France moves closer to banning veils, other religious symbols in sports competitions (AP)

Two years before Paris is scheduled to host the Summer Olympics, the French Senate voted 160-143 to ban “the wearing of the veil in sports competitions.” Other “conspicuous religious symbols” will also be forbidden if the bill becomes law.

“The vote came a year after lawmakers in the French parliament’s lower house approved a bill to strengthen oversight of mosques, schools and sports clubs in a bid to safeguard France from radical Islamists,” the Associated Press reported.