burka ban

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Denmark Bans Full-Face Coverings in Public Places
Denmark Passes 'Burka Ban'

Denmark Passes 'Burka Ban'

Critics say the new law will force Muslim women indoors

(Newser) - Denmark’s center-right governing coalition has passed a law banning full-face veils in public places, starting Aug. 1, reports NPR . The ban makes it illegal for Muslim women to wear a burka (a head-to-toe garment) or a niqab (a face covering) in public. Justice Minister Soren Pape Poulsen has said...

Quebec Passes North America's 1st 'Burka Ban'

'It will just block me from the rest of the world,' says 21-year-old niqab-wearer

(Newser) - North America appears to have its first "burka ban," the Guardian reports. Quebec's National Assembly passed Bill 62 on Wednesday, and while the law banning facial coverings doesn't specifically mention burqas or niqabs, those have certainly been the main point of debate, according to Reuters . CBC...

Anti-Muslim Senator Wears Burka in Aussie Parliament

Other lawmakers slammed Pauline Hanson's stunt

(Newser) - An Australian senator provoked an angry backlash from lawmakers by wearing a burka in Parliament on Thursday as part of her campaign for a national ban on Islamic face coverings. Pauline Hanson, leader of the anti-Muslim, anti-immigration One Nation minor party, sat wearing the black head-to-ankle garment for more than...

Austria Cracks Down on Full-Face Veils

Refugees, some immigrants may also be made to sign 'integration contracts'

(Newser) - Face-covering veils are set to be banned in public places in Austria, per the country's ruling coalition, with a more widespread ban of all headscarves and religious symbols worn by state employees possible down the road, the BBC reports. The ban on niqabs (veils that cover all of the...

Egypt Teacher Cut Hair of Girls Without Headscarves

Science teacher fired after dad complains

(Newser) - An Egyptian science teacher has been fired after she cut the hair of two 12-year-old girls in her classroom for not wearing Islamic headscarves. The father of one of the girls filed a complaint with a local prosecutor earlier this month, and a women's group argued that it was...

Canada Bans Veils at Citizenship Ceremonies

Oath 'must be taken freely and openly,' minister says

(Newser) - Authorities in Canada have decided that anybody taking the country's citizenship oath must show their face to do so. A rule introduced yesterday requires women wearing a burka or other face-covering veil to remove it during the ceremony, reports the Toronto Star . "The citizenship oath is a quintessentially...

First French Women Fined for Wearing Veils

Veiled woman running for president of France

(Newser) - Two French women have received the country's first fines for wearing a full-face veil—and they hope the fines will be the first nail in the coffin of the ban. The Muslim women, who were fined more than $100 each after wearing the veils while trying to deliver a...

Burka Ban Begins Today in France
 2 Arrested Under 
 France's Burka Ban 
UPDATED

2 Arrested Under France's Burka Ban

Meanwhile, some women stay home

(Newser) - Hours after France enacted its new burka ban today, two women wearing the full face veils were arrested. Several others who were protesting the new law in front of Paris's Notre Dame cathedral were also arrested after police attempted to break up the unauthorized protest, the Telegraph reports. Women face...

'Princess Hijab' Graffitis Paris Metro

Arresting manipulation ignites debate

(Newser) - While France was debating its burka ban, graffiti artist "Princess Hijab" continued her jolting work covering up women—and men—in Paris metro ads with painted veils. The mysterious artist covers faces and sometimes entire bodies in black. She has dodged easy classification in decidedly elusive interviews, and it's...

Bin Laden Threatens France Over Burka Ban, War

He vows a 'strike by the neck' in audiotape

(Newser) - An audiotape purportedly from terror master Osama bin Laden threatens France with a "strike by the neck" because of its burka ban and participation in the Afghan war. "If you want to tyrannize and think that it is your right to ban free women from wearing the burka,...

Dutch Close to Burka Ban in Right-Wing Party Deal

Immigration would also be cut in half in coalition government pact

(Newser) - The usually über-tolerant Dutch will likely soon make the Netherlands the latest European nation to ban the burka. The ban—as well as a deal to cut immigration in half—is part of a pact to form a new minority coalition government that will include the right-wing Party for...

French Senate Bans Islamic Veils in Public

Measure still faces review by nation's constitutional judges

(Newser) - The French Senate voted near-unanimously to ban wearing burka-style Islamic veils in public today, the BBC reports. The measure must still past muster with the country's Constitutional Council, but unless those judges raise objections, it will become law in 6 months. The Senate confirmed the measure by a vote of...

Spain Latest to Mull Burka Ban
 Spain Latest to Mull Burka Ban 

Spain Latest to Mull Burka Ban

Garment called 'hardly compatible with human dignity'

(Newser) - Spanish lawmakers will debate barring burkas in public, joining other European countries considering similar moves on the grounds that the body-covering garments are degrading to women. Top officials of the ruling Socialist Party have indicated they will support the proposal by the opposition Popular Party, making a ban likely unless...

'Give Me the Freedom to Cover My Face'
 'Give Me the Freedom 
 to Cover My Face' 
LONDONER PLEADS:

'Give Me the Freedom to Cover My Face'

'Bans as oppressive as Islam demands'

(Newser) - A suffocating Islamic abaya at first triggered tears of "rage and shame" from Londoner Nesrine Malik, humiliated by the oppressively "cumbersome" and "sexist" garb she was ordered by her parents to wear in Saudi Arabia. But the face-covering clothing has since become a "comfort and delight,...

French Tycoon Vows $1M to Pay Burka Fines

Goal is to render the new law useless

(Newser) - A French tycoon enraged by his country's 'Burka ban ' plans to set up a $1 million fund to help Muslim women fined for wearing the burka or niqab on the street. Rachid Nekkaz, a real estate magnate of Algerian origin, considers the ban "anti-constitutional" and has personally pledged...

French Assembly Votes to Ban Burka
French Assembly Votes
to Ban Burka

French Assembly Votes to Ban Burka

European nations lining up in crackdown

(Newser) - The French National Assembly has voted nearly unanimously to ban the burka in public, and the Senate is expected to do the same in a matter of weeks. France will likely become the second European nation after Belgium to crack down on the Islamic garb. Similar bills are also pending...

Veil Ripped off in French 'Burka Rage'

Women come to blows in clothing store

(Newser) - The first known case of "Burka rage" has erupted in France where a furious female lawyer ripped the veil from a Muslim woman in a clothing store in the town of Trignac. The lawyer made "snide remarks" about the other shopper's burka and said she couldn't wait until...

Muslim Woman Fined $650 for Wearing Veil

Penalty believed first in Italy

(Newser) - A Tunisian immigrant has become the first woman in Italy fined for wearing a veil. The 26-year-old woman was stopped by police at a post office in the city of Norova—a stronghold of the anti-immigration Northern League party—and told she was in violation of a local bylaw barring...

Belgium Passes Burka Ban

 Belgium Passes Burka Ban 

Belgium Passes Burka Ban

Bill, which bans any kind of face covering, passes unopposed

(Newser) - Belgium's lower house of parliament today voted virtually unanimously in favor of a law aimed at banning burkas in public public places. The bill passed with 134 in favor, two abstaining, and none opposing. It moves now to the Senate, where it is expected to pass, but not before its...

Belgium Votes Today to Ban Muslim Veils

French may soon have similar law

(Newser) - Belgium is expected today to become the first nation to ban face-covering Muslim veils in public. Supporters of the bill say they're motivated by concerns about security as well as taking action to protect women's rights. "We think all people in public must show their face," Belgium lawmaker...

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