April 30, 2024 - PBS NewsHour full episode

A groundbreaking ruling by a federal appeals court ensures gender-affirming surgery is covered by state-run health insurance programs. The decision ordered the plans to “reinstate coverage for medically necessary services for the treatment of gender dysphoria.” It’s a win for the trans community, but it may not be the final word on the issue. Stephanie Sy discussed more with Selena Simmons-Duffin.

Protests took a dramatic turn at Columbia University overnight when some pro-Palestinian students occupied a building on campus. In California, police arrested 25 protesters at California State Polytechnic University who had taken over a building for about a week and shut down the campus. A similar occupation was in its third day at Portland State University. Geoff Bennett reports.

In our news wrap Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu vowed again to invade Rafah whether there's a cease-fire deal or not, former President Trump was found in contempt of court for violating a gag order in his hush money trial and House Speaker Johnson's job appears to be safe after Democrats announced they will oppose efforts to remove him.

A key issue at these college protests against the war in Gaza is the demand for schools to divest from Israel. Monday, we heard a perspective arguing how universities can do that more readily. Now, Geoff Bennett has a different take from Chris Marsicano. He studies higher education finance and is an assistant professor of education studies at Davidson College.

Student protests over Israel’s war in Gaza and U.S. involvement continue across campuses nationwide. Even as the school year comes to an end, administrators are struggling with how to respond. Amna Nawaz discussed more with Spencer Friedland of the Emory Wheel, Aarya Mukherjee of the Daily Californian at UC-Berkeley and Neil Mehta of the Brown Daily Herald.

Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for about 25 percent of all disease in the world, yet it has just three percent of the healthcare workforce. There are not enough medical and nursing schools and many of the continent’s graduates are recruited to wealthier countries. Fred de Sam Lazaro reports on one effort to educate African providers who will stay and serve. It's part of his series, Agents for Change.

Amid the ongoing trauma in Israel and Gaza, the Jerusalem Youth Chorus is trying to do what few others seem able to these days: see each other as people and enjoy each other through a love of music. Jeffrey Brown spent a day with the group composed of Israeli and Palestinian singers for our arts and culture series, CANVAS.