>> good evening. >> on the newshour tonight, students occupy a columbia university building as protests

against the war in gaza spread to more college campuses. >> a federal appeals court rules state health care plans in north carolina and west virginia must pay for transgender related care. >> and a look at university in rwanda working to end inequalities by working to educate the next generation of health care providers. >> and people -- young people have the heart, the brain and -- in that order to be do -- be given the opportunity to do so.

♪ >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by -- >> these are people trying to change the world. start ups have this energy, that energizes me. i'm thriving by helping others every day. people who know know bdo. >> the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions and friends of the newshour including kathy and paul anderson and camilla and george smith. >> certified financial

professionals are committed to acting either clients best interest. or information at let's make a plan.org. foundation fostering informed and engaged communities. >> and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. ♪ this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting by contributions to your pbs stati from viewers like you. thank you. at columbia university overnight when some

pro-palestinian students occupied a building on campus. >> occupations have taken place at other campuses too. in california police arrested protesters at california polytechnic university who took over a building for a week. a somewhat occupation was in its fourth day at portland state university and protesters at university of north carolina took down a u.s. flag and replaced it with a palestinian one. for its part, columbia said it will expel its facilities. early this morning, protesters at columbia university linked arms and barricaded the entrance of hamilton hall. from the inside, actavis piled furniture, chained up doors and smashed windows. the same building has been occupied by demonstrators in decades past including over the vietnam war and later against apartheid in south africa. this time, protesters unfurled a banner and dedicated the building to a six-year-old who

died in israel's war against hamas. columbia today locked down the campus to outsiders living -- limiting access to residents and employees. university said students occupying the building would be expelled. the white house national security spokesperson john kirby told reporters the president believes forcibly taking over a building on campus is the wrong approach. that is and not an example of peaceful protests. house speaker johnson who met with columbia university president last week said she should step down. >> we met with the college president and we told her it is time for her to resign.

if she cannot control that campus, the first responsibility of a diminished rate a university campus is the safety and security of their students. >> hundreds have been arrested in protests across the country this past week. many of whom were not students. this morning at the university of north carolina, armed police entered the campus to breakup and encampment. but the protests continued in other locations throughout the day. jacob is a jewish graduate student at unc and is a member of students for justice in palestine. >> we will continue to push and to fight and we will not back down. in the nation's capital, and a cam in a george washington university has expanded. >> the original encampment when we were barricaded was gw now we are joined by students from all the major universities in the city. i will speak for myself. the only way to get me out of here is to drag me out of here.

>> things are quieter at the university of texas at austin after nearly 80 people were arrested yesterday by police in riot gear. campus protests have popped up internationally as well. students at american university in beirut said they were inspired to join in the action should >> have been a cap mensa across the universities and a lot of friends of mine have been at the forefront of protests. their chances of taking exams have been taken away. i think this was inspired by what was happening in the u.s. and a bigger call to action. >> this afternoon, brown university announced it will hold a vote this october on whether to divide that -- with thewe will have more on the cams unrest later on the program. ♪ >> in the days other news, the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu valid again to invade rafa in southern gaza other there is a cease-fire deal or not. he spoke as efforts to reach a deal with hamas appeared to intensify after a new israeli proposal. that came as the u.s. secretary of state antony blinken was in neighboring jordan.

>> our focus is on getting a cease-fire and hostages home. that is the most urgent thing. it is i think what is achievable. no more delays. no more excuses. the time to act is now secretary blinken later arrived in israel. >> injection reports at a hamas delegation left cease-fire talks in cairo today and the group will return with a written response. the un's top court refused to order a halt on german -- exported german arms to israel. nicaragua made a report arguing german is enabling genocide. the court ruled the legal additions were not met but they allow the case to go forward and said they will hear arguments on the merits. in new york, former president trump was found in contempt of court today for violating a gag order in his hush money trial. he was find $9,000 and was warned he could wind up in jail.

the ruling came soon after mr. trump entered the court. nine violations for making statements about witnesses, jurors and others in the case. the judge wrote if the seri and appropriate under the circumstances, the court will impose and incarcerate worry punishment if the violations continue. in congress, house speaker johnson's job appears to be safe after democrats announced they will oppose efforts to remove him. r right members in his owne from republican conference after one can afford for that toks. happen. >> democrats say they will back johnson because it is time to move past what they called republican obstruction. investigators in charlotte, north carolina spent the day asking how four officers were surprised and killed on monday will trying to catch a fugitive to it was the deadliest day for u.s. law enforcement since 2016. >> the past nearly 24 hours have been heavy on the

charlotte-mecklenburg police department and marshals service. heavy on our community. heavy on our country. >> charlotte, north carolina is grieving on day after a search warrant rate turned into a deadly shootout. >> by the time i could turn in, pow, pow pow. i heard the gunfire. ambulance, police everywhere. >> on monday afternoon, a u.s. marshals task force carried out a search warrant for a felon wanted for illegally possessing a firearm. as they approached the house, he was opened fire from the second floor. when he stepped out, officers shot him and pronounced him dead on the scene. four officers were shot and killed in the exchange. deputy u.s. marshal thomas weeks and veteran officers sam poloche he and alden elliot. the fourth officer died hours after being rushed to the hospital. four other officers were injured. north carolina opener roy

cooper. -- governor roy cooper. >> dangerous assignments are part of the job with they step up and do it anyway to protect our communities and protect our families. >> it has been more than five years since u.s. marshall was killed in the line of duty. monday's incident was the deadliest for charlotte's police force in decades. according to the fraternal order of police, 130 six officers died on the job in 2023. a decrease of nearly 40% from that your before. 47 of those deaths were by gun shy but 370 officers were shot should -- were shot. president biden called the charlotte officers heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice. he called on congress to ban assault weapons in passmore police funding. police seized an ar-15 rifle from the residence. additional evidence is still being collected in an ongoing investigation.

>> official said today they are still investigating whether a second gunman might have been involved. in london, a minute is in custody after slashing passersby and police with a sword and killing a 14-year-old boy. watch other people were wounded in an incident at the east london suburb. officials say the incident was not being treated as a targeted attack. there is a word the u.s. drug enforcement agency is ready to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug trade reports said the shift would move marijuana out of the schedule one category which includes heroin and lst. it would cite medical uses of cannabis. the proposal is subject to review and public comment. an influential scientific panel of the u.s. preventative services task force, has formalized a recommendation on breast cancer screening. the group said today women with average risk should begin regular mammograms at the age of 40. there were versus the controversial guidance in 2009

that screening could wait until the age of 50. the environmental protection agency finalized a ban today on a chemical used in consumer grade paint strippers believed to cause cancer. methylene chloride emits a toxic vapor. it is plain for a least 88 deaths since 1980 the chemical will continue in some commercial uses. on wall street, inflation worries away down stocks after news workers pay and benefits jumped in the first quarter. major indices were down 1.5 to 2% pure the dow jones industrial average closed below -- the s&p 500 was down 80. still to come on the newshour, student journalists discuss the protests against the war on gaza on their college campuses. members of the jerusalem youth chorus bring their hope for peace, justice and equity in israel to the u.s.. plus much more.

>> this is the pbs newshour from w eta studios in washington and in the west from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. >> a federal appeals court issued a groundbreaking ruling last night and ensuring that gender affirming surgery is covered by state run health insurance programs. stephanie has that report. >> this decision centered around two lawsuits with trans people in west virginia and north carolina suing to ensure insurance coverage for gender affirming care such as hormone therapy and surgery. the federal appellate court in richmond split 8-6 ordered the state health care plans we us -- reinstate coverage for medically necessary services for the treatment of dent -- of gender dysphoria the american medical association and the american academy of pediatrics written briefs in support of the plaintiff's. it is a win for the trans

community but it may not be the final word on the issue. for more on all of this, i'm joined by selena simmons duffin who covers health policy for npr. it is good to see you on the newshour. there are numerous court cases around the country about transgender rights and access to gender affirming care. how significant was this ruling and what are the big takeaways to you? >> this is a significant ruling at the fourth circuit's majority opinion was strong and cold discrimination against trans patients on these plans to be quote obviously discriminatory. i think the big take away is insurers are not going to be able to say they are going to cover this care for some patients with some diagnoses and not for others. if they are going to be covering things like sex hormones and vasectomies for some patients, they are going to have to cover it for trans patients as well.

i do think it is seen in the trans community as a major win. it cuts against some of the friends for more litigation and more litigation in state houses across the country. >> how far-reaching is this ruling? does this mean trans people with state medical plans are now covered for gender affirming care where they could not or were not before? >> actually in both of these cases, the state plan in north carolina and medicaid in west virginia, they already had to start covering this care after the district court ruled in the plaintiff's favor in 2022. people have been able to get coverage for this in the last two years but what the appellate ruling does is solidify that coverage. it also signals to other plans and other states around the country this is care that needs to be covered and trans people

are protected under the law. >> we have seen in the last few years some two dozen states pass restrictive laws on gender affirming care, specifically for minors. does this decision applied to minors covered by state medical plans even in states where legislators have and care? i should -- have band care? >> there were cases where plaintiffs were minors. in north carolina, there were some members of the plan who joined the case on behalf of their dependent minor child who was transgender and so they were seeking coverage for the care of that child. it is important to differentiate this from some of the other cases around gender affirming care. because this is really about insurance coverage and whether insurers can make the distinction they are going to cover hormones and bisect a means for people with certain

conditions but not for people with gender dysphoria. they said that is not going to fly and that it needs to stop. one thing i also wanted to mention is in the realm of bands across the country in different states for gender affirming care for youth, just today, in kansas, the statehouse was unable to override the veto of the governor who had vetoed the ban on gender affirming care for youth in that state. advocates are really hoping that this does even beyond the realm of actual reach, it does send a signal to different places, to governors, to state houses to say this is not a winning issue. and the courts are starting to fall in their favor although it has been a mixed bag in the courts. >> in this particular case and you quote today, the majority wrote when it comes to the

states exclusion of gender affirming care for medical plans, we hold the coverage exclusions discriminate on the basis of sex and gender identity. it says the occluded -- the exclusions violate the 14th amend and permissions in the affordable care act. there were 70 transgender rights issues in the courts right now. do you see the supreme court taking this up anytime soon? in this case, west virginia's attorney general has said he is appealing. >> policy watchers i have talked to think in the case is going to reach the supreme court at some point and probably soon. but the supreme court has been sending mixed messages on this. there was a gender affirming care ban in idaho that the supreme court allowed to take effect. there are other cases including one from the fourth circuit that was related to transgender students participating in sports that the supreme court declined

to take to that was a win for the transgender plaintiff in that case. court watchers suggest it seems like the supreme court is reluctant to jump into the fray but there has been so much litigation in this area and semi laws being passed that it seems inevitable the supreme court laughed away in and give some clarity. >> selena simmons duffin who covers health policy with npr. thank you so much. >> thank you for having me. >> student protests over israels war in gaza and u.s. involvement continue across campuses nationwide. hundreds have been arrested so far. even as the sclera comes to an end, administrators are struggling with how to respond to running us for a view from their campuses are spencer friedland, managing editor of news for the emory wheel at emory university, aria, student

life reporter for the daily californian at uc berkeley and the editor in chief and president of the brown daily herald at brown university. things for joining us. you have said it has been extremely tense on campus at emory. tell me why. what does a look and feel like? >> over the last five days, we have had a series of protests in response to the war in gaza and in response to the police going to campus on thursday and arresting 28 members of the emory community including 20 people directly either students or faculty at the university. >> when you say it is tense, what does that look and feel like? >> every day, people are on edge when there are emory police coming through campus. a lot of emory police have been at the protest on thursday and a lot of the student protesters and students for socialism have

been affected for -- affected by the way protest were handled on thursday and scared of student protests. additionally i believe a lot of the jewish students on campus are uneasy with the content of what has been going on. when chants such as from the river to the sea have been used, i have spoken to students who have called that anti-semitic. >> what about uc berkeley? you say the encampment began with 20 tents or so. have you seen any kind of detention spencer is talking about? >> it started last monday. now we are up to about 150 tents last night. it has been growing considerably. that comes from students from all over campus setting up on sprout hall. as to the police attention, has been little at uc berkeley compared to these other schools but it has been fairly i guess

reserved. the encampment is pretty peaceful. >> have there been any allegations like we heard from spencer about protesters engaging in anti-semitic remarks? >> like spencer said, there have been calls for from the river to the sea which i have spoke to some jewish students who feel as if that is anti-semitic. i would like to point out some of the protesters at the camera themselves are jewish. jewish voices for peace i've spoken to many members who are there and they don't feel as though speech like that is anti-semitic so it depends on who you talk to. >> at brown, we know many of the protesters across campuses are looking for divestment from their universities, for financial ties to israel. there is news from brown. the highest governing body is going to vote on divestment after university leaders met with some of the protesters. how did that come about and is that kind of divestment likely in vote?

>> absolutely, so to answer the first part of your question, while on the surface it does seem rounds he came in opt up alongside these he can't mess the country, investment has been a question at brown for some time. in 2020, an advisory committee at the university recommended divestment but the president said no citing the fact it was what she characterize as a contentious geopolitical issue. as a result of that decision, there was quite a bit of activism in 2020 which has continued to now. what we are seeing at brown was success for the protesters in a way they have not seen before. it is hard to say what is going to happen in october when the brown corporation votes on divestment. but so far, the administration that runs the day-to-day of brown has expressed quite a bit of skepticism about divestments but demonstrators are optimistic about divestment. they say that it would be important symbolically that it could spark a broader divestment movement across the country.

>> wished point out there where students arrested during a previous sit in after these meetings with university officials. what happens to the charges brought against them? >> those 41 students arrested in december in pro divestment sit in did not have their charges dropped. that was a demand that these in camo protesters that have been going on for one week had. in the final agreement with the university, there was no mention of these charges being dropped. > i want to come to you on this divestment issue because this does seem to be central to many of the protesters demands. just briefly, what do you know about the possibility of your university or college engaging in that? i will begin with you. >> obviously divestment is one of the key aspects of these in camas. the coalition supporting in camas called the uc berkeley divestment coalition. the primary goal is the complete divestment from the uc system as a whole and uc berkeley specifically from any organization, company, corporation but supports

israel's war in gaza. we have talked to some administrators and they say they have no plans for divestment at this time. protesters themselves, that is their primary goal. they are willing to be suspended, expelled or arrested until the school of divestment is met. they are at a stalemate between the administrators and the protesters. >> what about over at emory? >> the president has not responded to my emails for comment about the situation. yesterday a university of administration member accepted a letter of demands for student activists that calls for divestment from both israel and also divestment from atlanta's quote unquote cop city which is a police training facility being built on muskogee land a lot of protesters are very concerned with. emory's issues are different from a lot of other issues as the protests have been twofold in that it is both yes jp and the free palestine movement is also a stop cop city movement as

well. >> i want to point out as part of your reporting you spent 24 hours inside the encampment. it's been a lot of focus on divestment but i'm curious what you heard from students who talked to about what brought them out there. what was it that motivated them? what is keeping them there now? >> more of observing so we are sitting right outside but of course we went into the encampment on many occasions. we spent a lot of time with people inside the encampment. we interviewed many people. there is this feeling of community within the encampment. people feel as though they are trying to gain something great. they feel as though this is a national movement where people from around the country are coming together in support. it is honestly very happy and lively within the encampment. people playing music. they have all sorts of activities planned throughout the day. they have teach in about divestment. they have teach ins about what is happening at gaza.

it is a lively attitude and they have community members from outside the university from people in berkeley or in the community at large that have been supplying the materials, resources, food and support. it has gotten to the point where the encampment has said they want to stop accepting food donations because they have been getting so many. >> the rest of the country in some parts of the world are paying attention to what is happening on each of your campuses but you are there. so i want to ask you and i will begin with you. what do you make of the way the national news media has been covering and talking about what you are living through and covering on your campus? >> one thing i want to commend the national news media on doing is centering the voices of student journalists. these journalists know the administration and their campuses and other students in and out especially their demands and the history of these activism movements because they have been covering them for years. i'm glad that student journalists voices are being platforms as national media takes a look at what is going on

with these encampments. >> spencer, what about you? >> i feel if the national media has done a great job portraying the initial events that happened on emory's campus. on thursday, the police arresting people, tasting people in using dennis was significant as opposed to how other police forces have handled other encampments. one thing i would say is after that initial media coverage, we have not received as much national attention for the peaceful protests that have been going on in recent days as other schools have their encampments and the news media coverage has moved on from emory. i think it is -- i think it has kind of been a little quick to judgment almost about or not even quick to judgment but very over on the days where there is violence and there is brutality by police possibly paid not so much when there is just peaceful

protests that have been happening in the days since. >> i want to thank each of you for taking the time to join us and for continuing to cover the story as journalist on your own campuses. spencer from emory university, ar fromya uc berkeley and nei from brown universityl. >> as we just heard, brown university announced today it will vote on divestment this fall at how difficult would it be for other schools to divest from israel/last night we heard a prospective -- a perspective arguing it could be done more readily. we are joined by chris mars econo who john -- who studies higher education and public policy he is an assistant professor of education studies at davidson college. we know that brown university, their corporate board will vote in october on this proposal to divest from israeli interests. columbia university, columbia president said in her words columbia will not divest from

israel. what is your assessment from these two approaches based on what you know about these institutions? >> i should mention both of these institutions approaches arch ordinarily different. what brown has agreed to do is the brown corporation vote on a proposal based on a 20 proposal that called the divestment from just 11 companies. those 11 companies would be divested from part of the direct investments at brown university which accounts for less than 10% of brown's entire endowment. columbia is saying we are not going to engage in that should need to see with the situation is over the next weeks and months before we have this conversation. we need to have a graduation. it is two different approaches. part of the reason why brown may be interested in having this conversation is because of how narrow the approach is. when we look at these encampment's the country, but we are seeing is students are asking for divesting from three different areas.

weapons manufacturers, as mrs. in israel and businesses that do business with israel. brown is just looking at 11 institutions. 11 businesses. >> big picture, how feasible is this? the perspective we heard last night as technically it is doable. it is a matter of these institutions moving their endowments into socially and ethically responsible funds. how do you see it? >> this is a very different situation than est investing with fossil fuels or even south africa 30 years ago. it is complicated in terms of how universities invest. the vast majority of university endowment funds are not invested in direct stocks. we are not running e*trade accounts as endowment managers. what they're doing is investing in hedge funds and private equity. all the times with the vast majority of institutions, they are looking at index funds. that is a lot of different businesses packaged in these funds and it is difficult to know at any time what those businesses are doing.

you may invest in pepsi but not know that pepsi is about to buy soda stream, an israeli company as they did in 2017. if an endowment manager wanted to complete divest from israel, that would mean once the deal is closed, divesting from pepsi altogether and there are not in it -- they are not index funds that have the ability to move quickly and that complete knowledge of how deeply tied companies are to the israeli case. while it is theoretically possible and while we have seen divestment from fossil fuels, what we have seen divestment from private prisons and we certainly sell divestment from south africa during apartheid, it is not functionally possible. >> does divestment bring about the kinds of changes these demonstrators are calling for? what does the data actually show? >> the jury is a little bit out but what we do know is divestment works in some cases and not in others in terms of

affecting the economy of the place you're trying to divest from. really what divestment does and protests for divestment do is put political pressure on those that are the target of those divestments. we are pretty sure that from research divestment in south africa did not make a big economic impact which should not be a surprise is universities were not heavily invested in south africa during the apartheid era the slow drip of headline after headline announcing different colleges and universities divesting put political pressure on the apartheid regime. we are seeing some evidence that political pressure through protest is happening tonight. when we hear last week that prime minister netanyahu specifically mentions campus protests in the knighted states, that lets us know college students have captured the attention of key stakeholders for peace. we will see if they can keep it as the semester ends and graduations begin.

>> should a university invest its endowment in a way that aligns with its values however that is defined or should chasing returns, increasing the value of that fund the guiding or the sole principal? >> legally, endowment managers have to act as fiduciaries. while certainly they have considered est funds or other moral or ethical ties in their funds, at the end of the day, they are required to justify endowment decisions by short-term or long-term potential gains. because we don't know to what extent there will be a negative or positive return from divestment from israel, it is hard for in endowment manager to even talk about or think about divesting based on purely moral imperatives or values imperatives from the institution. we know from my own research and the research of others divesting from fossil fuels made at worse

and illegible effect for dayton and syracuse and may have had a positive effect. don't have those data yet with respect to investments in israel so it is hard for endowment managers to have this choice. at the end of the day, they're supposed to make investment decisions based on risks and the potential rewards. >> chris marsico's assistant professor of education studies at davidson college. thanks for your insight and putting context around all of this. >> thank you so much for having me. it has been a pleasure. ♪ >> sub-saharan africa accounts for about 25% of all disease in the world yet it has just 3% of the health care workforce needed to treat it. there are not enough medical and nursing schools and many of the graduates are recruited to

wealthier countries where health-care systems are also understaffed. our special correspondent has a report on one effort to educate african providers who will stay and serve their communities. it is part of his series agents for change. >> they hiked for nearly an hour. a small group of medical students headed to a village not accessible by car. the professor accompanied them but the teacher was a woman with little formal schooling. when it comes to health issues in this remote community in northern rwanda, village health workers have the training to watch for telltale signs of problems. >> malaria is a big problem here. i am mainly focused on women and babies. we register all women who are pregnant and i will visit them three times during their pregnancy.

>> after a quick briefing, they were off to the home of a couple expecting their first child. >> we do not want students to come in and be seated in front of a patient giving them information that is from a textbook to >> -- a textbook. >> the professor says textbooks teach how to treat disease but real-world experience teaches how to treat the patient to a textbook description may not work for example. > they may not be taking their medicines because on an empty stomach, it pains. they woke up at 4:00 a.m. to be at your hospital at 8:00 a.m. >> on this day, jean used her well-worn illustrated binder to make sure her patient got important information to ensure a safe pregnancy. she emphasized the importance of taking iron pills and eating a healthy diet. that is not easy off a small plot of land and daily wage work

when available. >> in such extreme poverty, it is not easy for people to afford meat but i tell them to get eggs or milk which they can afford. >> the students will spend a lot of time in village settings. back on campus, they spend their first six months in nonmedical coursework like anthropology and history before beginning six intense years that lead to degrees in medicine and global health delivery. the university of global health equity was and nokia rated in 2019 tiered the brainchild of the late harvard anthropologist and position paul farmer. he cofounded the group partners in health which has brought world-class care to some of the worlds remotest places. that same philosophy brought this medical school to northern rwanda. >> all over the world medical schools are a set up in capital cities. >> this thoracic surgeon is dean

of university of global health equity. >> it is the complete opposite of that. it is close enough to the community, to the vulnerable, to the poor. >> it all began in 2011 with a world-class hospital. it has the only oncology center in the entire country outside the capital which is too distant and expensive for most rural patients. most cancer patients in this country and many others simply go untreated. take just the example of breast cancer. in high income countries, more than 90% of patients survive five years after their diagnosis. the equivalent figure in sub-saharan africa is 40%. >> i started now in the oncology ward where i was meeting a lot of patients coming in and out. that is so sad to see how many of them come at late stages and are left on palliative care. >> this third year student from

neighboring tanzania says every patient including a woman whose condition is not curable gets the best available therapy to ease their pain and suffering. a departure from the practice and philosophy in many low resource settings. daca she would -- >> they would not recognize that chemo is useful or as they would say worthwhile for her. >> she is among 42 students from nine african countries. 70% of them female. selected each year from nearly 1600 applicants. and because it is much needed in rural settings, their education at emphasizes -- their education emphasizes emergency and trauma care. the mannequins can simulate pain points. the goal is to train doctors who are also advocates for equitable care. students sign contracts agreeing to work for five years after graduation in an underserved

area. in exchange, they get a free ride here. >> young people with the heart, the brain to practice medicine in that order should be given the opportunity to do so. >> we are studying disease and structures. what are we seeing? >> at the university's partnered with some of the world's top institutions that regularly send guest faculty like a trauma surgeon from boston's massachusetts general hospital. >> you want to hold your probe from the top. >> one concern is how such interactions may influence the aspirations of the future doctors. some 5500 physicians from sub-saharan african nations now work in the united states alone. these students who resist the lore? >> given the economic and financial realities of our world today, they get an offer to go to north carolina, harvard, edinburgh at enormously large

salaries. >> we cannot deny that. >> every faculty conveys that message. that god put them in this place for a reason to there is -- for a reason. there's some sacrifice this generation has to pay for the betterment of the next generation. we have six and a half years to make sure that is done. >> the university does have agreements with governments of the students countries to make sure graduates will receive livable wages. students we spoke to would determine to stay in their home countries. david is from the west african nation of liberia. >> i would like to work with my ministry of health so we can be able to put things in place for people that cannot afford basic medical aid, basic medical care. >> jocelyn says she is determined to be part of the rebuilding efforts in her native rwanda. >> i don't see anything which is more fulfilling than serving

your community. if i'm not going to be part of the solution, who is going to do it? >> jennifer's will model is her mother, a physician who returned to serve in tanzania. >> most of her education, she was able to attain a broad and she always mentioned there is nothing better than home and helping your people. for me, i feel the same way. >> dena admits the university -- the dean admits the university faces tough challenging counting on philanthropic funding. >> 350 years back, harvard was just a small building. look at it now. i think they had that vision. we may not see in our lifetime should this is a beacon of hope for medical education on the continent. >> the university of global health equity will graduates first cohort of medical and global health practitioners in 2026.

>> tomorrow, we will look at an effort to improve and sustain agricultural production in africa. should say fred's reporting is a partnership with the under told stories project at the university of st. thomas in minnesota. ♪ >> amid the ongoing trauma in israel and gaza, singing a different song. the jerusalem youth chorus is trying to do what few other seem to be able to do these days, to see each other as people and to enjoy each other through a love of music. jeffrey brown spent a day around the nation's capital with them recently for our arts and culture series, canvas. ♪ >> the jerusalem youth course.

israelis and palestinians, muslims and jews. residents of the same city experiencing life in the ongoing war in vastly different ways. disagreeing about fundamental issues and policies. but singing with and speaking to one another across the great divide. the 17-year-old is a palestinian muslim from east jerusalem. >> i stayed because it was so much more. >> how was it more? >> we have dialogue. we talked. if it were not for the choir, i would not have interacted with israelis like ever. it offered you that and a space to share my voice. i feel as a palestinian, you don't have many of those places where i live. >> this 15-year-old's from a jewish family living in westerleigh shall him. >> i thought it was only -- in west jerusalem. >> i thought it was only singing

and never got separated into groups and started talking and sharing. . at first it was shocking but it was so interesting to >> you said it was shocking at first? >> a little bit. >> because? >> it was things i never thought i would hear and people i never thought i would get the chance to talk to. >> it is hard to conceive at this moment of enormous trauma but there they were amid a recent four city north american tour titled a different song. a mix of high schoolers and older alumni speaking and rehearsing in three languages when we joined them on a day across the washington, d.c. area or the chorus was founded in 2012 by a jewish-american as a project focused on building community through music. traditional coral training paired with facilitator led discussions that run from personal to political. the group gathers joyce a week

should members coming from different members of the city. from the beginning, he wondered if anyone would joint. -- would join. >> i knew i should not go to schools in try to recruit singers by telling them this is going to be some peacemaker program because everyone would left me out of the room but looking at why young people from east and west jerusalem might want to join a program like this. >> you cannot go and overtly say this is about peacemaking. >> people would be like get out of here. you understand that is insane? but you can say we have this youth program. is an opportunity to learn to sing. to make new friends. to travel the world. two grow your own sense of yourself. to be at will to listen to others. >> one person who took up the call joined as 18 and later studied and practiced law and is

the executive director of the jerusalem youth course. a firm believer in its ideals but also someone who lives the realities of the region. >> for me, growing up, i've never shared with my friends i am doing this amazing project. until today, i work at the course and i'm not very loud about what i do. >> you don't tell people? >> i choose where to tell because i need to choose my battles because many people would view what the jerusalem youth course is doing especially in the palestinian community as normalization work. look how israel is a beautiful country. look how nice we are. israelis and palestinians singing together. life is flowers but the jerusalem of course is not that. one of the things i always say, the executive director of the youth course as the most

palestinian thing i can ever be doing. >> because? >> because i use the platform it creates to help the youth in your was a limb develop their own agent -- in jerusalem develop their own agencies and understanding of the situation because it gives me a platform to humanize palestinians where many palestinians are being dehumanized now in jerusalem and all over the world. and because i believe the circle of violence will never end. and we just need to find those we can be partners with. >> the group traveled across the city talking and singing along the way. the visit coincided with the solar eclipse which they watched on the national mall. and then like tourists, they enjoyed ice cream from a truck

and visited the national museum of african-american history and culture. and then as always, they talked of what they had seen and felt making connections. here to the treatment of african-americans. particularly after the civil war during the jim crow era. >> this reminded me of what happened with the ethnic cleansing of the orthodox jews in the holocaust as well as the ethnic cleansing happening for palestinians who don't have an id card. >> some of the black people that live right now, they have centuries of ancestors living here. it is their heritage. for us, living in israel is like a sanctuary. here they do not have it >> that evening, they shared their durational ramadan if karmiel. at the american turkish friendship association in northern virginia. ♪ and watched and shared a performance by a muslim american youth choir.

the next night, the j yc performed at a congregation. all this well is really hostages continue to be held by hamas and the deaths and ripping living conditions of palestinians in gaza mount. this tour was originally scheduled for the fall but had to be put off following the escalation of violence. micah and amir were determined to pull it off now. >> what we are seeing is israelis and palestinians -- the extremists are winning and normal people are losing. that is not a zero-sum game. that is a different type of reality most people don't want to acknowledge but ultimately, what we are trying to show and i think what we are showing is there is an alternative because we are the alternative. we are doing it.

. it is actually possible and it is so much better than what is currently happening. >> family friends were killed on october 7 and others held as hostages. >> it feels right to where the earrings. and also i believe the hostages are important to the entire country because they are all our brothers and sisters. it is not something i hide. people know this is something that is important to me and i'm not ashamed of it. >> she spoke of family in the west bank were unable to leave beyond closed checkpoits. the personal trauma of what is happening in gaza. she says this. >> we do not share the same opinions. it is not easy to come to this choir and talk about this. it takes a lot of strength and it takes a lot of courage. i think we all agree the fact the world right now is very

ugly. this does not have to be the reality we live in. we are not going to change how wrong the system is, but we are building peace between individuals. >> for the pbs newshour, i'm jeffrey brown in washington, d.c. ♪ >> and there is more online including a look at a new museum exhibit in st. louis that aim is to tell a more complete picture of what happened at the city's 1904 world's fair. that is at pbs.org/newshour. > join us back here tomorrow night for a rare conversation with the top u.s. commander in the indo pacific region on efforts to counter china. that is the newshour for tonight. >> for all of us here at the pbs

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♪ hello, everyone, and welcome to "amanpour and company." here's what's coming up. >> i'm hopeful that they will make the right decision. >> u.s. secretary of state antony blinken offers new hope for an israel-hamas cease-fire, as israeli air strikes on rafah continue.