| A fire has ripped through a Jewish school outside Paris, causing no injuries but destroying one building in what authorities said was most likely a racist attack. The fire, which started at 3:00 a.m. at a school in the Paris suburb of Gagny, was extinguished in the early morning hours by a team of about 100 firefighters. French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, who travelled to the scene, said the fire appeared to be the result of a "racist and anti-Semitic" criminal act. Jewish groups have denounced France in recent years, saying the government has been slow to react to attacks against Jewish schools, shops and synagogues. The centre-right government of President Jacques Chirac has cracked down on hate crimes in an overall security drive that has been welcomed by a French Jewish umbrella group. |