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Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell froze when answering questions asked by reporters about whether he would run for re-election. It's the second such incident involving the Kentucky senator. It has sparked discussions about the age at which politicians should step aside.

A white shooter in Jacksonville, Florida, killed three Black people this week. The gunman shot at shoppers and employees at a Dollar General store in a predominantly Black area of the city. The incident is being investigated as a hate crime.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Embassy in Haiti is urging Americans in the country to leave amid political unrest and rising gang violence. If they are to stay, authorities warn against traveling within the country and engaging with large groups of people.

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan's conviction and prison sentence were suspended by a court in Islamabad. He was released on bail.

We cover all the biggest news from around the world during this week's News Roundup.

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The pandemic forced many families into homeschooling — and a surprising number of them are sticking with it.In the 2021 and 2022 school year, homeschool enrollment rose by 30 percent. That's according to research from Stanford University and the Urban Institute.

The most dramatic shift in homeschool enrollment was among Black families. According to a 2020 Census Household Survey, homeschooling among Black families in the fall of 2020 was five times higher than it was in the spring of 2020.

We discuss why more parents are opting to homeschool their kids for good and the kind of regulation that comes with homeschooling.

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On Aug. 30, 2021, the U.S. completed its full withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, bringing the 20-year-long war to an end.

Two weeks earlier, on Aug. 15, with fewer troops to block their path, the Taliban took over Kabul.

Since then, the Taliban has controlled Afghanistan. Girls are now banned from attending school past sixth grade. Independent media, including newspapers and radio stations, have been shut down. Protestors, journalists, and activists are being arrested.

We look back on the U.S. war in Afghanistan and what's happening in the country now.

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The pandemic made monthly rent payments soar, rising 15 percent between 2020 and 2022.

Evictions are also on the rise since the pandemic, with some cities seeing filings increases by as much as 50 percent, according to Princeton University's Eviction Lab.

This has led some cities and states to consider rent regulations.

This month, a group of economists sent a letter to the Biden Administration in support of national rent regulation. It's a sign of a possible shift in what historically has been one of the most agreed-upon topics among economists – probably ever.

We discuss rent control and which regulations actually work.

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While you may not be a fan of the heart pumping, adrenaline boosting feeling of a roller coaster's twists and turns, for others, it's the best part of the warmer months or even a core memory of their childhood.

But recently, two roller coasters hit the headlines for less than awesome reasons. Riders at a Wisconsin festival were stuck upside down for around three hours after a mechanical failure. And a North Carolina man spotted a massive crack in a coaster support beam after his family had been on the ride.

We discuss the safety of roller coasters and what's next for coaster engineering.

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The racketeering case against Donald Trump and his co-conspirators in Fulton County, Georgia, progressed this week. Former New York City Mayor and Trump ally Rudy Giuliani surrendered to authorities this week at the Atlanta jail where the defendants in the case are being booked.

Overseas, the head of the Wagner military group Yevgeny Prigozhin reportedly died in a plane crash in Russia this week. In June, Prigozhin ordered his troops to march on Moscow in defiance of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his military leaders.

In a big moment for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's country, India landed a rover on the south pole of the moon.

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For more than 80 years, cable television has been at the center of American politics and culture. While streaming platforms have driven many families to cut the cord, there are still more than 72 million active cable subscribers according to the National Cable and Telecommunications Association.

News remains a huge part of Americans' cable television diet. But the industry is at a crossroads, with cable subscriptions down 30 percent over the past decade. Giants of the industry like CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC have cut their staffs.

We discuss how cable news has shaped our politics and culture and its role in the 2024 Presidential election.

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As anxieties over automation mount, AI is already responsible for the employment of millions of workers globally.

From chatbots to text-to-image generators, AI relies on human workers labeling and annotating the millions of images and words it references.

But the work of feeding information to AI can be tedious, with unreliable pay and few opportunities for growth.

We discuss the workforce powering AI and Congress' plans to regulate the industry.

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The wildly popular webcomic "Strange Planet" has attracted millions of followers by pointing out absurdities in everyday life.

Beings on Strange Planet live in a place very similar to Earth and behave very similarly to humans. They just talk about it differently.

On Strange Planet, coffee is "jitter liquid," socks are "foot tubes," alcohol is "mild poison," kissing is "mouth pushing," and raccoons are "greyscale finger bandits."

The successful webcomic is expanding to books, merchandise, and now a new show on Apple TV+, co-created by "Strange Planet" creator Nathan W. Pyle and "Rick and Morty" co-creator Dan Harmon.

We talk to Pyle about the show and his inspiration.

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Former President Donald Trump is facing his fourth criminal indictment — this time for attempting to overturn election results in Georgia.

Trump has denied the charges, but the alleged crimes facing the presidential candidate are piling up.

We talk about where the latest indictment fits in with the others and what happens next with our panel of guests.

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