1.   A French consulate in the Australian city of Perth was firebombed last month apparently in reprisal for the planned tests, but most antinuclear protesters are pacifists.

2.   The launching Friday was the fourth of nine planned tests.

3.   The planned test in Mexico, to begin after Williams arrives this Sunday, will be the first volcanic surveillance.

4.   The test follows two previous tests attempts to intercept a target, part of a series of nineteen planned tests.

5.   This is the second of four planned test flights of the Wake Shield.

6.   Under the weight of the worldwide outcry, Chirac cut the number of planned tests from eight to six.

7.   A Greenpeace photographer was killed aboard the ship, which was moored off New Zealand to protest similar planned nuclear tests.

8.   A group of Japanese antinuclear activists handed over a petition to the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo Monday to protest planned low-level nuclear tests in Nevada.

9.   A major Japanese camera and electronics discount chain on Friday also expressed opposition to the planned tests by urging customers not to buy French products.

10.   Chirac has faced an outcry by governments and anti-nuclear activists around the world since June, when the conservative president announced the planned tests.