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The only exceptions include places of worship and other sacred sites. Face coverings will also be allowed if worn for health and safety reasons, because of the weather and in situations where it is considered a "local custom" to do so, such as at carnivals, according to the text of the proposal published by the Swiss federal government. The referendum on Sunday was the culmination of several years of debates over the issue and comes 12 years after another referendum outlawed the construction of minarets in the country. Two Swiss cantons -- St Gallen and Ticino -- have already introduced...

Geneva residents on Sunday voted for a controversial new "secularism law", which will among other things ban elected officials and public employees from wearing visible religious symbols. Geneva residents on Sunday voted for a controversial new "secularism law", which will among other things ban elected officials and public employees from wearing visible religious symbols. More than 55 percent of voters in the Swiss canton backed the law, final results showed, despite warnings that it could lead to discrimination, particularly against Muslim women. Some critics think it might violate the constitution. Geneva Canton, which for centuries has been a centre of...

Recent months have seen a huge increase in the number of Finnish women converting to Islam and adopting the full face veil. The niqab and hijab are becoming a common sight in Helsinki after a large influx of Muslim migrants entered the country from 2015 onwards. Finland has also seen an increase in violent and sexual crime since this, as well as, drug trafficking. However, many Finnish women are converting ‘in search of spirituality’ and also apparently feel more liberated when wearing the full face veil. The converts also say to be ‘liberated through the Islamic headdress’, which allows them...

A widely-discussed proposal to ban public wearing of face-covering garments including the burqa and niqab is set to be voted on in Denmark’s parliament. Minister of Justice Søren Pape Poulsen, who was scheduled to present the proposal in parliament for a first round of voting on Thursday, said that a passing of the proposal into law would not result in police forcibly removing women’s burqas. Women wearing the burqa in public would be fined or asked to go home, the minister told newspaper Politiken. “If they live nearby, they will be asked to go home,” Poulsen said. A further option...

The case of a Muslim pupil refusing to remove her niqab triggered debate in Lower Saxony. Now a new law may mean that full-face Islamic veils will no longer be allowed in state schools. The state of Lower Saxony is expected to announce a ban on face veils such as burqas and niqabs in schools in August, following a unanimous decision by the state parliament on Thursday to amend current education policies, reports the Branschweiger Zeitung. A niqab covers the whole body except for a slit for the eyes, whereas a burqa fully covers the body including the eyes. The...

Norway became the latest European nation to propose a ban on burqas and niqabs on Monday, with the proposal set to apply to all educational facilities. “Garments that cover the face prevent communication that is key for pupils and students in their learning,” said Education Minister Torbjorn Roe Isaksen. “Norway is an open society where everyone should be able to see each other’s face.” Employees who insist on flouting the ban would lose their jobs while students could face expulsion from their courses. It would include full face veils like the niqab, as well as balaclavas and face masks. …

Norwegian Muslim umbrella organization Islamic Council Norway has been criticized for hiring a woman who wears the full face-covering niqab as a communications officer. Minister for Culture Linda Hofsted Helleland called the move “extremely ill-advised” and members of other parties have also voiced their concern about the appointment. The appointment of 32-year-old Leyla Hasic as an administrative consultant by Islamic Council Norway (Islamsk Råd Norge, IRN) comes soon after the Ministry of Culture (Kulturdepartementet) granted almost half a million kroner ($58 million) to help the organization with initiatives aimed at improving dialogue between Muslim communities and the rest of society,...

Mediaite was able to confirm — through the receipt of a rather fabulous photo — the identity of the drag queen pictured in a photo that has been making the rounds on Twitter since last night. The shot shows the queen in full glam, sitting next to a woman wearing a black niqab, a type of clothing worn by some Muslim women. Gilda Wabbit, the queen in question, said that the attention “this simple picture” is getting has been “interesting.” That the photo is garnering attention is true enough: After it was tweeted by a far-right account alongside the caption...

A ban on all Muslim face veils in public places is part of new measures agreed by Austria’s ruling coalition partners, and is due to be implemented before the next parliamentary vote in 2018. The ban is a part of the ‘integration law’ included in the coalition’s new action plan, which was negotiated by the representatives of the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPO) and the conservative People's Party (OVP), which together form the ruling centrist coalition. The contents of the new governmental program were presented on Monday. The proposed Muslim face veil ban mostly applies to the burka and niqab...

A CONTROVERSIAL mural depicting US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in a skimpy stars and stripes bathing suit has been reimagined as a Muslim women. Maribyrnong Council had requested the artist, Lushsux, remove the “offensive” mural on the side of the Mr Mobility store in Sunshine Rd, West Footscray, within 10 days. But yesterday the Melbourne graffiti artist painted over the mural by covering Ms Clinton’s scantily-clad body with a niqab.

Cologne Mayor Henriette Reker has drawn ridicule online for proposing a "code of conduct" for women to prevent sexual assault, advising them to remain at "an arm's length" from strangers.Her proposed guidelines included sticking to a group of trusted acquaintances, asking for help from others and informing the police....The main charge being made against her online was that Reker was blaming the victims for their behaviour, rather than the attackers themselves.

... Right before the survey began, Harper had called the niqab a product of a culture that is anti-woman, while Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau had given a major speech on liberty in politics. Participants in the survey were asked, “Do you support or oppose a requirement that people show their face during Canadian citizenship ceremonies?” Eighty-two per cent of those surveyed supported the requirement, 15 per cent opposed and four per cent didn’t know or refused to answer. Support was highest in Quebec at 93 per cent and lowest in British Columbia at 72 per cent. Reasons for support were...

Canada’s government has lost an attempt to ban the practice of wearing face veils while swearing the oath of citizenship. Zunera Ishaq is a 29-year-old woman with devout Muslim beliefs. She came to Canada from Pakistan in 2008 and refused to take part in a citizenship ceremony because she would have to remove her niqab. Prime Minister Stephen Harper government’s rule banning face coverings at such ceremonies was earlier found unlawful by the Federal Court. …

Trudeau compared Harper’s view on Muslims and the niqab to the refusal of Canada to accept Jews who had fled Nazi Germany in 1939 What took place in Canada during the last week isn’t exactly Godwin’s Law but it is close. The law postulates that if an online discussion goes on long enough, eventually someone will compare something or someone to Hitler or the Nazis. A couple of federal MPs didn’t disappoint. Last Monday, Liberal leader Justin Trudeau gave a speech on, of all things, liberty. The leader, as progressive always do, went on and on about diversity and inclusion...

Zunera Ishaq, a devout Muslim immigrant from Pakistan, insists that she should be able to take the oath of citizenship while wearing her niqab In these days of identity politics and hyphenated nationalities it’s easy to forget the simple slogan a Canadian beer company has been using for the better part of two decades: “I am Canadian!” And while I’m not much into beer, I’m totally into the slogan because I’m a naturalized citizen and now consider myself very much a Canadian and have wholeheartedly adopted Canadian values. Moreover, I’m sure I have contributed to Canadian values to some small...

The ISIS policing unit in Mosul severely disfigured the faces of 15 Iraqi women by pouring acid on them as a form of punishment after the women were caught without their faces being veiled appropriately, by ISIS standards, last weekend. ISIS' all-female policing unit, the Al Khansa brigade, which polices the streets of the group's Syrian stronghold of Raqqa and Iraqi stronghold of Mosul, reportedly carried out the punishments after the women were detained in the Mosul neighborhood of Salamiya, a kurdish official told media.

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – A Saudi woman arrested while attending a soccer game in the kingdom claims she did not know women were prohibited from going to the male-only stadiums, the state-linked Okaz newspaper reported on Monday. Saudi Arabia enforces a strict segregation of the sexes and has no designated areas for women at soccer stadiums ... Police spokesman Atti al-Qurashi said security spotted her at the stadium "deliberately disguised" in male attire to avoid detection, reported the state-linked news website Twasul. Okaz reported Sunday that police questioned the woman, who is in her twenties, for "impersonating" a man by...

Madonna, no stranger to shock, is at it again, this time posting a picture of herself in a niqab on Instagram Tuesday. In the photo, only the 55-year-old’s piercing blue eyes can be seen through a gold-adorned headscarf. Frequently confused with a burqa, the former only covers the face, while the latter covers the whole body.

One of Britain's biggest colleges on Friday dropped a ban on Muslim face veils after thousands of people signed a petition against the rule. Birmingham Metropolitan College said on Facebook it would change its policy to allow "individuals to wear specific items of personal clothing to reflect their cultural values". The college had earlier said it would require "the removal of hoodies, hats, caps and veils so that faces are visible", a policy that won support from Prime Minister David Cameron. It would in effect have banned the niqab, a face veil worn by some Muslim women which covers everything...

The horror of the sharia and Islamic culture is monstrous enough, but this media cover-up is truly horrible. It's bad enough that mindless followers of a religious culture engage in these atrocious mandates (it's their religion), but for non-believers (with the influence of a big media voice) to cover up for this brutal ideology is pure evil. These reporters are not believers; what's the excuse for their depraved inhumanity? The writer of this Puff Ho piece is one Sara Nelson, who is based in the UK. And if Nelson is not a devout Muslim (who would sanction such savagery) than...