72 dead migrants found in Mexico tip of iceberg
1 September 2010 - The true number of undocumented migrants killed in Mexico in recent years may never be known, but they would almost certainly dwarf the number discovered last week. Mexico's National Human Rights Commission said there were witness accounts of 198 mass kidnappings involving 9,758 migrants in a six month-period in 2009. Activists say drug cartels like Mexico's Zetas -- the gang blamed in the Tamaulipas massacre -- frequently kill one or two from each group to scare the rest into asking relatives to meet ransom demands. Almost 200 relatives showed up at the offices of the Honduras' foreign ministry in Tegucigalpa saying their loved ones had disappeared somewhere in Mexico. (more)

Hamas leader rejects talks with Israel
1 September 2010 - The top Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip rejected compromise with Israel in a fiery speech Wednesday, a day after gunmen killed four Israelis in a strong reminder that the Islamic militant group cannot be ignored in any Mideast deal. In a swift response to the shooting, Abbas' forces rounded up 250 low and midlevel Hamas supporters throughout the West Bank in what the group said was the largest sweep in recent memory. Hamas officials called the roundup arbitrary and an act of treason. Chances for a peace deal between Israel and Palestine appear slim, both because Abbas and Netanyahu are far apart on key issues, and because Hamas is increasingly entrenched in Gaza. (more)

Jewish settler killings blight new Mideast talks
1 September 2010 - The Palestinian Islamist group Hamas claimed responsibility for killing four Jewish settlers in the West Bank in an attack that blighted a Middle East peace summit before it even began in Washington Wednesday. Declaring war on the talks promoted by US President Barack Obama as he prepared to host a White House banquet with Israeli and Palestinian leaders, the Hamas militants -- backed by Iran -- said Tuesday's killings were just the first phase. Tuesday's attack was the most lethal in the West Bank in four years, the army said. In a Palestinian uprising from 2000 to 2007, some 540 Israelis were killed in suicide bomb attacks and more than 4,000 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces. Hamas spokesman Aub-Zuhri said Tuesday's attack was proof 'of a failure of security coordination' between Israel and the Palestinians.' (more)

US grapples with bedbugs, misuse of pesticides
1 September 2010 - A resurgence of bedbugs across the US has homeowners and apartment dwellers taking desperate measures to eradicate the tenacious bloodsuckers, with some relying on dangerous outdoor pesticides and fly-by-night exterminators. The problem has gotten so bad that the Environmental Protection Agency warned this month against the indoor use of chemicals meant for the outside. Bedbugs, infesting US households on a scale unseen in more than a half-century, have become largely resistant to common pesticides. As a result, some homeowners and exterminators are turning to more hazardous chemicals that can harm the central nervous system, irritate the skin and eyes, or even cause cancer. Authorities around the country have blamed house fires on people misusing all sorts of highly flammable garden and lawn chemicals to fight bedbugs. (more)