when no Egyptian bird known today does. |
| PLAY, WATCH, EAT |
| What to Cook |
 Armando Rafael for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Cyd Raftus McDowell. |
| This chive pesto potato salad is highly adaptable. |
| Tech Fix |
| Our critic reviews Apple’s $3,500 headset. |
| What to Read |
| The actor Elliot Page reflects on his gender transition in the brutally honest memoir “Pageboy.” |
