Science News

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Terminal 1 at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City was evacuated on Sunday due to a bomb scare, CNN reported, but it was probably a false alarm triggered by an anonymous call to the airport.

WARSAW (Reuters) - Opposition candidate Jaroslaw Kaczynski unexpectedly nudged into the lead in Poland's presidential race early on Monday, according to partial results, hours after he conceded defeat and his rival claimed victory.

Editor's Note: Haley Smith Kingsland is an Earth systems master's student at Stanford University specializing in science communication. For five weeks she's in the land of no sunsets participating in ICESCAPE , a NASA-sponsored research cruise to investigate the effects of climate change on the Chukchi and Bering seas. This is her second blog post for Scientific American .

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JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel's defense minister will meet the Palestinian prime minister on Monday, the first meeting between the two politicians since February and the first sign of progress in indirect, U.S.-mediated talks.

By Sharon Reich

PENSACOLA BEACH, Florida (Reuters) - Gulf coast beaches, normally packed on Independence Day, were quiet on Sunday as workers cleaned up tar balls from BP's leaking oil well while the company was reported to be taking steps to ward off potential takeover bids.

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BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Vice President Joe Biden urged Iraqi leaders on Sunday to press ahead and form a government after four months of post-election deadlock but said neither Washington nor anyone else should dictate to them.

Cigarette smoke plays an undisputed role in the development of lung and other cancers. Carcinogens in the smoke damage DNA, which often results in mutations in genes that promote the development of cancer. It's also well known that secondhand smoke can have effects indistinguishable from active smoking. While maternal tobacco smoking has been associated with low birth weight, premature delivery and brain and lung defects, only a few studies have found evidence of genetic mutations in the newborn resulting from exposure to tobacco smoke while in the womb.

A new study by Stephen Grant , professor of environmental and occupational health at the University of Pittsburgh, confirms that both active smoking and passive exposure to secondhand smoke in pregnant women lead to genetic damage in newborns. Importantly, the research shows that there was a similar frequency of mutations among smoking mothers, those exposed to secondhand smoke, and moms-to-be that quit smoking after they learned of their pregnancy. The authors conclude that quitting smoking during pregnancy without actively avoiding exposure to secondhand smoke may not protect the developing fetus. The results were published online June 30 in the Open Pediatric Medicine Journal .

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By Steve Holland

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A presidential panel to probe the cause of the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and recommend new rules to prevent future disasters will hold its first public meeting in New Orleans on July 12 and 13, its co-chairs said on Saturday.

LONDON/DUBAI (Reuters) - Oil major BP Plc is seeking a strategic investor to secure its independence in the face of any takeover attempts as it struggles with a devastating oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico, newspapers said on Sunday.

WARSAW (Reuters) - Bronislaw Komorowski, the candidate of Poland's ruling pro-business Civic Platform (PO), won Sunday's presidential election run-off, removing a potential obstacle to reforms needed to repair battered public finances.

YEREVAN (Reuters) - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Sunday it was a U.S. priority to help Armenia and Azerbaijan settle the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and urged them to refrain from violence over the separatist region.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel's cabinet granted wider powers on Sunday to a commission investigating a deadly raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla, enabling the panel to compel witnesses to appear and testify under oath.

BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao pledged to keep macroeconomic policy stable but warned of the difficulties of controlling the economy, a report on the government website said on Sunday.

FALLUJA, Iraq (Reuters) - A female suicide bomber blew herself up Sunday in the governor's compound of Iraq's western Anbar province, killing three people and wounding 39, as U.S. Vice President Joe Biden visited Baghdad, officials said.

TOKYO (Reuters) - The United States has asked Japan to shoulder additional costs for shifting part of the U.S. Marines based in southern Japan to Guam, Kyodo news agency said, further complicating bilateral ties already hurt by disputes over where to relocate the U.S. airbase.

KABUL (Reuters) - The nine-year war in Afghanistan has reached a critical stage, U.S. General David Petraeus said on Sunday, as he formally took command of the 150,000-strong NATO-led force fighting a growing Taliban insurgency.

PENSACOLA BEACH, Florida (Reuters) - Gulf coast beaches, normally packed on Independence Day, were quiet on Sunday as workers cleaned up tar balls from BP's leaking oil well while the company was reported to be taking steps to ward off potential takeover bids.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. presidential panel to probe the cause of the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and recommend new rules to prevent future disasters will hold its first public meeting in New Orleans on July 12 and 13, its co-chairs said on Saturday.