France Bans Veil

The UN Human Rights Committee on Tuesday criticised France's so-called burqa ban, saying the law "violated" the rights of two women who were fined for wearing full-face veils in public.

While France's seaside resorts grapple with the clash of cultures posed by Muslim women in "burkinis", a tourist town in the Austrian Alps has grown used to visitors in Islamic dress tip-toeing over its pristine summer snow.

Burkinis banned on dozens of beaches, no veils in schools, no niqabs in the neighbourhood: in staunchly secular France, the law imposes an array of restrictions on anything denoting religious affiliation.

An angry debate over a ban on burkinis in France was further stoked today as images of a veiled woman surrounded by police on a beach in Nice went viral.

For the past five years, the act of wearing an Islamic full-face veil in France's public spaces has been illegal. This means that if you were a Muslim woman and you wore a niqab or a burqa and walked down the street, you ran the risk of a 150 euros ($167) fine.

The bloody attacks in Paris show that France is a target of choice for jihadists due to its air strikes against the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria, as well as its controversial ban on the burqa face veil and attitude to Muslims, analysts say.

Afghanistan's cosmopolitan new first lady has backed France's controversial ban on the niqab, comparing the full veil to "blinders" as she prepares to campaign for more respect for women in her conservative adopted homeland.

Afghanistan's cosmopolitan new first lady has backed France's controversial ban on the niqab, comparing the full veil to "blinders" as she prepares to campaign for more respect for women in her conservative adopted homeland.

The European Court of Human Rights on Tuesday upheld France's controversial burqa ban, rejecting arguments that outlawing full-face veils breaches religious freedom.

The European Court of Human Rights on Tuesday upheld France's controversial burqa ban, rejecting arguments that outlawing full-face veils breaches religious freedom.

A French court on Wednesday convicted a young woman for wearing a full-face Islamic veil in public and threw out her bid to have the country's controversial burqa ban declared unconstitutional.

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.

A pink and orange all-women's gym has become an unlikely focus of a very French row over Muslim integration, secularism and what some view as blatant populism in the run-up to France's municipal elections.

Interior Minister Manuel Valls defended on Monday France's ban on wearing full-face veils in public places after a police check on a veiled Muslim woman sparked riots in a Paris suburb at the weekend.

France's interior minister said Sunday security forces would remain in place "as long as necessary" after a second night of violence in the Paris suburbs sparked when police stopped a woman for wearing a veil.

The UN Human Rights Committee on Tuesday criticised France's so-called burqa ban, saying the law "violated" the rights of two women who were fined for wearing full-face veils in public.

While France's seaside resorts grapple with the clash of cultures posed by Muslim women in "burkinis", a tourist town in the Austrian Alps has grown used to visitors in Islamic dress tip-toeing over its pristine summer snow.

Burkinis banned on dozens of beaches, no veils in schools, no niqabs in the neighbourhood: in staunchly secular France, the law imposes an array of restrictions on anything denoting religious affiliation.

An angry debate over a ban on burkinis in France was further stoked today as images of a veiled woman surrounded by police on a beach in Nice went viral.

For the past five years, the act of wearing an Islamic full-face veil in France's public spaces has been illegal. This means that if you were a Muslim woman and you wore a niqab or a burqa and walked down the street, you ran the risk of a 150 euros ($167) fine.

The bloody attacks in Paris show that France is a target of choice for jihadists due to its air strikes against the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria, as well as its controversial ban on the burqa face veil and attitude to Muslims, analysts say.

Afghanistan's cosmopolitan new first lady has backed France's controversial ban on the niqab, comparing the full veil to "blinders" as she prepares to campaign for more respect for women in her conservative adopted homeland.

Afghanistan's cosmopolitan new first lady has backed France's controversial ban on the niqab, comparing the full veil to "blinders" as she prepares to campaign for more respect for women in her conservative adopted homeland.

The European Court of Human Rights on Tuesday upheld France's controversial burqa ban, rejecting arguments that outlawing full-face veils breaches religious freedom.

The European Court of Human Rights on Tuesday upheld France's controversial burqa ban, rejecting arguments that outlawing full-face veils breaches religious freedom.

A French court on Wednesday convicted a young woman for wearing a full-face Islamic veil in public and threw out her bid to have the country's controversial burqa ban declared unconstitutional.

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.

A pink and orange all-women's gym has become an unlikely focus of a very French row over Muslim integration, secularism and what some view as blatant populism in the run-up to France's municipal elections.

Interior Minister Manuel Valls defended on Monday France's ban on wearing full-face veils in public places after a police check on a veiled Muslim woman sparked riots in a Paris suburb at the weekend.

France's interior minister said Sunday security forces would remain in place "as long as necessary" after a second night of violence in the Paris suburbs sparked when police stopped a woman for wearing a veil.