PoliceWomen alloWed to Wear headscarf

ANKARA: Turkey has allowed policewomen on duty to wear the Islamic headscarf, according to the amendments to the dress code published in the official gazette on Saturday. The gazette said women serving in the Turkish national police force will be able to wear a headscarf under their caps or berets from Saturday, as long as the scarf is patternless and the same colour as the uniform, Xinhua news agency reported. For years, the ruling Islamic-oriented Justice and Development Party has been working towards removing the ban on the headscarf. In 2010 Turkey allowed female college students to wear the headscarf on campuses, and lifted the ban for high school students in 2014.

AFrench court on Friday suspended a ban on women wearing full-body “burkini” swimsuits on a Mediterranean town’s beach but the Prime Minister said that the debate was not over, calling the outfit a symbol of a “backwards, deadly Islamism”.

The Council of State’s ruling against the resort of Villeneuve-Loubet is expected to set a precedent for the dozens of French towns that have also laid down such bans.

It said Villeneuve-Loubet’s ban had “seriously infringed, in a manner that was clearly illegal, fundamental liberties such as the freedom to come and go, religious freedom and individual freedom”.

The burkinis did not pose any threat to public order,