Excerpt:
The House of Representatives has voted against banning burkas worn by Muslim women from public spaces in Switzerland, sounding the death knell for an initiative put forward by the canton of Aargau several years ago.
Following a March Senate vote with the same result, the house decided by 93 votes to 87 that the initiative would not go through.
Speaking for the majority, centre-right Radical Party parliamentarian Hugues Hiltpold said banning the burka would be excessive and would encourage tourists from Muslim countries to have negative opinions of the country.