Haiti's leader agrees to resign; It's primary day in Georgia

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Today's top stories

Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry announced his resignation amid increased gang violence in the country's capital and growing international pressure. Henry, who is presumed to be in Puerto Rico, said in a video address that he will resign once a transitional presidential council is installed and an interim prime minister is named. The CARICOM bloc of Caribbean nations, which called an emergency meeting in Jamaica yesterday, said it had brokered the deal.

• Henry, who was appointed Haiti's acting leader after the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, announced in late February that he would delay already-overdue elections until next year. In response, a coalition of gangs systematically attacked government facilities while he was visiting Kenya. 
• NPR's Eyder Peralta tells Up First from the Dominican Republic that while the international community hopes the deal will restore calm, the "chances of that are not great." Gangs were not consulted in the deal, and the transitional council accounts for only seven of Haiti's roughly 100 political parties. 
• The Biden administration says it will spend millions to support a Kenyan-led multinational security force in Haiti. Matthew Smith, a professor at University College London, spoke to Morning Edition about what role the U.S. could play going forward.

Presidential primary voting concludes today in the battleground state of Georgia. Former President Donald Trump won it in 2016, and President Joe Biden won it in 2020 by only roughly 12,000 votes. Both candidates, who campaigned in the state over the weekend, face challenges convincing people there to vote for them.

• NPR's Stephen Fowler, who spoke with both Democrats and Republicans, reports from Atlanta that displeasure with a Trump-Biden rematch could keep many voters home today. But, he says, what members of key demographic groups decide to do in November will likely play an outsize role in who wins both the state and the White House. 

Special counsel Robert Hur is set to testify before Congress today about his yearlong investigation into Biden's handling of classified documents after leaving the vice presidency. Hur concluded in a 350-page report last month that Biden shouldn't face criminal charges. But he also described Biden as a "sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory," which further fueled concerns about the president's age and mental acuity.

• NPR's Eric McDaniel says while it's standard practice for a special counsel to testify on the Hill after wrapping up an investigation, it's not a coincidence the GOP-led House Judiciary Committee has tried for months to impeach Biden. He says Republicans will likely view this as a hearing about the president's mental fitness. 

Today's listen

The U.S. prison population is rapidly getting grayer: The proportion of state and federal prisoners who are 55 or older is about five times what it was three decades ago. That's largely because people are serving out longer sentences — and because people tend to age faster behind bars. Prison systems across the country, which are constitutionally obligated to provide adequate health care, are now grappling with how to pay for the equipment and staffing to meet their needs. Read the story and listen to it here.

Life advice

Spring is on its way, meaning spring cleaning likely isn't far behind. Whether you're eager to dive into decluttering or totally dreading it, NPR's Life Kit has tips for how to clean more efficiently — and let go of whatever might be weighing you down:

• Tackle chores in stages: Go around the house filling a garbage bag with trash, bringing any dishes and bedside-table cups to the sink and filling a hamper with dirty clothes — even if you don't end up dealing with them until later. 

• Use the room to your advantage: Certain rules of thumb can keep you from cleaning more than you need to: Dry clean before you wet clean, go from top to bottom and work clockwise around a room.

• Make more storage space: Try to limit sentimental keepsakes to one box for each chapter of your life. Take photos of yearbooks, journal entries and artwork to save digital copies instead. And give mementos new life by displaying them in scrapbooks or shadow boxes. 

3 things to know before you go

1. Beyoncé and Taylor Swift are just some of the many artists releasing new music in the next several months. Here are NPR Music's 50 most-anticipated spring albums. 
2. Airbnb is banning the use of indoor security cameras in its listings worldwide, a move it says is aimed at protecting guest privacy after years of reports of hidden cameras.
3. The fastest ocean liner to ever cross the Atlantic is facing eviction from the Philadelphia pier where it's languished for more than two decades. The nonprofit overseeing the fate of the SS United States is now appealing to Biden for help.

This newsletter was edited by Majd Al-Waheidi.

Copyright 2024 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.