Security upped after synagogue attack

France is boosting security at Jewish and other religious sites after blanks were fired at a synagogue and police accused a suspected cell of radical Islamists of ties to a grenade attack on a kosher grocery.

President François Hollande sought yesterday to allay tensions between Jews and Muslims aggravated by a recent series of violent incidents in the country.

Hollande singled out hateful extremists for criticism and urged respect for all religions in a country that is officially secular, but which has Western Europe’s largest Jewish and Muslim communities.