₦airaland Forum

According to a report by The Independent on January 30, 2026, Trump administration officials have reportedly held several secret meetings with the Alberta Prosperity Project, a fringe right-wing separatist group seeking independence for Canada’s oil-rich western province. The group’s legal counsel claimed they met with "very, very senior people" in Washington and intends to request a $500 billion credit facility to fund the province if an independence referendum ever passes. These meetings come amid high diplomatic tensions, as President Trump has recently suggested Canada become the 51st state and threatened 100 percent tariffs on Canadian goods. While the White House and State Department confirmed meeting with various civil society groups, they denied making any financial commitments or supporting the movement. Meanwhile, Alberta’s premier, Danielle Smith, stated that most residents are not interested in joining the U.S., and a counter-petition opposing independence garnered over 400,000 signatures last year.

The American president has just tweeted on his social media account, mentioning that jesus whispered to him and told him the whole world owes him for being a perfect christian., the president said this on his social media that he feels that God is so proud of the what he is doing in America, Kindly find the post attached to this post.

US President Donald Trump has warned Iraq over a reinstatement of Nouri al-Maliki as prime minister, saying that the country “descended into poverty and total chaos” under his previous leadership.

“That should not be allowed to happen again” Trump wrote on social media Tuesday. “Because of his insane policies and ideologies, if elected, the United States of America will no longer help Iraq. If we are not there to help, Iraq has ZERO chance of success, prosperity, or freedom. MAKE IRAQ GREAT AGAIN!”

Al-Maliki, leader of the Iran-aligned Islamic Dawa Party, previously served two consecutive terms as Iraq’s prime minister between 2006 and 2014.

Al-Maliki dismissed Trump’s threat as “blatant American interference in Iraq’s internal affairs,” and vowed to “continue to work until we reach the end.”

Trump’s post signals “potential sharp US action” if al-Maliki is given the post,” said Renad Mansour, director of the Iraq Initiative at London’s Chatham House think tank, adding the US is trying to “curb Iran’s influence in Iraq, especially as they see Iranian-allied factions with armed militias vie for power.”

Trump’s warning and al-Maliki’s rebuttal come as the US builds up military assets in the Middle East, raising fears of an American-Iranian confrontation that could plunge the region into crisis.

Who is Nouri al-Maliki?
Born in 1950, al-Maliki joined the Iran-backed Dawa Party in 1968 and later fled Iraq in 1979-1980 after being sentenced to death for opposing Saddam Hussein’s Baathist regime. He returned to Iraq in 2003 following the US-led invasion which toppled Saddam but plunged the country into years of devastating turmoil and violent insurgency.

During al-Maliki’s administration, particularly in late 2013 and the first half of 2014, the Islamic State (ISIS) seized several major Iraqi cities and large swaths of territory. This prompted the government to form Shia-led paramilitary forces to counter the Sunni extremists. The United States has long opposed these armed groups and called for their disarmament.

He was nominated by the Shia Coordination Framework —which holds a parliamentary majority — to serve again as Iraq’s prime minister, citing his “political and administrative experience and role in managing the state.”

Iraq held nationwide elections in November for 329 seats in parliament. Shiite alliances won 187 seats. Shia Muslims make up the majority of Iraq’s population.

Iraq’s president, Abdul Latif Rashid, congratulated al-Maliki on his nomination in a statement on Sunday and expressed hope that his leadership would strengthen political stability, national partnership, and Iraq’s development, while meeting the aspirations of the Iraqi people for security and services.

During al-Maliki’s administration, particularly in late 2013 and the first half of 2014, the Islamic State (ISIS) seized several major Iraqi cities and large swaths of territory. This prompted the government to form Shia-led paramilitary forces to counter the Sunni extremists. The United States has long opposed these armed groups and called for their disarmament.

He was nominated by the Shia Coordination Framework —which holds a parliamentary majority — to serve again as Iraq’s prime minister, citing his “political and administrative experience and role in managing the state.”

Iraq held nationwide elections in November for 329 seats in parliament. Shiite alliances won 187 seats. Shia Muslims make up the majority of Iraq’s population.

Al-Maliki was supported by the US when he first came to power in 2006. Relations soured during his second term that started in 2010 as he failed to prevent the rise of sectarianism and grew closer to Iran.

“In his second term, the US saw that his politics were being increasingly sectarian, especially against the Sunni Muslims in Iraq, which led to the rise of ISIS in 2014,” Mansour said.

Al-Maliki stepped down in 2014 as ISIS seized large swathes of the country but remained a powerful political figure and later aligned more closely to Iran-backed factions in Iraq.

In December, Trump’s special envoy to Iraq, Mark Savaya, warned Iraqi politicians to rein in non-state armed groups, cautioning that failure could push Iraq toward “fragmentation and decline” more than two decades after Saddam Hussein was toppled.

He also warned that the decisions made by Iraqi leaders in the coming period “will determine whether Iraq advances toward sovereignty and strength or slips back into fragmentation and decline.”

Iraq has been walking a tightrope between Washington and Tehran for several years. While Iran maintains influence over a number of powerful parties, some of which are heavily armed, the US still has leverage, especially over Iraq’s economy.

Since its 2003 invasion, Iraq’s oil export revenues have been deposited into an account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, giving Washington substantial oversight and the power to freeze the funds it needed.

“The threats against Iraq are real,” Jiyad said. “The US is increasing the pressure because it wants Baghdad to be more aligned with it.”

Heffalump:
America will soon raise their national flag on Iranian soil. How about that

Iran has existed since the periods of Cyrus the Great who freed jrwd from the Romans, Alexander the Great, the Persians history span over 5,000 years and is one if the greatest and great influence of all civilizations that had existed in history of Mankind

A disabled U.S. citizen died in the hospital months after ICE arrested his father and primary caregiver.

Wael Tarabishi lived with Pompe disease and depended on his father, Maher, for daily care. But when ICE arrested Maher in October 2025 during a routine check-in, his son's health began to deteriorate.

Now, the Tarabishi family is pleading for ICE to release Maher so that he can attend his son's funeral.

An Israeli social media activist has exposed false reports by Israeli media claiming that she was killed during anti-government protests in Iran, saying she was shocked to read news of her own death while sitting at home.

Noiya Tsion, an Israeli activist who manages social media accounts for artists in Israel, said she was stunned to see her photo displayed on Israel’s privately owned Channel 12 as one of the alleged victims of the Iran protests.

The channel claimed that four Iranians of Jewish origin were killed during protests over worsening economic conditions in Iran. The broadcaster said that the toll could be higher, citing difficulty to verify the figure due to an internet blackout in the country.

After the report emerged, several Israeli media outlets and journalists shared the claim on social media, with some asserting that the number of Jewish fatalities in Iran had risen to five.

Channel 14, an outlet close to Israel’s right-wing camp and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, reported without verification that the victims included a father, 32, wife, 29, a relative, 25 and a child, 15, who it said were killed on the streets of Tehran.

The channel also claimed, without citing sources, that 36,000 protesters had been killed nationwide, a figure that it said is “extremely high by any measure.”

READ: Israel blocks Al Jazeera, Al-Mayadeen televisions on digital platforms, TV screens

Tsion publicly refuted the claims in a video posted on US social media company TikTok, appearing visibly shocked as she reacted to news reports announcing her death and showing her image on screen.

“I’m at home. I need to go to training in half an hour,” she said.

Israeli media outlets that circulated the report did not issue apologies.

Channel 12, which first aired the claim, said Monday that images of alleged Jewish victims in Iran had spread widely on social media worldwide, including in Israel.

In an attempt to deflect responsibility, the channel said reports had emerged a day earlier about the deaths of four Iranian Jews during the protests and that the images circulated globally.

The channel added that Tsion later saw herself on television identified as one of the Iranians killed.

Tsion told Channel 12 that she has no relatives or acquaintances in Iran.

Her video was widely shared by Israelis, with calls on social media to take legal action against the media outlets that published the false reports.

The protests erupted in Iran in late December 2025 and lasted nearly two weeks, triggered by a sharp depreciation of the local currency and a worsening economic crisis. Demonstrations began in Tehran and later spread to several cities. President Masoud Pezeshkian acknowledged public anger and pledged to work to improve conditions.

In the absence of an official casualty toll, the US-based Iranian human rights agency HRANA reported that 5,459 people were killed, including dozens of security personnel. Iran’s Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs put the death toll at 3,117.

The developments coincided with fears of a possible US strike against Iran. Tehran accuses Washington of seeking to escalate sanctions, pressure and unrest to pave the way for external intervention and regime change

these are all lies?

Flangelo12:
Fake.

This is a fake post.

Not from that turd.

The American president has just tweeted on his social media account, mentioning that jesus whispered to him and told him the whole world owes him for being a perfect christian., the president said this on his social media that he feels that God is so proud of the what he is doing in America, Kindly find the post attached to this post.

Imindmybusiness:
How did you count the "millions"? Your maths skill may be needed in Harvard.

By having a functional eyes

American senator Bernie Sanders cheers millions of Americans in Minneapolis as they protest against Trump immigration policies and unprofessionalism of ICE agents

The supreme leader of the islamic Republic of Iran has on his social media handle posted a message, asking Americans to protest and take over American institutions. This message seems like what Trump. Posted during similar protest in Iran.

The protest in Minneapolis wad as a result of the shooting of an ICU nurse by ICE, who held a licenced gun to protect himself from masked officials.

Friday’s march started with temperatures as low as minus 29 Celsius (minus 20 Fahrenheit), with organisers saying that as many as 50,000 people took to the streets, a figure that could not be independently verified.

Organisers and participants said dozens of businesses across Minnesota closed for the day as part of the “ICE OUT!” show of defiance that organisers billed as a general strike.

Workers headed to street protests and marches, which followed weeks of sometimes violent confrontations between US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and protesters opposed to Trump’s surge.

“It is 23 degrees below zero but the stores are closed and these demonstrators are out braving the coldest day on record since 2019 all to send a simple message to ICE: Get Out,” Al Jazeera’s John Hendren said, reporting from Minneapolis.

Just a day earlier, US Vice President JD Vance visited Minneapolis in a demonstration of support for ICE officers and to ask local leaders and activists to reduce tensions, saying ICE was carrying out an important mission to detain immigration violators.



forcement officers sent to the area.

Organisers said their demands included legal accountability for the ICE agent who shot and killed Renee Good, a US citizen, in her car this month as she monitored ICE activities.

They ignored commands to clear the road by officers from local police departments, who arrested and zip-tied dozens of the protesters, without resistance, before putting them onto buses.

Organisers said about 100 clergy members were arrested.

‘Largest strike’
Faith in Minnesota, a nonprofit advocacy group that helped organise the protest, said the clergy were also calling attention to airport and airline workers, who they said had been detained by ICE at work. The group asked that airline companies “stand with Minnesotans in calling for ICE to immediately end its surge in the state”.

Across the state, bars, restaurants and shops were closing for the day, organisers said, in what was intended to be the largest display yet of opposition to the federal government’s surge.

“Make no mistake, we are facing a full federal occupation by the United States government through the arm of ICE on unceded Dakota land,” said Rachel Dionne-Thunder, vice president of the Indigenous Protector Movement.

She was one of a series of Indigenous, religious, labour and community leaders to speak, calling on ICE to withdraw and for a thorough investigation into Good’s shooting.

Trump, a Republican, was elected in 2024 largely on his platform of enforcing immigration laws, with a promise to crack down on violent criminals, saying his predecessor, Democratic President Joe Biden, was too lax in border security.

But Trump’s aggressive deployment of federal law enforcement into Democratic-led cities and states has further spurred political polarisation in the US, especially since the shooting of Good, the detention of a US citizen who was taken from his home in his underwear, and the detention of schoolchildren, including a five-year-old boy.

The numerous Fortune 500 companies that call Minnesota home have refrained from public statements about the immigration raids.

Montreal, Canada – United States President Donald Trump has threatened to impose a 100 percent tariff against Canada if Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney moves ahead with an announced trade deal with China.

In a statement shared on Truth Social on Saturday morning, Trump said Carney is “sorely mistaken” if he thinks Canada can become a “‘Drop Off Port’ for China to send goods and products into the United States”.

“If Canada makes a deal with China, it will immediately be hit with a 100% Tariff against all Canadian goods and products coming into the U.S.A,” Trump wrote in the post, which referred to Carney as “governor” instead of prime minister.

Carney’s office did not immediately respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment on Trump’s remarks.

The threat comes as tensions mounted between Canada and the US this week after Carney delivered an address at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, that was widely seen as a rebuke of the Trump administration’s policies.

“We are in the midst of a rupture, not a transition,” Carney said in the speech, urging the world’s “middle powers” to deepen cooperation in the face of coercion and threats.


The prime minister’s remarks drew the ire of Trump, who responded by saying that “Canada lives because of the United States”. “Remember that, Mark, the next time you make your statements,” he said in Davos.

Trump also revoked an invitation for Carney to join his so-called “Board of Peace” this week.

The US president has been threatening to impose steep levies on Canadian goods since before he formally came into office in January 2025, while he has repeatedly said he wants Canada to become the US’s “51st state”.

That has plunged ties between the North American neighbours to historic lows, and pushed Carney in recent months to seek out new economic partnerships, including with China, the European Union and Qatar.

“This is all part of Mr Carney’s goal to lessen [Canada’s] reliance on the United States,” Asa McKercher, a professor at St Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia specialised in Canada-US relations, told Al Jazeera after the Davos speech.

“He’s a banker, so any sort of ‘diversified portfolio’ lessens our risk to certain shocks. That’s the way a banker would probably see it,” McKercher said.

“[Carney] senses the US is a risky trade and security partner, which is not a bad assessment given that Donald Trump is threatening a trade war against America’s closest allies.”

Last week, the Canadian government announced a “new strategic partnership” with China after Carney travelled to the country for talks with Chinese leaders.

The deal would see Beijing lower tariffs on canola and other agriproducts from Canada in exchange for Ottawa allowing as many as 49,000 Chinese electric vehicles into the Canadian market.

“At its best, the Canada-China relationship has created massive opportunities for both our peoples,” Carney said in a statement after the announcement.

President Donald Trump put into motion the withdrawal process to have the US removed from the Geneva-based organization after he signed an executive order on the first day of his second term.

https://p.dw.com/p/57GjO
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World Health Organization is responsible for coordinating disease surveillance and combating global health emergenciesImage: Denis Balibouse/REUTERS
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The US has officially withdrawn from the World Health Organization (WHO), a year after President Donald Trump announced he was putting an end to America's 78-year-old commitment to the health agency.

Trump notified the United Nations health agency a year ago when he signed an executive order on the first day of his office in 2025. This was followed by a one-year waiting period before the withdrawal was finalized.

The US president cited the organization's alleged "mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic" and "other global health crises" among reasons to quit the body. He also said that US membership in the organization required "unfairly onerous payments."

"Today, the United States withdrew from the World Health Organization (WHO), freeing itself from its constraints," said a joint statement from US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., published Thursday.

A dispute over US-owed fees
Washington's withdrawal hasn't been without problems. The US owes more than $130 million (€110 million) to agency, according to the WHO, but there is uncertainty and disagreementover it.

Member states are also set to discuss the US departure and how it will be handled at the WHO's executive board in February, a WHO spokesperson said.

Trump administration officials acknowledge that they haven't finished working out some issues, such as lost access to data from other countries that could give America an early warning of a new pandemic.

Over the last year, many global health experts have urged a rethink, including most recently WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

"I hope the US will reconsider and rejoin WHO," Ghebreyesus said at a press briefing earlier this month. "Withdrawing from the WHO is a loss for the United States, and it's a ‌loss for the ⁠rest of the world."

What is Muslim in NATO?

omoredia:
Who has muslims ever co-existed with? Even muslims dont co-exist with themselves.

He knows nothing about NATO but he's been told America can never be wrong even if they bomb his generation, they're still right. It's another form of madness we just discovered.

Emeskhalifa:
And Nato belongs to only America?
Are you even sure you know why Nato was created for in the first place or you are just being sarcastic or this is just another form of extremism?

Bro, you will explain explain... You're explaining to the most mentally deranged people on earth, brainwashed and zombie-like creatures

I don't like to insult them, but these crazy support for evil and inability to stylishly think is just annoying

FSBoperator:
Sorry 0k0r0, it doesnt work that way.

EU can demand all US bases in their territory get closed and all Americans leave.

What will the US then do?

The entire point of NATO has since expired with the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact and the end of the Soviet Union.

NATO was formed to protect then western Europe from Soviet expansion.

Soviet Union is dead and Russia has no business invading Europe rather NATO which was set up as a defensive pact has transformed itself since Obama to an offensive military alliance to invade and carve out Russia.

Since no Europeans want a war with Russia except the dense Poles and the equally brainwashed Ukrainians, what then is the point of being part of a belligerent war pact that will see to global nuclear Armageddon if it continues its war path with Russia?

Think for one in your life.

Congratulations🎉🎉

More achievement by Palestinians

Is this picture attached true? What is your honest opinion??

Israel's Mossad spy agency issued a direct call urging Iranians to press on with protests, saying it was supporting them "on the ground" as demonstrations spread in capital Tehran and other Iranian cities.

"Go out into the streets together. The time has come. We are with you," Mossad wrote in a post on its Farsi-language X account, Israel's army radio reported on Wednesday.

"Not just from a distance or through words. We are also with you on the ground."

Protests that began on Sunday with Tehran shopkeepers rallying against Iran's worsening economy have spread to other cities, drawing in students as well.

The Iranian rial has dropped against the US dollar and other world currencies, forcing up import prices and hurting retail traders.

The appeal also came after talks this week between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump, following which Trump warned Iran of fresh strikes if it rebuilt its nuclear or ballistic missile programs.

Arch-foes Iran and Israel fought a 12-day war earlier this year, after Israel launched a wave of strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities as well as residential areas, saying it aimed to cripple the country's atomic research and ballistic missile capabilities.

Iran responded with drone and missile attacks on Israel. Later in the conflict, the United States joined Israel in briefly targeting Iranian nuclear sites before a ceasefire was declared.

Iran, which does not recognize Israel, has long accused it of conducting sabotage operations against its nuclear facilities and assassinating its scientists.

It also backs militant groups around the region as part of its so-called "Axis of Resistance", including Lebanon's Hezbollah and the Palestinian movement Hamas, both of which Israel has fought major wars with Israel in the past two years.

Former Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in Tehran in July 2024 in an attack attributed to Israel.

The commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards on Thursday warned Israel and the US against "miscalculations" in the wake of mass protests, saying the force had its "finger on the trigger".

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly left open the option of new military action against the Iranian republic after Washington backed and joined Israel's 12-day war in June.

A fortnight of protests starting in late December shook the clerical leadership under supreme leader Ali Khamenei, but the movement has petered out in the face of a crackdown that activists say has left thousands dead.

Guards commander General Mohammad Pakpour warned Israel and the United States "to avoid any miscalculations, by learning from historical experiences and what they learned in the 12-day imposed war, so that they do not face a more painful and regrettable fate".

"The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and dear Iran have their finger on the trigger, more prepared than ever, ready to carry out the orders and measures of the supreme commander-in-chief -- a leader dearer than their own lives," he said, referring to Khamenei.

His comments came in a written statement quoted by state television marking the national day in Iran to celebrate the Guards, a force whose mission is to protect the 1979 Iranian revolution from internal and external threats.

Activists accuse the Guards of playing a frontline role in the deadly crackdown on protests. The group is sanctioned as a terrorist entity by countries including Australia, Canada and the United States and campaigners have long urged similar moves from the EU and UK.

Pakpour took over as Guards commander last year after his predecessor Hossein Salami was one of several key military figures killed in an Israeli strike during the 12-day war, losses which revealed Israel's deep intelligence penetration of Iran.

Giving their first official toll from the protests, Iranian authorities on Wednesday said 3,117 people were killed.

The statement from the Iranian republic's foundation for martyrs and veterans sought to draw a distinction between "martyrs", who it said were members of security forces and innocent bystanders, and what it described as "rioters" backed by the US.

Of its toll of 3,117, it said 2,427 people were martyrs.

However, rights groups say the heavy toll was caused by security forces firing directly on protesters and that the actual number of those killed could be far higher and even extend to over 20,000.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Israeli President Isaac Herzog said "the future for the Iranian people can only be in a regime change", adding that the Iranian “regime is in quite a fragile situation".

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz warned Thursday that the international order is "unravelling at a breathtaking pace" and that "a world where only power counts is a dangerous place".

Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Merz pointed to Russia's war in Ukraine, a rising China and a United States that is "radically reshaping its foreign and security policy".

"A world where only power counts is a dangerous place," he said. "First for small states and for the middle powers, ultimately for the great ones."

The conservative leader of the top EU economy said Germany went down this road "to its bitter end" during the 20th century, reported AFP.

"It pulled the world into a black abyss," he said.

"So let us bear in mind: our greatest strength remains the ability to build partnerships and alliances among equals based on mutual trust and respect."

Merz called Russia's invasion of Ukraine "the most drastic expression" so far of a global "new era". He added that China, "with strategic foresight, has worked its way into the ranks of the great powers".

"The United States' global pole position is being challenged," Merz said, with Washington responding by "radically reshaping its foreign and security policy".

"We have entered a time of great power politics. The international order of the past three decades anchored in international law has always been imperfect. Today, its very foundations have been shaken."

He said Europe's power rested on three pillars.

"First we must invest massively in our ability to defend ourselves, and we are doing this," he said.

"Second, we must rapidly make our economies competitive, and we are doing this. Third, we must stand closer together among Europeans and among like-minded partners. We are doing this."

World
Israel President Says Iran's Future 'Can Only Be Regime Change'

Israel's President Isaac Herzog said on Thursday that "regime change" can be the only future for Iran, where mass protests against the clerical authorities have faced a deadly crackdown.

Demonstrations initially sparked by economic grievances turned into a movement against the theocracy that has ruled Iran since 1979.

People poured into the streets for several days from January 8, but the demonstrations appear for now to have petered out in the face of what activists describe as a crackdown under the cover of a blanket internet shutdown.

"The Iranian people are yearning for change. The Iranian people deserve change," Herzog said in an interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

"The future for the Iranian people can only be in a regime change, and that has to be... within the realms of the Iranian people and the international community and its support," he added.

He added saying that the Iranian “regime is in quite a fragile situation."

The Iranian Republic's long-time foe Israel has expressed support for the protesters, without suggesting it would intervene.

Iran accused Israel in early January of trying to undermine its national unity after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel stood "in solidarity with the struggle of the Iranian people".

Iranian authorities on Wednesday said 3,117 people were killed during the protests that first erupted in late December, but activists said the actual toll risked being many times higher.

Iran and Israel fought a 12-day war last year, after Israel launched a wave of strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities as well as residential areas, saying it aimed to cripple the Iranian republic's atomic research and ballistic missile capabilities.

Forces from. Middle East invaded North africa, how?? You aren't taking to kids, make claims and back it with facts. Libya is the only unstable country in North-mist part of Africa, destroyed by who??

Nwaikpe:
Forces from Saudi Arabia and the Middle East ravaged North Africa and West Africa.

Yet, we are not going there to implode their system.

What a great achievement

Omar M. Yaghi, a former professor of chemistry and biochemistry at UCLA who is currently the James and Neeltje Tretter Professor of Chemistry at UC Berkeley, has been awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in chemistry.

Yaghi shares the honor with Susumu Kitagawa of Kyoto University and Richard Robson of the University of Melbourne for developing “a new form of molecular architecture” in which metal ions and carbon-based molecules are organized into highly porous, sponge-like structures known as metal-organic frameworks, or MOFs, that can be used to capture and store toxic gases, drive chemical reactions and even harvest water from desert air.

“Metal-organic frameworks have enormous potential, bringing previously unforeseen opportunities for custom-made materials with new functions,” Heiner Linke, chair of the Nobel committee for chemistry said in a press release.

Yaghi, who conducted some of his most fruitful and groundbreaking Nobel-winning research at UCLA from 2006 to 2011, is known as the inventor of the field of reticular chemistry, a branch of science that deals with the linking of molecular building blocks into extended crystalline structures. He has designed and produced several new classes of crystalline materials, primarily for use in clean-energy applications.

Among those materials are MOFs that can efficiently store gases like methane and hydrogen for possible use in alternative-fuel vehicles; covalent organic frameworks, or COFs; and zeolitic imidazolate frameworks, or ZIFs. These materials can isolate and capture carbon dioxide molecules and have shown great potential in reducing heat-trapping carbon dioxide emissions that contribute to global warming, rising sea levels and the increased acidity of oceans.

“Professor Yaghi’s pioneering work has transformed chemistry and accelerated the drive toward clean energy,” UCLA Chancellor Julio Frenk said. “We are proud that one of UCLA’s former faculty members has been honored for his innovation — it reflects our commitment to translating knowledge into technologies that improve life for all.”

“[Yaghi] uses what we know about organic and inorganic reactivity to build up large compounds — macromolecules — but not ones that nature ever thought of; they are macromolecules conceived in the mind of Omar Yaghi,” Albert Courey, former chair of the UCLA Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, said in 2009. “Omar’s reticular compounds have potentially very important properties because they are very porous and because he is able to control their synthesis in such detail.”

MOFs, COFs and ZIFs: Yaghi’s pioneering work at UCLA
MOFs, first created by Yaghi in the early 1990s, are like scaffolds made of linked rods with nanoscale pores that can trap carbon dioxide and other gases that are usually difficult to store and transport. They can be made from low-cost ingredients, such as zinc oxide, a common ingredient in sunscreen, and terephthalate, which is found in plastic soda bottles, and their components can be changed nearly at will. Over the years, Yaghi and his colleagues have produced a broad array of MOFs with a variety of properties and structures.

During his time at UCLA, Yaghi, who was a member of the university’s California Nanosystems Institute, and his team continuously improved on MOFs, COFs and ZIFs, increasing their porosity, their surface area and their capacity to compact and store carbon dioxide, hydrogen and methane. In 2010, one such structure, called MOF-200, broke the record for porosity.

“If I take a gram of [it] and unravel it, it will cover many football fields, and that is the space you have for gases to assemble,” Yaghi said at the time. “It’s like magic. Forty tons of MOFs is equal to the entire surface area of California.”

Yaghi’s research also focused on achieving the goal of vehicles that run on hydrogen rather than gasoline. In 2006, he and his colleagues at UCLA and the University of Michigan used MOFs to achieve concentrations of hydrogen fuel nearly three times higher than had been reported previously.

“Many chemists believe that Yaghi’s creations, if suitably tailored to store hydrogen, could lead to the first workable fuel tank for a hydrogen car,” Popular Science wrote that year in naming Yaghi to its “Brilliant 10” list. “If you zoomed in a billion times, his substances would look like enormous scaffolds. Materials scientists had seen similar frameworks before, but they couldn’t custom-build them for specific purposes.”

At UC Berkeley, Yaghi is the scientific director of the Bakar Institute of Digital Materials for the Planet, founding director of the Berkeley Global Science Institute, and co-director of both the Kavli Energy NanoScience Institute and the California Research Alliance by BASF.

Before joining UCLA’s faculty in 2006, Yaghi was a faculty member at Arizona State University (1992–98) and the University of Michigan (1999–2006).

Eight UCLA faculty members have been named Nobel laureates: Willard Libby (chemistry, 1960), Julian Schwinger (physics, 1965), Donald Cram (chemistry, 1987), Paul Boyer (chemistry, 1997), Louis Ignarro (physiology or medicine, 1998), Lloyd Shapley (economics, 2012), J. Fraser Stoddart (chemistry, 2016) and Andrea Ghez (physics, 2020).

In addition, nine UCLA alumni have won the Nobel Prize: Fred Ramsdell (physiology or medicine, 2025), Ardem Patapoutian (physiology or medicine, 2021), Randy Schekman (physiology or medicine, 2013), Richard Heck (chemistry, 2010), Elinor Ostrom (economic sciences, 2009), William Sharpe (economic sciences, 1990), Bruce Merrifield (chemistry, 1984), Glenn Seaborg (chemistry, 1951) and Ralph Bunche (peace, 1950).

The project utilizes a pipeline system that pumps water from the Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System, in southern Libya, to cities in the populous Libyan northern Mediterranean coast, including Tripoli and Benghazi. The water covers a distance of up to 1,600 kilometers and provides 70% of all fresh water used in Libya.[2]

According to the project's website, it is the largest underground network of pipes (2,820 kilometres (1,750 mi))[3] and aqueducts in the world. It consists of more than 1,300 wells, most more than 500 m deep, and supplies 6,500,000 m3 of fresh water per day to the cities of Tripoli, Benghazi, Sirte and elsewhere in Libya. The late Libyan Leader Muammar Gaddafi described it as the "Eighth Wonder of the World".[4]

Thousands of workers and students have protested across the United States against President Donald Trump’s immigration policies, staging marches in cities and on university campuses.

The demonstrations have coincided with the first anniversary of Trump’s second term and have focused on his administration’s aggressive immigration crackdown.

Protests have erupted nationwide in recent weeks following outrage over the killing of Renee Good, a 37-year-old mother who was shot dead by a federal agent in Minneapolis after being pulled from her car.

Hundreds of demonstrators gathered in Washington, as well as in smaller cities such as Asheville, North Carolina, where protesters marched through the city centre chanting, "No ICE, no KKK, no fascist USA," according to online videos.

The Trump administration has said it has a mandate from voters to deport millions of undocumented immigrants.

Recent opinion polls, however, show that most Americans disapprove of the use of force by officers from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other federal agencies.

University students have also joined the protests.

In Cleveland, Ohio, demonstrators chanted, "No hate, no fear, refugees are welcome here," while high school students in Santa Fe, New Mexico, left their classes to attend a "Stop ICE Terror" rally at the state capitol, according to protest organisers and school officials.

The actions have been organised by left-leaning groups including Indivisible and 50501, alongside labour unions and grassroots organisations opposing immigration detention facilities.

One focus of the protests has been a detention camp in El Paso, Texas, where three detainees have died in the past six weeks, according to federal authorities.

Organisers said the demonstrations were expected to continue westward, with further rallies planned in cities including San Francisco and Seattle later in the day.

Even if he enters soak away? God will grant you independent thinking

YoungLionken:
I'm pro Trump but I honestly don't know what the man is up to, especially with the whole drama with other leaders, countries lately. But I'm very sure baba knows what he's doing ...

A series of text exchanges between Donald Trump and European leaders about ownership of Greenland have sensationally been released.

The US president has pledged to tell European leaders at this week's forum in Davos, Switzerland, that "we will have to have" Greenland.

Messages released on Monday between Trump and Norway's Prime Minister Jonas Støre revealed the president no longer felt obliged to think only of peace after he was not awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last year.

On Tuesday, Trump has posted his own text exchanges with French President Emmanuel Macron and Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte. Here are the messages in full:

Text exchange between Trump and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Støre
Released by the office of Støre following a freedom of information request by the BBC, 18 January at 15:48 (14:48 GMT)

Gahr Støre:

Dear Mr President, dear Donald - on the contact across the Atlantic - on Greenland, Gaza, Ukraine - and your tariff announcement yesterday.

You know our position on these issues. But we believe we all should work to take this down and de-escalate - so much is happening around us where we need to stand together.

We are proposing a call with you later today - with both of us or separately - give us a hint of what you prefer! Best - Alex [on behalf of Finnish Prime Minister Alexander Stubb] and Jonas

Trump's response, 18 January 16:15 (15:15 GMT):

Dear Jonas: Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace, although it will always be predominant, but can now think about what is good and proper for the United States of America.

Denmark cannot protect that land from Russia or China, and why do they have a "right of ownership" anyway?

There are no written documents, it's only that a boat landed there hundreds of years ago, but we had boats landing there, also. I have done more for NATO than any other person since its founding, and now, NATO should do something for the United States.

The World is not secure unless we have Complete and Total Control of Greenland. Thank you! President DJT

Message from French President Emmanuel Macron to Trump
Posted on Truth Social by Trump, 19 January, 17:01 (12:01 GMT):

From president Macron to President Trump

My friend,

We are totally in line on Syria

We can do great things on Iran

I do not understand what you are doing on Greenland

Let us try to build great things :

1) I can set up a G7 meeting after Davos in Paris on Thursday afternoon. I can invite the Ukrainians, the Danish, the Syrians and the Russians in the margins

2) Let us have a dinner together in Paris together on Thursday before you go back to the US

Emmanuel

Message from Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte to Trump
Posted on Truth Social by Trump, 20 January, 01:53 (06:53 GMT) :

Mr. President, dear Donald - what you accomplished in Syria today is incredible. I will use my media engagements in Davos to highlight your work there, in Gaza, and in Ukraine.

I am committed to finding a way forward on Greenland. Can't wait to see you.

Yours, Mark

US President Donald Trump on Saturday declared that he would charge a 10 per cent tariff on European countries because of their opposition to America's Greenland takeover. Countries like Denmark, the UK, France, and other EU countries will be hit with US tariffs from February 1.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump announced that the tariffs would be raised to 25 per cent on June 1 if a deal is not reached for "the Complete and Total purchase of Greenland" by the United States.

The decision comes a day after Trump warned that he could impose tariffs on countries that do not support his Greenland plans.

European leaders have said that it's only for Denmark and Greenland to decide on matters concerning the territory, and Denmark said this week that it was increasing its military presence in Greenland in cooperation with allies.

The White House has said Trump's aim to take over Greenland would not be affected by the European military presence, which French Armed Forces Minister Alice Rufo said was a sign that the continent was prepared to defend sovereignty.

Trump has been insisting for quite a while now that the US needs the mineral-rich Greenland for its "national security". Earlier this week he said that anything less than Greenland being in US hands is "unacceptable". The Republican leader has justified his calls for a takeover by saying that it is to prevent the territory from being occupied by China and Russia.

On Wednesday, after a meeting in Washington, Danish representatives said Copenhagen and Washington were in "fundamental disagreement" over Greenland's future.

Thousands of people marched through Copenhagen on Saturday to protest in support of their own self-governance amid threats of US takeover. Protesters carried signs such as "We shape our future", "Greenland is not for sale" and "Greenland is already GREAT".

Denmark's foreign minister on Thursday ruled out any US acquisition of Greenland, after the White House said a European military mission to the Arctic island had no effect on Donald Trump's territorial ambitions. Lars Lokke Rasmussen said, "This is out of the question. It's not what we want in Denmark, nor in Greenland and it runs counter to all international rules. It infringes on sovereignty."

Greenland's prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, said on Tuesday that "if we have to choose between the United States and Denmark here and now, we choose Denmark. We choose NATO. We choose the Kingdom of Denmark. We choose the EU."

Around 100 people rallied in a central Israeli city on Wednesday in support of Iranian protesters, as the Islamic republic is shaken by more than two weeks of anti-government demonstrations.

Demonstrators in Holon, a city near Tel Aviv home to a large Persian Jewish community, waved Israeli flags next to Iranian flags from before the Islamic revolution in 1979.

"Be the voice of the Iranian people," a sign read in Hebrew and Persian.

Demonstrations in Iran erupted last month, moving from protesting economic grievances to demanding a wholesale change from the country's clerical system.

Shuli Israel, a 68-year-old born in Iran who moved to Israel as a child 60 years ago, attended the rally to show solidarity with her compatriots.

"My heart is with the Iranians. Their pain is our pain... I can't stop crying," she said.

She said her Jewish acquaintances in Iran were living in fear.

"They are unable to open the door and go out, because they don't want to be identified as Jews," she told AFP.

The crowd repeatedly shouted chants of "long live the shah", a slogan used in recent weeks by protesters inside and outside Iran. Some waved pictures of Reza Pahlavi, the US-based son of Iran's ousted shah.

Among them was Miriam Kayam, who moved to Israel from Iran in 1980.

"People in Iran have no bread, no life, no freedom," she said.

"I came here to support them."

Arch-foes Iran and Israel fought a 12-day war last year, with Israel launching a wave of strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, while Iran responded with drone and missile attacks on Israel.

The Arab League, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), the African Union (AU), and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) have joined numerous countries and foreign ministers in decrying Israel’s formal recognition of the Somali breakaway region of Somaliland as an independent state.

Somaliland, a region in the Horn of Africa, declared independence from Somalia in 1991 and has pushed for international recognition for decades, with President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi making it a top priority since taking office last year.

Israel announced on Friday that it viewed Somaliland as an “independent and sovereign state”, becoming the first country to make such a declaration.

The announcement prompted Somalia to call the decision a “deliberate attack” on its sovereignty that would undermine regional peace.

In a statement on Friday, the AU continental bloc rejected Israel’s move and warned that it risked “setting a dangerous precedent with far-reaching implications for peace and stability across the continent”.

The AU Commission chair, Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, said the institution “firmly rejects any initiative or action aimed at recognising Somaliland as an independent entity, recalling that Somaliland remains an integral part of the Federal Republic of Somalia”.

‘Dangerous precedent’
Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit called Israel’s action “a clear violation of international law and a flagrant infringement of the principle of the unity and sovereignty of states”.

“Any attempt to impose unilateral recognitions constitutes an unacceptable interference in Somalia’s internal affairs and sets a dangerous precedent that threatens regional and international security and stability,” he warned.

The GCC called the development “a grave violation of the principles of international law and a blatant infringement” of Somalia’s sovereignty.

“This recognition represents a dangerous precedent that will undermine the foundations of stability in the Horn of Africa region and open the door to further tensions and conflicts, contradicting regional and international efforts aimed at strengthening international peace and security in the region,” GCC Secretary-General Jasem Albudaiwi said in a statement.

The OIC issued a joint statement together with the foreign ministers of several countries including Algeria, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Gambia, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Maldives, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Turkiye, and Yemen.

The group issued its “unequivocal rejection of Israel’s recognition of the ‘Somaliland’ region … given the serious repercussions of such unprecedented measure on peace and security in the Horn of Africa, the Red Sea, and its serious effects on international peace and security as a whole”.

They criticised “Israel’s full and blatant disregard to international law” and expressed full support for the sovereignty of Somalia.

The group also rejected “any potential link between such measure [Somaliland recognition] and any attempts to forcibly expel the Palestinian people out of their land”.

Earlier this year, reports emerged linking potential recognition of Somaliland to plans for ethnically cleansing Palestinians in Gaza and forcibly moving them to the African region.

Somalia demands reversal of recognition
Qatar, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, China and Nigeria were among the other countries that condemned Israel’s move in separate statements.

The Palestinian Authority and Hamas also rejected Israel’s recognition of Somaliland.

On Friday, Somalia demanded Israel reverse its recognition of Somaliland as independent, condemning the move as an act of “aggression that will never be tolerated”.

However, Somaliland leader Abdullahi hailed Israel’s decision as a “historic moment” and said in a post on X that it marked the beginning of a “strategic partnership”.

As world leaders weighed in, Somalia’s al-Qaeda-linked armed group al-Shabab pledged on Saturday to fight any attempt by Israel “to claim or use parts of Somaliland”.

“We will not accept it, and we will fight against it,” the group that has waged a decades-long armed rebellion in the region said in a statement.

Darlingtina16:
Are you a Christian or a Muslim?

I am a truthseeker

i was making a post on what an israeli minister sais, about spitting on christians being a jewish tradition, that post was deleted twice why please?