Face It: Court Approves Full Veil at Cairo U

Women at the American University in Cairo cannot be barred from wearing the traditional Islamic veil covering the entire face, or niqab, a court has ruled after a lengthy battle, reports the BBC. While some hailed the ruling as a blow for religious freedom, others blasted it as a dangerous drift toward Islamic extremism. 

The university had banned the veil for security reasons, while still permitting students to wear the traditional head scarf. A High Administrative Court panel upheld a 2001 ruling that  wearing the veil was a matter of personal and religious freedom protected by law. Women, however, may still be asked to show their faces to campus security guards. (More Islamic veil stories.)