KELI From Inkwell, this is the Independent News Drop. It's Sunday, May thirty-first. The time is six a.m. central. I'm Keli, with Hast.
HAST Morning. We're starting overseas this hour — a dispatch you need to understand before the day moves.
KELI From our Ground News desk: In early March, the president told Reuters he was personally selecting Iran's next supreme leader. He said the model was Venezuela, where he installed Delcy Rodriguez after capturing Maduro in January. Quote: "I have to be involved in the appointment, like with Delcy in Venezuela. Khamenei's son is unacceptable to me. The attack knocked out most of the candidates — they are all dead." Here's what happened next: most newsrooms framed this as a war update. Pentagon reporting on a military strike. The structural story — that the United States is now openly selecting foreign governments — was covered as tactics, not as the claim itself. So here's what to watch: if the administration continues to speak this way, other outlets will gradually shift their framing from "conflict management" to "empire," or they'll have to explain why they're not. That language doesn't stay hidden once it's on the record.
HAST Staying in that region — voting has been suspended in parts of Ethiopia over security concerns. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's party is expected to dominate the election, and ongoing conflicts in the country continue to overshadow the vote. This one's been moving for weeks; the security disruptions are intensifying as we head into June.
KELI Different ground now. Law enforcement is scanning social media for posts opposing AI data centers. The Intercept obtained a law enforcement document showing police looking for criticism of these facilities online. It's one piece of a broader pattern — data-center siting has become a flashpoint in several states, and now we know surveillance is part of the local response to that opposition.
HAST On a different continent: a large explosion has torn through a fireworks factory in northern Malta. The blast was strong enough to damage buildings several kilometers away. No immediate death toll yet, but emergency crews are still working the scene.
KELI Lighter footing for this one. Research shows Black teachers improve outcomes for all students, but the teaching profession remains largely white. A new study from The Conversation breaks down the data — and the persistent gap between what we know helps and what we're actually doing in schools across the country.
HAST Before we close, a history note.
KELI On this day in 1977, the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System was completed — eight hundred and miles of pipe from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez, one of the largest infrastructure projects ever built.
KELI That's the Independent News Drop. We'll be back this evening. From Inkwell.