Free Republic

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...

If you're taking a refreshing dip in a pool with four other people, odds are one of you is urinating. This is not gross-out myth, but cold, depressing fact from a recent survey conducted by the Water Quality & Health Council, a scientific research group sponsored by the American Chemistry Council. The survey, conducted in April, asked nearly 1,000 adults whether they urinate in pools. One in five bravely admitted their mistakes. And those are the ones who admitted it.

FALL RIVER (CBS) — There’s another strange twist after a woman’s body was found floating in a public pool in Fall River, possibly going unnoticed for days. The mayor of Fall River says “that health inspectors from the City visited the pool on Monday and on Tuesday and inspected the facilities,” which was during the time that body was believed to be in the water. Marie Joseph was at the pool on Sunday and hadn’t been seen since. It wasn’t until Tuesday night, when some kids broke into the Veteran’s Memorial swimming pool and found Joseph’s body floating in the...