France Shocked by Beating of Jewish Teen

Nuptials spark anti-Semitic debate

(NEWSER) - Jean Sarkozy, the 22-year-old son of France's president, married his childhood sweetheart last night in a ceremony so under wraps that guests were informed via text message. A possible reason for the secrecy? His bride, the heiress to a huge electronics company, is Jewish—and the marriage has set off a wave of soul-searching in the French press about the country's legacy of anti-Semitism. More»

(NEWSER) - French authorities are investigating the sale of T-shirts bearing anti-Semitic slogans that date to 1940, the BBC reports. The shirts carry the slogan "Jews not allowed in this park" in German and Polish, reproduced from signs posted in Lodz, Poland, during World War II. Almost all of Lodz's Jews perished in the Holocaust. More»

Prez wants each 5th grader to study a victim

(NEWSER) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy has sparked a new controversy: The maverick leader is now defending his plan to have every fifth grader study a French youth killed in the Holocaust. Critics, including Jewish analysts, warn the move could traumatize students. But one historian applauded Sarkozy's "courage" and said what children "see on television or in a horror film is much worse." More»

24-year-old identified as Mohammad Merah

(NEWSER) - Conflicting reports out of Toulouse: Though USA Today reported earlier, by way of French TV , that a 24-year-old Muslim man suspected in a series of shootings had been arrested after a raid on an apartment, reports are now saying the building remains surrounded. CNN and Reuters report that some 300 police officers have ringed the building and are trying to draw Mohammad Merah out. After severing communication in late morning, he is apparently talking with police once again. More»

Surveillance video shows a camera around the shooter's neck

(NEWSER) - As if there could be a crueler twist to the Jewish school shooting in Toulouse that yesterday rocked France: France's interior minister today revealed that the gunman likely filmed the killings. The school's surveillance video revealed that a video camera was attached to the killer's neck, reports Reuters . "This adds another element to the profile of the killer. It is someone who is cruel enough to record it," says Claude Gueant, "someone who is very cold, very determined, with precise gestures, and therefore very cruel." More»