Paris : “A violation of basic freedoms.” The French Council of State reconsiders the abaya ban

The first session of the French Council of State will be held on Tuesday to consider a complaint submitted by a human rights association claiming that fundamental freedoms were violated through the decision to ban the abaya in French schools.

It seems that the controversial decision to ban wearing the abaya in French schools will not be able to last much longer, a day after its implementation, in light of the tensions it has caused and the escalation of anti-government sentiment.

Local media announced that the French Council of State, the highest administrative court in the country, will hold its first session on Tuesday to reconsider the decision, in response to a complaint filed by the EDM Association, which defends the rights of Muslims in France, against the government. President Emmanuel Macron.

The association accuses the government of "violating basic freedoms."

On the first day of the school year, Education Minister Gabriel Attal indicated that they had identified 298 female students who came to school wearing the abaya, according to his statements to BFM.

The French Minister confirmed that more than half of the female students took off the abaya after being alerted to the new law.

In response to the new law, teachers at the "Maurice Utrillo" high school in the capital, Paris, announced their strike, starting tomorrow, Wednesday.

The teachers affirmed their refusal to "mark" the students who wear the abaya or the like, and also their refusal to monitor the students' uniforms while entering the school.

The teachers called on the parents of all students to gather in front of the school to protest the ban.

It should be noted that France banned the wearing of the hijab in schools and public institutions for the first time in 1989.

In October 1989, 3 female students (two Moroccans and an Algerian) were expelled in the preparatory stage for refusing to remove the veil at school, so that the incident was included in the country's political dictionary as "Cray for the Hijab Issues" relative to the town in which the school is located in a suburb of Paris.

On November 27 of the same year, the Supreme Administrative Court decided that students carrying or wearing symbols that reveal their religious affiliation "does not violate secularism."

With the issue of the veil remaining controversial in the country for many years, a decision was issued in 2004 to ban the wearing of religious symbols in public schools.

In 2010, France banned wearing clothing that completely covers the face, such as the burqa and niqab, in public places.

Greece : Days after forest fires, heavy rains hit central and western Greece, killing a citizen

Storm Danielle struck western and central Greece since Monday, after which torrents and floods formed that swept away citizens' homes and farms. The storm came days after the forest fires that Greece was exposed to.

A Greek government spokesman confirmed on Tuesday that a Greek citizen was killed as a result of Storm Danielle, which struck western and central Greece, and led to heavy rainfall, torrential rains, and floods.

Government spokesman Yannis Artobius told the official Ert channel that “thunderstorms and heavy rain fell on Tuesday, especially on Volos, the center of the Magnesia region” in the center, where a man was killed.

The Magnesia region and the neighboring Sporades Islands are in a state of red alert, according to the Civil Defense Service.

The Greek fire department said that the torrential rain water flooded homes and roads.

Precipitation in Volos reached 200 mm and 516 mm in the neighboring town of Zagora, according to the National Meteorological Service, which recommended that residents of the area limit their movements.

Storm Danielle has been sweeping western and central Greece since Monday, as a result of which emergency services received hundreds of distress calls to deal with floods and torrents.

The storm came days after forest fires that broke out in the north of the country were brought under control and raged for more than two weeks, killing 26 people and burning at least 150,000 hectares, according to Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.