Jacques Cousteau resigns in protest at Chirac's testing plans



In Paris, environmentalist Jacques Cousteau resigned this evening from his position as Chairman of the "Council for Future Generations," set up by Jacques Chirac to advise the President on issues affecting the environment. Cousteau said his resignation was because Chirac has gone ahead with his test programme, which was a threat to the nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty and didn't consult the council before he did so. Cousteau was quoted in Le Monde today he would like the President to change his mind at the last minute, saying "it's not by exploding bombs underground that one protects a country."