Your Friday Evening Briefing

Your nightly rundown of the day's top stories delivered straight to your inbox. View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( Friday, April 21, 2017 [NYTimes.com »]( [Your Friday Evening Briefing]( By KAREN ZRAICK AND SANDRA STEVENSON Good evening. Here’s the latest. Philippe Lopez/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images 1. President Trump predicted that [Thursday’s attack in Paris will have a “big effect”]( on the country’s coming presidential election. The gunman was identified as Karim Cheurfi, a 39-year-old French citizen with a long record of violent crime. A note found near his body expressed support for the Islamic State. The [police officer he killed, Xavier Jugelé]( was remembered for defending gay rights. Above, tourists returned to the Arc de Triomphe, near the scene of the shooting. [Eleven candidates will face off]( in the first round of voting on Sunday; if there is no clear winner, the top two go to a runoff. The far-right leader Marine Le Pen, running on an [anti-immigrant platform similar to Mr. Trump’s]( has seized on the attack. _____ Gabriella Demczuk for The New York Times 2. At the White House, President [Trump signed executive orders on tax rules]( and [financial regulations]( and promised an announcement on tax reform next week. Lawmakers return from a two-week recess on Monday, with just a few days to prevent the federal government from running out of money. _____ Michael P. King/Wisconsin State Journal, via Associated Press 3. A case heading to the [Supreme Court could transform political maps]( across the country. Voting rights advocates say the Wisconsin State Assembly was gerrymandered by its Republican majority before the 2012 election, causing Democrats to lose seats. A panel of federal judges ruled it was unconstitutional this week. If the Supreme Court affirms their ruling, it could upend the next round of state redistricting, in 2021. Above, the Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison. _____ Damon Winter/The New York Times 4. Former President Barack Obama’s vacation is over. [Mr. Obama will be in Chicago]( on Monday for his first public event since the inauguration, pictured above: a town hall-style meeting with college students. Then he’s off to paid speeches in the U.S. and Europe. Those waiting to hear him criticize his successor will be disappointed. Mr. Obama’s aides say that would give President Trump the political foil he wants to energize his base. _____ Javier Lizon/European Pressphoto Agency 5. The Justice Department is weighing charges against [Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks]( for disclosing highly classified information. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said this week that arresting Mr. Assange was a priority. But prosecutors are skeptical that they could pursue espionage charges. The attorney general also set off a backlash with [dismissive comments about Hawaii](. While criticizing a court ruling that blocked President Trump’s travel ban on talk radio, he said he was “amazed that a judge sitting on an island in the Pacific” could stop the president. _____ Benjamin Krain/Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, via Associated Press 6. Arkansas carried out its first execution since 2005, using a lethal injection drug that has been the subject of sharp constitutional debate. Ledell Lee died four minutes before his death warrant expired, at 11:56 p.m. Thursday. He had been convicted of killing a woman in a Little Rock suburb in 1993. The state [plans to execute three more men]( by the end of the month, when the drug expires. _____ James Hill for The New York Times 7. Chechnya, the turbulent Russian region led by the pro-Kremlin strongman Ramzan Kadyrov, is carrying out [an anti-gay pogrom](. Security officers are luring gay men into weeks of torture. Our correspondent interviewed men who escaped at a safe house outside Chechnya. “They starve you. They shock you,” one man said. _____ Jim Wilson/The New York Times 8. The police at the [University of California, Berkeley]( are preparing for the possibility of violence if Ann Coulter shows up there on Thursday. The conservative commentator was invited to speak then by the Berkeley College Republicans. But the university [postponed the event]( saying it had intelligence that she might be in “grave danger.” Ms. Coulter didn’t buy it, and says she’ll be there as originally scheduled. It’s just the latest example of how Berkeley is being tested by political fighting — some of it physical. _____ NASA 9. NASA’s Cassini spacecraft will [shift its orbit around Saturn]( on Saturday, preparing to dive between the planet and [its many icy rings](. After 13 years in orbit, Cassini is set to crash and burn in Saturn’s atmosphere on Sept. 15. Above, an image from the spacecraft shows Earth as a tiny point of light between Saturn’s rings. _____ Sara Krulwich/The New York Times 10. Finally, [“Hello, Dolly!” opened on Broadway with Bette Midler]( in the lead, providing a dazzling lesson in star power. “Ms. Midler is generating a succession of seismic responses that make Trump election rallies look like Quaker prayer meetings,” our critic wrote. If quieter endeavors are in the forecast, here are our latest picks for [what to watch on TV or streaming]( and a collection of [must-read political writing]( from the right and left. Have a great weekend. _____ Photographs may appear out of order for some readers. Viewing [this version]( of the briefing should help. Your Evening Briefing is posted at 6 p.m. Eastern. And don’t miss Your Morning Briefing, posted weekdays at 6 a.m. Eastern, and Your Weekend Briefing, posted at 6 a.m. Sundays. Want to look back? Here’s [last night’s briefing](. What did you like? 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