Happy Bastille Day!

From Independent Online:

Under extra security, embattled President Jacques Chirac presided over France's Bastille Day celebrations on Thursday on the famed Champs-Elysees before a much-anticipated live televised interview seen as a bid to win back public trust...

He was expected to refer on Thursday to the London bombings, which killed at least 52 people and injured 700, saying a day before that "the terrible terrorist threat calls for mobilisation and vigilance at all times. "The despicable and tragic attacks in London have unfortunately and cruelly reminded us of that fact," he told a defence ministry reception... But while the terror attacks in the British capital were to be the basis for what would be a consensual message, much of the rest of what the French leader will say is being closely scrutinised. Chirac is reeling after his country's overwhelming rejection of the EU constitution in a May 29 referendum and the capital's shock defeat by London in the competition to host the 2012 Olympic Games.