Rome  - Italian animal rights activists have appealed to Pope Benedict XVI to help "save the ermine" by asking him in a letter to refrain from wearing clothing trimmed with the animal's fur.

But in a newspaper interview published Wednesday a senior Roman Catholic cleric suggested that the campaign, also consisting of a online petition, may be misplaced.

"Aren't there more important battles to be fought?" asked Apostolic Nuncio Emiritus to Italy Cardinal Andrea Cordero Lanza di Montezemolo.

Rome  - The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) on Tuesday announced a 214-million-dollar roll-out directed at 14 global "hunger hotspots."

The measure comes as as nearly 1 billion poor people worldwide grapple with the "unrelenting global high food and fuel price crisis," the Rome-based WFP said in a statement.

Rome  - Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi drew criticism Monday from opposition leaders for what they said was his failure to condemn outright Russia's military intervention in Georgia.

"A phone call is not enough," said the Catholic centrist party UDC's leader Pierferdinando Casini, referring to Berlusconi's conversation with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Sunday.

Berlusconi phoned Putin from his Sardinian villa, a luxury holiday residence where the billionaire-turned-politician has hosted the Russian leader in the past.

Rome  - Some 3,000 Italian troops on Monday took up positions in cities and towns and began patrolling streets as part of an anti- crime measure introduced by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's government.

Over third of the troops have been deployed to guard reception centres for illegal immigrants while another 515 are assigned to assist police in Rome, Milan and Naples.

Rome  - Two climbers from an international expedition have died on K2 mountain in the Himalayas, and seven members of the team have gone missing, Italian media reported Saturday, citing the rescue operation coordinator, Agostino Da Polenza.

A Serbian and a Korean climber died as the 17-member rope team attempted to conquer K2, the second highest mountain in the world at 8,611 metres above sea level.

The team also included climbers from the Netherlands, Norway and Italy. There were no Italians among the missing, the reports said.