March 14, 2024 - PBS NewsHour full episode

Friday marks 13 years since the start of the Syrian civil war. Jim Foley was an American journalist covering the conflict when he was kidnapped by Islamic State terrorists in 2012 and publicly beheaded two years later. A decade later, his mother Diane Foley tells his story and how she became an advocate for American hostages abroad in a new book, “American Mother.” She joins Amna Nawaz to discuss.

Scientists, researchers and some big companies are eager to jumpstart the next generation of computing, one that will be far more sophisticated and dependent on understanding the subatomic nature of the universe. But as science correspondent Miles O’Brien reports, it’s a huge challenge to take this new quantum leap forward.

The death of an administrator at Lincoln University in Missouri and the resignation of Harvard’s former president have sparked outrage, concern and dialogue about the treatment of Black women in higher education. We hear from Black women about the challenges and pressures they face in academia, and Geoff Bennett speaks with UT Austin professor Bridget Goosby for more.

Of the many horrors endured by Palestinians and Israelis since the Hamas attacks of Oct. 7, perhaps none is more acute than those of expectant mothers. For the last several months, special correspondent Leila Molana-Allen has been charting the progress of their pain, their pregnancies, their sorrows and their joys. She brings us their stories now.

Students and teachers in Florida can now discuss sexual orientation and gender identity in classrooms, as long as it’s not part of formal instruction. It’s an important change after a new settlement between state education officials and civil rights attorneys who challenged the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law. WMFE education reporter Danielle Prieur joins Stephanie Sy to discuss.

The Biden administration is struggling to find solutions to two major foreign policy challenges: creating a ceasefire in the war in Gaza and helping fund Ukraine’s war against Russia. Nick Schifrin speaks with Josep Borrell, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, to learn more about global efforts on these two fronts.