WORLD IN BRIEF : SOUTH PACIFIC : Storm of Protest for Bastille Day

Anti-nuclear demonstrators around the South Pacific threw a symbolic wet blanket over France’s Bastille Day celebrations, protesting outside French embassies and forcing minor bans on sea and air traffic. Thousands of people opposed to the planned resumption of French nuclear testing in the region held rallies and marches to try to spoil official Bastille Day receptions in New Zealand, Australia and Fiji. But in Paris, President Jacques Chirac brushed aside the chorus of international protest and reaffirmed his commitment to going ahead with the testing. Chirac said the tests are necessary to ensure the safety of the country’s nuclear arsenal, but he repeated that France would sign and respect a complete test ban treaty next year. In protests throughout the South Pacific, thousands marched on French consulates and presented petitions calling for the testing to stop. In New Zealand, about 2,000 protesters dumped manure outside the French ambassador’s Wellington residence, chanting, “Liberty, equality, fraternity, hypocrisy.”