The latest focal S:N501 build is now up! It includes data from 4 Jan 2021.

We have new sequences in 501Y.V1/B.1.1.7 from Denmark, Singapore, Australia, Italy, Spain, France, Portugal, Germany, Brazil, Jamaica, Luxembourg, Pakistan & the USA.

1/12

https://t.co/FTjvV7T7wL

Denmark has 43 new sequences (in orange). These indicate additional introductions, as well as further expansion of the existing large local transmission cluster we saw previously (shown in zoomed divergence view).

2/12

10 new sequences from Portugal (orange) indicate additional, separate introductions.

3/12

Singapore has 5 new sequences (yellow). These indicate at least 5 separate introductions for the total of 6 sequences, with two identical sequences likely being 1 introduction.

4/12

5 new sequences from the US, from Florida & California (older sequences crossed through).

Zooming in (divergence view) on the California cluster, the relationship between these samples is difficult to infer from phylogenies alone.

5/12

🇺🇲🇺🇲Roman Empire🇺🇲🇺🇲
The main cause of the fall of the Roman Empire wasn’t one event, but a series of factors and events that caused a steady decline...to eventual collapse.

History will repeat itself when we forget or deny its examples...

The Lagos State Government has issued a suspension order on all approvals in respect of land extensions into the Lagoon at Banana Island and Osborne Foreshore, Ikoyi.
@jidesanwoolu @drobafemihamzat @idreezsalako @ud_mpp @gbenga_omo
#LASG #ForAGreaterLagos

A statement was jointly signed by the Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Dr. Idris Salako and his counterpart in the Ministry of Waterfront Infrastructure Development,  Arc. Kabiru Ahmed Abdullahi.
#LASG #ForAGreaterLagos

The statement noted that there has been increasing and continuing degradation of the Lagos shoreline as a result of indiscriminate illegal dredging, reclamation and land extensions into the Lagos Lagoon.
#LASG #ForAGreaterLagos

It said, “Of particular concern to the State Government are the extensions being illegally carried out at Banana Island and Osborne Foreshore, Ikoyi”.
#LASG #ForAGreaterLagos

It pointed out that such land reclamation and extension activities had resulted in gross violation of the Physical Planning Laws of the State and impinged on the ecosystem of the entire area.
#LASG #ForAGreaterLagos

In the Middle East, such as Syria, the CIA assets operate under splinter cells with different names.

We are seeing the same MO with Antifa, who were trained by CIA terrorist cells in Syria.

First we learned of John Sullivan's Insurgence USA

Now the Boogaloo Boys.

[thread]

[THREAD]

@azulfeehely describes Jules Koundé as one of Europe's most promising centre-backs. Let's take a look at why that might be.

#SquawkaScout x @LaLigaLowdown

@LaLigaLowdown "There’s few with as high a ceiling as the young Frenchman."

The full lowdown from @azulfeehely. 🔎

@LaLigaLowdown Koundé is an excellent defender, but when you consider the amount of space he has to cover due to the buccaneering Jesús Navas his work becomes even more impressive.

Just look at that coverage.

@LaLigaLowdown First and foremost, defenders should love defending. Koundé does.

Since the start of last season, he’s made more goal-line clearances (5) than any other player in Europe’s top five leagues - a testament to his awareness, anticipation & concentration.

A busy boy inside the box.

@LaLigaLowdown At 5’11, Koundé is relatively small for a centre-back. But it doesn’t seem to have an impact on his aerial ability:

He contests 5.7 aerial duels per 90 with a win rate of 61%.

Unconfirmed points that Pashinyan might sign in Moscow on his official visit:

1- Withdrawal of all Armenian troops from Karabakh, the surrender of 16 settlements in Armenia, a corridor to Azerbaijan through Meghri.

2- Aliyev will demand from Pashinyan to agree to disband the OSCE Minsk Group. Instead of this group, a trilateral or 4-way negotiation format will be created.

3- Aliyev will demand that Pashinyan no longer raise the issue of the status of Nagorno-Karabakh, since Azerbaijan has already resolved this issue, and the maximum that the Armenians can count on is cultural autonomy within Azerbaijan.

4- Aliyev will demand from Pashinyan that official visits from Armenia to Karabakh be stopped. All official visits should have permission from Baku. Only private visits, as well as humanitarian visits, can be carried out without the permission of Azerbaijan.

5- In the process of establishing the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Yerevan must cede 16 villages to Azerbaijan and this process must be legislatively enshrined in a special agreement dated January 11.+

Who is behind Moldova’s Twitter Revolution? (Prelude to all-out civil war 2009)
“A lot of what we [National Endowment for Democracy] do today was done covertly 25 years ago by the CIA.” -Allen 🕎 Weinstein #Transnistria
https://t.co/Y8uKJPgVF2

🧐Who is the MB whisperer spinning fairy tales about Egyptian military + USAID?

🤫Who is Sisi a super pain in the arse for right now?
✅🐷🇨🇳 sugar babies 🦃 + Qatar + 🇵🇰MB 🚗
✅UN selected EXPIRED GNA unable to take Sirte
@sherifa78060270 @BenKTallmadge @ScottC20012

THE HIDDEN AGENDAS OF KADUNA STATE GOVT, AND THE EVIL CONSPIRACY OF KASUPDA.

I took my Investigation to Kaduna State on the 2nd of Jan 2021. To unravel the truth behind the Kaduna sex party, and the demolished ASHER KINGS & QUEENS RESTAURANT. Alleged as venue.

Thread #EndSARS

From my findings, i discovered that, Gov @elrufai has continuously used KASUPDA. (Kaduna State Urban Planning And Development Agency) to target the properties of his political opponents in Kaduna state. He targets christian owned businesses. Especially the ones in southern Kaduna

Just like Asher Kings & Queens restaurant was demolished on flimsy excuse, KASUPDA has in the last one year demolished 4 flourishing hospitality businesses in Southern Kaduna alone. Under the leadership of DG, Isma'i Umaru Dikko.

In may 2020, Gov @elrufai used KASUPDA, to demolish a popular Pub, located at Command junction, in Southern Kaduna. GM CAR PARK AND RELAXATION CENTRE, on flimsy excuse. But after investigation, i discovered that the owner is Igbo (Emeka Ugwua) Christian, & friends to PDP members.

On Monday 20th July 2020, at about 5:44am, while guests were still asleep, Gov @elrufai sent in the Bulldozers of KASUPDA, into the popular GREEN APPLE HOTEL/NIGHT CLUB in Naraiyi High Cost Area of southern Kaduna.
As early as 5:30am, the hotel was sourounded by men of SARS.

1/ Wow, what an essay, trying to distill thoughts from this masterpiece: https://t.co/bxR3cnNJrM

Hat tip: @NSKinsella

The essay is about inflation's effect on culture, through the analysis of a short story set in Weimar Germany. I've selected some quotes and will comment.

2/ "With all points of reference gone, the only law...appears to be perpetual change."

When money changes, everything else anchored on money starts to change as well. Prices being the most obvious one, but crucially, not the only one.

3/ "...if we seek an explanation for the dissolution of authority in the world he is portraying, we should look to the monetary madness of the Weimar Republic."

The insanity and disorder of society, in other words, can be traced back to monetary policy.

4/ "Everything threatens to become unreal once money ceases to be real."

Unreal, in this sense is counterfeit or fake. Societal attitudes become as fake as the money we use because it no longer just represents value provided, but also value fraudulently obtained.

5/ "By making money worthless, inflation threatens to undermine and dissolve all sense of value in a society."

Money helps us to know where we can expend our labor to best provide value. If our sense of value is skewed, we will no longer properly value our labor, time or energy.

THREAD: Presidential Spokesperson @attyharryroque holds a media briefing in Malacañang | LIVE https://t.co/0X6MAKcUyB

Tweets by our digital producers @pplmanuel and @lisbetesmael

Roque recaps the recent hearing of the Senate Committee of the Whole on the government's COVID-19 vaccination plan

Roque: Magkakaroon po ng legal na pananagutan ang drug companies 'pag nagbenta sila ng bakuna for commercial use kahit Emergency Use Authorization use pa lamang meron sila

Roque reiterates government is not favoring Sinovac or any particular vaccine: Dahil napakataas po ng demand, gagamitin natin kung ano ang available

Roque: Kung gusto mo makakuha ng supply, dapat bultuhan ang order mo. Halos lahat ng bansa centralized ang purchasing. Wala pa tayong alam na pribadong kumpanya na bumibili dahil hindi pa pwede

2020

Jan 1st - Australia’s fires (impacting nearly 3 billion wild animals)
Jan 3rd - US military killed Irans’ General Qasem Soleimani at the direction of Donald Trump
Jan 7th - Chinese authorities identify a novel coronavirus

Jan 8th - Both Prince Harry and Megan Markle stepped down from their position as senior royals
Jan 9th - China recorded their first coronavirus death in Wuhan, China
Jan 20th - USA recorded their first coronavirus case in Washington state

Jan 25th - Australia recorded their first coronavirus case in Melbourne, VIC, Australia
Jan 26th - Kobe and Gigi Bryant were killed in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California
Jan 28th - Worst locust swarms in decades hit east Africa destroying crops

Jan 31st - The UK leaves the European Union

Feb 8th - First American Citizen died of the coronavirus in Wuhan
Feb 9th - Parasite wins the Best Picture Award, making it the first non-English making film to win the award

March - Panic Buying
March 1st - Australia records 1st coronavirus death
March 9th - Stock markets crashed, suffering its worst single day joint drop ever
March 11th - WHO (World Health Organisation) declared coronavirus a pandemic

POLICE ARREST 5 FOR MULTIPLE ABDUCTION, CAR THEFT AND ABUSE OF WOMEN, 2 OTHERS FOR INT’L CHILD PORNOGRAPHY

• A total of 2,792 others arrested for SGBV offences in 2020

The Inspector General of Police, IGP M.A Adamu, NPM, mni has said that the action plan being implemented by the Force to curb Sexual and Gender Based Violence, particularly all forms of abuse on women and children in the country, is yielding positive results.

The IGP made the affirmation on the heels of the arrest of five (5) members of a kidnap for ransom gang which specializes in the abduction of women and the girl child, sexually abusing them and obtaining ransom from their families before their release.

The five (5) suspects were arrested by operatives of the Intelligence Response Team following massive manhunt by the Force for the perpetrators of the recent trend of abduction of women in some States in the South-South part of the country, especially Port Harcourt

and its environs. The victims are subjected to series of sexual abuses and ransom demanded from their families before their release. The suspects are Osinachi Ngwakwe 'm' 22yrs from Ubaka Community in Umahia South LGA, Abia State,

Thread on Libertarianism

1.
Libertarians are useful for one thing: highlighting government inefficiency. Other than that, they’re almost useless and have little to no understanding of human nature.

2.
The fatal flaw of Libertarians is that they can’t see that their ideology contains a programming error that ensures the death of that ideology: an ironclad belief in democracy.

3.
Arthur Conan Doyle was correct when he said: “While the individual man is an insoluble puzzle, in the aggregate he becomes a mathematical certainty.”

Libertarians (outside of a few in the Mises Institute) all believe in democracy.

4.
Democracy has proven to us that, regardless of what people say as _individuals_ about freedom or taxes, they _collectively_ vote for benefits and larger gov’t.

Example: simply look at US debt and what its government's largest expenses are.

5.
This ensures the death of the libertarian experiment because more benefits & bigger govt also expands govt authority and regulation. Govt has no reliable subculture of restraint to prevent this, because representative govts exclusively comprise those who WANT to be in govt

#Thread! For peace in #Balochistan, Islamabad must review FC's role.

In 2021, the conflict in Balochistan entered its 17th year. Islamabad deployed FC in Balochistan in 2004 to counter insurgent activities. The force soon after its deployment became unpopular among the locals

for human rights violations and heavy-handed operations. The Balochistan provincial govt gave police powers to FC in 2013. Since then, FC's traditional role in maintaining border security expanded into controlling crimes and countering terror activities.

More than 550 #ShiaHazaras have been killed in FC's presence since 2012, and thousands of Hazaras have been targeted and wounded in apparent sectarian attacks. Thousands of Baloch activists have disappeared without a trace. More than 1,000 dead bodies of political activists

and suspected armed insurgents were found dumped between 2010 and 2016, according to a report by BBC in 2016. Officials from Ministry of Interior said: "from 2010 to 2015, organized political violence events linked to the insurgency gradually increased, peaking in 2015 with 96

events and 383 total reported fatalities for the year. In 49 suicide attacks in Balochistan between 2003-2018, at least 939 people died, and more than 1820 injured. As insurgents activities increase, FC has become more ruthless and lethal targeting civilians and unarmed activists

In celebration of the memory of those who laid their lives so that we may live, this special day is a tribute to the indomitable will,
stoic courage and an overwhelming love of the nation
#PakForcesExemplarySacrifices

that resonates in their heart which leads to a secure and peaceful Pakistan for us to dwell in. Deriving their military virtue from the true spirit of an Islamic ideology,
#PakForcesExemplarySacrifices

#PakForcesExemplarySacrifices
the Pakistan armed forces have always sacrificed their best of men in keeping intact the sovereignty of the Motherland as its soil contains as an unforgettable

#PakForcesExemplarySacrifices
and primary constituent the blood of its martyrs who have fearlessly confronted the enemy and crushed their nefarious designs while guarding their land with their most precious possessions, their lives.

#PakForcesExemplarySacrifices
History has seen how the soldiers of the Pakistan army have risen to their towering heights to defend their borders,

First Minister @NicolaSturgeon: "I want to update Parliament on Cabinet's review of the current lockdown restrictions, which took place earlier today."

NS: "I will report on some cautious grounds for optimism, I'm pleased to say, but also set out why it is vital, in order to protect the NHS and save lives, to stick with these restrictions for a further period."

NS: "I will set out what that means for the timing of getting children back to school, which, of course, remains a priority for all of us."

NS: "And finally, I'll touch on other aspects of our response to Covid, including control of borders, the further expansion of testing, and the progress of the vaccination programme."

NS: "Firstly, I'll give a brief summary of the latest statistics and then seek to put these in some context."