New Dutch ruling coalition to ban burqas

The Christian Democrats, Liberals and Freedom Party of the Netherlands have formed a minority coalition government, and the deal sweetener for the right-wing Freedom Party's inclusion was the imposition of a ban on the burqa and a pledge to halve immigration. The Netherlands has been run by a caretaker government since February, and the lurch to the right by the otherwise tolerant Christian Democrats and Liberals is seen as a move to consolidate power after neither party won enough seats in the June parliamentary elections to form a government. The leader of the Freedom Party, Geert Wilders, is currently on trial for inciting violence against Muslims.  Read more: BBC News and Al Jazeera