2024 will be a historic year for elections all around the world.

According to The Economist, 76 countries will be heading to the polls, that's more than half of the world's population. That of course includes the United States, as well as places like Brazil, Mexico, and the members of the E.U.    

But not every election will be free and fair. Russia's authoritarian reign will likely not come to an end, but the stakes are high in Taiwan where the presidential election could set the tone for relations with China.    

2024 will be a test of the state of democracy in the world today. We highlight some of the most consequential contests.

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2024 is the year of the ballot box

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News

President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump agreed on terms this week to face off in two televised debates before the general election this November. 

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg was left "speechless" this week after a coalition of airlines banded together to sue his department over new rules concerning junk fees and making it easier for customers to receive refunds.

As Russia continues to make gains in its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has canceled all his trips abroad. 

As paramilitary forces surrounded the Sudanese town of El Fasher, civil groups are warning that millions of people trapped in the city could be in danger. Dozens have been killed in fighting last weekend.

Qatar's prime minister expressed concern over the state of peace talks between Israel and Hamas, saying that they were almost at a standstill.

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The News Roundup For May 17, 2024

What do you remember about being in your twenties? Maybe it was the best time of your life. Maybe it brought challenges that you had to learn to overcome as you entered adulthood.

And if you're in your twenties now, life probably looks a lot different for you than it did for your parents. 

Meg Jay is a psychologist and author. In her new book, "The Twentysomething Treatment: A Revolutionary Remedy for an Uncertain Age," she explores the way our twenties set up the rest of our lives, and how the uncertainties that come with entering adulthood affect our brain.

We sit down with her to talk about growing up, becoming an adult, and how our twenties stay with us all our lives.

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Best Of: Meg Jay Helps Us Navigate, Understand, And Review Our Twenties

Over half of adults in America live with a chronic illness.

Nearly 1 in 5 people who have heart disease or have had a cardiac arrest also have depression. And for people who have been diagnosed with cancer around 42 percent have experienced depression. 

Today, as part of our series "In Good Health," we talk about the intersection between chronic conditions like heart disease and our mental wellbeing. 

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In Good Health: How We Live With Chronic Illness

What has red eyes, lives underground for years, and screeches all summer long? That would be cicadas. And they're here. 

And more are coming.For the first time in over two hundred years, billions of cicadas are digging their way up from underground in a rare biological occurrence.  

Scientists are calling it a double brood emergence because two cicada broods will be above ground at the same time. Depending on where you live, you might have already seen them flying around or their infamous exoskeletons skins.

For this installment of Scientific Method, our series where we speak to experts about the latest in the science world, we're talking about cicadas. 

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Scientific Method: The Cicadas Are Coming

Maryland is one of three states holding primaries tomorrow. It's also attracting outsized national attention because of the outsized amount of money being spent.

Maryland's Senate race is the third most expensive nationwide behind California and Texas. That's thanks largely to the self-financed campaign of wealthy Democrat David Trone. He currently serves in the House.

He's part of a wave of self-funded candidates nationwide. That rise coincides with the ever-surging cost of funding a campaign. Political ad spending in the 2024 election cycle is expected to exceed $16 billion.

We discuss the cost of campaigns and how they're funded. 

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2024 is the year of the ballot box

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