WORLD IN BRIEF : IRAN : Improper Dress May Get Women Fired

The head of Iran’s judiciary urged government officials to fire female staff who flout the Islamic dress code at work. “Ministers, directors and heads of government offices are duty-bound to ensure that ladies working for them keep an Islamic appearance,” Ayatollah Mohammed Yazdi said in a mass prayer sermon broadcast on Tehran Radio. “Women can work, but provided that they abide by Islamic norms. Officials must treat this seriously. If a lady cannot adapt herself a decade after the revolution, she can go and be replaced by another,” he said to approving chants of “Allahu Akbar” (God is great).