France, Arkansas, Berkeley: Your Friday Evening Briefing

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/21/briefing/france-arkansas-berkeley.html

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Good evening. Here’s the latest.

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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