French court overturns ‘burkini’ ban

France’s top administrative court has overturned a local ban on “burkinis,” the full-body swimsuit worn by some Muslim women that has sparked controversy in the deeply secular nation. The legal battle over the unusual beachwear started earlier this summer when someone allegedly taking photos of a woman in a burkini sparked a brawl in a popular tourist town on the French Riviera. Mayors of seaside towns began banning the garment, claiming it heightened religious tension in the aftermath of a string of terror attacks by Islamic extremists. Although the ruling overturned the ban in only one town, Villeneuve-Loubet, lawyers say the court crafted its decision to apply broadly to the whole country. Banning Muslim attire is nothing new in France, where a woman caught wearing a niqab, a face-covering veil, can be subject to a 150 euro fine.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.