PARIS – France’s top administrative court overturned a ban on burkinis in a Mediterranean town, in a decision Friday that should set legal precedent regarding a swimsuit crackdown that has divided the country and provoked shock around the world.
The ruling by the Council of State Friday specifically concerns a ban on the Muslim garment in the Riviera town of Villeneuve-Loubet, but the binding decision is expected to impact all the 30 or so French resort municipalities that have issued similar decrees.
Lawyers for a human rights group and a Muslim collective challenged the legality of the ban to the top court.
ISTANBUL – Turkey opened one of the world’s largest bridges Friday designed to allow traffic to cross the Bosphorus Strait between Europe and Asia and ease congestion in Istanbul.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan oversaw a ceremony inaugurating the $3 billion Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge, which is touted by its Turko-Italian developers as the world’s broadest suspension bridge at 192 feet wide.
The toll bridge, spanning 4,620 feet, features 10 lanes, including two rail lines. At 1,056 feet, officials say the bridge’s 1,056-foot towers are also the tallest in the world.
It becomes Istanbul’s third bridge spanning the strategic strait.
OSLO, Norway – Philippine communist rebels on Friday agreed to an indefinite cease-fire in peace talks with government officials aimed at ending one of Asia’s longest-running insurgencies.
After a weeklong meeting in Norway, negotiators for the Maoist rebels and the government issued a joint statement pledging to accelerate the peace process for a conflict that has killed tens of thousands since the late 1960s.
The rebels said they would extend indefinitely a unilateral cease-fire that was set to end on Saturday, a move that came in response to President Rodrigo Duterte’s cease-fire which took effect on Aug. 21.
Associated Press
