Burqa Debate

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  German Interior Minister Calls For Partial Burqa Ban

  German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere came out today in favour of a partial burqa ban amid a fierce national debate on integration.

• France reaffirms limits on Muslim headscarves, veils

  A French appeals court, ruling in a hotly debated religious rights case, on Wednesday upheld the dismissal of a Muslim daycare worker for wearing a headscarf at a creche that demanded strict neutrality from its employees.

• Veil may be banned in Swedish schools

  Sweden's education minister wants to make it easier for the heads of higher education establishments to ban women wearing face-covering veils at their schools, he said in comments broadcast today."Teaching is communication. It's about being able to look at each other in the eyes and communicate with each other," Jan Bjoerklund told Swedish public r...

• These Allahabad women go to the gym, in a burqa

  It is all about being fit and this universally appealing statement has now inspired some of the Burqa clad women in Allahabad to get into shape. Their trainers are men but that doesn't deter them. Amazingly, the Imam in their area is all for it."We follow our religion, we keep our 'purdah' when we do our workout. Our family doesn't have a problem. ...

• Veil empowers women, says UK minister

  As the debate intensifies across Europe on banning the Islamic full-body veil at public places, a British minister has defended a Muslim woman's right to wear the burqa and says it is empowering. Environment secretary Caroline Spelman said women were "empowered" by the freedom to wear the face coverings. Her comments came after her colleague, immig...

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  French Parliament to debate burqa ban

  A fractured panel of French legislators on Tuesday endorsed the idea of a ban on full facial veils in government offices, public hospitals and mass transit, but Parliament remains deeply divided over the effectiveness and constitutionality of such a law.

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  France inches closer to burqa ban

  After six months of fierce debates on the burqa, a French parliamentary committee has recommended a partial ban on women wearing the burqa.

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  France's burqa debate goes online

  France's ruling party has launched a website to debate the burqa question - complete with a glossary of terms and photographs. Surfers are encouraged to follow the debate.

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  The burqa debate

  There is anger in the Arab world after France's President Nicolas Sarkozy said that the burqa had no place on the soil of France.

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  France debates burqa ban

  The demand for a general ban on burqa has made its way to the French Parliament.