New Austrian legislation came into force on Friday that will ban the full-face Islamic veil in public places from October 1. The outlawing of the burqa or other clothing concealing the face follows similar moves in other countries in the European Union, starting with France in 2011. In Austria, people who break the new law could be fined up to €150 ($168), according to the legislation approved by parliament in May and signed into law by the president this week. Other measures include a clampdown on distributing extremist material, and immigrants being obliged to sign an "integration contract".