“Women In Niqab Are Effectively Under House Arrest”

Angelique Chrisafis checks in on the French burqa ban: 

There have been instances of people in the street taking the law into their hands and trying to rip off full-face veils, of bus drivers refusing to carry women in niqab or of shop-owners trying to bar entry. A few women have taken to wearing bird-flu-style medical masks to keep their face covered.