Newsletter: Today: Mexico Makes Its Anti-Tariff Case

Mexican officials are in Washington to make the case that tariffs will only hurt both countries.

TOP STORIES

Mexico Makes Its Anti-Tariff Case

Senior Mexican officials have begun an urgent campaign to stop President Trump’s latest tariff threat, telling the administration they were doing their part to stem migration and arguing that taxes on trade would only hurt both nations’ economies. Mexico is one of the United States’ largest trading partners, and tariffs would increase prices for consumers on a wide range of products, including automobiles, washing machines, avocados, fresh fruits, clothing and beer. But is anyone listening? For now, the officials are waiting in Washington, as Trump’s most senior advisors are on the president’s state visit to Britain.

More Politics

-- Trump did not act like a man about to be honored by the queen, until he came face to face with the 93-year-old British monarch.

-- A federal judge has denied a House request to prevent Trump from tapping Defense Department money for his proposed border wall with Mexico, saying Congress lacked authority to sue in this case.

-- George Nader, who worked to advance Saudi Arabia’s agenda to the Trump administration and who later provided grand jury testimony to the special counsel, has been arrested on charges of transporting images of child pornography and bestiality.

Stumping in California’s Heartland

The presence of 14 Democratic presidential hopefuls in San Francisco this weekend showed that California will play a larger role in picking the 2020 nominee than in years past. But an even bigger indicator might be the rise of the Central Valley as a campaign destination. Three Democrats — Pete Buttigieg, Rep. Beto O’Rourke and Julián Castro — have been out on the hustings in a region that has long been conservative but is becoming more and more diverse.

‘I Just Want to Know the Truth’

On this date in 1989, the Chinese military crushed pro-democracy protests in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, killing hundreds if not thousands. The next day, the still anonymous “Tank Man” had his famous standoff. Fang Zheng wonders why the tanks stopped for that man but rolled right over him as he and other students soberly retreated. For survivors like him, the pain is compounded by the knowledge that Chinese authorities have succeeded in burying the truth in mainland China — and their hopes for a more liberal, tolerant society have collapsed.

A Convoluted Tale Near the Border

Mambasse Patara immigrated legally from Togo 20 years ago and earned his citizenship by fighting in the Iraq war as a Marine. He spent 12 years as a patrolman and traffic investigator for the Los Angeles Police Department. Last year, he was stopped at an immigration checkpoint 50 miles east of San Diego with two men in his car who were in the U.S. without legal authorization. Though he was acquitted of human smuggling charges, he says the incident has shaken his faith in the legal system.

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CALIFORNIA

-- Voters living within the boundaries of the L.A. Unified School District will decide today whether to pass Measure EE, a property tax aimed at benefiting L.A. public schools.

-- A shooting at the Del Amo Fashion Center in Torrance left one person wounded and sent police on a hunt for the gunman.

-- Cal Poly student engineers have created bionic hands for a little boy who was burned in a horrendous car crash.

-- Drink up: The state has decided that coffee doesn’t need a cancer warning after all.

HOLLYWOOD AND THE ARTS

-- With the music documentary “Pavarotti,” director Ron Howard takes a comprehensive look at the singer’s operatic life and unparalleled artistry.

-- Honorary Oscars will go to actors Geena Davis and Wes Studi, and to directors David Lynch and Lina Wertmüller, later this year.

-- In “Dana H.,” Lucas Hnath has written a play about his mother that is rife with contradictions. Theater critic Charles McNulty says it reveals a profound truth even if it’s impossible to sort out fact from falsehood.

NATION-WORLD

-- The Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal involving Blackbeard’s ship to resolve a question of alleged 21st century piracy: Can the state of North Carolina be sued for taking someone’s copyrighted work?

-- The Energy Department’s most environmentally important and technically ambitious project to clean up Cold War nuclear weapons waste at the Hanford site in central Washington has stalled.

-- Businessman Arturo Gonzalez Cruz has declared victory in Tijuana’s mayoral election, edging out Julian Leyzaola, an ex-soldier and police chief whose candidacy made headlines across Mexico.

-- Security forces attacked the camp at the center of Sudan’s protest movement, opening fire, torching tents and killing at least 13 people, witnesses and protest leaders say.

-- Indian air force pilots have spotted five bodies while searching for eight mountaineers reported missing for more than week in the Himalayas. Among the missing is a man from L.A.

BUSINESS

-- Apple is replacing iTunes with three distinct apps for music, podcasts and TV. The push comes as the tech giant races to catch up in the arena of subscription streaming services such as Spotify and Netflix.

-- Google is facing its first serious antitrust probe from the U.S. since 2013, but years of fending off challenges in the European Union have given the internet giant a playbook to fight such attacks.

-- A cautionary tale: A high school English teacher told consumer columnist David Lazarus he’s paid thousands of dollars to Citi over the years for card protection he says he never wanted or needed.

SPORTS

-- The Dodgers’ winning ways have given hope that this year’s team can break the 30-year title drought. Not to jinx it in June, but columnist Bill Plaschke explains why he feels this team can do it.

-- With the U.S. women’s national soccer team preparing to defend its World Cup title in France, members of the 1999 squad explain what made their victory such a pivotal moment.

OPINION

-- Thirty years after the Tiananmen massacre, the tanks are gone but the oppressive Chinese state remains.

-- California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s dangerously loose lips.

WHAT OUR EDITORS ARE READING

-- Elaine Chao, U.S. Transportation secretary and wife of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, has boosted the profile of her family’s shipping company. (New York Times)

-- In the Midwest and Great Plains, flooding and tariffs are causing chaos for farmers. (NPR)

ONLY IN L.A.

Catalina may be known as “the island of romance” thanks to a song by the Four Preps, but have you ever shopped for groceries there? For decades, many of its roughly 4,000 residents had to travel “over town” (i.e., the mainland) to buy at least some of their provisions. Now the island’s only city, Avalon, has a large Vons catering to their needs. Though it’s been a hit, there are still a few holdouts who don’t think the market is super.

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