French naval forces have seized thousands of assault rifles and other arms in the Gulf of Oman originating in Iran, in the latest Iranian arms shipment to be intercepted on its way to Tehran's Houthi allies in Yemen. The seizure, which took place on 15 January, was described by the United States' Central Command (CENTCOM) in a statement and Twitter post as occurring "along routes historically used to traffic weapons […]
INTERNATIONAL A French cartoon has caused outrage on social media for its "racist and Islamophobic" portrayal of the Qatar national football team ahead of the World Cup set to kick off in Doha later this month. Published last month by the French newspaper Le Canard enchaîné, the caricature uses stereotypical depictions of Arab men as long-bearded, angry, masked and carrying all kinds of weapons from machetes and guns to rocket launchers. A player with the famous number […]
French-Palestinian human rights defender, Salah Hamouri, yesterday filed a complaint in France against notorious Israeli spyware maker Pegasus for spying on his mobile phone, Amnesty International revealed. Hamouri filed the complaint together with the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the Human Rights League (LDH). In the complaint, Hamouri and the rights groups accuse Pegasus of "illegally infiltrating" Hamouri's phone, stating that "the violation was initiated in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and continued on […]
President Emmanuel Macron has unveiled a plan to defend France’s secular values against what he termed as “Islamist radicalism”, saying the religion was “in crisis” all over the world, prompting a backlash from Muslim activists. In a long-awaited address on Friday, Macron insisted “no concessions” would be made in a new drive to push religion out of education and the public sector in France. “Islam is a religion that is […]
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.
