“A Walk to Beautiful” tells the stories of rural women who make their way to Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, seeking treatment for obstetric fistula, a life-shattering complication of childbirth that was once common in the pre-industrial United States but that is now relegated to the poorest regions of the world.

The most powerful earthquake to hit China in 30 years killed more than 12,000 people, with the death toll likely to rise with thousands more reportedly buried under crumpled buildings. Read the full report on NewsHour.

This spring has seen the passing of two giants in the history of WNET. John Jay Iselin and James Day were collectively crucial to the development of WNET from the 1950s through the 1980s. Both former presidents of WNET, they helped define the development of public television into the medium it is today.

All May, Thirteen is broadcasting special Asian programming for Asian Pacific Heritage month, telling stories from the entire Pacific Rim, from east to west, the islands of Fiji to expatriates in the U.S., stories from as far as India to as near as New York. See listings:

A grim new statistic: One in every hundred Americans is now locked behind bars. On Friday, May 9 at 8:30 p.m., NOW on PBS investigates the government’s trend to outsource prisons and prisoners to the private sector.