Keyword: burkini ban

City of Nice is latest resort to lift controversial ban on burkinis in line with a national court ruling but two beaches in Corsica still prohibit them.

Alain Juppé, the leading contender for conservative Les Républicains party primaries, launched his campaign Saturday with a meeting in which he proposed a more conciliatory tone towards French Muslims.  

France's Council of State has overturned a so-called “burkini ban” in the Riviera town of Villeneuve-Loubet, close to Nice, ruling it to be a “grave and manifestly illegal violation of fundamental rights”. The ruling now appears set to annul similar controversial bans imposed by about 30 other mostly conservative municipalities, including Cannes and Nice, where the vague wording of the terms of the prohibitions have even allowed for beach police to evict Muslim women wearing headscarves. Carine Fouteau details the ruling on Friday which several mayors have said they will ignore.

The Council of State ruling, which concerned one town but which will apply to all others applying the ban, said the prohibition was a 'grave and manifestly illegal violation of fundamental rights'.  

Photos of a Muslim woman surrounded by police and stripping off her shawl have prompted protests from French Council of the Muslim Faith.