There were protests in and around the University of the Witwatersrand on Monday ahead of the court appearance of a student leader who was arrested at the weekend. Johannesburg metro police spokesman Wayne Minaar confirmed the protest action and advised motorists to use alternative routes as traffic is heavily backed up in the area. “There has been a student protest in the area since early morning. They have blocked the […]
An affidavit by Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan appears to reveal that the Department of Mineral Resources withheld information related to its approval of the transfer of R1.5-billion from a trust account intended for the rehabilitation of the Gupta-owned Optimum Coal Mine to India’s Bank of Baroda. Mineral Resources spokesman Ayanda Shezi, in response to two media inquiries, denied in July that the department had approved the transfer of money from […]
Democratic Alliance leader Mmusi Maimane on Sunday announced the party would get involved in court action to ensure the public protector's report on alleged 'state capture' is released. "The DA has taken the decision to become an intervening party in the matter to be heard before the North Gauteng High Court," he said. "We will argue strongly in favour of the release of the report and that it be made […]
Accusations of racism have again beset the Cape Bar. A black advocate is accusing white colleagues of refusing to share office space with him.The allegations are contained in a letter to members of Advocates for Transformation sent recently by the organisation's chairman, Greg Papier. "Recently one of our black members, Anda Njeza, has been told that he was awarded chambers on the 15th floor of Huguenot Chambers. He signed a […]
Some of the 21 Nigerian schoolgirls abducted by the armed group Boko Haram have reunited with their families, following their release after 30 months in captivity. Cries of joy filled the room as the freed girls, who had been kidnapped along with more than 200 other pupils in the town of Chibok in April 2014, met their relatives in Abuja on Sunday. The girls were freed on Thursday, but it […]
An Israeli human rights group has vowed to continue its battle against Israel's settlements built on occupied lands sought by the Palestinians, rejecting a harsh rebuke by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The Israeli leader accused B'tselem of joining a "chorus of slander" against Israel, after the rights group urged the UN Security Council to take decisive action against settlements. B'Tselem responded to Netanyahu's remarks on Sunday, saying that "unlike the […]
Operations to retake the Iraqi city of Mosul from the Islamic State (IS) group have begun, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced early on Monday over state television. "The time of victory has come and operations to liberate Mosul have started," he said in an address broadcast by the Iraqiya channel. Abadi, the commander-in-chief of Iraq's armed forces, was surrounded by top federal officers as he read his statement. Iraqi federal […]
The United States, Britain and the UN peace envoy to Yemen on Sunday urged the warring parties in the country's civil war to declare a ceasefire they said could start within days. The United Nations envoy, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, said: "We are here to call for an immediate cessation of hostilities, which will be declared in the next few hours." Cheikh Ahmed said he had been in contact with […]
A British parliamentary report hit against at what it called “the growing prevalence” of anti-Semitism in the United Kingdom, notably calling for the term “Zionist” to be considered “inflammatory and potentially anti-Semitic.” The report, issued by the parliamentary Home Affairs Committee, came in the wake of accusations of anti-Semitism against the Labour Party and the National Union of Students (NUS). It highlighted that the UK remained “one of the least […]
VOC became the first Muslim radio station in South Africa when a special events license was granted to the station in Ramadan/January 1995. Subsequent temporary broadcast licenses were granted, permitting the station to broadcast for 24 hours.
