Niqāb

It is also considering a more general ban on state employees wearing the headscarf and other religious symbols.
The measures are seen as an attempt to counter the rise of the far-right Freedom Party, whose candidate narrowly lost last month’s presidential vote.
The centrist coalition nearly collapsed last week amid crisis negotiations over the government’s future direction.

Austria is planning to introduce a ban on burkas. The full covering of the face will now be illegal at public places like state and municipal institutions, reported Nova TV.

The ban will be in force not only for burkas but also for niqabs which leave a slit for the eyes.

Garments which cover the entire body but not the face will not be banned.

Morocco has banned the production and sale of burqa full-face Muslim veils, apparently for security reasons, media reports said Tuesday. “We have taken the step of completely banning the import, manufacture and marketing of this garment in all the cities and towns of the kingdom,” the Le360 news site quoted a high-ranking interior ministry official as saying.

The Dutch cabinet has approved a proposal for a partial ban on Islamic veils in public areas such as schools and hospitals as well as on public transportation. This ban will make it the third country in Europe to prohibit the burqa.

A ban on the use of veils covering most of the face is also to be considered in Plovdiv, Bulgaria's second largest city.

A proposal has been submitted by municipal councilors from the nationalist Patriotic Front coalition, Darik Radio reports citing Aleksandar Sidi from VMRO, which is one of PF's two main parties.

Hasna Ait Boulahcen, aged 26, detonated her explosive vest at Saint Denis on Wednesday, going down in history as the first female suicide terrorist operating in Europe. A video, obtained by the ABC, appears to have been shot from the building across the street where the explosion took place.

A Turkish man detained as a suspected would-be suicide bomber in northern Turkey was actually wearing a burqa to disguise himself to meet a secret lover from a dating site, local media reported Nov. 8.

Canadian opposition leaders accused Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper of playing divisive politics on Sept. 24 in a French-language debate ahead of next month's election.

Harper has been promoting a law to ban the practice of Muslim women wearing face veils while swearing the oath of citizenship. The anti-niqab law is popular in Quebec.

Turkish citizens are now allowed to pose wearing a fez or a niqab in photographs officializing their wedding, due to a new change in marriage regulations.

The most hotly debated issue in an amended article that passed into law on Feb. 10 is the new stipulation that couples would not have to acquire a "license to marry" before they can wed.

U.S. President Barack Obama visited Saudi Arabia last Tuesday, to pay respect to the late Saudi King Abdullah. His wife, first lady Michelle Obama, was also on the trip, and one particular feature initiated controversy on the Internet: She was not veiled! In fact, her dress was quite modest by Western standards, but she was not covering her hair.