Excerpt:
France's prime minister asked a government body Friday to study the legal possibilities that would allow banning face-covering veils in France.
Francois Fillon's letter to the Council of State came the same week that a parliamentary committee recommended forbidding burqa-like garments in public services, but stopped short of recommending a ban of such dress on the street.
The prime minister's letter requests the council, which rules on the validity of French laws, to help the government determine how to put in place laws that would make the wearing of all-encompassing veils illegal.