Independent News Drop

KELI From Inkwell, this is the Independent News Drop. It's Thursday, May seventh. The time is five a.m. Central. I'm Keli, joined by Hast.

HAST Good morning. We're tracking the World Cup draw for twenty twenty-six, which will be hosted across Canada, Mexico, and the United States. FIFA released the full match schedule and group assignments this week, and teams are now preparing for what will be the first World Cup expanded to thirty-two groups of four. The tournament kicks off in Mexico City in June of twenty twenty-six.

KELI Continuing coverage out of Alice Springs, Australia. Vigils are being held across the country following the death of five-year-old Kumanjayi Little Baby, who was found dead after going missing from an Aboriginal town camp. The case has drawn attention to safety concerns in remote communities and Aboriginal settlements in the Northern Territory. Police continue their investigation into the circumstances surrounding her death.

HAST A new NPR, PBS News, and Marist poll shows that eight in ten Americans support age caps for members of Congress, along with term limits. The finding cuts across party lines, suggesting broad agreement among voters on this issue despite partisan divisions on most other matters. The poll comes as debate continues in Washington about whether Congress should impose mandatory age or term restrictions on itself.

KELI In Boston, school administrators and parent groups are pushing for greater accountability over consistently late school buses. The Christian Science Monitor reports that districts nationwide are wrestling with transportation delays, and Boston's effort represents one city's attempt to address the problem through better coordination between the school system and its bus contractor.

HAST ProPublica is reporting that at least seventy-nine children have been harmed by tear gas or pepper spray during immigration enforcement operations over the past several months. The organization reviewed incident reports and medical records, documenting cases where minors were exposed to chemical agents during encounters at the border and in interior enforcement actions.

KELI One more story on the FDA. STAT News reports that six current and former agency staffers are describing work they left behind following budget cuts tied to the federal government's efficiency initiatives last year. The piece documents specific programs and oversight functions that were reduced or eliminated, including some related to drug safety monitoring and vaccine distribution logistics.

KELI One more on this poll about congressional term limits. Hast, the temptation here is to read this story a certain way. What should listeners watch for?

HAST Right. The simple read is going to be that Americans want to fundamentally remake Congress because they've lost faith in the institution. The structural reality is that polling on abstract constitutional reforms tends to show high support because voters are answering a hypothetical with no costs attached to them—they're not voting on it. Watch for whether this number holds if any serious congressional term-limit amendment proposal gets introduced and begins moving through the legislature. If we don't see congressional action pick up on this within the next year, the simple read holds, and this poll stays a snapshot of sentiment rather than a driver of actual change.

KELI So it's preference, not necessarily pressure.

HAST Exactly.

KELI On this day in history: In nineteen thirty-one, a stand-off between criminal Francis Crowley and three hundred members of the New York Police Department took place in his fifth-floor apartment on West Ninety-first Street in Manhattan.

KELI That's the Independent News Drop. We'll be back next hour. From Inkwell.