Spiegel had some interesting news today, from Chancellor Gerhard Schröder:

"Wenn eine junge Frau in der Gesellschaft ein Kopftuch tragen möchte, halte ich das für tolerabel. Wenn sie es als Angehörige im öffentlichen Dienst tun möchte, würde ich sagen: Nein, da erwarten wir eine andere Weise, sich anzuziehen."

Why?

"Wer hier lebt und sich integrieren will, der muss sich an die gesetzgeberischen Regeln halten und er muss unsere Sprache lernen."

For those who don't read German, the Chancellor announced on television that women in teaching positions should not wear headscarves, because they are holding public office. Behind this is the idea that if someone wants to live and integrate himself (or herself) into German society, that person must follow the legislated regulations and learn German.
The French have been dealing with the same issue, only in their case, Muslim girls who attend a university and don't want to be expelled cannot wear the traditional head scarf. I find these similar themes interesting, considering the large variance between the church/state relations that French and German history has seen. Of course, their economic and political ties bind them much more closely now.

Those who want to read the article can visit http://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/0,1518,329017,00.html

No, I don't feel like learning how to set up links tonight, because it's almost 10 and I want to catch some of the sleep I missed earlier this weekend.

And yes, this was last night, but my computer must have been as tired as me, because it didn't have the energy to succesfully publish.