A women wearing a hijab in Paris. In 2004, French authorities banned schoolchildren from wearing 'signs or outfits' which show a religious affiliation. Reuters
A women wearing a hijab in Paris. In 2004, French authorities banned schoolchildren from wearing 'signs or outfits' which show a religious affiliation. Reuters
A women wearing a hijab in Paris. In 2004, French authorities banned schoolchildren from wearing 'signs or outfits' which show a religious affiliation. Reuters
A women wearing a hijab in Paris. In 2004, French authorities banned schoolchildren from wearing 'signs or outfits' which show a religious affiliation. Reuters

French politicians back school head who quit in veil row


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French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal on Wednesday defended secularism in the country after the resignation of a Paris school principal who received death threats after asking an adult Muslim student to remove her veil on the premises.

The state will also file a complaint against the student over falsely accusing the headmaster of mistreatment during the incident in late February, said Mr Attal, a former education minister.

“The state … will always stand with these officials, those who are on the front line faced with these breaches of secularism, these attempts of Islamist entryism in our education establishments,” he told TF1 TV channel.

According to Le Monde, the Education Ministry released a statement saying it would “never” abandon teachers in the face of “threats”, adding that the principal's decision to leave his post was “understandable given the seriousness of the attacks against him”.

Secularism and religion are hot-button issues in France, which is home to Europe's largest Muslim community.

In 2004, authorities banned schoolchildren from wearing “signs or outfits by which students ostensibly show a religious affiliation” such as headscarves, turbans or kippas on the basis that the country's secular laws are meant to guarantee neutrality in state institutions.

The government last year said it was also banning the abaya – a garment worn by Muslim women that covers the body from the neck to the feet – in schools.

The headmaster's departure comes amid deep tension in the country after incidents including the killing of a teacher by an Islamist former pupil last year.

The principal at the Maurice Ravel lycee in eastern Paris quit after receiving death threats online following an altercation with a student last month, officials told AFP on Tuesday.

On February 28, he had asked three students to remove their headscarves on school premises, but one of them – an adult who was at the school for vocational training – refused and an altercation ensued, according to prosecutors.

In a message to the school's staff, quoted by French communist daily L'Humanite, the principal said he had made the decision to leave for his “safety and that of the school”.

Education officials said he had taken “early retirement”.

Mr Attal said the headmaster had been due to retire in June, and decided to leave a little earlier.

The student lodged a complaint against the principal, accusing him of mistreating her during the incident.

She told French daily Le Parisien that she had been “hit hard on the arm” by the headmaster.

But the Paris prosecutor's office on Wednesday told AFP that her complaint had been dismissed.

An investigation has been opened into cyber harassment after the death threats against the headmaster.

Politicians from across the spectrum on Wednesday said they were shocked by the resignation.

“It's a disgrace,” Bruno Retailleau, the head of the right-wing Republicans faction in the Senate upper house, said on X.

Boris Vallaud, the head of the Socialist deputies in the National Assembly lower house, told television broadcaster France 2 the incident was “a collective failure”.

Marion Marechal, the granddaughter of far-right patriarch Jean-Marie Le Pen and a far-right politician herself, spoke on Sud Radio of a “defeat of the state”.

Maud Bregeon, a politician with President Emmanuel Macron's Renaissance party, also took aim at “an Islamist movement”.

“Authority lies with school heads and teachers, and we have a duty to support this educational community,” Ms Bregeon said.

Socialist Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo called the principal to “assure him of her total support and solidarity”, said her office, adding she was “appalled and dismayed”.

Education Minister Nicole Belloubet visited the school in early March and deplored the “unacceptable attacks”.

A 26-year-old man has been arrested for making death threats against the principal on the internet. He is due to stand trial in April.

The uproar comes as dozens of French schools have received attack threats in recent weeks.

Mr Attal has pledged to “hunt down” those responsible for sending them.

Two brothers aged 17 and 19 were arrested on Thursday in a western Paris suburb as part of an investigation into terrorist threats against 130 secondary schools, media network BFM TV reported.

One of the messages said: “I have decided with my Islamic State brothers to explode everything.”

About 50 schools in Paris received bomb threats on Wednesday, some including a “very violent video”, education authorities said.

The mayor's office said classes were briefly interrupted for security checks.

Mr Attal pledged to increase security, including near schools, after ISIS claimed responsibility for killing 137 people at a Moscow concert on Friday.

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Company name: SimpliFi

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Some of Darwish's last words

"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008

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4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own

5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed

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Four stars

About Karol Nawrocki

• Supports military aid for Ukraine, unlike other eurosceptic leaders, but he will oppose its membership in western alliances.

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• Met Donald Trump at the White House and received his backing.

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Stars: Vahid Mobasseri, Mariam Afshari, Ebrahim Azizi, Hadis Pakbaten, Majid Panahi, Mohamad Ali Elyasmehr

Rating: 4/5

AUSTRALIA SQUAD

Steve Smith (capt), David Warner, Cameron Bancroft, Jackson Bird, Pat Cummins, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Shaun Marsh, Tim Paine, Chadd Sayers, Mitchell Starc.

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Electoral College Victory

Trump has so far secured 295 Electoral College votes, according to the Associated Press, exceeding the 270 needed to win. Only Nevada and Arizona remain to be called, and both swing states are leaning Republican. Trump swept all five remaining swing states, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, sealing his path to victory and giving him a strong mandate. 

 

Popular Vote Tally

The count is ongoing, but Trump currently leads with nearly 51 per cent of the popular vote to Harris’s 47.6 per cent. Trump has over 72.2 million votes, while Harris trails with approximately 67.4 million.

Sole survivors
  • Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
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The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.


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Hometown: Cologne, Germany

Family: Wife Hanan Ahmed and their three children, Marrah (23), Tibijan (19), Amon (13)

Favourite dessert: Umm Ali with dark camel milk chocolate flakes

Favourite hobby: Football

Breakfast routine: a tall glass of camel milk

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RESULT

Argentina 0 Croatia 3
Croatia: 
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Dust and sand storms compared

Sand storm

  • Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
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How to wear a kandura

Dos

  • Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion 
  • Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
  • Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work 
  • Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester

Don’ts 

  • Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal 
  • Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
The years Ramadan fell in May

1987

1954

1921

1888

Updated: March 28, 2024, 12:51 PM`