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The 2024 Summer Olympics are nearly here.

The host city, Paris, will kick off the Games with an opening ceremony on Friday. A flotilla of boats will make its way down the city's river, the Seine.

This is the first in a special 1A series we're bringing you this week about the Summer Olympics, called "Rings and Things.

"We'll take part of the show over the next four days to bring you the Olympics from a new angle. A different story embedded in this massive, international competition.

We examine how Paris prepared and the challenges that could still remain for the city during the 16 days of competition. We also look at what sports and athletes you should keep an eye out for.

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President Joe Biden is no longer seeking re-election.Yesterday he announced the decision to step down as the Democratic presidential nominee in a letter posted to his social media platforms.

President Biden wrote, "And while it has been my intention to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of the term."

He also said he would speak about it in greater detail later this week. Shortly after, he endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to take his place.

We discuss how the decision affects the Democrats' chances of victory in November.

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The U.S. Secret Service is under scrutiny following the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania last weekend.

The Republican National Convention wrapped up on Thursday in Milwaukee and featured a mix of calls for unity, doubling down on party lines, border security talk, and a slew of misinformation.

Meanwhile, President Biden is both publicly and privately facing pressure from top Democrats to drop out of the race.

On Tuesday reporting emerged from CNN that the Biden administration had informed the Secret Service of an unspecified threat to Trump from Iran before the July 13 campaign rally.

And Netanyahu is set to visit Washington next week, where he will meet with President Biden and address Congress.

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

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Sirens echoed this week across several states in the Midwest.

According to the National Weather Service, a storm system made up of several thunderstorms – known as a derecho – developed over Iowa and swept through parts of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin.

This year has seen almost a thousand tornadoes. The first of which was reported near Galveston, Texas, on January 5.

We get into what happened with those twisters and what we know about their uptick in frequency. We discuss what role, if any, climate change plays in all this.

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As the price of four-year colleges balloon and the job market becomes increasingly unstable, a new batch of workers are going another route: technical school.

Students enrolled in vocational-focused community colleges increased 16 percent from 2022 to 2023, according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center.

A technical college in Florida says almost all their programs are close to capacity. And in Maine, enrollment in career and technical schools passed 10,000 students statewide for the first time.

We discuss what a technical education looks like today and how beneficial the path can be for students.

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On this edition of Game Mode, we take a look at the games that are giving us a thrill so far in 2024. And we look at some games that have disappointed.

What can the success or failure of this year's games tell us about the video game industry? The industry spans from tech companies like Microsoft, all the way down to solo developers. It's expected to be worth $189 billion this year.

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