News In Brief

Climbers enlist Big Ben in an antinuclear appeal

Two antinuclear protesters using mountaineering gear scaled the 320-foot Big Ben clock tower outside the British Parliament Monday and hung a banner across its famous face reading, ''Time to Stop Nuclear Testing.''

The banner was strung across the south face of the clock, facing the Thames River, and it greeted thousands of commuters streaming into London across Westminster Bridge.

The climbers attached makeshift hammocks to the right and left of the one clockface and during the day a stream of tourists watched the men rocking in their hammocks. The men came down after almost 12 hours. They were hustled into a van by police as they emerged from an elevator in the scaffolding they climbed to reach the London landmark.

The protest was organized by the Greenpeace environmental group.