- Quebec Premier Jean Charest has introduced legislation that would forbid Muslim women from giving or receiving public services while wearing a niqab, or a face-covering veil. Charest said that wearing other religious symbols, like a head-covering veil or a cross, would be allowed, but a concealed face is inappropriate. Critics, however, say the proposed ban is racially and religiously discriminatory. [Toronto Star]
- Police in London issued their first warning to a male employee at Heathrow over the airport’s X-ray security scanner. They issued a harassment warning to a 25-year-old male who made a crude remark about a colleague’s breasts when she walked through the scanner. [AFP]
- President Obama is allegedly trying to tackle an image problem — that his administration is a “boys’ club” that makes women feel excluded. Late last year, he invited the highest-ranking women on his staff to dinner at the White House to ask their opinions personally. The “boys club” criticism gained traction last year after Obama hosted several basketball and golf games with all- or mostly-male groups of staff. One senior official, who was at the dinner, told the AP that the women said they felt the men who were hanging out with Obama in less formal settings had more access to him. [AP]
