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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...