At least nine civilians were killed and nine injured in Pakistan-administered Kashmir when an Indian artillery shell hit a passsenger bus in the disputed region on Wednesday, Pakistani officials said. "The passenger bus was attacked by Indian shelling at 8.30 in the morning, resulting in the death of nine people on-board," DSP Neelum Valley Mqsood told Al Jazeera. "The ambulance heading to the site came under attack as well and locals […]
The Western Cape Department of Community Safety yesterday launched the department’s safety campaign as part of the16 Days of Activism Campaign for No Violence against Women and Children. The campaign was officially launched in Heinz Park, Philippi, and aims to help empower those affected by abuse to speak out. Speaking to VOC’s Breakfast Beat, MEC for Community Safety, Dan Plato explains that the department is calling on all women to […]
Metalworkers union Numsa on Tuesday criticised Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa for trying to legislate what it calls "slave wages for blacks and Africans”. The proposed R3 500 minimum wage Ramaphosa announced at the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac) on Sunday is not a living wage, general secretary Irvin Jim said in a statement. “Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa is extremely dangerous, continually gunning for the blood of the working […]
Suspended ANC Western Cape leader Marius Fransman must take responsibility for his actions and not create imaginary scapegoats, the party's provincial leadership said on Tuesday. ANC acting chairperson Khaya Magaxa told reporters they condemned Fransman’s public utterances against the party and its integrity commission. Fransman had undermined the commission by publicly denouncing it as biased. The party could no longer remain silent about his allegations. “Attacking organisational mechanisms and tools […]
Some 1,400 boat migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean from North Africa to Europe have been rescued so far on Tuesday, Italy's coastguard said, after at least 11 overcrowded boats set out from Libya amid calm seas. Rescuers have also recovered eight dead bodies. The coast guard ship Diciotti took seven corpses from a rubber boat, while one body was recovered from another rubber vessel by the Topaz, a ship […]
Turkey's government has withdrawn a controversial bill that could have overturned men's convictions for child sex assault, following an angry public backlash. The controversial proposal sought to address whether all cases of marriage with people under the legal age of 18 should classify as "sexual assault". Critics feared the proposal could have legitimised the practice of men marrying girls under the age of 18, which is the age of consent […]
Egypt's deposed president Mohamed Morsi has had a life sentence overturned by the country's Court of Cassation, which ordered a retrial in the case that revolves around accusations of espionage with Palestinian group Hamas. Morsi, Egypt's first democratically elected president, had a death sentence overturned by the same court last week and a retrial was ordered. Morsi was overthrown by a military coup in July 2013 after having served just […]
VOC’s parent body, the Muslim Broadcasting Corporation (MBC), hosted its Annual General Meeting 2016 this past weekend to elect new trust bearers for its Board of Trust (BOT) and management board, who have come to the end of their five year term. The annual general meeting serves as a tool to appraise the overall performance of the station and to map out its vision. “The MBC/VOC has a deep-rooted twenty-one year […]
A suicide bomber has blown himself up inside a Shia mosque in the Afghan capital Kabul, killing at least 27 people, according to the interior ministry. The explosion triggered by a suicide bomber happened in Baqer-ul-uloom mosque in the Darul Aman area. Kabul police chief Abdul Rahman Rahimi told Al Jazeera that several people were also wounded. Police said more deaths were feared. Several police vehicles raced from the scene, […]
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.
