Good morning
A Florida entrepreneur has been accused of involvement in the assassination of Haiti’s president, Jovenel Moïse.
James Solages, a former security guard, is one of two Haitian Americans the Haitian government said it arrested in the capital, Port-au-Prince, in connection with the killing at the presidential residence on Wednesday. There is little known about the other man, named as Joseph Vincent.
Authorities said the assassination was carried out by a heavily armed commando unit that included 26 Columbians and two Haitian Americans.
Who is Solages? The head of a maintenance and repair company and a Haitian charity, he has an extensive online presence, reports Julian Borger. The 35-year-old’s LinkedIn profile claims he has been a “diplomatic agent”, trained in protection and has been “the chief commander of body-guards” at the Canadian embassy in Haiti.
Men who appeared to be Solages and Vincent were among the prisoners shown to the press by Haitian police on Thursday.
The government has not yet shown any evidence against Solages. The US state department said it was aware of reports of Americans being arrested but did not confirm their identities.
Joe Biden has said the US will pull forces out of Afghanistan by 31 August
Joe Biden has promised not to send “another generation of Americans” to war in Afghanistan as he announced that US forces would withdraw from the country by the end of next month.
The president has previously said the withdrawal would be completed by 11 September, but earlier this week the Pentagon said the operation was more than 90% completed.
“Our military mission in Afghanistan will conclude on August 31,” Biden said.
It comes after US troops left Bagram, their main airbase in Afghanistan, in the middle of the night without telling their Afghan military counterparts.
Retired Maj Gen James “Spider” Marks said on Thursday that he saw no outcome for the country in the near future other than civil war.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said before the president’s announcement that there would be no “mission accomplished moment” (referencing George W Bush’s infamous 2003 Iraq speech) for the US in Afghanistan, adding: “It’s a 20-year war that has not been won militarily.”
Iran and Russia are moving to fill the diplomatic vacuum in Afghanistan, writes diplomatic editor Patrick Wintour.
New York subways were flooded as hail, tornadoes and storms hit the east coast
The US east coast was hit by extreme weather on Thursday – bringing golf ball-sized hail to New Jersey, tornadoes to North Carolina and Georgia and flooding to New York subway stations.
Videos on social media showed scenes of chaos on the subway, with people wading through a flooded station and water pouring from the ceiling of another, as New York braced for the arrival of tropical storm Elsa.
Tropical storm warnings were in place along the coast from North Carolina to Massachusetts.
One person was reported killed in Florida after a tree fell on to two cars, and nine people were injured in Camden county, Georgia, after a tornado struck a campground.
Meanwhile, on the California-Nevada border, a 5.9 magnitude earthquake was recorded on Thursday afternoon. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries, but people reported feeling shaking hundreds of miles away.
In other news …
Zaila Avant-garde has become the first African American winner of the Scripps National Spelling Bee. The 14-year-old from Harvey, Louisiana – who is also a basketball prodigy and holds three Guinness World Records for ball dribbling – said spelling is a side hobby, but that she often devotes seven hours a day to practising. On Thursday night she became the first African American winner in the competition’s 96-year history and the second Black champion.
Neo-Confederates, including Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV), worked with other far-right groups in a failed attempt to preserve Confederate monuments in North Carolina, documents and videos seen by the Guardian show. Members of the groups who protested against the monuments’ removal include a man who is a member of SCV and League of the South and at least one person who attended the rally at the Capitol in Washington DC on 6 January.
A legal expert has warned that rightwing justices in the supreme court could be playing a “long game” despite 43% of cases decided unanimously this term. Aziz Huq, a law professor at the University of Chicago, believes Trump’s picks Brett Kavanaugh, Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett, who are all nowhere near retirement age, are biding their time. “In the long game, laying foundations and moving incrementally often pays off.”
Brazil will face Argentina in the Copa América final at the Maracanã on Saturday night for the first time since 2007. Beset by organisational problems and in empty stadiums amid the pandemic and social and public turmoil, it is the best possible outcome, writes Tom Sanderson.
Stat of the day: a US plastic company reported adding toxic PFAS to 300m containers in 2011
PFAS (per and polyfluoroalkyl substances), found in many of the world’s plastic containers and bottles, are known as “forever chemicals” because they do not naturally break down and can accumulate in the bodies of humans and are linked to illnesses including cancer, birth defects and liver disease. New data suggests that PFAS are likely to be leaching into food, drinks, personal care products, pharmaceuticals and cleaning products at potentially high levels, reports Tom Perkins.
Don’t miss this: How a white mob lynched a Black man, destroyed a city and got away with it
In 1919, white rioters stormed the courthouse in Omaha, Nebraska and dragged a Black jailed man who said he was innocent to his death. The artist and film-maker Bayeté Ross Smith and Jimmie Briggs report.
… or this: The millions of US workers who can’t afford a sick day
More than 32 million workers in the US had no paid sick days off before the pandemic and America is the only major nation in the world without a federal paid leave policy. Government action during the pandemic expanded sick leaves to millions, but now coronavirus has focused new attention on finding a permanent solution, reports Michael Sainato.
Last Thing: I lived in an airport for seven months
After refusing to join the army, the Syrian embassy would not renew Hassan Al Kontar’s passport. After living under the radar in the United Arab Emirates, he was deported to Malaysia and ended up living in the arrivals hall of Kuala Lumpur airport. He describes how over the next seven months he slept on the floor under an escalator, enduring constant visits from airport officials and the lighting and announcements, until he eventually managed to claim asylum in Canada.
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