♪ john: good evening. i'm john yang. geoff bennett is away. tonight on "pbs news weekend." unlikely partnership: a look at the historic israel-lebanon maritime deal signed by nations still technically at war. and understanding female sexual health. the causes and costs of the lack of research. all that and the day's headlines on tonight's "pbs news weekend." ♪ >> major funding for "pbs news weekend" has been provided by -- >> for 25 years, consumer cellular's goal has been to provide service to help people

communicate and connect. our svice team can find a plan that helps -- fits you. >> and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. ♪ and friends of "the newshour." ♪ this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you! john: good evening. we begin tonight with tragedy in south korea. at least 146 people have died

and another 150 were injured after an apparent crowds crush during halloween festivities. joining us by phone is the bureau chief for the voice of america. it is a little past 6:00 a.m. on sunday for you. i know you spent much of the night there. what is the situation now? >> this is a police scene now in certain areas of the district. especially on the weekends and especially on halloween, the biggest night of the year in this area is halloween. everyone dresses up. it is a big deal. massive crowds. when the chaos broke out, there was a lot of confusion. i think a lot of people were inside clubs listening to music. it slowly dawned on them

something that happened. there are still partiers and club music going on even while bodies are still being loaded into ambulances. john: you say bodies still being loaded into ambulances. is the death toll likely to rise? >> i think we have most of the bodies accounted for. however, there is an expectation that many of the injuredill become deaths. there is still a lot of confusion going on. a strange mix of people dressed up in halloween costumes in various states of sobriety, confused, some not concerned at all, others crying on the streets. john: is there any idea from the people you talk to of what triggered this? >> no.

it was a very small alleyway i am standing next to right now where it happened. the alleyway is [indiscernible] feet across. this was a rush of people. i don't know that you could call it a stampede. as crowded as it was, people were standing shoulder to shoulder in a very loud, crowded atmospre. whenever panic spreads, this kind of thing can happen. unfortunately, it happened in the worst possible area on the worst possible night here in seoul. john: give us a sense of that area, what it is like. you talk about narrow alleyways. perhaps could that have contributed to what happened? who was likely there? what kind of crowd likely gathers in itaewon? >> there are lots of foreigners here. it is by no means predominantly

foreigners. it is mostly koreans. there is a large gathering of minority groups in this area of itaewon such as lgbt, members of that community, who don't necessarily feel comfortable in all parts of korean society. they look at this as a safe haven. there are a lot of transgender and gay bars and a lot of other bars here. we don't have an idea of how many foreigners were killed or injured because it is hard to identify the bodies right now. many of these people were in costume and lost or were not carrying identification. we don't have a good idea yet about who was affected by this tragedy. john: i have to ask you to repeat what you said at the top. there is still partying going on and activities going on in clubs even as all of this is happening

in the street? >> absolutely. it is about 6:00 a.m. here. there are still parts of itaewon that have been largely not affected. there have been over a dozen emergency alert notifications that have automatically come up on people's cell phones in korea asking them to leave. however, there were possibly 100,000 people here tonight in a very packed area with hundreds of establishments. it is hard for authorities to clear them out right away. we don't even know what to call it. you can hear pub music coming from inside establishments while the bodies are being placed into ambulances outside. john: the voice of america on what is a tragic and slightly surreal scene in the itaewon

neighborhood of seoul, south korea. thank you very much. >> no problem. john: in today's other headlines, somali police say scores of people are dead after two car bombs this morning outside government offices and a busy restaurant in the capital city of mogadishu. one hospital alone received at least 30 bodies. the al qaeda linked group is suspected of carrying out the group although there h been no immediate claim of responsibility. after weeks of protests, iran's revolutionary guard today issued an ultimatum saying today would mark the end of the riots, prompting fears of a greater crackdown if the warning isn't heeded. nationwide unrest has persisted for over a month, sparked by the death of a young woman in police custody for wearing her hijab improperly. hundreds of people have been killed and tens of thousands of arrests have been made since the protests began, according to advocacy groups.

russia said today it would back out of a deal that allows safe passage of grain exports through ukrainian waters. more than 9 million tons of grain have already been shipped since the deal was signed. it is set to expire next month. just yesterday, the united nations called for its renewal. the russians cite an alleged drone attack today in occupied crimea as the reason for backing up. ukrainian officials say this is a false pretext. back in this country, house speaker nancy pelosi's husband, paul pelosi, remains in the hospital after a successful surgery yesterday. he suffered a fractured skull, and numerous other injuries, after being beaten with a hammer in their san francisco home. he's expected to make a full recovery. his alleged attacker, david depape, will face felony charges, including attempted murder, on monday. his socialedia presence online included frequenting sites that espouse racist views and qanon conspiracy theories. guantanamo bay's oldest

prisoner, a 75-year-old pakistani man, has been released back to his me country the pentagon announced today. imprisoned there for 18 years, he was accused of being an al qaeda sympathiser, and helping finance the group, but he was never charged. with his repatriation, 35 detainees remain at the prison. 20 of them are eligible for transfer. and still to come, we look into medicine's lack research into female sexual function. ♪ >> this is "pbs news weekend" from weta studios in washington. john: this week, two countries technically at war took a rare small step toward easing tensions. we take a closer look now at the historic maritime border agreement between israel and lebanon.

>> on the open sea, where borders are not always clear and are often contested, this week, lebanon and israel, two nations technically at war for decades, signed a breakthrough agreement brokered by the united states. president biden called it "historic." president biden it took some : real guts. and i think it took principled and persient diplomacy to get it done. john: the countries divided a critical stretch of the mediterranean sea, rich in fossil fuels. for lebanon, it could be an economic lifeline. its currency is nearly worthless, poverty and hunger is pervasive, and joblessness is at record levels. >> i truly believe and hope this can be an economic turning poi in lebanon for a new era of investment. john: at issue, a 300-square-mile section of sea that is home to two major gas fields. the two nations agreed on a permanent border that would allow both to get royalties from any energy explotion in the

offshore gas field that straddles the boundary. t even as the deal was signed, factions within israel's parliament called it illegal. and on land, tensions remain. hassan nasrallah leads hezbollah, whose political wing controls a majority in the lebanese parliament. sayyed hassan nasrallah: the results are a very big victory for lebanon, to the state, the people, and the resistance. the state and those responsible in the lebanese government were very careful not to take any small step that may hint to normalization. john: israeli officials acknowledge it's an incremental and pragmatic step. prime minister yair lapid: this agreement strengthens israel's security and our freedom of action against hezbollah and the threats to our north. there is rare consensus in the security establishment regarding the necessity of this agreement. john: as questions remain if is small degree of peace will extend beyond the sea. to unpack this historic deal, i

spoke with two reporters about what it means for their home countries. neri zilber is a journalist based in tel aviv. i asked him how israel stands to benefit from this deal. >> there are a few benefits. first and foremost, it is a diplomatic agreement. when the israeli prime minister says it is an historic deal, it is true. primarily, it provides israel a certain percentage of the potential future lebanese natural gas fields, around 17%, and also provides israel security for its own gas fields nearby. that went online a few days ago. despite hezbollah threats it would torpedo that drilling, the drilling has gone on uninterrupted. john: this is an historic deal. it is two states technically at war.

could this be the beginning of something new? >> i believe it is a sign of prudence in a part of the world where those traits are often where. even israeli officials are sober about the broader implications of the agreement. it is a technical agreement. not likely israel and lebanon will use it as a springboard for future peace talks as hezbollah wields veto power over politics. john: this removes a point of tension between israel and hezbollah. does it erase those tensions? does it put it off permanently? >> i don't believe so. hezbollah is still very much opposed to israel. it maintains a vast arsenal of missiles and rockets pointed at israel. it is a sign of pragmatism and prudence, especially as hezbollah gave ascent to the

agreement. there are still terrorial disputes. there are still issues on the west bank. those police will remain in place. john: israel and lebanon had to talk through the united states. why do you think the united states was so interested in brokering the deal? >> first and foremost, they wanted to avoid military escalation in the middle east especially relating to israel. that close relationship is important for the biden administration. also it was a sign for the biden envoy you could get a deal done where previous -- he could get a deal done where previous envoys had failed. it is a way to emphasize the u.s. is still involved. it was a foreign policy victory for the biden administration.

john: thank you very much. >> my pleasure. john: now, for the perspective from lebanon, we are joined by the reuters bureau chief for lebanon, syria, and jordan. thank you for joining us. you just came for interviewing the outgoing lebanese president. how is he talking about this deal? >> for the outgoing president, this is his crowning achievement of the six years he spent in office. today when we spoke to him, he reiterated it was the product of indirect negotiations and not a peace deal with israel. he did say for the domestic lebanese audience as well this is lebanon's last chance for economic recovery. they are hoping for a financial windfall from the aftermath of the deal. he reiterated the really important role hezbollah has played in making sure the deal

came through. john: how significant is that? >> on a political level, it is quite significant to see hezbollah give a green light to this understanding that they call it. lebanese officials have been adamant the two countries remain in a state of war. john: it does remove a flashpoint between lebanon, especially hezbollah, and israel. tensions remain? >> certainly. it has been interesting to see the outgoing president describe the deal as a way to ensure tensions do not flare up into full-scale war. he said multiple times, including this morning, that now we have shared interests. if something happens on either side to mess up that deal or lead to any kind of security incident, that both sides lose. john: is this agreement top of mind for lebanese?

is this something a lot of people are aware of? what has been the reaction? >> i think it is something people are aware of. like anything in lebanon, people are split over how to react. you have a lot of celebrations among people who are supporters of the president. you also have a more measured response from people looking at it from a technical perspective saying any exploration will take 12 to 18 months before we really know what is in the maritime blocks, so let's not be too celebratory at this stage because we do not know when we will see any financial reward. john: give us a sense of the economic problems in lebanon. >> they are manifest. it has been three years since lebanon entered into financial downfall. over the last three years, you have seen the 11 news pound lose over 95% -- lebanon pound lose over 95% of its value. you have families spending the

vast majority of their day without power at home. theris no end in sight. everyone is asking when we hit rock bottom. john: thank you very much. ♪ john: when it comes to medical research and innovation, men's health has long gotten more attention than women's health. it was only in 1993 that congress mandated that women and minorities be included in clinical research. but as ali rogin reports, even with improvements over the last 30 years, women's sexual health remains vastly understudied. >> just about half the world's

population has one. in the medical world, it's been discovered, forgotten, and declared rediscovered, but is usually dismissed as an afterthought. and often, it's been seen as shameful. the clitoris is considered the only organ that exists solely for sexual pleasure, but it's also a crucial part of female anatomy. just as sexual health is critical to overall well-being. so why is the clitoris and the sexual health of people who have them still so understudied? joining me to discuss are urologist and sexual health expert dr. rachel rubin and rachel gross, a science journalist and the author of the book "vagina obscura." rachel gross, i'm going to start with you. why do we, and when i say we, i mean doctors, academics, and the general public, why do we know so little about the clitoris? >> i think, as you said, there is a long history behind this. in general, we know far less about female bodies than male ones, and that's partially because of who's been asking the

questions. so, throughout medical history, you ended up with a lot of male anatomists who saw the world from their perspective. one way that they looked at women was as sort of walking wombs or baby machines, and that meant a very different focus than sexual pleasure, which is what the clitoris is all about. so, i think we are still recovering from the attitudes and a lot of stigma and shame still exists today. >> dr. rubin, based on what rachel has just told us, how does that translate to the medical field and how it thinks about the sexual function of these organs? >> well, it's a huge problem, right? so, in medical school, i didn't learn about the clitoris. i did't learn anything about women's sexual health. i then went into a urology residency where i'm a penis doctor. right. i take care of men and men. and men's sexual health. so, when i learned as a medical student how to examine the pelvis, they told us to stay away from the clitoris. that examining it might make our patient feel uncomfortable. can you imagine me saying the

same thingo my male patients if i werexamining their genitalia? and there is a very small community of us who do this work, but it's extremely small, extremely undervalued. >> it seems like in recent decades there have been lots and lots of advancements in the understanding of this critical organ, including simply how it looks and how big it is. and a lot of that is attributable to gender affirming health care. so, i want to ask you about the role of that sort of care in leading to a lot of advancements in the understanding of the clitoris. >> i'd actually say that a lot of different fields have contributeto these advancements. a urologist in australia, she really kind of brought the world this understanding that had existed before but never went mainstream that the head of the clitoris is the part you can see and touch and it's really just the tip of the iceberg. so, underneath, there's two bulbs and two arms that kind of flare out into the pelvis and the bulbs hug the vagina and the

urethra and they're all made of erectile tissue. and, basically, 90% of this organ is beneath the surface. so, there have been several fields that have been getting advancements like this into journals. and what i saw was that they're often kind of siloed. so, they don't talk to each other and they don't build off each other's work. so, we're sort of reinventing the wheel each time. but the rise of this kind of care means that there's access to parts of the body that normally y wouldn't end up with as a surgeon. and there's an actual focus on sexual sensation and making it better for these patients. so, for one of the first times, we are prioritizing sexual function instead of shying away from it. >> i know that you both actually feel strongly that this should not be viewed as a failing of the field of gynecology, which focuses on reproductive health. but i do wonder if you think there is one field, or a number of fields, that should take more ownership of the study in the care of the clitoris.

>> so, i think it's unfair to say that gynecologists are supposed to do absolutely everything for all women's issues. right? there are cancer doctors. there are emergency room doctor there are baby doctors. there are breastfeeding doctors. there are vulva doctors. there are uterus doctors. there is no way they can do it all, and in a 10- minute visit once a year. it's totally unfair and kind of misogynistic in and of itself that we think that that's ok. there is no doctor for men that is responsible for all of men's health issues. and so, the clitoris is in the pelvis. the pelvis has lots of urologic anatomy, colorectal anatomy, gynecologic anatomy, and actually a lot of musculoskeletal orthopedic anatomy. and all of the nerves from the spine are what innervate and let the clitoris do its thing. and the fact that we don't even understand basic anatomy, orthopedic surgeons don't understand the basic anatomy and the innervatio of the clitoris because it's not in the textbooks is a huge problem because there are consequences. when you operate in a pelvis, and a lot of us operate in the

pelvis, there can be harm to pelvic organs, which can lead to very intense sexual dysfunction, which i see in my clinic every day. >> you're a urologist, but you're also a sexual health expert. why is this kind of practice so rare? >> so, after you do finish urology training, which is five years, you can do a subspecialty fellowship. we have 27 fellowships in men's sexual health. we havone that even acknowledges women's sexual health. it's the fellowip that i did, and i take care of all genders. that's a huge problem. but there's no funding, there's no support, and there's no ability for us to grow and train people if we don't have the fellowships in place and the ability to train people.theraren the world that absolutely need help and medical care because sexual health is just health. right. people's quality of life is really important. and we have to start talking about it and demanding that

equal care. >> that's why conversations like this are so important. dr. rachel rubin, thank you for joining us. rachel gross, we really appreciate your time. >> thank you so much for having us. >> thank you for having us. ♪ john: online right now, we look at the 55,000 people with prior felony convictions who had the right to vote reinstated north carolina and what that could mean for the midterm elections. that is at pbs.org/newshour and that's "pbs news weekend" for tonight. i'm john yang. for all of my colleagues, thanks for joining us. hope to see you agn tomorrow. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy.] >> major funding for "pbs news weekend" has been provided by -- and with the ongoing support of

these individuals and institutions. ♪ this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you! ♪

from kqed, this is the 2022 california gubernatorial debate. california's governor has vast powers and decisions over the lives of the 40 million residents. governor newsom is running for his second term. the former san francisco mayor was elected governor in 2018 and has led california to fight climate change, and ask tougher gun control and the ban access to abortion services. his challenger, brian dahle, who has served it 10 years in the state legislature in the northeast part of california. he has criticized nuisance policy on the nd