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The British Commonwealth is a political organization of 56 countries across the globe. It accounts for 2.5 billion people, with India making up more than half of that number.

But its future following the queen's death remains uncertain. Barbados left the organization last year and both Jamaica and Belize are considering departures.

The history of British colonial rule in the Caribbean and the possibility of reparations are hot topics of discussion among regional advocates and leaders.

We discuss the Commonwealth's history, why countries join, and why they leave.

The Senate recently confirmed TSA administrator David Pekoske for a second term. His reappointment comes as the Transportation Security Administration marks its 21st year in existence, having been created just two months after 9/11.

Its two decades in operation haven't always been smooth sailing. The TSA has one of the highest turnover rates of any federal agency with one in five new hires quitting in their first six months. Public complaints about the agency are also high. Long lines, liquid limits, and random pat-downs plague many travelers.

We sit down to assess our nation's aviation security and discuss whether the TSA is accomplishing what it was created to do.

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Cristela Alonzo is one of only a few Latinos with a Netflix comedy special. When her first premiered in 2017, she didn't hold back on her dislike for former President Donald Trump or her identity as a Mexican-American in South Texas.

Now, she's back for her second special, "Middle Classy." And she's bringing her activism with her, opening up the special with cameos from civil rights leader Dolores Huerta and Texas Rep. Joaquin Castro.

She shares with us what it's like being able to finally afford to take care of herself and the importance of therapy despite the stigma among her Latino family.

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Just as the Biden administration was set to celebrate the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, stocks plummeted in their greatest daily drop since 2020 due to a searing inflation report.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian forces have gained significant ground in the country. Russian forces are pulling back. Moscow is claiming its forces are regrouping.

The United Kingdom prepares for the late queen's funeral. Mourners line up for miles and world leaders fly in to pay their respects. President Joe Biden is planning his visit. Russia's Vladimir Putin is not invited.

Putin instead sat down with China's Xi Jinping and India's Narendra Modi at a meeting between the leaders of major eastern governments.

We cover all this and more during the News Roundup.

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In November, voters will pick their elected officials in the midterm elections. But some of those voters have also been hand-picked by political parties.

This year judges in four states – Georgia, Louisiana, Ohio, and Alabama ruled that congressional maps were illegally drawn around partisan or racial lines to favor Republicans.With four months to go before Alabama's primary, the Supreme Court said it was too close to an election to order new maps.

That set a precedent allowing all four states to use illegally gerrymandered maps this fall.We discuss what this means for future elections and voting rights if states can use illegally drawn maps.

We also get into how close is too close to an election to change things.

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Lamenting the death of R&B has become a meme by now – something said by those in the industry and fans alike. But despite pop and hip-hop dominating the charts, R&B is kept alive by artists like Jasmine Sullivan, Summer Walker, and Brent Faiyaz.

One of the genre's biggest stars is Ari Lennox, a 31-year-old D.C. native signed to rapper J. Cole's Dreamville record label. Her latest album is called "age/sex/location." She's been compared to R&B divas like Erykah Badu and Mariah Carey.

We talk about Ari Lennox and the future of R&B.

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The National Education Association estimates there's a shortage of roughly 300,000 teachers and staff across the U.S.

The teacher shortage is particularly pronounced in rural school districts, where the need for special education teachers and STEM teachers is high.

We hear from current and former teachers about the challenges of the profession.

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Primary season is wrapping up and we're two months away from the November midterm elections that will decide which party will take control of the House and Senate.

This year's primaries have featured both the surprising and the expected.

In Kansas, voters voted against an amendment that would make abortion illegal in the state. Wyoming, Rep. Liz Cheney — a Republican and member of the Jan. 6 committee — lost her race without much fanfare.

And so far, according to a recent tally from NPR, 91 percent of Trump-backed candidates have won their open primaries.

We discuss what this means for the fate of the parties in November. We also look at what this political moment can tell us about the future of the country.

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Best estimates suggest there are around 140,000 African-American Jewish people living in the United States. James Beard award-winning writer and historian Michael Twitty uses the term "border-crossers" to describe the community, which includes himself.

"We are people who have always existed but have never really had a voice," he writes in his new book, "Koshersoul: The Faith and Food Journey of an African American Jew."

We sit down with Twitty to talk about food, tradition, and identity.

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Temperatures remain high out west as the record-breaking heat wave ravaging the region shows no signs of letting up. So far, California has avoided rolling blackouts, but the heat has led to more wildfires throughout the state.

Senate Democrats are preparing to vote on protecting same-sex marriage, capping insulin costs, and antitrust legislation before the midterm elections.

Meanwhile, the U.K.'s new prime minister, Liz Truss, has her hands full at the beginning of her time at 10 Downing. The queen died Thursday, surrounded by her family.

We cover all this and more during this week's News Roundup.

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