burka

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Taliban Just Resurrected a Hard-Line Mandate

Women once more have to wear face-covering burkas in public

(Newser) - Afghanistan's Taliban leadership ordered all Afghan women to wear the all-covering burka in public, the ministry of vice and virtue said Saturday. The move evoked similar restrictions on women during the Taliban's previous hard-line rule between 1996 and 2001. "We want our sisters to live with dignity...

The Woman Looked Like a Man. It Was Their Man

French prosecutor explains how Redoine Faid was apprehended

(Newser) - How do you track down a fugitive who managed to bust his way out of prison with the aid of a helicopter and a grinding machine ? By noticing when a woman has the body of a man, apparently. The BBC reports on how police apprehended Redoine Faid in his...

Boris Johnson's Burka Insults May Cost Him Party Post

Says Muslim women look like bank robbers

(Newser) - Former British foreign secretary Boris Johnson is in hot water—and at risk of losing his status as Conservative Party whip—over his comments about burkas. In a Telegraph op-ed, Johnson argued the face-covering veil shouldn't be banned in Britain as it is in Denmark , but had unkind words...

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...

Trump: I'd Wear a Burka If I Were a Woman

Garment no cause for intervention, he says

(Newser) - Burka-wearers of the world apparently have nothing to fear from a Donald Trump presidency. At a rally before a town hall meeting in New Hampshire on Monday, Trump told supporters that "freeing" Muslim women from the burka isn't a good reason to intervene in the Middle East, Mashable...

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...

Burka-Clad Heckler Booted From Obama Rally

Secret Service probing disturbance at VCU

(Newser) - The Secret Service is investigating a weird disturbance at a President Obama campaign stop over the weekend. Reporters at the Virginia Commonwealth University rally saw a woman wearing a burka adorned with US military pins and carrying what appeared to be a Koran hauled out of the rally by police...

MIA's Rider Demands 3 Burka-Clad Women

Oh, and she needs some vodka too, of course

(Newser) - MIA has become quite a hot topic since she flipped the bird at the Super Bowl and the subsequent revelation that her relationship with fiancé and babydaddy Benjamin Bronfman is on the skids. So is it any surprise that the Smoking Gun , which loves to air stars' diva demands, got...

Muslim Hits Nurse for Removing Wife's Burka During Birth

He gets 6 months for slugging French health-care worker

(Newser) - A Muslim man has been sentenced to six months in a French prison for slugging a nurse as she removed his wife's burka during childbirth. Nassim Mimoune, 24, was first ejected from the delivery room at a Marseille hospital after he accused the health-care worker of "rape" during...

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...

Saudi Women Can Be Told to Cover 'Tempting' Eyes

Sharia law executive arm makes announcement after fight

(Newser) - Saudi women can already be forced to cover their bodies, hair, and most of their face—now they may be forced to cover even their eyes. According to a report on news site Bikyamasr picked up by USA Today , women whose eyes are deemed “tempting” or sexy can be...

In Prep for US Embassy Siege, Militants Wore Burkas

Siege is over, nearly 21 hours after it began

(Newser) - This morning—almost 21 hours after the attack on the US embassy and other buildings in Kabul began—the last of the six attackers have been killed and the area is locked down. But questions are being raised about why it took so long to secure the high-rise building used...

Teens Busted for Spraying Burka on Busty Angel

Lynx ad is a 'sin,' argue London pair

(Newser) - Two Muslim teenagers have been busted for spraying black burkas on images of hot women in ads. They told a judge in their recent London court appearance that it's a "sin" for women to dress provocatively, and that they were "just trying to do good," reports...

Australia May Make Muslim Women Lift Veils

Law would require they do so if police ask them to

(Newser) - Muslim women would have to remove veils and show their faces to police on request or risk a prison sentence under proposed new laws in Australia's most populous state, New South Wales. Under the law, a woman who defies police by refusing to remove her face veil could be...

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...

The Trouble With Veils: How to Play Sports

Activist urges Olympic ban of Saudis until nation allows women to compete

(Newser) - Head-to-toe Muslim veils like burkas and abayas make exercise difficult. But an even bigger obstacle is nations that see exercise for women as immodest and even illegal. Physical activity is forbidden in Saudi Arabia’s state-run girls’ schools, notes the New York Times . But debate over the issue has been...

'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...

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