Security tight for Bastille Day

JACQUES CHIRAC officiated at the traditional July 14 military parade in central Paris yesterday, on what is almost certainly his last Bastille Day as president.

Accompanied by the chief of staff of the armed forces, Mr Chirac was driven down the Champs Élysées in an open-top military vehicle before reviewing the fly-past and march-past from a stand on the Place de la Concorde.

A squadron of nine Alphajets laying a trail of red, white and blue smoke was followed by more than 50 other aircraft, while on the ground 3,500 soldiers and gendarmes, 250 horsemen and more than 350 armoured vehicles filed past crowds of onlookers.