PBS NewsHour

Wednesday's Powerball jackpot has spiked to more than $450 million and is likely to grow. The prize is expected to boost sales this week, but ticket buying has reportedly dropped 35 percent since 2013, which is putting state budgets on the losing end of the lottery system. Ben Leubsdorf of The Wall Street Journal joins Alison Stewart from Washington to discuss the pitfalls of Powerball.

This past week was filled with more events tied to the Islamic State, including a video released showing the killing of a Jordanian pilot it had held captive since December and the group's claim that an American woman it had also been holding captive was killed in a Jordanian air strike. On Sunday, U.S. leaders called the Islamic militant group "better organized than al Qaeda" that should be taken "very seriously." Anthony Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies joins Alison Stewart from Washington.

Last month's terror attack at a Kosher supermarket in Paris called attention to rising anti-Semitism in France. This week, attackers slashed three soldiers guarding a Jewish community center in Nice. French authorities believe a small number of radicalized young men from North Africa are responsible for a disproportionate share of these anti-Semitic incidents in France. Special correspondent Martin Himel reports.

Scientists in New York recently searched the city's subway system and found all kinds of germs that could cause everything from the common cold to meningitis. Dr. Christopher Mason, a geneticist at Weill Cornell Medical College who headed the study, joins Alison Stewart to discuss the study's implications on the public health system.

World leaders have been meeting to try to end the fighting in Eastern Ukraine that intensified recently and threatens to become an even broader conflict. Associated Press reporter Peter Leonard joins Alison Stewart via Skype from Donetsk, where pro-Russian rebels are battling Ukrainian government forces.

Alison Stewart reads viewer comments about a recent interview that described a Pew Research Center poll, which found a large gap exists between what scientists believe and public opinion.

The Islamic State is claiming that a female American aid worker who had been held hostage since 2013 was killed by a Jordanian airstrike meant to target the militants. So far, the U.S. government has not confirmed the death of Kayla Mueller. Judy Woodruff learns more about the reported victim from Shane Harris of The Daily Beast.

In our news wrap Friday, leaders of France and Germany traveled to Moscow to try to end the war in Ukraine. Hundreds of people took advantage of the brief truce to flee the fighting between Ukrainian troops and pro-Russian rebels. Also, Shiite Houthi rebels said they‘ve officially taken over the government in Yemen and dissolved the parliament.

The recovering U.S. economy has made its strongest showing yet. Employers created a million jobs since November -- the best three-month average in 17 years. And January also boasted the biggest wage rise in six years. But not all sectors saw the same level of growth. To discuss the data, Jeffrey Brown speaks with Diane Swonk of Mesirow Financial.

In the summer of 2012, Austin Tice was working as a freelance journalist in Syria when he suddenly disappeared. A shaky video showing Tice alive but held by unknown captors remains the only clue about his fate. Now, his parents are urging the U.S. government to improve how they handle the safe return of hostages. Judy Woodruff reports.

Efforts to find and bring home Austin Rice, a freelance journalist who was kidnapped two and a half years ago, have not been fruitful. Tice’s parents are pushing for a new government entity that would be responsible for American hostages. Judy Woodruff speaks with his mother, Debra Tice, about her family’s fight to bring Austin and other hostages home.

To be able to listen to a favorite song, you used to have to buy a whole album. But the rise of digital sales and streaming music has unbundled the single from the rest of the record. What does that mean for the economics of the music industry? Hari Sreenivasan reports.

Syndicated columnist Mark Shields and New York Times columnist David Brooks join Judy Woodruff to discuss the week’s news, including the latest acts of terror by Islamic State, a speech by President Obama on the way religion, including Christianity, has been used to justify violence, and why some Republican politicians spoke against mandating vaccination in the wake of a measles outbreak.

For 10 years, National Geographic has been training young people around the world to use a camera as a tool for peace. The NewsHour’s Anne Davenport talks to a couple of aspiring photographers from South Sudan about bringing the stories of their community to the wider world.

In Mississippi, where the unemployment rate peaks at 15 percent in some areas, pockets of new manufacturing have ignited hopes for an economic rebirth. And while signs of growth give some people hope for a new era, how much will the area's poor actually benefit? NewsHour's John Larson reports as part of our continuing series, "Main Street America."