The debate in France over whether to restrict women from wearing traditional Muslim garments took a new turn this week with the introduction of a draft bill providing that “nobody, in places open to the public or on streets, may wear an outfit or an accessory whose effect is to hide the face”.  There’s a good piece about this in the Economist: “The War of French Dressing: A plan to ban the wearing of the burqa in public stokes new controversy.”  Here’s another good story from last summer by Stephen Erlanger in the New York Times: “Burqa Furor Scrambles French Politics.”

UPDATE: Another New York Times story, by Mathew Saltmarsh: “French Panel Advises Steps to Ban Muslim Veil.”