Day: October 2, 2016

    French police used tear gas and water cannons in violent clashes with migrants and British activists who attempted to hold a banned rally beside the squalid Jungle camp in Calais. Demonstrators - including many British activists from migrant support groups - said they were expressing solidarity with the migrants. The confrontation, the worst since February, lasted three hours police union official Gilles Debove reported 10 officers were hurt, including one who was hospitalised after activists hurled stones at them. A photographer said he was also slightly injured from the stone-throwing and seven police vehicles were damaged. Tensions mounted in the Jungle, set to be closed by winter, after a demonstration planned Saturday by a group working with migrants was banned by loc...

    Bulgaria has followed France and Belgium by banning face veils in public with a £664 fine for those who repeatedly flout the law. Referring to the burka and the niqab, its parliament approved a law that "bans wearing in public clothing that partially or completely covers the face". There will be a fine of 200 lev (£89), rising to 1,500 lev (£664) for repeated offences. Several towns have already banned the niqab locally. The niqab covers the face except the eyes, while the burka covers the whole face, often incorporating a mesh screen to see through. Bulgaria's Muslim community, which makes up about 13% of the population, dates back centuries to Ottoman times. There has been a small reported rise recently in the number of Roma women wearing the niqab among conservative com...