Your Weekend Briefing

France, March for Science, Bill O’Reilly View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( Sunday, April 23, 2017 [NYTimes.com »]( [Your Weekend Briefing]( By STACY COWLEY AND HEATHER CASEY Here are the week’s top stories, and a look ahead. Brendan Smialowski/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images 1. French voters [will go to the polls today]( for the first round of their presidential election — a close fight that will shape the future of both France and the European Union. A terrorist attack on Thursday that left a police officer dead on the sidewalk of the Champs-Élysées [injected fresh uncertainty]( into an already unpredictable election. Marine Le Pen, the far-right leader of the National Front, and Emmanuel Macron, an independent centrist, have slight leads in a field of 11 candidates. Unless one candidate wins a majority, the top two vote-getters will advance to a runoff next month. Here is our guide to [how the contest works and what is at stake](. _____ Gabriella Demczuk for The New York Times 2. President Trump said he would unveil a broad outline this week of his proposal for [“massive” tax cuts](. One major roadblock to any tax overhaul could come from [a field the president knows well: real estate](. Saturday will be Mr. Trump’s 100th day in office, and he is racing to stack up accomplishments ahead of that milestone. Rewriting the nation’s tax code will be an enormous political fight. One potential complication: Mr. Trump also [hopes to revive the Republican health care plan]( that collapsed last month. _____ Gabriella Demczuk for The New York Times 3. Congress returns on Monday from a two-week recess, and immediately faces an urgent deadline: Much of the government will run out of money at midnight on Friday [unless a spending bill is passed](. President Trump is pushing for funding for a border wall and more money for the military. Democrats’ priorities include [cost-sharing payments to insurance companies]( to help defray the cost of covering low-income people under the Affordable Care Act. A deal or a stopgap measure is needed to avert a government shutdown. _____ Nick Oxford for The New York Times 4. Thousands of scientists and their supporters gathered on Saturday in Washington for what they called [the March for Science](. One organizer, a pediatrician who helped expose lead poisoning in Flint, Mich., called the protest the start of a movement to press governments not to dismiss or deny science. For many participants, climate change is a particular concern. Demonstrators in hundreds of cities joined in the protest. Our photographers captured [scenes around the globe](. _____ NASA/JPL-Caltech 5. Cassini, a NASA spacecraft that has been circling Saturn for 13 years, is headed toward its end in [a blaze of scientific glory](. On Saturday, it began its descent into the gap between Saturn and its innermost ring, where no human artifact has ever gone. It will weave in and out of that space until mid-September, when it will crash into the planet and be incinerated. Cassini’s rich legacy includes the discovery of Enceladus, an “ocean world” that many astronomers think is the most likely place to find evidence of life beyond Earth. _____ Benjamin Krain/The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, via Associated Press 6. Arkansas [began a planned series of executions]( that it is rushing to complete before its supply of a drug called midazolam expires at the end of the month. The state carried out its first execution in 12 years, killing Ledell Lee, who was condemned for murder. Three more executions are scheduled; [others have been halted]( by court rulings. Midazolam, a sedative, has become a flash point in the death penalty debate. Most executions using it have gone as planned, but a handful were criticized as botched, leading activists — and some judges — to call the drug’s use inhumane. _____ Robert Carter for The New York Times 7. Fox News [parted ways last week]( with its biggest star, Bill O’Reilly. Mr. O’Reilly was forced out after an internal investigation into a series of sexual harassment allegations against him, which he has denied. As protests mounted and advertisers abandoned Mr. O’Reilly’s show, the company decided to cut ties. The move reflected the growing prominence inside 21st Century Fox of Rupert Murdoch’s sons, James and Lachlan, who are [guiding a generational change]( at one of the world’s most powerful media conglomerates. _____ Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images 8. James B. Comey, the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, made decisions that shaped the contours of the nation’s presidential election. Four of our reporters delved into [why and how he made those choices](. Partisanship did not seem to be a factor, but in trying to pick the least damaging among undesirable options, Mr. Comey handled investigations involving Hillary Clinton and Donald J. Trump in starkly different ways. He spoke publicly about the bureau’s scrutiny of Mrs. Clinton’s email server, but stayed silent about an inquiry into Mr. Trump’s possible campaign ties to Russia. “This was unique in the history of the F.B.I.,” a former national security official said. “People say, ‘This has never been done before.’ Well, there never was a before.” _____ Doug Mills/The New York Times 9. Enough [yachting]( and [kitesurfing]( Barack Obama will make his first post-presidential public appearance on Monday. Mr. Obama will return to his adopted hometown, Chicago, to discuss civic engagement with university students. After that, he plans to embark on a series of public remarks and private paid speeches across the country and in Europe. Activists would love for Mr. Obama to speak out about his successor, but those close to him say Mr. Obama has no interest in public feuding. Translation: Don’t expect any tweetstorms from [@BarackObama](. _____ Sarah Lee 10. It’s Shakespeare’s birthday. If you’d like to celebrate with some thematic reading, we recommend two [new books about his work]( including [the story of a “Hamlet” troupe]( that performed in nearly every country in the world. Above are actors portraying Hamlet and Laertes in Amman, Jordan. Our editors also have suggestions on the [snacks]( [songs]( [streaming]( and [cultural excursions]( that we’re excited about. _____ Alessandro Grassani for The New York Times 11. Emma Morano, the world’s oldest person, died this month at age 117, leaving behind tips on longevity — she credited her diet of raw eggs and lack of a husband — and a tiny collection of cherished personal items. A scattering of rosaries. A photograph of her only child. Handmade slippers. Our photographer cataloged [the objects she left behind]( and the stories they told. Here’s another tale of aging well: Kathrine Switzer ran her first Boston Marathon in 1967, entering the then all-male race as “K.V. Switzer” to hide her gender. Last week, at age 70, she [ran the race again](. She finished just 25 minutes slower. Thanks for reading, and 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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