Your Weekend Briefing

Donald Trump, Gavin Grimm, Oscars View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( Sunday, February 26, 2017 [NYTimes.com »]( [Your Weekend Briefing]( By ADEEL HASSAN AND ANDREW HINDERAKER Here are the week’s top stories, and a look ahead. Bryan Cox/U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement 1. A new era is dawning at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, evident to undocumented immigrants across the United States. [Eased federal rules for deportations]( issued last week have emboldened ICE agents and [pushed some]( into hiding](. The deportation rules, part of the administration’s efforts to tighten security, [risk creating a vulnerable underclass]( similar to residents in India’s slums, the guest workers in Persian Gulf states and migrant workers in China. _____ JPL-Caltech/NASA 2. There’s more politics to cover, but first, let’s broaden our perspective. The discovery of [seven Earth-sized planets]( revolving around a not-too-distant sun gives us earthlings our first realistic chance to search for signs of life outside our solar system. And a [“ring of fire” eclipse]( — when the moon moves between the sun and the Earth, but doesn’t completely block the sun — will be visible over parts of South America and the southern and western tips of Africa. (Elsewhere, you can watch it now on this [live stream]( _____ David Bornfriend/A24, via Associated Press 3. And it’s [Hollywood’s big night](. After two straight years of #OscarsSoWhite, there are six black nominees and one of Asian heritage this year in the four acting categories. Our [Race/Related newsletter]( takes a closer look, and includes a new short documentary that was a prize winner at the Sundance Film Festival. [Test your knowledge]( of the Academy Awards, fill out [your Oscar ballot]( and get ready (8:30 p.m. Eastern, ABC). _____ Sean Rayford for The New York Times 4. Back to politics. The spirit of opposition that emerged after the inauguration spilled over into [town hall meetings]( held across the country by [Republican lawmakers]( on recess. The Democrats, who are at their lowest level of power in decades, [elected a new party chairman: Thomas Perez]( the secretary of labor under President Barack Obama. The candidate backed by the ascendant progressive wing, Keith Ellison, a Minnesota congressman, was elected deputy chairman. The [party’s new strategy]( appears to mimic the Republican approach of the last eight years — the “party of no” — by waging daily resistance. _____ Doug Mills/The New York Times 5. [President]( received adulation]( at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Friday, where he took on familiar targets: the intelligence agencies and the press. His new executive order on who will be allowed to enter the U.S. is expected as early as this week. Administration officials are playing down a finding by Homeland Security analysts: that the nation faces [no]( risk]( of terrorism from travelers from the seven majority-Muslim nations barred from entry under an earlier executive order Mr. Trump will make his first address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday. Democratic lawmakers are planning to give [their guest tickets]( to immigrants who are making positive impacts on their communities, to rebut narratives that cast newcomers in a sinister light. _____ Ronaldo Schemidt/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images 6. While Mr. Trump referred to his instructions to increase deportations of undocumented immigrants as “[a military operation]( his homeland security secretary, John Kelly, said the opposite during a diplomatic trip to Mexico City. Mr. Kelly’s visit, made alongside Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, was aimed at trying to improve [the frayed ties between the U.S. and Mexico]( who are closely linked trading partners. Besides the border wall and threats to deport Mexicans, Mexico is unhappy about the Trump administration’s plan to deport even non-Mexicans to Mexico. [The shootings of two Indian engineers]( in Kansas, which left one of the men dead, raised new alarms about a climate of hostility toward immigrants. _____ Yana Paskova for The New York Times 7. There are also growing worries about the treatment of transgender people. The transgender activist [Caitlyn Jenner]( a lifelong Republican and an early Trump supporter, blasted the administration’s decision [to rescind protections]( for transgender students that allowed them to use bathrooms corresponding with their gender identity. In a sign of trouble within the administration, the education secretary, Betsy DeVos, initially refused to sign on to the order. [Contradictory laws]( govern access to public bathrooms and locker rooms across the country. _____ Brennan Linsley/Associated Press 8. We may also learn more about Mr. Trump’s thinking about an [overhaul of the federal tax code]( during his address to Congress on Tuesday. Tax returns (which are due on April 18 this year) will most likely not be affected. Here are some [pro tips]( to help you file your returns, and [the lowdown]( on this year’s tax-preparation software. In other business and financial news, [we went inside Uber’s]( aggressive and unrestrained workplace culture. Uber has opened an internal investigation into [claims of sexual harassment]( made by one of its former engineers. And all three major American stock indexes [rose this week](. _____ Aris Messinis/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images 9. The Department of Defense is expected to deliver its plan to defeat the Islamic State to the White House early this week. Iraqi forces have seized most of Mosul’s airport, an important milestone in the broader offensive to retake the western half of the city from Islamic State fighters. Last month, the Iraqi government recovered the [eastern part of Mosul]( from the militants. Our reporter [takes you inside]( what remains. _____ Siegfried Modola/Reuters 10. The United Nations has declared famine in a [patch of South Sudan]( and has raised the alarm about the risk of famine in northern Nigeria, Somalia and Yemen. [That leaves 20 million people]( including 1.4 million children, at imminent risk of death. _____ Kuala Lumpur International Airport, via Fuji TV 11. The very [public killing of Kim Jong-nam]( the estranged half brother of Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader, is a stark reminder of the North’s lesser-known weapons of mass destruction: a stockpile of [chemical and biological weapons](. The killing involves a growing cast of suspects, including women from Vietnam and Indonesia who have been accused of carrying out the attack and other suspects believed to be North Korean agents. The women may have each had a different chemical on her hands to [smear on Mr. Kim’s face, creating the nerve agent VX](. _____ Nick Schnelle for The New York Times 12. Leaving us in sunnier spirits: Muslims [who raised money]( for a vandalized Jewish cemetery in Missouri, and a foster father who, for two decades, has taken in [the sickest of the sick](. Also, the college students who run a homeless shelter [for other students]( and a school bus driver who built a [wheelchair ramp for a girl]( on his route. Have a great week. _____ Photographs may appear out of order for some readers. Viewing [this version]( of the briefing should help. Your Weekend Briefing is published Sundays at 6 a.m. Eastern. And don’t miss Your Morning Briefing, weekdays at 6 a.m. Eastern, and Your Evening Briefing, weeknights at 6 p.m. Eastern. Want to look back? Here’s [Friday’s Evening Briefing](. What did you like? What do you want to see here? 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