CHICAGO — The 3 p.m. bell at Telpochcalli Elementary marked the start of students’ and teachers’ favorite hours. Students played instruments under the guidance of their musically talented educators and swirled paint on canvases, eventually graduating to create murals that adorned the school’s walls and ceilings.

For the first time in 20...Read more

LAS VEGAS — Studying cosmetology isn’t something Brenda Garcia said she ever saw herself doing. In fact, until she started taking classes, she said she couldn’t do her own hair.

But today, Garcia, 26, is about halfway through a yearlong program that will end in a license, allowing her to help lift up other women the way the program has ...Read more

SACRAMENTO — California leaders are bracing for a clash with Donald Trump on most environmental issues when he returns to the White House, but they’re surprisingly aligned with him on forest management.

Since his first term as president, Trump has blamed the state for its devastating wildfires, telling leaders to thin out its forest and ...Read more

LAS VEGAS — President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to abolish the United States Department of Education. What would such a change mean for Nevada public schools?

While the majority of Nevada’s education funding comes from state and local taxes, around 10% comes from the federal agency. That money funds programs such Title I, which ...Read more

BALTIMORE — It’s almost like a washing machine, if you ask Joseph H. Brown. The casket-shaped metal tank sitting in Brown’s crematory in West Baltimore uses hot water, chemicals and a bit of agitation to dissolve human remains, leaving behind only bone.

The practice, formally known as alkaline hydrolysis, was legalized during this year’...Read more

Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskidsus@theconversation.com.

Why do I feel better rested when I wake myself up than I do if my alarm or another person wakes me up? – Calleigh H., age 11, Oklahoma

We’ve all experienced this: You’...Read more

Home insurance rates are rising in the United States, not only in Florida, which saw tens of billions of dollars in losses from hurricanes Helene and Milton, but across the country.

According to S&P Global Market Intelligence, homeowners insurance increased an average of 11.3% nationwide in 2023, with some states, including Texas,...Read more

After almost 1,000 days resisting the Russian invasion, Ukraine’s allies are pushing Volodymyr Zelenskyy to consider new ways to lure Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table as they seek an end to the fighting.

Donald Trump will return to the White House in January pledging a quick end to the war. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz urged Putin to...Read more

At a black-tie gala at Mar-a-Lago the other night, Argentine President Javier Milei couldn’t contain himself. The gathering had been arranged to celebrate the election of his guy Donald Trump, and no one was going to outdo Milei. He whirled, pivoted, swayed, bro-hugged, flashed the thumbs-up sign — sometimes one, sometimes, for emphasis, two...Read more

Ukraine said at least 21 people were killed in missile attacks following a massive barrage on its energy infrastructure as Group of 20 leaders discuss how the war will end at a meeting in Brazil.

Ten people were killed and 47 people, including four children, were wounded in the Black Sea port of Odesa on Monday, the regional prosecutor’s ...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California public health officials are dipping into state and federal stockpiles to equip up to 10,000 farmworkers with masks, gloves, goggles, and other safety gear as the state confirms at least 21 human cases of bird flu as of early November. It’s the latest reminder of the state’s struggle to remain prepared amid ...Read more

Since he took the helm of the Southern District of New York federal prosecutor’s office in 2021, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams has been on the warpath against public corruption.

Most recently, Williams secured an indictment in September against Eric Adams, accusing the New York City mayor of bribery, fraud and campaign finance crimes stemming...Read more

In a name-your-poison twist, a new study from the University of Illinois adds to the evidence that Chicago-area waterway pollution is slowing the relentless advance of the invasive silver carp.

Researchers turned their attention to a section of the Illinois River, about 50 miles from Chicago, where the silver carp’s progress stalled out more ...Read more

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Amid China’s crackdown on LGBTQ+ rights, queer influencers are using creative strategies, subtle hashtags and coded language to stay one step ahead of social media censors and provide much-needed support to the community.

A decade ago, LGBTQ+ communities were gaining greater visibility and acceptance in China’s ...Read more

If you bring a baby into the Hurley Children’s Center clinic in downtown Flint, Michigan, Mona Hanna will find you. The pediatrician, who gained national prominence for helping uncover the city’s water crisis in 2015, strode across the waiting room in her white lab coat, eyes laser-focused on the chubby baby in the lap of an unsuspecting ...Read more

After months of divisive rhetoric on the campaign trail, including vows to crack down on border control and aggressively ramp up deportations, tensions surrounding immigration in southwestern Pennsylvania have skyrocketed in the days since President-elect Donald Trump's win.

Amid claims from Trump that he will carry out "the largest deportation...Read more

Xi Jinping used his final meeting with Joe Biden to send a clear message to Donald Trump: China wants to be friends, but is ready for a fight if necessary.

With Biden set to leave the White House in January, China’s leader took Saturday’s meeting as a chance to spell out his approach toward Trump. That entails finding a way for the world�...Read more