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ICE Confirms Force-Feeding Of Detainees On Hunger Strike

On Thursday ICE officials confirmed at least six immigrant detainees on a hunger strike are being force-fed through a nasal tube. Salwan Georges/The Washington Post/Getty Images hide caption

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Salwan Georges/The Washington Post/Getty Images

National

ICE Confirms Force-Feeding Of Detainees On Hunger Strike

January 31, 2019 • The agency said it respects the right to voice opinions and doesn't retaliate against hunger strikers. "It's extremely painful and it's against their will," a lawyer for two asylum-seekers told NPR.

Federal Appeals Court Blocks San Francisco Law On Ad Warnings For Sugary Drinks

Soda bottles displayed in a San Francisco market.A federal appeals court blocked a city law requiring advertisement warnings on the potential health impacts of sugary drinks. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images hide caption

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Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Law

Federal Appeals Court Blocks San Francisco Law On Ad Warnings For Sugary Drinks

January 31, 2019 • A voter-approved law requiring large warnings about the effects of soda and other sugar-sweetened drinks was challenged by the beverage industry.

Iraqi Has Returned To U.S. After ICE Deported Him Against Court Orders

Muneer Subaihani at the airport in Baghdad on Tuesday, waiting to board the first of his flights back to the United States. Ahmed Qusay for NPR hide caption

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Ahmed Qusay for NPR

World

Iraqi Has Returned To U.S. After ICE Deported Him Against Court Orders

January 31, 2019 • Muneer Subaihani says immigration agents told him he would be in jail for life if he didn't agree to be deported to Iraq. On Tuesday, in a rare event, he was admitted back into the U.S.

Asylum-Seeker Barred From Entering Australia Wins Its Richest Literary Prize

Behrouz Boochani, a Kurdish-Iranian journalist and asylum-seeker, won two prestigious Australian literary prizes for his debut, a book composed in text messages sent from a detention center on Manus Island. Hoda Afshar hide caption

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Hoda Afshar

Book News & Features

Asylum-Seeker Barred From Entering Australia Wins Its Richest Literary Prize

January 31, 2019 • Behrouz Boochani, who has been detained offshore since 2013, had to compose his debut using WhatsApp messages. Now, that book has earned him the Victorian Prize for Literature

Months-Long Dutch Church Service To Protect Migrants Ends After Policy Shift

A months-long service has come to a close at a church in The Hague, Netherlands. Koen Van Weel/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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Koen Van Weel/AFP/Getty Images

Europe

Months-Long Dutch Church Service To Protect Migrants Ends After Policy Shift

January 31, 2019 • The Bethel Church in The Hague carried on services for 96 days to protect the Tamrazyan family, Armenian migrants who have lived in the Netherlands for nearly nine years, from deportation.

Juan Guaidó Claims Police Raided His Home As He Struggles To Consolidate Power

Opposition leader Juan Guaidó talks to the press as he holds his daughter, Miranda, next to his wife, Fabiana Rosales, outside his home in Caracas on Thursday. Federico Parra/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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Federico Parra/AFP/Getty Images

The Americas

Juan Guaidó Claims Police Raided His Home As He Struggles To Consolidate Power

January 31, 2019 • Juan Guaidó accuses Venezuela's President Nicolás Maduro of sending police to intimidate his family. The U.S.-backed opposition leader seeks to oust Maduro and replace him as interim president.

Polar Vortex's End Is Near, Forecasters Say, Promising A Strong Warmup

Bitterly cold temperatures continue to grip the Great Plains and Upper Midwest. People are seen here walking along the frozen lakefront on Wednesday in Chicago. Scott Olson/Getty Images hide caption

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Scott Olson/Getty Images

National

Polar Vortex's End Is Near, Forecasters Say, Promising A Strong Warmup

January 31, 2019 • By Saturday, the National Weather Service says, the central Plains area will see temperatures in the low 60s — nearly 20-25 degrees above normal.

Senate Republicans Rebuke President On Syria And Afghanistan Policy

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell led the effort to advance an amendment that supports keeping U.S. troops in Syria and Afghanistan to fight ISIS and al-Qaida. Drew Angerer/Getty Images hide caption

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Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Politics

Senate Republicans Rebuke President On Syria And Afghanistan Policy

January 31, 2019 • Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's amendment opposing a "precipitous withdrawal" from Syria was backed by many GOP senators who disagree with the president's foreign policy.

Senate Republicans Rebuke President On Syria And Afghanistan Policy

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Exploring The Mysterious Origins Of Mars' 3-Mile-High Sand Pile

NASA's rover Curiosity crawls up the side of Vera Rubin Ridge on Mars' surface in January 2018. Mount Sharp — a 3-mile-high mountain — can be seen in the distance. MSSS/ NASA/JPL-Caltech hide caption

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MSSS/ NASA/JPL-Caltech

Joe's Big Idea

Exploring The Mysterious Origins Of Mars' 3-Mile-High Sand Pile

January 31, 2019 • Space scientists on Earth have improvised a tool on the Mars rover to help them figure out how a giant mountain on the Red Planet came to be. Their surprising conclusion: It's likely windswept sand.

Exploring The Mysterious Origins Of Mars' 3-Mile-High Sand Pile

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U.S. Court Orders Syria To Pay $300 Million For Killing Of Journalist Marie Colvin

A U.S. court has ordered the Syrian government to pay $300 million for killing American journalist Marie Colvin in 2012. Colvin is seen here in London in 2010. Arthur Edwards/WPA Pool/Getty Images hide caption

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Arthur Edwards/WPA Pool/Getty Images

Middle East

U.S. Court Orders Syria To Pay $300 Million For Killing Of Journalist Marie Colvin

January 31, 2019 • The judge ruled that Colvin was killed by Syria and "targeted because of her profession, for the purpose of silencing those reporting on the growing opposition movement in the country."

Here's How PG&E's Bankruptcy Might Hurt California's Ambitious Climate Goals

A traffic cone sits next to a Pacific Gas & Electric truck earlier this month in Fairfax, Calif. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images hide caption

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Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Environment And Energy Collaborative

Here's How PG&E's Bankruptcy Might Hurt California's Ambitious Climate Goals

KQED

January 31, 2019 • PG&E is key to helping California meet its ambitious goal of zero carbon electricity by mid-century. Now there's concern that the utility's bankruptcy may set that back.

Sick And Tired? Scientists Find Protein That Puts Flies To Sleep And Fights Infection

After scientists screened over 8,000 genes in fruit flies, only one, which hadn't been described before, triggered sleepiness. Andrew Syred/Science Source hide caption

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Andrew Syred/Science Source

Shots - Health News

Sick And Tired? Scientists Find Protein That Puts Flies To Sleep And Fights Infection

January 31, 2019 • In the search for what triggers sleep, researchers stumbled upon a link between sleep and the immune system. A single fly gene gets turned on in sick flies, inducing sleep and an immune response.

WHO Warns Of Dire Conditions, Deaths Of Children At Refugee Camp In Syria

Displaced Syrians gather inside a tent in the al-Hol camp in northeastern Syria in December. Delil Souleiman/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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Delil Souleiman/AFP/Getty Images

Middle East

WHO Warns Of Dire Conditions, Deaths Of Children At Refugee Camp In Syria

January 31, 2019 • More than 20,000 people, mostly women and children, have arrived at the al-Hol camp in northeastern Syria in just two months. The World Health Organization says aid workers are struggling to keep up.

Homeland Security Created A Fake University In Michigan As Part Of Immigration Sting

The "University of Farmington" occupied office space in this building in Farmington Hills, Mich. In court documents, eight men are accused of recruiting hundreds of "students" to the bogus school. Google Maps/Screenshot by NPR hide caption

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Google Maps/Screenshot by NPR