Summer Begins

Memorial Day is a starting gun. While other holidays can be like a finish line — the culmination of so much energy — Memorial Day marks the beginning. The whole summer stretches out in front of us, a track shimmering in the sun.

If you’re not yet sure how to spend the long weekend, or the next few months, don’t worry. The Morning has compiled the best ideas and recommendations from The Times to get you ready for the summer. Starting now.

For your time outdoors

• Here’s motivation to get you back in your garden, or to start a new one.

• Make your outdoor space work for you with these design ideas.

• A friend of mine recently lamented not having summer break as an adult. Here are ideas to relax even if you work full-time, like her.

• Outdoor activities — in the mountains or in your backyard — mean a greater chance of injury. Know your first aid basics.

• Pools are open and families are hitting the beach this Memorial Day. Try these workouts in the water.

• More people are building ponds in their backyard for swimming. See some examples.

For your travels

• If you’re flying this weekend with some time to kill, test your airport I.Q. with this quiz.

• If you want some entertainment for a long road trip, here’s a collection of great audiobooks, organized by length.

• Europe is anticipating yet another season of heat waves. Read how locals, and tourists, are preparing.

• Here are the best beaches in the U.S. and Mexico for each activity, like swimming, surfing or sand-castle building.

• Fifty years after working at a Massachusetts hotel, a writer examines what’s changed.

• Stay at one of these five waterside hotels.

For your leisure

• Read the best fiction and nonfiction of the year (so far).

• Watch these films this weekend — whether in a movie theater or on your couch.

• Play these video games if you don’t want to leave your house.

• Laugh with these new stand-up specials.

THE LATEST NEWS

Israel-Hamas War

• The Israeli military continued its operation in Rafah, southern Gaza, despite an International Court of Justice order to immediately suspend its campaign there.

• Some in Rafah have chosen not to evacuate, while others have fled and then returned after being unable to find safety elsewhere.

• In an Israeli prison infirmary, a Jewish dentist aided a seriously ill Yahya Sinwar. Years later, Sinwar, the leader of Hamas in Gaza, was an author of the Oct. 7 attack.

War in Ukraine

• Vladimir Putin, likely feeling confident about the war and his hold on power, has overhauled his Defense Ministry.

• Russia is carrying out arson attacks on sites in Europe in a low-level sabotage campaign to undermine support for Ukraine.

• Some American precision-guided weapons have proved ineffective against Russian electronic warfare, classified Ukrainian reports show.

• A military branch of professional musicians travels Ukraine’s front lines and taps into a tradition of music as resistance, The Washington Post reports.

More International News

• At least 670 people are thought to have died after a landslide in Papua New Guinea, a local U.N. official said.

• “They knew that’s where they were supposed to be”: A family member of a missionary couple who were killed in gang violence in Haiti spoke with The Wall Street Journal. Read about why aid groups stay in the country.

• In India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi uses wide-reaching welfare programs to create loyal voters.

Politics

• Senator John Fetterman, Democrat of Pennsylvania, is picking fights with the progressives he once courted on issues including Israel and immigration.

• Rates of violent crime in most U.S. cities are down from pandemic-era highs. But rising property crime has made lawlessness an election issue.

• In Montana, the voting intentions of an influx of wealthy out-of-state newcomers hang over this year’s Senate race.

• President Biden told West Point’s graduating class that they owed an oath to the U.S. Constitution, not to their commander in chief. See a video.

Other Big Stories

• Severe storms are likely across portions of the U.S., while summer heat settles in across the South.

• At least five people have died and three others have gone missing on Mount Everest since the beginning of the climbing season.

THE SUNDAY DEBATE

Should Justice Samuel Alito recuse himself from cases about the Jan. 6, 2021, attack?

Yes. The flags in support of rioters on Jan. 6, waved on Alito’s properties, add to the Supreme Court’s crisis of confidence. This incident “is a stark reminder of the importance of maintaining a clear separation between personal beliefs and judicial responsibilities,” Aron Solomon writes for The Hill.

No. Justices have expressed political opinions publicly before, such as Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg about Donald Trump. “In all matters of public interest, justices have opinions — and they are appointed to some extent due to their opinions,” Michael Broyde writes for CNN.

FROM OPINION

The Fresh Air Fund in New York City teaches children about nature — and invites them to dream big, the editorial board writes.