Category: The Fifth Column

(EAN) – A company from China has reportedly been granted a license to operate a gold mine in Tajikistan in exchange for building a power plant free of charge in the country’s capital. Asia-Plus newspaper reported on April 11, citing an unnamed official with the State Geology Department, that Xinjiang-based TBEA has received the concession to develop the Upper Kumarg mine in the Sughd region in northern Tajikistan. The company was previously given the concession for the Eastern Duoba mine. The newspaper’s source said that the mining license was granted…

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Trump’s ‘Get Ready’ Tweet On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump threatened a direct strike on the Syrian government forces following an alleged chemical attack in Douma, in a tweet that was followed by another one, in which Trump claimed that relations with Moscow were worse than during the Cold War. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova was quick to respond to Trump’s remarks by saying that “smart missiles must strike terrorists, not the legitimate government that has been fighting international terrorism on its territory for several years.” Russia vows to shoot down any and all missiles fired at Syria. Get ready Russia, because they will be…

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(HRW) – On Monday, International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor Fatou Bensouda asked the court’s judges to rule on whether the ICC “can exercise jurisdiction over the alleged deportation of the Rohingya people from Myanmar to Bangladesh.” Bangladesh is a member of the ICC, but Myanmar isn’t. This distinction is critical because, since the ICC lacks jurisdiction over Myanmar, the most obvious path to justice for victims of crimes committed against ethnic Rohingya is through a United Nations Security Council referral to the court. The prosecutor’s legal argument – the first…

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In 2017, the data website FiveThirtyEight declared that the U.S. had become more polarized on the issue of guns that at any time in the nation’s history. Because of the emotional nature of the debate, both gun control advocates and Second Amendment proponents increasingly resorted to violent rhetoric (“burn her!”), conspiracy theories, and especially irrational thinking. Here are six of the most common logical fallacies you’ll find in the current debate on guns in America. 1. Non Sequitur Non sequitur translates as “it does not follow.” They are more common…

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(SurvivalSullivan) – We toil away for hours and hours in our gardens and on over our container crops so WE can enjoy the fruit of our labors. Preventing garden pests from sneaking in and munching on our fruits and vegetables, destroying the plants in the process, is a vital part of the process…at least if you want to have anything left to harvest! Ants They might be tiny, but these little garden pests are sure mighty! When ants come across a barrier that means them harm, a brick-and-mortar physical one…

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(GV) – For many living in the part of Eurasia where Persian and Turkic languages dominate, the festivities of Nawruz beginning March 21 mark not just the start of spring, but New Year itself. In Afghanistan, however, the occasion is not universally celebrated, and the holiday’s pagan roots are a point of conjecture between different groups. Moreover, the warmer weather also brings with it a traditional uptick insurgent violence. This year, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has attempted to check the onslaught with a renewed and emboldened offer of peace to…

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(WNV) – “Our grandma is in jail,” Madeline tells a woman wrestling a shopping cart at Target. “She went over a war fence and tried to make peace,” Seamus adds helpfully. “They arrested her, and she is in jail now.” “Where?” the woman asks, looking from them to me in disbelief and maybe pity. “We don’t remember,” the kids say, suddenly done with their story and ready to make passionate pleas for the colorful items in the dollar section over the woman’s shoulder. “Georgia,” I say, but I don’t have…

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(HRW) – For the first time in more than 40 years, women turned out in significant numbers to vote in one of Pakistan’s districts. The vote for local government in Upper Dir district of Pakistan’s northern Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, held last week, was necessary because the previous election, held in 2017, was annulled by the Election Commission of Pakistan because no women had participated. The country’s election law requires at least 10 percent of voters to be women in each constituency for an election to be valid. In October, Pakistan enacted…

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(TFC)— As 2017 ended, news outlets briefly covered the death of Green Beret Staff Sergeant Logan Melgar. According to NCIS (Naval Criminal Investigative Service), Melgar was strangled after discovering at least two SEAL Team 6 operatives stole money fueling an informant program. Coverage then vanished before anyone examined the silent mammoth in the story. What was the informant program that got Staff Sergeant Melgar killed? Short of talking to an operative that was there, those are tough questions to answer. The Fifth Column News attempted to put some bits together…

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