Free Republic

French media outlet Metronews reports that there's been a car explosion in front of a synagogue in Sarcelles, a city near Paris where two were two gunmen attacked the office of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo just hours earlier. It is not clear whether the two events are connected. The Paris version of Metro reports that this event was an incident unrelated with the attack at the magazine.

French media outlet Metronews reports that there's been a car explosion in front of a synagogue in Sarcelles, a city near Paris where two were two gunmen attacked the office of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo just hours earlier. It is not clear whether the two events are connected. The Paris version of Metro reports that this event was an incident unrelated with the attack at the magazine. The car was parked in front of a synagogue, and reportedly exploded at about 2.30 p.m. local time (1.30 p.m. GMT).

In Sarcelles, a northern suburb, I walked through a crowd of black children yesterday who were arguing about which of them was "le plus Obama" -- the most like Obama. As it has done all over Europe, the election of a US president called Barack Hussein has given a lift to minorities who feel marooned outside the mainstream. This weekend, the imminent arrival in the White House of someone with an African Muslim name has prompted a new campaign for racial integration, supported by Carla Bruni, President Sarkozy's wife. Yazid Zabeg, an Algerian-born millionaire and the JDD Sunday newspaper have...