Germany clears sale of abortion pill BERLIN (AP) - German authorities cleared the RU-486 abortion pill for sale Tuesday, ignoring last-minute protests by the Roman Catholic church. Sales of the pill had been blocked for years under former Chancellor Helmut Kohl, a Christian Democrat, but the center-left government that won September elections promised a change of course. Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has said he welcomes giving women an alternative to surgical abortion. The pill, sold under the trade name Mifegyne, causes an abortion if taken within the first 49 days of pregnancy. See full story <http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2560199896-a0f> Fur protest staged in Rome ROME (AP) - Animal rights activists wearing blood-splattered furs, waving bones and grunting took to one of Rome's most fashionable streets Tuesday, just days before the beginning of Rome's fashion week. "Don't be fashion dinosaurs," read one of the banners at the demonstration by Peta, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, on the chic Via dei Condotti. Although animal rights activism has discouraged people from wearing furs in some countries, furs are still quite popular in Italy. Italian women sport furs even in mild weather and fur is often featured in the winter collections of Italian designers. Peta representative Walter Caporale said several Italian fashion houses are on his organization's "black list," including Dolce and Gabbana, Gucci and Fendi. Peta lists designers who eschew fur, such as Calvin Klein and Giorgio Armani, as official "friends of the animals." ###
