France to double number of university courses teaching Islam to combat rise of extremism

By Tom Porter. French Prime Minister Manuel Valls has announced plans to double the number of university courses teaching Islam, in an effort to counter the rise of Islamic extremism and far-right extremism.
The courses will be funded by the state, announced Valls, who said that education was central to stamping out the ignorance that is allowing "Islamist extremism and the far right feed off each other".
Valls announcement, in the eastern city of Strasbourg on Tuesday, March 3, comes after the terror attacks in Paris in January, in which radical Islamist gunmen killed 17 people. More...