Friday’s top story: Trump announces tariffs on Mexico until ‘illegal immigration problem is remedied’. Plus, Raptors upset Warriors in their NBA finals debut

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Subscribe now to receive the morning briefing by email.

Good morning, I’m Tim Walker with today’s essential stories.

US to slap 5% tariff on all Mexican goods from 10 June

In a shock announcement combining his twin obsessions, trade and immigration, Donald Trump has announced he will slap a 5% tariff on all Mexican imports, beginning on 10 June, in an attempt to force Mexico to crack down further on migrants crossing its border with the US. “The tariff will gradually increase until the illegal immigration problem is remedied,” the US president tweeted on Thursday. A White House statement later said the tariff would rise by 5% a month to a maximum of 25% if the issue was not resolved.

Amlo responds. Mexico’s president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, defended his government’s handling of migration in a letter to Trump, saying: “Social problems aren’t resolved with taxes or coercive measures.”

Trade deal. The president’s move, which jolted the markets on Friday morning, could upend the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, the Trump administration’s recently-agreed replacement for Nafta.

Big business silent on abortion law amid Hollywood backlash

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The Netflix hit Stranger Things is filmed in Georgia. Photograph: Netflix/Courtesy of Netflix

Netflix and Disney are threatening to cease film production in Georgia over the state’s strict new abortion law, with potentially major consequences for its sizeable film industry. But other major companies with a presence in the state – including Coca-Cola, Delta and Home Depot – have so far remained silent on the issue. Meanwhile campaigners in the UK have urged filmmakers to boycott Northern Ireland, where much of Game of Thrones was made, and where there is still an absolute ban on abortion.

Missouri closure. Missouri is poised to become the first US state without a single abortion clinic since Roe v Wade, after a court ruled against Planned Parenthood’s bid to extend its licence for the state’s sole clinic in St Louis. The licence is set to expire at midnight on Friday.

Trump and Barr step up criticism of Robert Mueller

Play Video 1:26 Trump: Mueller 'should have never been chosen' for special counsel - video

Trump and his attorney general, William Barr, have both gone after Robert Mueller following the special counsel’s statement on his Russia investigation earlier this week, in which Mueller said his investigators could not conclude the president had not committed a crime. Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Trump claimed Mueller was a “total conflicted person” and a “true never-Trumper”, while Barr told CBS that he felt Mueller “could’ve reached a decision” on whether charges against the president were warranted.

US briefing: Mueller fallout, anti-abortion app and Israel elections Read more

Russia tweet. During a Twitter rant about Mueller’s so-called “witch-hunt hoax” on Wednesday, Trump appeared to admit that Russia had helped elect him, though he quickly rowed back on the remark.

National Spelling Bee ends in unprecedented eight-way tie

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The eight winning spellers celebrate victory at the climax of the 2019 Scripps National Spelling Bee. Photograph: Susan Walsh/AP

For the first time in its 94 years, the championship finals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee has ended in an eight-way tie. Early on Friday morning, a national television audience watched as Rishik Gandhasri, Erin Howard, Saketh Sundar, Shruthika Padhy, Sohum Sukhatankar, Abhijay Kodali, Christopher Serrao and Rojan Raja collectively spelled the final 47 words correctly over five consecutive perfect rounds of what had turned out to be a 20-round contest.

No words. Tournament organisers admitted they had run out of words with which to challenge the contestants. “We’re basically throwing the dictionary at you,” said official pronouncer Jacques Bailly, “and so far you are showing the dictionary who is boss”.

Crib sheet

North Korea has executed its special envoy to the US, Kim Hyok-chol, and several other foreign ministry officials, over the failure of the recent nuclear summit between Trump and Kim Jong-un, a South Korean newspaper has claimed.

Julian Assange is showing symptoms of prolonged psychological torture, according to the UN’s special rapporteur on torture, who recently visited the Wikileaks founder in the health ward of the London prison where he is being held.

Ted Cruz and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have formed an unlikely alliance over a political issue, with the Republican senator joining the Democratic representative in calling for a lifetime ban on former members of Congress becoming lobbyists .

Protesters have set off on a five-day march from Reserve, Louisiana, the town with the highest cancer rates in the US, to demand environmental justice for a region long-afflicted by toxic pollution from local chemical plants.

Must-reads

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Mindy Kaling in her new movie, Late Night. Photograph: Landmark Media/Alamy Stock Photo

Mindy Kaling: ‘In my writers’ rooms, there are no slobs’

Mindy Kaling in person is more serious – and more political – than her fans might imagine. In her new movie, Late Night, Kaling’s character is hired to join a room full of white, male comedy writers. It reflects her own experience of being a “diversity hire”, she tells Hadley Freeman.

‘I wouldn’t be the refugee, I’d be the girl who kicked ass’

As a 13-year-old Iranian refugee living in Oklahoma, Dina Nayeri dreamed of the Ivy League. But to get into Harvard, she knew she would need more than just good academic scores. So she decided to become a taekwondo champion.

The woman fighting George Tiller’s abortion war

It is 10 years since Dr George Tiller was shot dead at a Sunday church service in Wichita over his efforts to bring reproductive healthcare to women who needed it. As she continues her mentor’s fight in a hostile political climate, Julie Burkhart tells Ed Pilkington: “We cannot let fear dictate our lives.”

How Napster nearly killed the music industry

Two decades after a precocious coder created a file-sharing application in his college dorm room and brought the all-powerful music business to its knees, Eamonn Forde explains how Shawn Fanning and Napster updated an entire industry.

Opinion

Any non-president would have long ago faced indictment for obstruction of justice based on the evidence in the Mueller report. But the decision on whether to indict or impeach Trump demands a shift in our politics, says Richard Wolffe.

Whether you support formal impeachment or not, the full uncovering of Trump’s corruption will require congressional investigation between now and November 2020.

Sport

The Raptors proved they belong on basketball’s biggest stage on Thursday night, defeating the Warriors 118-109 in Toronto in Game 1 of the NBA finals, with a gritty performance dominated by forward Pascal Siakam, who scored a career-best 32 points.

The Liverpool left-back and Scotland captain Andy Robertson hopes to claim the Champions League title with his club this weekend, but despite their miraculous semi-final comeback against Barcelona – and their record-setting second-place finish in the Premier League – “we don’t deserve anything yet”, he tells Andy Hunter.

Sign up

The US morning briefing is delivered to thousands of inboxes every weekday. If you’re not already signed up, subscribe now.