Students at the Codman Academy Charter Public School in Boston were dismayed to learn that the French consulate warns tourists on its website to avoid walking at night in their Dorchester neighborhood. The consulate says it's because of crime in the area. Haley Malm, a French teacher at Codman, says the students were quite offended that Boston's Dorchester, Mattapan, and Roxbury neighborhoods were specifically targeted as places not to visit.

Central African Republic's interim President Michel Djotodia will face pressure to step down at a summit of regional leaders on Thursday amid frustration at his failure to quell his country's religious violence. Political sources in Bangui and French diplomatic sources said Djotodia was expected to step aside at the meeting of leaders from the Economic Community of Central African States (CEEAC) in the Chadian capital N'Djamena.

In the elegant silence of a narrow street near the River Seine, David Moyal takes a breath of fresh winter air and enters a noisy restaurant in the French capital. Inside Miznon, he is transported to another world, filled with the cacophony of Hebrew voices and Israeli music. A bustling new bistro that Moyal runs in the 4th arrondissement, Miznon is becoming hugely popular with Israelis and French Jews thanks to its Tel Aviv feel and audacious mission to pack Paris into a pita.

Pakistanis online are outraged over reports of a French restaurant's ban on reservations by Pakistani customers. "La Maison" in Islamabad, Pakistan's capital, requires customers to provide information such as an individual's nationality and passport number. The only Pakistani customers reportedly allowed are dual-citizenship holders or Pakistanis accompanied by foreigners.

We don't have any idea whether soccer star Nicolas Anelka is a racist or an anti-Semite. Until yesterday he had no record of being either. One thing is certain: He is no fool. In the wake of his celebration of the first of two goals he scored for West Bromwich Albion against West Ham United on Saturday, using the "quenelle" - a wink-wink disguised version of the Nazi salute - he didn't issue any apologies or denials.

The Central African Republic, already one of the poorest nations in the world, is descending into chaos. In the capital city of Bangui alone, hundreds have died and nearly 200,000 people have been driven from their homes as a result of continual clashes between government forces, civilian militias, African peacekeepers, and the French military.

A French government report has proposed a radical overhaul of the “assimilation” model which requires immigrants to abandon their culture for that of France, including ending the ban on Muslim headscarves in schools and naming streets and squares after notables of foreign origin. In response to fears over growing racism and ethnic divisions in the country, it recommends emphasizing the “Arab-Oriental” dimension of French identity, barring the media from mentioning a person’s ethnicity and promoting the teaching of Arabic and African languages in schools.

Niger's president is pushing for the creation of multinational African brigades — notably with Libya — to boost border security in lawless zones where jihadist fighters roam. Mahamadou Issoufou says Niger is "no sanctuary for terrorists" but believes many jihadist fighters have taken refuge in the south of neighboring Libya after French forces ousted al-Qaida-linked militants from a teetering Mali earlier this year.