Free Republic

The manufacturers of one of the most common brands of rat and mice poison, d-Con, have sued state regulators just one week after California banned the pesticide and blamed it for killing wildlife. Reckitt Benckiser, the UK-based consumer products company that makes d-Con, filed a lawsuit Thursday against the California Department of Pesticide Control for halting the sale of the rodenticide commonly used by homeowners to kill rats and mice.

The Brand names include Havoc, Talon, Contrac, Maki, Ratimus and d-CON Mouse Pruf II. The EPA now is moving to curb widespread use of these rodenticides, starting next June. That move, however, could be short-circuited by a lawsuit filed by the multinational corporation the sells d-CON products. Pesticide manufacturers, applicators and health officials say controlling rats is an important public health goal because they can spread a number of diseases, including hemorrhagic fever, leptospirosis, salmonellosis and rat bite fever.

MOGADISHU, Somalia, Aug. 27 (UPI) -- Somali insurgents in the al-Qaida affiliated al-Shabaab organization are planning major attacks Saturday to mark an important Ramadan event, an official said.Saturday marks the 17th day of the holy month of Ramadan, a day commemorating the Battle of Badr when the Islamic prophet Mohammad won a decisive battle in Medina in 624.Abdirahman Omar Osman, the Somali information minister, was quoted by CNN International as saying al-Shabaab was keen to mark the day with a major escalation of violence."Al-Shabaab thinks that this is the best day for them to win against us," he said. The...