Niqāb

Swiss voters on March 7 narrowly backed a ban on full face coverings in public places - a decision hailed by supporters as a bulwark against radical Islam but branded as discriminatory by opponents.

Official results showed that 51.2 percent of voters, and a clear majority of federal Switzerland's cantons, supported the proposal.

Switzerland will ban the wearing in public of burqas, the full-body covering worn by some Muslim women, and other full-face coverings, after a referendum showed a narrow majority in favour of it.

According to the final count on Sunday evening, 51.21 per cent of voters were in favour of the ban.

Denmark will join other European countries banning full-face covering, including Islamic veils such as the niqab or burqa.

Jakob Ellemann-Jensen of Denmark’s liberal party that leads a center-right governing coalition says a law proposal was not aimed at any religions or a ban of scarfs, turbans or kippa, the traditional Jewish skull cap.

Denmark looks set to become the next European country to restrict the burqa and the niqab, worn by some Muslim women, after most parties in the Danish parliament backed some sort of ban on facial coverings, reported Reuters. 

A judge has ruled a five-year-old Christian girl housed with Muslim foster carers must go and live with a family member instead. Claims that the girl had been placed with two different Muslim families had led to an outcry and calls for British MPs to hold an inquiry into the case.

A young woman is at the center of a controversy about clothing in Saudi Arabia, after she posted videos of herself in one of the nation’s most conservative provinces wearing a short skirt and a cropped top.
Saudi outlets report that local officials are demanding an investigation, with social media users saying the unidentified women should face arrest.

The European Court of Human Rights on Tuesday upheld a Belgian ban on wearing the full-face niqab veil in public, AFP reported.

The court ruled that the restriction sought to guarantee social cohesion, the "protection of the rights and freedoms of others" and that it was "necessary in a democratic society", a statement said.

The Norwegian government on Monday proposed a bill to ban the full-face Muslim veil in all schools, from nurseries to universities, saying it hinders communication between students and teachers.

An overjoyed woman was seen celebrating as she removed her face veil, stomped on it and set it alight after her village was reportedly liberated from the Islamic State.
In a video of the moment, the woman, who is not identified, cheered and screamed as she removed her niqab as other women and children – also wearing gleaming smiles – looked on.

France’s Marine Le Pen is on a two-day tour of Lebanon. It was scheduled to meet Lebanon’s Grand Mufti Tuesday, but she refused to wear a headscarf, something that lead to the canceling of the meeting.