The Brief

Students across the country are staging hunger strikes in solidarity with Palestinian families in Gaza, calling for their campuses to divest from weapons manufacturers, among other demands.

Students at several Southern California universities, and a quarter of the California State University campuses, have now joined a movement that calls for schools to sever ties with military-industrial companies and draws attention to the plight of about 2 million Palestinians in Gaza who are on the verge of famine.

Last spring, colleges across the country cracked down on Gaza solidarity protests that relied on encampments, often using police force to dismantle them. Some participants have since been charged with failing to disperse and resisting arrest. Students have also faced multi-year suspensions, expulsions and degree revocations. And, in recent months, the Trump administration has detained several noncitizen students and threatened them with deportation.

Students say the hunger strikes are a way to continue that advocacy without being penalized.

A handful of Cal State Long Beach joined the nationwide movement earlier this month. They’ve committed to consuming nothing but water and electrolytes, all while navigating finals.

“The encampments last year were symbolic of the refugee tent cities that had to be erected because of the mass displacement of Palestinians,” said psychology major Marcus Bode.

“Now, [our] hunger strike is an analog to what Palestinians in Gaza are going through,” he added, underscoring that the protest is “a fraction” of what people in the Middle East are experiencing.

What do students want — and do they expect to get it?

So far, students on at least six of the system’s 23 campuses have joined the hunger strike movement. The CSU Long Beach students presented the following demands to administration:

1. "CSU must divest from companies that supply weapons, military and surveillance technology, infrastructure, or conduct business related to activities that violate human rights as defined by international law." 
2. "CSULB must adopt the SF State Human Rights IPS Screening resolution."
3. "CSULB must establish our campus as a Sanctuary Campus for non-citizen students and community members, immediately notify those on campus of ICE or DHS activity on or near campus, [and] create designated anonymous ICE and DHS-free zones for students."
4. "CSULB must lift any and all policies that place restrictive and repressive measures on the usage of free speech, protest, marches, assembly, and demonstration."
5. "The CSU system must end academic partnerships with Zionist universities and the study abroad program, via the CSU International Program at the University of Haifa."

In a statement, CSU Long Beach spokesperson Jim Milbury said campus staff “has been in touch with the students to make sure they have consulted with medical professionals and are staying healthy and safe.”

The CSU Chancellor’s Office said it “honor[s] the right to protest,” but that the system “will not be altering its investment policies.”

What's the long-term plan?

In Southern California, hunger strikes in solidarity with Gaza have been going on since at least April, starting at private institutions, including Chapman University and Occidental College.

Aurora Dorsett, a classics major, is among the seven CSU Long Beach students who joined the hunger strike 11 days ago. She said they decided against a “dry” hunger strike (no food and no water) because they do not expect the administration to readily meet their demands.

“We choose and will continue to choose to move from a place of optimism, as opposed to a place of fear, which is what we know [the] government and administrations want us to do,” they said.

The hunger strikes, Bode added, are also strategic in that students don’t have to worry about being penalized for occupying campus property.

“They cannot take action against us for this,” he said.

As they make their way through campus, Bode, Dorsett and the other students wear shirts that read “HUNGER STRIKE DAY ___.” Each day, they add a mark to the tally.

The shirts are a way to bring what’s going on in Gaza to every classroom and spark conversations, Bode said. “It can be difficult for people [to keep abreast of what’s happening] as they go about their everyday lives, working one to two jobs, studying for finals,” they added.

At least once a day, students in the medical field check on the strikers’ vitals. So far, four students have been compelled to quit because of potentially dangerous health issues. The strikers told LAist they are scheduled to meet with president Jane Close Conoley on Friday.

Dorsett is determined to press on if necessary. Regardless of how the administration responds, she said, “we see this as a meaningful form of resistance.”

The killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Macklin Good in Minneapolis have renewed a long-running debate among Democrats over how best to address immigration enforcement, and whether advocating for "abolishing ICE" fits into a winning political playbook.

It is a debate that has taken on new urgency among Democrats against a backdrop of bipartisan backlash to the Trump administration's deportation efforts, led by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Critics on both the left and the right say the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens by federal officers last month show the administration has gone too far.

For Democrats, the events in Minneapolis have created an opening ahead of this year's midterm election to shift the conversation on immigration — a notable change after struggling to message on the issue in the 2024 election.

But internal divides over what to do about ICE could complicate the effort. Calls to "abolish ICE" have been particularly amplified by progressive candidates, especially among younger Democrats running for Congress and those challenging Democratic incumbents. On Capitol Hill, far fewer Democrats have re-upped support for abolishing the agency, despite many rallying around the issue during President Donald Trump's first term.

Instead, many elected Democrats have called for reforms at ICE, wary of appearing out of step with voters who want strong enforcement of immigration laws but who disagree with the administration's tactics.

"There is no question that the dynamic from '24 has flipped, [during] which immigration was a sure strength for Trump and a profound weakness for Democrats," said Jonathan Cowan, president and co-founder of the centrist think tank Third Way. But, he cautioned, if the party wants to be successful in November, they should keep the focus on the administration's missteps.

"The divide in the Democratic Party is not over rage, disgust and anger," Cowan said. "The divide is what are you going to do about it? How do you channel that rage in a way that actually changes policy? Both short and long run."

He warns the "abolish ICE" slogan may not be universally embraced among voters across the country. Democrats hoping to flip districts or win over swing voters, Cowan said, should lean into different language, such as calling for a "reform" or "overhaul" of ICE.

He likens the debate to when many Democrats coalesced around the "defund the police" movement in 2020, a decision that Cowan argues created an opening for Trump to paint Democrats as soft on crime.

"People embraced an emotionally satisfying slogan that in the long run proved to be politically toxic and a barrier to getting serious police reform in the country," Cowan said. "We are in grave danger of the same problem happening for those who are embracing abolish ICE."

A protester carries a sign that reads "Defund The Police" during a July 3, 2020 march in Richmond, Va. Many Democrats have been wary of calls to "abolish ICE," and point to how calls to "defund the police" hurt the party with voters in 2020 and 2024.

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That may already be happening. In response to calls to abolish the agency, many Republicans have attempted to link the movement with "defund the police." White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt echoed that in a post on X last week, asking, "Why do Democrats keep attacking the law enforcement agencies that hunt down criminals and protect innocent American citizens?"

Loudest calls come from progressives and new candidates

The debate is poised to be especially salient in Democratic primaries and in states that have faced increased enforcement, such as Minnesota, Illinois, California and New York. Democratic candidates have already faced off on the debate stage in Illinois with competing pitches to abolish and reform ICE and the Department of Homeland Security. In Minnesota, immigration enforcement has become a key issue in the race to succeed retiring Democratic Sen. Tina Smith.

Some of the loudest calls to abolish ICE have come from Gen Z and millennial candidates, many of whom have sought to frame their bids around a larger rejection of Democratic Party norms.

Darializa Avila Chevalier has embraced that message. The 32-year-old progressive organizer and Ph.D. student is running a primary challenge against Rep. Adriano Espaillat, 71, in New York's 13th congressional district, which includes upper Manhattan and part of the Bronx.

"From the very beginning, I've been adamant that I wanted the abolition of ICE to be central to what we're talking about," said Avila Chevalier.

"It's an institution that should have never existed to begin with," she added. "It's an institution that is younger than I am. And so I've lived in a world where ICE didn't exist, and we can all go back to a world where ICE doesn't exist and never exists again."

ICE agents look for someone at a home on Jan. 28 in Circle Pines, Minn. Protests continue around the Twin Cities area after the Trump administration sent thousands of immigration agents to the region to search for undocumented immigrants.

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Avila Chevalier says Democratic candidates need "to be bold" in their solutions to issues affecting voters right now, and that includes on immigration.

"If I could trust that the leadership we have was reflecting our values, was actually meeting this moment," she said, "I wouldn't be running."

Avila Chevalier is one of 10 candidates currently backed by Justice Democrats. The political group has supported a handful of progressives who have gone on to win seats in Congress, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., who delivered an upset primary win in 2018 and ran on a platform that included abolishing ICE, a stance she's reaffirmed in recent weeks.

For nearly a decade, Justice Democrats has rallied around anti-establishment candidates of all ages who often draw contrast to the Democrats they're challenging by rejecting donations from corporate PACs or pro-Israel lobbying groups. But in the wake of the fatal shootings in Minnesota, candidates the group supports are also drawing a line in the sand on immigration — pledging to abolish ICE.

"Every single one of these communities has an ICE story of their own. And it's up to us to listen to those communities … and show people what an opposition party, if in power, would actually do," said Justice Democrats spokesperson Usamah Andrabi. "That's what our slate of candidates exists to be."

Andrabi disagrees with the idea that "abolish ICE" creates more party divides than flips voters.

Protesters stage a march calling for an end to taxpayer spending on ICE and demanding a moratorium on evictions on Jan. 31 in Minneapolis.

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"The slogan is not the problem. ICE is the problem," he said.

Recent polling indicates there is some support for the issue among voters, though not overwhelming. A plurality of Americans, 46%, strongly support or somewhat support abolishing ICE, according to a YouGov poll conducted after the shootings in Minneapolis. Americans under 30 were most likely to oppose Trump's immigration agenda, according to the poll, and nearly 7 in 10 voice some level of support for getting rid of the agency.

It's a generational sentiment that may add important context when looking at the influx of younger candidates voicing support for the issue.

"I think that they are furious. They see it all over their news feeds. They see it in their communities. They also, I think, are less beholden to this idea of tradition or the way things have been done," said Amanda Litman, the founder of Run for Something, an organization that recruits and supports young people running for local office.

"I think that sense of the crisis and of the urgency of this moment … is something that young leaders really bring with them into their positions of power," she added. "And it is both their super strength and often their weakness because they're a little more radical in some ways."

Divides on Democratic messaging

Immigration enforcement has become a central issue in funding negotiations on Capitol Hill, where Democrats are lobbying for changes to the tactics used by immigration officers. Democrats want to narrow the type of warrants immigration officers can use to enter homes, require them to wear body cameras and prohibit the use of face masks.

While Democrats in Congress are united in what they see as the bare minimum needed to reform immigration enforcement, there is less consensus on how far to take the rhetoric. Though Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., is pushing to "defund and abolish ICE," as are some House lawmakers, other Democrats have taken a different approach.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D–Mass., would not directly answer whether she supports calls to abolish ICE, telling NPR it needs to be "totally reorganized" and "torn down to the studs and rebuilt." She declined to say whether campaigning on abolishing ICE would benefit Democrats.

It's a debate that's also playing out in competitive midterm matchups, including in the Senate Democratic primary in Maine, where the state's governor, Janet Mills, and first-time progressive candidate Graham Platner are running to unseat Republican Sen. Susan Collins.

Graham Platner is running against Gov. Janet Mills for the Democratic nomination for Senate in Maine. Platner has called for ICE to be "dismantled," characterizing it as "the moderate position."

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Mills has advocated for ICE reforms, calling for "measures" that would "prohibit ICE's lawless, dangerous conduct and their abuses of power." Platner has called for the agency to be "dismantled," characterizing it as "the moderate position" in a post on X.

Maine Gov. Janet Mills has not called for abolishing ICE, instead advocating for reforms at the agency.

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The degree to which candidates choose to embrace — or reject — calls to abolish ICE could prove particularly decisive in swing districts.

Though many voters want the current situation to change, calls to abolish ICE may mean different things to different people, argues Cowan of Third Way.

"You can take the literal word, slogan, abolish ICE, and it will get a certain level of support," he said. "But the moment you start asking people specifically what they actually support, the concept of abolishing interior immigration enforcement is not popular."

Though nearly half of Americans say they have some support for abolishing ICE, according to the latest YouGov poll, far fewer, less than a third, support abolishing the U.S. Border Patrol. When respondents were asked if they support Trump moving forward with a smaller enforcement effort, "aimed at criminals, not at hotel maids and gardeners," 55% strongly or somewhat approved.

The lack of Democratic consensus on the issue isn't stopping some progressive congressional hopefuls from standing by the policy they believe is right.

Mai Vang was in high school in 2003 when ICE was created. Now, more than two decades later, the 40-year-old Sacramento City councilmember is campaigning on abolishing the agency as she challenges 81-year-old Democrat Doris Matsui in California's 7th Congressional District.

"What we've seen is this agency has inflicted harm on our communities, and you can't reform it. There is not enough training or even body cameras that would justify what they are doing," she said in an interview.

When asked if she considered shying away from using the slogan, Vang pushed back.

"Not really because people are being killed and murdered by ICE," she said. "It's not a radical position to say we don't want an entity harming our families and loved ones. I don't think it's radical to want to dismantle an agency that is killing citizens."
Copyright 2026 NPR

Want more Olympics updates? Get our behind-the-scenes newsletter for what it's like to be at these Games.

It's the Winter Olympics, that special season every four years in which everyone you know is suddenly an expert on luge strategy and curling technique from the comfort of their couch.

There's plenty to dive into this year, at the unusually spread-out Milan Cortina Olympics.

Hundreds of athletes from around the world — including 232 from the U.S. — will descend on over two dozen venues across northern Italy to compete in 16 different sports. There are 116 medal events on the line throughout the 2 1/2 weeks. And this time, unlike the COVID-era 2022 Beijing Winter Games, spectators will be allowed to watch in person.

But you don't have to board a plane or sport hand warmers to get a good view, thanks to NBC's robust broadcasting rights and NPR's scrappy team of journalists on the ground. Here's how to follow the action — and peek behind the curtain — from home.

How to watch the opening ceremony

The Feb. 6 opening ceremony marks the official start of the Games (even though several sports, including curling and ice hockey, start competing two days earlier).

It will be held primarily at the historic San Siro Stadium in Milan, featuring performances by icons like Mariah Carey and Andrea Bocelli, as well as traditional elements like the Parade of Nations and the lighting of the Olympic cauldron.

But there will also be simultaneous ceremonies and athlete parades at some of the other venues — scattered hundreds of miles apart — and, for the first time in history, a second Olympic cauldron will be lit in the co-host city of Cortina d'Ampezzo.

NBC's live coverage of the opening ceremony (also streaming on Peacock) will begin at 2 p.m. ET on Friday, Feb. 6, with a prime-time broadcast planned for 8 p.m. ET the same day.

How to keep up once the Games begin

There are 16 days of competition between the opening and closing ceremonies, with contests and medal events scattered throughout, depending on the sport. Here's the full schedule (events are listed in local time in Italy, which is six hours ahead of Eastern time).

NBC says it will broadcast events live throughout the day, with a nightly prime-time highlights show at 8 p.m. ET, followed by a late-night version.

U.S.-based viewers can watch on NBC, Peacock and a host of other platforms, including the apps and websites of both NBC and NBC Sports. Seasoned Olympic viewers will recognize Peacock viewing experiences like "Gold Zone" (which whips around between key moments, eliminating the need to channel surf) and "Multiview," now available on mobile.

The Feb. 22 closing ceremony will be broadcast live starting at 2:30 p.m. ET, and again on prime time at 9 p.m. ET.

It will take place at a historic amphitheater in Verona, which will also host the opening ceremony of the Paralympics on March 6. Some 600 Para athletes will compete in 79 medal events across six sports — including Para Alpine skiing, sled hockey and wheelchair curling — before the closing ceremony in Cortina on March 15.

How to follow NPR's coverage

All the while, you can check out NPR's Olympics coverage to better understand the key people, context and moments that make up the Games.

NPR's five-person Olympics team will bring you news, recaps and color from the ground in Italy, online, on air and in your inbox. Plus, expect updates and the occasional deep dive from NPR's journalists watching from D.C. and around the world.

You can find all of NPR's Winter Olympics stories (past, present and upcoming) here on our website.

To listen to our broadcast coverage, tune to your local NPR station and stream our radio programming on npr.org or the NPR app.

Plus, subscribe to our newsletter, Rachel Goes to the Games, for a daily dose of what it's like to be there in person.

We'll also have a video podcast, Up First Winter Games, to further dissect the day's biggest Olympic stories and oddities. You can find it on NPR's YouTube page.
Copyright 2026 NPR

Californians could get instant rebates on electric vehicle purchases under Gov. Gavin Newsom's $200 million plan, which would require automakers to match state incentives dollar-for-dollar.

The plan, which the Legislature must still approve, lays out for the first time how the governor plans to steer a California-specific rebate program to bolster a slowing electric car market after the Trump administration cancelled federal incentives last year.

The California Air Resources Board would oversee the program, offering rebates at the point of sale to lower upfront costs for buyers instead of reimbursing them later. The draft does not specify rebate amounts, which the air board will determine during program design and discuss at a public workshop this spring, said Lindsay Buckley, a spokesperson for the agency.

The proposal exempts the program from the state’s usual rule-making requirements, allowing California to design and launch the rebates more quickly than typical for new programs.

Newsom first unveiled the incentive proposal as part of his January budget plan but released few initial details. State officials cast the subsidy as a response to President Donald Trump’s dismantling of incentives and blocking of California’s clean-vehicle mandate.

How the rebates would work

Outside experts and clean vehicle advocates said the details raise new questions about how the program would work in practice and who would benefit.

Ethan Elkind, a climate law expert at UC Berkeley, said structuring the incentives as grants allows the state to set the terms automakers must meet to access the money, giving California leverage over manufacturers.

But Mars Wu, a senior program manager with the Greenlining Institute, which advocates for investments in communities of color, said the draft plans fall short on equity, arguing the proposal does little to ensure the incentives reach the Californians who need them most.

“[The] proposal sets up a first-come, first-serve free-for-all scenario, which is not a prudent use of extremely limited public dollars in a deficit year,” she wrote in an email.

How far could the money go?

The proposal limits eligibility by vehicle price, not buyer income. New passenger cars qualify only if priced at or below $55,000, while vans, SUVs and pickup trucks are capped at $80,000. Used vehicles are limited to a sales price of $25,000. All vehicles must be registered to California residents.

The newly released details also add context about the size of the program. A CalMatters estimate of the governor’s initial proposal found that the $200 million would cover rebates for only about 20% of last year’s electric vehicle sales.

The proposed matching funds from auto manufacturers could allow the program to cover a larger share of buyers or provide larger point-of-sale rebates, depending on how the incentives are structured.

One clean car advocate said the details aren’t locked in yet — including how the rebates could be targeted. Wu said the state could move quickly without abandoning equity by deciding who qualifies in advance while still offering rebates at the dealership. “There is a way to balance equity and expediency,” Wu wrote.

Brown, bug-filled drinking water has been coming out of the taps at one county jail for years, according to reports from an oversight commission.

The Sybil Brand Commission conducts regular, unannounced inspections of jails and lockup facilities maintained by the county, and has been reporting issues with drinking water at the Century Regional Detention Facility (CRDF) in Lynwood since 2023.

The commission has also found problems with the drinking water at other county jails in recent months.

L.A. County Supervisors voted on Tuesday, calling for the Sheriff’s Department to fix water quality issues at all county jails within 180 days.

“Staff who work at the jails have shared their disgust for the water and do not drink it, rather, they bring their own,” according to a motion filed by Supervisor Janice Hahn. The board approved that motion on Tuesday.

Staff provide pregnant women incarcerated at the Lynwood facility with bottled water, the motion says, but other incarcerated people have “expressed discomfort with having to drink water from the tap.” Water bottles are available from the commissary, but incarcerated people must be able to afford the bottled water which is limited to 100 ounces a week per person.

Hahn wrote that the water conditions in county jails are “well-below standards of public health and safety.”

LAist reached out to the L.A. Sheriff’s Department for comment and have not received a response.

In a 2024 letter to the Sheriff Civilian Oversight Commission, L.A. County Sheriff Robert Luna said that a water quality test by the Department of Public Health two years earlier “verified there was sufficient levels of disinfectant in the drinking water supply to provide safe potable water” at Men's Central Jail, Twin Towers Correctional Facility, and Century Regional Detention Facility.

What the new vote calls for

The Board of Supervisors requested the L.A. Sheriff’s Department, which oversees the CRDF and other county jails, to fix water quality issues in all county jails within 180 days and immediately provide bottled or clean water to everyone incarcerated.

The vote also called for the Sheriff’s Department to conduct a thorough infrastructure assessment to find causes of water quality issues, and directed the Department of Public Health to look into the quality of water sources that are used by county jails.

Persisting water safety issues

“Unfortunately, issues with water quality and safety are not a 2025 problem, rather one that has been going on for decades,” Supervisor Hahn wrote in the motion voted on in Tuesday's Board of Supervisors meeting.

She said the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, a court designated monitor of L.A. County jails, has made complaints to federal courts for years including poor plumbing and water issues at county jail facilities.

The Sybil Brand Commission (SBC) has also found serious concerns at the CRDF.

" We find horrific, horrific, horrific things every inspection," Haley Broder told LAist.

Broder is chair of the SBC — she spoke to LAist as an individual and not on behalf of the commission.

She said she has seen for herself how brown or cloudy water comes from the facility’s water taps, sometimes filled with small bugs.

“ It doesn't look like it is clean and safe to drink,” Broder told LAist. “ Those who work in the jail don't want to drink it.”

LAist reviewed inspection reports filed by the commission and found these issues were repeatedly identified to the Sheriff’s Department.

Back in February 2023, the SBC reported water quality issues at the facility, citing “rampant concerns about gnats in cell water faucets and lack of access to clean water if sink has gnats or are broken.”

Worms and black flies were reported coming out of a sink in an SBC report from April 2024.

In September 2025, the commission reported the facility’s water quality as “severely cloudy” and “completely unacceptable.”

Then in October the SBC reported a supervisor at the facility telling them that a “brown, discolored water issue continues throughout the facility, pending completion of city-led repiping/sewer work.”

People incarcerated at the facility continued to complain of brown water during an SBC inspection last month.

Other problems the commission has found

Aside from water issues, the SBC has repeatedly identified other issues during inspections of the CRDF: moldy rooms, allegations of sexual abuse of incarcerated women and claims that people are served rancid or undercooked food.

The commission has also found issues with the complaint process at the facility. During an inspection on Jan. 12, 2026, commissioners found complaints made in 2018 still sitting in a common room complaint box. The SBC also reported in recent months that incarcerated people said their complaints were dismissed by staff or they feared they would be retaliated against if they did make complaints.

Broder said some of the health and safety issues at CRDF are seen across county facilities. She said she hopes the Sheriff’s Department will take the SBC's reports more seriously and do the follow up work necessary to change the culture of care in county jails.

“ The purpose of jail is not to get you sick and to make you worse,” Broder said. “No one deserves to be living in such conditions."