News Currents

UNITED STATES

A pregnant woman who brought the banned French abortion pill RU-486 into the US petitioned the Supreme Court yesterday to release the confiscated drug. A federal judge Tuesday ruled that the government had illegally seized the drug. But a three-judge Circuit of Appeals panel granted a government request to block the ruling. Now Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas will decide the emergency appeal. The woman, seven weeks pregnant, must take the RU-486 by Saturday under French standards for using the drug .... In LaCrosse, Wis., four school board members were ousted over a plan they enacted in January that would reassign students to mix children of all economic classes. It is believed to be the nation's first such plan.... The government reported yesterday that industrial production fell 0.3 percent in June, partially due to the railway strike. EUROPE

The German government agreed yesterday to transform its two debt-ridden national railway networks into three public companies by 2002. On Tuesday, the British government had announced plans to turn over Britain's national rail system to private owners. ASIA AND THE PACIFIC

India said yesterday that Russia would supply rocket engines for India's space research program despite US opposition to the deal. Washington told both India and Russia that the deal violated the Missile Technology Control Regime, which seeks to spread the halt of rocket technology.... In Japan, Labor Ministry inspectors have accepted a widow's claim that her husband died from overworking and said she is entitled to worker's compensation payments.