France says it will not repeal head scarf law
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France will not revoke a law banning Muslim head scarves in public schools despite demands by a militant Islamic group holding two French journalists hostage in Iraq, the government spokesman said Monday.
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France had "taken note" of a U.S. court ruling in the case of former Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega but an official on Sunday declined comment on his possible extradition to Paris after his U.S. prison term ends.
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STRASBOURG, France  - A Muslim schoolgirl bowed to  France's ban on Islamic headscarves in state schools on Friday  by returning to class and removing her veil to reveal a head  shaved bald in protest.
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President Nicolas Sarkozy said he will not offer mass pardons to France's prisoners on Bastille Day, keeping up his law-and-order reputation and breaking with tradition.
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President Jacques Chirac said on Sunday his troops would not be withdrawn from France&#39;s former colony Ivory Coast where expatriots have fled an outbreak of anti-French violence.
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French authorities say at least six Muslim schoolgirls have been expelled this week for defying the country&#39;s new ban on conspicuous religious symbols in the classroom by wearing Islamic headscarves.
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France on Monday vowed not to yield to Islamic militants holding two journalists hostage in Iraq, pledging to implement a ban on headscarves in state schools this week despite threats by the kidnappers.
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France will maintain its ban on Muslim scarves and other signs of religious belief in state schools, ignoring demands by the Iraqi kidnappers of two French reporters, government spokesman Jean-Francois Cope said.
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France does not plan to stop the European Union from opening new policy "chapters" in Turkey's accession talks next month despite President Nicolas Sarkozy's opposition to Turkish membership, an official said on Tuesday.
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The French government has confirmed that the ban on Muslim headscarves will be applied on Thursday when school resumes, despite the kidnapping of two journalists in Iraq.
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PARIS  - France has quietly begun expelling Muslim girls for wearing head scarves to public schools in defiance of a new law banning conspicuous religious symbols, treading carefully for fear of endangering two French hostages in Iraq.
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The French government today refused to bow to the demands of militants who have kidnapped two French journalists in Iraq, insisting that a law banning Muslim headscarves in school would go ahead.
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The French Education Minister, Francois Fillon, said yesterday that up to 120 Muslim girls were still disobeying the government&#39;s ban on wearing headscarves in state schools since the new school year started last week.
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France's state schools grappling with a new law banning Muslim headscarves have started expelling students refusing to put education before their religion.
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The French government Sunday scrambled to develop a response to kidnappers who grabbed two French journalists in Iraq, demanding Paris revoke a law banning Islamic head scarves in public schools. There was no sign France would capitulate.
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French critics and defenders of a ban on Muslim headscarves in schools united in support of the law on Monday, pledging to stand firm against militants holding two French journalists hostage in Iraq who want the law scrapped.
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President Jacques Chirac has vowed to spare no effort to free two French reporters held hostage in Iraq by militants who are reportedly demanding that France overturn its law banning Islamic head scarves in ...