This land…
…is whose land?One rule of the British during their colonial phase was whenever the natives got restless for one reason or another – appoint a Commission of Inquiry! That they were a monarchy allowed them to dub the collection of usually safe old fogeys who’d toe their line, “Royal” Commissions! More impressive, eh? Anyhow, as a British trained army officer who was commissioned just before they departed, President Brigadier David Granger has taken to the British CoI tactic like a duck to water.Your Eyewitness is willing to wager that never in the history of any administration – anywhere in the world – has so many CoIs been launched in such a short space of time. And they keep on coming – the latest being one to look into “land titling”. Now as far as titling of land, you’d think the law of the land was settled, wouldn’t you? After all, wasn’t this the basis of our democratic order – to protect “life, liberty and property” with land being the foremost “property”? And though your Eyewitness knows our titling rules are a bit more complex than some, with us inheriting the Roman Dutch laws and everything – we’ve done all right so far, no? Well, Prezzie says it ain’t so – and hence the CoI.But, when you examine these CoIs the Government sets up, you’ll discern a common thread: they want to change the (settled) rules of the game to accomplish an end they already have in mind. The CoI is just the fig leaf – and one that can be just thrown aside to expose the naked and nasty truth – like with the Sugar CoI. In this case to deliver the “Ancestral lands” Prezzie’s constituency has been agitating for over the last few decades.So, your Eyewitness asks why doesn’t the Government spare us the tedium of the CoI hearings and recommendations and get to the quick of the matter quickly? Prezzie’s homily on what “God has given us bountifully – the land of this great country” is a dead giveaway. As a historian, he would know this is the argument the Europeans made to seize the “new world” from the Indigenous Peoples. It wasn’t just God – but gold, God and glory that did the job – and what is about to unfold is just the modern version of those arguments.Fact of the matter is the Europeans kept on changing their legal fictions on “sovereignty” from one which respected the right of the local inhabitants to own their countries to whatever justified their ownershipWe’ll soon see what’s the latest innovation to justify what’s already “been written”!…and its medical suppliesAhhhh…what a tangled web we weave and all that! Did our new Minister of Health really award a $605,000,000 contract for pharmaceuticals just because one supplier donated four refrigerators? Jeez! Are we that desperate? Have we fallen that low? This reminds your Eyewitness about the days of banned goods when a gift of condensed milk could get you a favour from the Kabaka himself! The $300,000,000 overpayment on inflated drugs could have bought 600 fridges!!But this latest pharma scandal cannot be allowed to be swept under the carpet. There are already so many bodies under the carpet, it’ll be impossible to traverse if another one joins them! So, we now have confirmation that after breaking the old prequalification criteria for bidding on contracts for pharma, contracts were given to firms that just couldn’t supply them!! Shouldn’t we be told who are these firms? And to which political party they made “political investments”?So, will the snubbed local company that didn’t bribe with fridges now be given a chance to compete?…and the otherPoor Minister Nicolette Henry being blamed for what is a societal failure. Henry isn’t alone in her ignorance of Indian customs.It’s the culture that still treats Indians as “the other”, 179 years after they arrived.
While the two guards were inside the bank, two men wearing similar uniforms approached the truck and used a signal knock to get the driver to open an electric door lock. Without the driver realizing that the men were imposters, they took the money and disappeared before the real guards emerged from the bank. The driver initially was arrested but was not charged, deputies said. The driver thought he opened the door for his actual co-workers, deputies said. Authorities alleged that the Acosta brothers were the two men who posed as guards and that Rice was driving the car in which they fled. Detectives were able to narrow the location of the theft down to the Lancaster branch after it was determined that money taken from previous stops was missing, deputies said. karen.maeshiro@dailynews.com (661) 267-5744160Want local news?Sign up for the Localist and stay informed Something went wrong. Please try again.subscribeCongratulations! You’re all set! LANCASTER – Five Lancaster men accused in a $1.2 million heist of an armored truck outside a Lancaster Boulevard bank pleaded guilty or no contest Thursday to grand theft charges and were sentenced to prison. Two of the defendants worked as guards for the Sylmar-based armored truck firm and were described by investigators as the masterminds who persuaded three of their friends to commit the early morning Aug. 29 theft. “This is a very good disposition. You steal over a million dollars, you have to go to prison,” Deputy District Attorney Guy Shirley said. “These were otherwise pretty decent people. They don’t have extensive records or anything like that. It was good for both sides.” Charged in the incident were Elder Cortez, 23; Lawrence Lacusong, 26; brothers Arturo and Fernando Acosta, 22 and 23, respectively; and Robert Rice, 22. Authorities said Cortez and Lacusong were employees of the armored truck company. Cortez pleaded guilty and Lacusong no contest to grand theft and were each sentenced to three years and four months in prison. The Acosta brothers and Rice pleaded no contest to grand theft and were each sentenced to two years in prison. All but $89,658 of the stolen money was recovered, and the defendants are responsible for paying that amount back, Shirley said. The theft took less than 30 seconds and occurred while the armored car, staffed by a driver and two guards, was making its rounds servicing Washington Mutual banks in the area, sheriff’s deputies said. 
“There was big support for Platini,” said UEFA secretary-general Gianni Infantino when asked to comment on the support of the 54-member UEFA body for the 60-year-old Frenchman.Blatter, who is also suspended as part of a Swiss criminal investigation, has already said he will step down as FIFA president, a post he has held since 1998.The vote to succeed him takes place on February 26 next year, a date which Infantino insisted should be respected and not postponed.“We respect the right of Michel Platini to have due process and the chance to clear his name,” added the secretary-general.0Shares0000(Visited 1 times, 1 visits today) 0Shares0000UEFA boss, Michel Platini. PHOTO/FileNYON, October 16- Suspended UEFA president Michel Platini received “big support” from his executive committee who also insisted that the vote to succeed Sepp Blatter as FIFA chief should still proceed.Platini, a frontrunner to take over from Blatter, is serving a 90-day suspension from all football activities after being investigated over a $2 million (1.8 million euros) payment made to him by Blatter in 2011 for consultancy work performed years earlier.
Former Netherlands international coach Dick Advocaat 1 Sunderland have opened talks with former Netherlands international coach Dick Advocaat to take over as manager on a short-term basis, according to widespread reports.The well-travelled Dutchman, who has had two stints in charge of his national side and spent four years at Rangers, has been identified as the man to lead a late charge against relegation following Gus Poyet’s dismissal on Monday afternoon.The Black Cats are moving quickly in their pursuit of the 67-year-old, with their upcoming trip to West Ham one of only nine games left to lift them away from the Premier League drop zone.Poyet left the club a single point above the bottom three and reeling from a calamitous 4-0 home defeat by relegation rivals Aston Villa.That result, and images of thousands of Sunderland fans pouring out of the ground in disgust, hastened what had already become an expected departure for Poyet, who was in post for 17 months, winning just 23 games from 75 at the helm.Advocaat, meanwhile, has won league titles in three countries during his lengthy coaching career, claiming the Eredivisie with PSV Eindhoven, the Russian Super League with Zenit St Petersburg and two SPL trophies during his spell at Ibrox.
This Friday morning on Sportsday we look back on last night’s Europa League football.Following his side’s 2-1 defeat to Fenerbahce last night, Jose Mourinho has accused his players of treating the game as a “summer friendly” while Southampton recorded a historic win over Inter Milan, winning 2-1 at St Mary’s.There is also the latest ahead of talkSPORT and talkSPORT 2’s Premier League commentaries to come this weekend, including the North London Derby.We also bring you the latest from the Paris Masters, as Andy Murray moves a step further in his quest to become world number one beating Lucas Pouille in straight sets.Plus there’s reaction to Andy Robinson’s suspension at Bristol Rugby and Darren Gough has his say on Sir Ian Botham’s appointment as Durham chairman.All brought to you by Russ Hargreaves and the team.
1 Bacary Sagna Manchester City defender Bacary Sagna has been charged with misconduct following an alleged comment on social media, the Football Association has announced.The comment was made in the wake of City’s recent 2-1 Premier League victory over Burnley, in which Fernandinho was sent off for Pep Guardiola’s side in the first half.Sagna reacted negatively to the dismissal, and left a post on Instagram claiming the game had been ’10 against 12′.The post was quickly altered to remove any reference to the refereeing performance, but not before it had already been seen by a large audience.A statement published by the FA read: ‘Bacary Sagna has been charged for misconduct contrary to FA Rule E3 (1).‘It is alleged that a comment posted on social media by the Manchester City defender constituted improper conduct in that it questioned the integrity of the match official and/or alleged and/or implied bias on the part of the match official, and/or brought the game into disrepute.‘He has until 6pm on 13 January 2017 to respond to the charge.’
“Just because the attacking prowess that they’ve got, the devastation that they wreak.“I’d be in that changing room thinking, ‘you know what boys, we’ve done well. We’ll win this.’”Ferdinand added: “This is only the second time Liverpool have failed to score at home.“You have to give credit to Bayern Munich who have come here with experience and shown that. 2 Rio Ferdinand works as a pundit for BT Sport Oxlade-Chamberlain suffers another setback as Klopp confirms serious injury 2 ADVICE Sadio Mane missed a host of chances to put Liverpool in front “But when this Liverpool team wake up, they’ve got to back themselves.“They have got to think to themselves, ‘we can go to the Allianz Arena and score. We’ve got to keep a clean sheet. If we keep ourselves solid at the back, we’ve got three or four of the best players going forward, such a quick devastating attack. We must be able to score away from home’.“That’s all I’d be thinking if I was them.” Which teams do the best on Boxing Day in the Premier League era? REVEALED Forbes list reveals how much Mayweather, Ronaldo and Messi earned this decade shining Where Ancelotti ranks with every Premier League boss for trophies won no dice Top nine Premier League free transfers of the decade RANKED BEST OF Son ban confirmed as Tottenham fail with appeal to overturn red card Ronaldo warned Lukaku how hard scoring goals in Serie A would be before Inter move Rio Ferdinand has backed Liverpool to progress to the Champions League quarter-finals.The Reds were held to a goalless draw against Bayern Munich in their last-16 first leg clash on Tuesday – and face a daunting trip to the Bundesliga champions in three weeks’ time. huge blow MONEY Every time Ally McCoist lost it on air in 2019, including funny XI reactions REVEALED REPLY But Manchester United legend Ferdinand believes Liverpool are capable of inflicting just a second home defeat on the Bavarians this season.Ferdinand, who won six Premier League titles during his 12-year spell at Old Trafford, told BT Sport: “I’m confident Liverpool will go through, I really am. Premier League Team of the Season so far, including Liverpool and Leicester stars Berahino hits back at b******t Johnson criticism – ‘I was in a dark place at Stoke’ LATEST FOOTBALL NEWS
Jan Vertonghen and Christian Eriksen were two of the players expected to leave last summer Video Player is loading.Play VideoPlayMuteCurrent Time 0:00/Duration 1:41Loaded: 9.81%Stream Type LIVESeek to live, currently playing liveLIVERemaining Time -1:41 Playback Rate1xChaptersChaptersDescriptionsdescriptions off, selectedCaptionscaptions settings, opens captions settings dialogcaptions off, selectedAudio Tracken (Main), selectedFullscreenThis is a modal window.Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window.TextColorWhiteBlackRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyanTransparencyOpaqueSemi-TransparentBackgroundColorBlackWhiteRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyanTransparencyOpaqueSemi-TransparentTransparentWindowColorBlackWhiteRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyanTransparencyTransparentSemi-TransparentOpaqueFont Size50%75%100%125%150%175%200%300%400%Text Edge StyleNoneRaisedDepressedUniformDropshadowFont FamilyProportional Sans-SerifMonospace Sans-SerifProportional SerifMonospace SerifCasualScriptSmall CapsReset restore all settings to the default valuesDoneClose Modal DialogEnd of dialog window.Close Modal DialogThis is a modal window. This modal can be closed by pressing the Escape key or activating the close button.PlayMuteCurrent Time 0:00/Duration 0:00Loaded: 0%Stream Type LIVESeek to live, currently playing liveLIVERemaining Time -0:00 Playback Rate1xFullscreen Getty Images – Getty New Tottenham manager Jose Mourinho once called on the club to get rid of any player who does not want to be there.Christian Eriksen, Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen are all in the final year of their respective contracts and have been linked with moves away either in January or the end of this season after refusing to commit their futures to the Lillywhites. Mourinho, the former Chelsea and Manchester United boss has been put in charge of Spurs following the departure of of Mauricio Pochettino.Despite Pochettino leading them to the Champions League final last season, they have struggled this term, with many feeling the players have underperformed and in October, Mourinho was among those urging Spurs to move on any wantaway stars and likened their situation to his first spell at Chelsea. 1 Ally McCoist is concerned how the Tottenham squad will react to Jose Mourinho’s appointment“I always felt that the biggest investment Tottenham could do is what they did in previous seasons, which was to keep their best players. That’s the best investment you can do,” he told Sky Sports.“Some clubs can do both – keep the best players and buy other top players. Some, they don’t and they have to make a choice. I feel Spurs showed clearly that they felt the group was fantastic, with a lot of English players, and they were close to creating history.“I don’t like to keep players who don’t want to stay at the club. I’m not even thinking of the economical perspective, but the emotion of the player.“We loved [Arjen] Robben and wanted to keep him [at Chelsea], but he wanted to join Real Madrid, so there are some moments when motivation affects the performance and it’s very difficult to keep a player really happy when he has other thoughts.”Saturday is GameDay on talkSPORT as we bring you THREE live Premier League commentaries across our network, including West Ham vs Tottenham at 12:30pm
Motorists encountering another vehicle being operated erratically are encouraged to dial 911 or call the Jasper Indiana State Police Post at (812) 482-1441 or (800) 742-7475. Be prepared to give a description of the vehicle, location, and direction of travel. Reminders so motorists do not find themselves “Over the Limit and Under Arrest”: Plan ahead and always designate a sober driver before consuming alcohol.Don’t drive your vehicle if you’ve been drinking alcohol. Call a taxi or sober friend. Take care of your friends. Never let a friend drive while impaired. If you are hosting a party, always offer non-alcoholic beverages. Make sure all of your guests leave with a sober driver.Never provide alcohol to anyone under the legal drinking age of 21. Troopers from the Indiana State Police Jasper Post will be conducting a sobriety check point at an undisclosed location in Dubois County on Wednesday, November 23, 2016. Those drivers passing through the check point area should have their licenses and registrations ready to present to troopers, and will only be detained briefly while troopers determine whether further investigation is necessary. The purpose of the sobriety check point is to remove those motorists from the highways who are alcohol and/or drug impaired and poses a danger to all who use the roadways. Impaired drivers are responsible for billions of dollars in property damage, personal injury, and death annually. 
Janine ErasmusSouth African gold mining companies may soon be adding to their bottom line with the processing of uranium reserves found in tailings dams and mine dumps.In South Africa uranium is produced as a by-product of gold and copper mining by major mining companies such as Harmony, Gold Fields and AngloGold Ashanti. The sought-after radioactive metal is used mostly for nuclear weapons and nuclear power stations, but it has other uses, such as radiation shielding and the production of radioisotopes for medical purposes.Uranium is in an ongoing bull market, mostly because of rising demand for it as a nuclear fuel in the light of the global warming threat. With the metal currently trading at around US$90 a pound, local mining companies that hold uranium assets – particularly Harmony, Gold Fields, DRDGOLD and AngloGold – are delving into utilising these assets, by selling them, developing them with a partner, or processing them outright, whichever option yields the most value for the company.Whether in a mine dump or a slimes or tailings dam, there are substantial deposits of uranium that have accumulated over a period of years and which are in a position to be exploited. There is, however, a difference between uranium extracted from the leftovers of gold mining and uranium that is mined from uranium-bearing ore in a dedicated uranium mine. The former is of a lower grade, but it is still a valuable resource.In a declaration published in July 2007 Harmony, the world’s fifth biggest gold producer, announced that out of more than 50 of its tailings dams, in five dams in Randfontein there are 360 million tonnes of slurry containing 79 million pounds of uranium oxide concentrates (chemical formula U3O8); and in six dams in the Free State, there are 190 million tonnes of slurry containing 30 million pounds of U3O8.Harmony’s former chief executive Bernard Swanepoel said, in the same declaration, that “the results of our uranium deposits prove to be worthwhile to proceed to feasibility study stage”. The company will declare its uranium reserves for the first time in its 2007 annual report.Harmony has just announced an agreement with South African investment house Pamodzi Resources Fund, transferring certain of the uranium and gold assets held at Randfontein into a new company, provisionally named Newco. The sale of the Randfontein uranium assets is expected to realise US$252 million (about R1,6bn), with Harmony retaining a 40% shareholding in Newco.Gold Fields, the world’s fourth biggest gold producer, holds major uranium oxide resources at its Beatrix plant near Virginia, the Free State province’s third-largest town. It also envisages substantial returns from the processing of uranium in its slimes dams. The company also has another major uranium asset, a large underground ore body known as Beisa. Gold Fields has an estimated 30 million tons of uranium reserves at Beisa and in its dams.The world’s third biggest producer of gold, AngloGold, produces U3O8 in the form of a powder as a gold mining by-product. AngloGold also owns and supplies the Nuclear Fuels Corporation of South Africa (Nufcor SA), which was established in 1967 in Johannesburg to process and market uranium concentrates for nuclear power generators around the world. The company is said to be considering the sale of its slimes dams, as well as Nufcor International Ltd, the UK-based sister company of Nufcor SA, which AngloGold co-owns with FirstRand Limited, one of South Africa’s largest banking groups. No decision has yet been made.Uranium averages about 2.8 parts per million of the earth’s crust. It can be found in trace quantities just about everywhere on earth – it is more abundant than gold, silver or mercury, about the same as tin and slightly less abundant than cobalt, lead or molybdenum. Concentrated uranium deposits are found in various countries, and vast amounts of the metal occur in the oceans, albeit in lower concentrations.Uranium is sold only to countries which are signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, and which allow verification of this principle by international inspectors.According to data compiled by Ux Consulting, an agency that monitors trends in the nuclear industry, the spot price of uranium began to rise in the middle of 2003. It has continued to gain, reaching an all-time high of almost $140 a pound earlier in 2007 before falling back to its current price.However, Gold Fields CEO Ian Cockerill said recently that three-figure uranium prices are not sustainable, so in the long term it is unlikely that they will change much in an upward direction. However the processing of uranium found in mining waste could still contribute to the profitability of gold mines.