Iowa

Girls on the Genesis Youth Foundation soccer team show off their skills with the ball at their practice in Des Moines.

Not all youth soccer players have the same opportunities. These Iowa clubs try to shrink that gap.

Sam Gabriel, director of her club Genesis Youth Foundation, who came to Iowa as a refugee from Liberia, created the program so kids could have a level playing field, both in soccer and in life.

Not all youth soccer players have the same opportunities. These Iowa clubs try to shrink that gap.
George Nissen appears on a trampoline at the 2000 Olympics.

The Olympic trampoline tradition: Remembering the man who taught the world to bounce

The Olympic trampoline tradition: Remembering the man who taught the world to bounce
A boy sits in a living room at a desk and watches a TV with a lesson airing on it.

Math at midnight: Students stuck in US struggle with remote learning at Chinese schools

Math at midnight: Students stuck in US struggle with remote learning at Chinese schools
Joe Biden y Bernie Sanders speak at a debate.

¿Podrá Biden lograr que los latinos voten? Los defensores de la migración no están seguros.

¿Podrá Biden lograr que los latinos voten? Los defensores de la migración no están seguros.
Senator Bernie Sanders speaks as former Vice President Joe Biden reacts during the ninth Democratic 2020 U.S. Presidential candidates debate at the Paris Theater in Las Vegas Nevada, on Feb. 19, 2020.

Can Biden turn out Latinos to vote? Advocacy groups aren't sure.

Can Biden turn out Latinos to vote? Advocacy groups aren't sure.
Democratic US presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders speaks to supporters and volunteers at a campaign field office in Iowa City, Iowa, Feb. 2, 2020.

Iowans debate how to make the caucuses more inclusive

For nearly a half century, every four years, the world’s eyes have focused on Iowa for the first decision in the election for the president of the United States. In that same period, Iowa has seen an unprecedented wave of nonwhite immigration, bringing diversity to a state settled mostly by Europeans.

Iowans debate how to make the caucuses more inclusive
Grain buyers from Japan check out the corn on Rod Pierce's farm near Woodward, Iowa.

Will Iowa farmers benefit from Trump's newest deals with China and Japan?

The United States and Japan have signed a tentative trade deal that would open up Japan to more American-grown wheat, pork and beef.

Will Iowa farmers benefit from Trump's newest deals with China and Japan?
The Mississippi River near New Orleans, Louisiana.

The Mississippi: Pushed to the brink

Up and down the Mississippi River, new pressures are being put on America’s inland hydro highway, which helps deliver US goods and commodities to the rest of the world and allows trade flows to return. The strain on the river system is only becoming more acute with the impacts of climate change.

The Mississippi: Pushed to the brink
A man holds soybeans in his hands.

How soybeans became China's most powerful weapon in Trump's trade war

China was once one of the biggest buyers of US soybeans. Now that the trade war between the US and China has intensified, tariffs have been put on US soybeans. Now, farmers across the country are hurting.

How soybeans became China's most powerful weapon in Trump's trade war
Ilhan Omar clasps her husband’s mother's face in her hands as she smiles

These are the women who made history in this year's midterm elections

It's a record. After the midterm results are tallied, more than 100 members of Congress are expected to be women.

These are the women who made history in this year's midterm elections
Iowa farmer Bruce Wessling walks through his farm. Iowa is the nation’s leading pork exporting state. China put a 25 percent tariff on imported American pork back in April.

Iowans get a giant ad from China in their Sunday newspaper

The Chinese government took out a four-page advertisement in the Des Moines Register on Sunday. The ad was designed like a four-page newspaper section with various "articles" commenting on the trade war between the US and China.

Iowans get a giant ad from China in their Sunday newspaper
Jewish man prays at altar with pews behind him, USA flag in background

A gift from small-town Iowa brings light to Paraguay’s capital

Ottumwa, Iowa’s centenarian B’nai Jacob synagogue held its final service in May — but the congregation’s story lives on in the heart of South America through one of its Torahs, the sacred Jewish text.

A gift from small-town Iowa brings light to Paraguay’s capital
Texas wind farm

Congress boosted spending on science and the environment, even as Trump administration tried to cut

Billions of dollars in additional funds for scientific research, including renewable energy research, earth systems observations and sea level monitoring were tucked inside the $1.3 trillion omnibus spending measure that passed on March 23, but the Trump Administration is still working to gut environmental regulations.

Congress boosted spending on science and the environment, even as Trump administration tried to cut
Jersey cows.

Some farmers are rotating livestock, not just crops, to protect the land

“I believe it is more regenerative for the land and I think it benefits rural economies,” one farmer says.

Some farmers are rotating livestock, not just crops, to protect the land
Frank Liebl, executive director of the Newton Development Corporation, in front of the old Maytag headquarters. Community leaders are working to rent out the space, where 2,000 people once worked.

The most ‘broken’ town in America is back on its feet

When Maytag closed its doors in 2007, it was a rough transition for Newton, Iowa. But a decade later, unemployment sits below 4 percent.

The most ‘broken’ town in America is back on its feet