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![Court backs French abaya Muslim dress ban in schools](https://www.lepaysdefrance.fr/media/shared/articles/g0/32/63/Court-backs-French-abaya-Muslim-dre-141140_small.jpg)
Court backs French abaya Muslim dress ban in schools
France's top administrative court on Thursday upheld a government ban on traditional over-garments worn by some Muslim women in schools and rejected complaints it was discriminatory and could incite hatred.
![French schools refuse dozens of girls wearing Muslim robe](https://www.lepaysdefrance.fr/media/shared/articles/bb/0f/85/French-schools-refuse-dozens-of-gir-949234_small.jpg)
French schools refuse dozens of girls wearing Muslim robe
French schools sent dozens of girls home for refusing to remove their abayas -- an over-garment from the shoulders to the feet worn by Muslim women -- on the first day of the school year, a government minister said Tuesday.
![France imposes abaya ban on first day of school](https://www.lepaysdefrance.fr/media/shared/articles/a6/3b/80/France-imposes-abaya-ban-on-first-d-928966_small.jpg)
France imposes abaya ban on first day of school
French authorities were on Monday imposing a newly-announced ban on the abaya Muslim dress for women in schools, with over 500 establishments under scrutiny as children across the country returned to class.
![Children eager for school in Ukraine after living abroad](https://www.lepaysdefrance.fr/media/shared/articles/g0/61/7c/Children-eager-for-school-in-Ukrain-118619_small.jpg)
Children eager for school in Ukraine after living abroad
Makar and Nadiya Mikhailyuk chatter excitedly as they get ready for their first day back at school in Ukraine, after they and their mother moved back from Poland.
![Belgian university enters new era with Taylor Swift course](https://www.lepaysdefrance.fr/media/shared/articles/f2/dc/29/Belgian-university-enters-new-era-w-321691_small.jpg)
Belgian university enters new era with Taylor Swift course
From "Alice in Wonderland" to "The Great Gatsby", "Rebecca" to "Jane Eyre", the songs of singer-songwriter Taylor Swift are filled with clear and subtle literary references.
![Nicaragua seizes Jesuit university](https://www.lepaysdefrance.fr/media/shared/articles/0d/73/a8/Nicaragua-seizes-Jesuit-university-147464_small.jpg)
Nicaragua seizes Jesuit university
A Jesuit university in Nicaragua said Wednesday it is suspending classes and all other activities after the leftist government announced the seizure of all its assets, accusing the school of terrorism.
![Hezbollah chief in new attack on same-sex relations](https://www.lepaysdefrance.fr/media/shared/articles/78/87/76/Hezbollah-chief-in-new-attack-on-sa-666332_small.jpg)
Hezbollah chief in new attack on same-sex relations
The leader of Lebanon's powerful Hezbollah movement on Saturday stepped up his attacks against the region's long-marginalised LGBTQ community.
![German teachers pushed out for calling out 'far-right' pupils](https://www.lepaysdefrance.fr/media/shared/articles/85/9c/8d/German-teachers-pushed-out-for-call-666124_small.jpg)
German teachers pushed out for calling out 'far-right' pupils
Two teachers have been pressured out of their jobs in a small German town after denouncing the alleged right-wing extremism of their pupils, in a case that sparked a national outcry.
![US First Lady says 'proud' of return to UNESCO](https://www.lepaysdefrance.fr/media/shared/articles/a7/92/7c/US-First-Lady-says--proud--of-retur-542009_small.jpg)
US First Lady says 'proud' of return to UNESCO
US First Lady Jill Biden said on Tuesday she and her husband Joe were proud that their country had rejoined UNESCO, the UN cultural agency Washington had quit during the Trump administration.
![UK Roald Dahl Museum acknowledges author's 'undeniable' racism](https://www.lepaysdefrance.fr/media/shared/articles/55/f6/dd/UK-Roald-Dahl-Museum-acknowledges-a-099640_small.jpg)
UK Roald Dahl Museum acknowledges author's 'undeniable' racism
The Roald Dahl Museum in Britain has detailed work it is undertaking "towards combatting hate and prejudice," it said, acknowledging that the renowned children's writer's racism was "undeniable and indelible".
![Yolanda Diaz, the Communist rallying Spain's left](https://www.lepaysdefrance.fr/media/shared/articles/24/3f/e3/Yolanda-Diaz--the-Communist-rallyin-968669_small.jpg)
Yolanda Diaz, the Communist rallying Spain's left
"Less noise and more talking" is the rallying cry of Spain's popular Labour Minister Yolanda Diaz, who's hoping her straight-talking message of unity will reinvigorate Spain's radical left in Sunday's election.
![In New York, over-enrolled school offers hope to migrant children](https://www.lepaysdefrance.fr/media/shared/articles/33/be/b8/In-New-York--over-enrolled-school-o-300096_small.jpg)
In New York, over-enrolled school offers hope to migrant children
Last year siblings Eliezer, 10, and Elaiza, 12 traveled by bus and foot through eight countries from Venezuela to the United States.
![Dangerous and degrading: pit toilets blight S.Africa schools](https://www.lepaysdefrance.fr/media/shared/articles/5e/82/79/Dangerous-and-degrading--pit-toilet-585864_small.jpg)
Dangerous and degrading: pit toilets blight S.Africa schools
Schools across rural South Africa have perilous and degrading pit latrines -- a heritage of the apartheid era that campaigners say symbolises inequality and government ineptitude.
![56-year-old 'gaokao holdout' fails to make the cut for 27th time](https://www.lepaysdefrance.fr/media/shared/articles/49/c5/f5/56-year-old--gaokao-holdout--fails--346473_small.jpg)
56-year-old 'gaokao holdout' fails to make the cut for 27th time
After failing to achieve a high enough score on China's dreaded college entry exam for the 27th time, 56-year-old Liang Shi is beginning to wonder if he will ever make it to his dream university.
![US school test scores haven't recovered since pandemic](https://www.lepaysdefrance.fr/media/shared/articles/20/2a/ae/US-school-test-scores-haven-t-recov-337164_small.jpg)
US school test scores haven't recovered since pandemic
American 13-year-olds continue to struggle academically in the wake of the pandemic, especially in mathematics, according to official data out Wednesday.
![Abaya controversy tests French schools' secular limits](https://www.lepaysdefrance.fr/media/shared/articles/66/84/e0/Abaya-controversy-tests-French-scho-476972_small.jpg)
Abaya controversy tests French schools' secular limits
A reported increase in Muslim girls wearing the abaya dress at French schools has triggered a debate about their violation of the country's sacrosanct commitment to secularism in education.
![Ugandans bury more victims of horrific school massacre](https://www.lepaysdefrance.fr/media/shared/articles/45/84/6f/Ugandans-bury-more-victims-of-horri-777811_small.jpg)
Ugandans bury more victims of horrific school massacre
Grief-stricken Ugandans were on Monday burying more victims of last week's horrific school attack in the remote west of the country blamed on a notorious militia based in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo.
![Harvard morgue manager charged with selling stolen body parts](https://www.lepaysdefrance.fr/media/shared/articles/40/66/bc/Harvard-morgue-manager-charged-with-977111_small.jpg)
Harvard morgue manager charged with selling stolen body parts
The morgue manager at America's prestigious Harvard Medical School allegedly took dead body parts from his workplace without permission and then sold them, US prosecutors said Wednesday.
![Homework will 'never be the same' says ChatGPT founder](https://www.lepaysdefrance.fr/media/shared/articles/0c/a5/df/Homework-will--never-be-the-same--s-996659_small.jpg)
Homework will 'never be the same' says ChatGPT founder
Artificial intelligence tools will revolutionise education like calculators did, but will not supplant learning, ChatGPT's founder Sam Altman told students in Tokyo on Monday, defending the new technology.
![UNICEF 'concerned' by reports of Taliban ban on foreign school NGOs](https://www.lepaysdefrance.fr/media/shared/articles/7e/90/cc/UNICEF--concerned--by-reports-of-Ta-826181_small.jpg)
UNICEF 'concerned' by reports of Taliban ban on foreign school NGOs
The Taliban government may have banned international NGOs from offering education to out-of-school Afghan children, UNICEF said Thursday, putting the teaching of half a million boys and girls at risk.
![Millions of Chinese students sit gruelling college entrance exams](https://www.lepaysdefrance.fr/media/shared/articles/0c/0a/fd/Millions-of-Chinese-students-sit-gr-666622_small.jpg)
Millions of Chinese students sit gruelling college entrance exams
Millions of Chinese students sit for notoriously tough college entrance exams on Wednesday, the first since the country lifted zero-Covid rules that forced classes online for months on end.
![Self-made millionaire sits China's university exams for 27th time](https://www.lepaysdefrance.fr/media/shared/articles/49/c5/f5/Self-made-millionaire-sits-China-s--046160_small.jpg)
Self-made millionaire sits China's university exams for 27th time
Among the millions of fresh-faced high schoolers sitting China's dreaded "gaokao" college entrance exam on Wednesday, Liang Shi sticks out like a sore thumb -- a grey-haired, self-made millionaire stubbornly taking the test for the 27th time.
![Spell it out: Paris' Champs-Elysees hosts mass 'dictation'](https://www.lepaysdefrance.fr/media/shared/articles/ef/e6/09/Spell-it-out--Paris--Champs-Elysees-169858_small.jpg)
Spell it out: Paris' Champs-Elysees hosts mass 'dictation'
Not to be outdone by US-style spelling bee extravaganzas, Paris's most famous street the Champs-Elysees was transformed into an open-air mass "dictation" spellathon Sunday, pitting thousands of France's brainiest bookworms against one another.
![Students given community service over fatal hazing](https://www.lepaysdefrance.fr/media/shared/articles/c3/6d/a5/Students-given-community-service-ov-400417_small.jpg)
Students given community service over fatal hazing
A Belgian court on Friday sentenced 18 members of a college fraternity to community service over the death of a black student during a two-day hazing ritual in 2018.
![Florida school curbs access to poem read at Biden inauguration](https://www.lepaysdefrance.fr/media/shared/articles/d1/47/e7/Florida-school-curbs-access-to-poem-954648_small.jpg)
Florida school curbs access to poem read at Biden inauguration
A Florida school has restricted access for students to the poem "The Hill We Climb," read at President Joe Biden's inauguration before a live audience of nearly 34 million people, the poet says.
![Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan acquitted in Swiss rape trial](https://www.lepaysdefrance.fr/media/shared/articles/ee/3b/b6/Islamic-scholar-Tariq-Ramadan-acqui-644851_small.jpg)
Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan acquitted in Swiss rape trial
A Swiss court on Wednesday acquitted Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan on charges of rape and sexual coercion, finding no evidence against the former Oxford University professor.
![Pupil started deadly Guyana dorm fire over confiscated phone: source](https://www.lepaysdefrance.fr/media/shared/articles/e1/45/4b/Pupil-started-deadly-Guyana-dorm-fi-198586_small.jpg)
Pupil started deadly Guyana dorm fire over confiscated phone: source
The weekend school dormitory blaze that killed 19 minors in central Guyana is believed to have been started by a disgruntled pupil angry at having her mobile phone confiscated, a government source told AFP on Tuesday.
![Defence pleads for Islamic scholar's acquittal at Swiss rape trial](https://www.lepaysdefrance.fr/media/shared/articles/a1/c4/18/Defence-pleads-for-Islamic-scholar--836151_small.jpg)
Defence pleads for Islamic scholar's acquittal at Swiss rape trial
Tariq Ramadan's lawyers pleaded Wednesday for the controversial Islamic scholar to be acquitted on the third and final day of his trial in Geneva on charges of rape and sexual coercion.
![Jack Ma takes up visiting professor post in Japan](https://www.lepaysdefrance.fr/media/shared/articles/81/6e/f2/Jack-Ma-takes-up-visiting-professor-392639_small.jpg)
Jack Ma takes up visiting professor post in Japan
Chinese billionaire Jack Ma on Monday took up a visiting professor position at a Japanese university, another new academic role for the founder of tech giant Alibaba.
![Jack Ma accepts university teaching post in Hong Kong](https://www.lepaysdefrance.fr/media/shared/articles/61/43/fb/Jack-Ma-accepts-university-teaching-808668_small.jpg)
Jack Ma accepts university teaching post in Hong Kong
Jack Ma, founder of Chinese tech giant Alibaba, has been made an honorary professor of business at a top Hong Kong university, the school announced Friday.
![Funny-side up: Comedy booming in French-speaking Canada](https://www.lepaysdefrance.fr/media/shared/articles/41/bd/e4/Funny-side-up--Comedy-booming-in-Fr-930162_small.jpg)
Funny-side up: Comedy booming in French-speaking Canada
Home to a prestigious comedy school, the world's largest annual laughs festival and nightclubs that pack in audiences for dozens of weekly stand-up shows, comedy is serious business in Montreal.
![Teargas and pan bans as Macron faces fresh pension anger](https://www.lepaysdefrance.fr/media/shared/articles/6d/f0/b5/Teargas-and-pan-bans-as-Macron-face-691080_small.jpg)
Teargas and pan bans as Macron faces fresh pension anger
French police fired teargas Thursday in a village in southern France to keep angry protesters away from President Emmanuel Macron, who was the target of chants and heckles for a second day over his unpopular pension reform.