Belgium’s lower house of parliament has approved a radical ban on Islamic face-covering veils. If approved by the Senate, the country would become the first in Europe to prohibit the burqa and niqab. Currently, it seems to be one of the few issues uniting the linguistically divided country. Belgium may be in the throws of political disarray, but its squabbling political parties have been able to agree on one thing: The banning of the burqa in public. If the legislation is approved, the Benelux country would become the first in Europe to ban the Islamic face-covering veil. The lower house of parliament voted on Thursday to ban clothes or veils that did not allow the wearer to be fully identified, including the full-body veil, known as the burqa, and the face veil which leaves slits for the eyes, known as the niqab. A cross-party consensus of 136 deputies voted for the measure, with just two abstentions and no opposing votes. The ban still has to be passed by the Senate, which has two weeks to raise any objections. But a final vote on the controversial measure could be delayed until after early elections, which are likely to […]