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France's highest administrative court has upheld a ban on full-body "burkini" swimsuits in public pools, rejecting an appeal by the city of Grenoble. Last month, Grenoble authorised all swimwear, including burkinis, sparking a legal battle with the government. Burkinis are worn largely by Muslim women as a way of preserving modesty and upholding their faith. But the court said it could not allow "selective exceptions to the rules to satisfy religious demands". The dispute went all the way to the Council of State after a local court in Grenoble suspended the ban on the grounds that it seriously undermined the...

France's highest administrative court has upheld a ban on full-body "burkini" swimsuits in public pools, rejecting an appeal by the city of Grenoble. Last month, Grenoble authorised all swimwear, including burkinis... But the court said it could not allow "selective exceptions to the rules to satisfy religious demands". France has strict laws on which swimming costumes can be worn and the issue of religious expression in public places is divisive. French opposition to the burkini stretches as far back as 2016, when several local municipalities attempted to outlaw it on beaches for violating the country's strict separation between religion and...

Corsicans are not like Northern Europeans. In fact, although they’re ostensibly French, and speak a French patois (at least I think it’s a French patois — I can’t really understand it at all, unless they say “merde” or something), they’re not like the French, nor even the Italians. Their general cultural characteristics are more Sicilian than anything else. Last Sunday we posted about a confrontation between North African Muslims and Corsican natives on a beach near Sisco. The trouble plainly originated with the culture-enrichers, who attacked the natives with machetes and at least one harpoon, among other weapons. The natives...

For those who don't want a trip to the beach to involve flashing their body, retail giant House of Fraser today unveiled their latest range of burkinis. The new season's launch comes hot on the heels of Marks and Spencer's new full-body swimwear range, which was introduced on their website earlier this month. House of Fraser's legging and tunic sets cover the body from the neck to the ankles - and also come with a separate hijab head covering.

Two Muslim women were ordered out of a swimming pool in France because they were wearing 'burkinis'. They jumped into the water wearing garments that covered their entire bodies, including veils over their heads. The incident came ten days after French MPs voted to outlaw the burka in public places. The new law, which brands the garment 'an insult to the country's values', means women will be fined or jailed for hiding their faces in public. The women at the Rives des Corbieres holiday camp in Port Leucate, southern France, were told the rules stated only swimming costumes may be...

Now schools are told to let Muslim girls wear head-to-toe 'burkinis' for swimming lessonsBy DANIEL BOFFEY - More by this author » Last updated at 22:09pm on 23rd June 2007  Schools have been told they should allow Muslim girls taking swimming lessons to cover themselves from head to toe in special outfits dubbed burkinis. An increasing number of pupils are insisting that conventional swimming costumes are "immodest" and, citing religious grounds, have been refusing to wear them. Now councillors in Ealing, West London, are encouraging local pools to stock the £29 Lycra "burkinis" and instructing local schools to let...

Iran is seeking to create a paradise for female tourists by turning an island on a northwestern lake into male-free zone, the press reported on Wednesday. All public transport, restaurants and facilities on the island -- on the gigantic Oroumiyeh lake close to the Turkish border -- will be staffed only by women, officials said. "The island of Arezou (Wish), one of the 102 islands in the Oroumiyeh Lake, will be equipped especially for women," a municipal official in the West Azerbaijan province, identified only as Aghai, was quoted as saying by the Tehran Emrouz newspaper. "There will be no...