A new study funded by the British Ministry of Defense has found that babies whose fathers served in the first Gulf war are 50 percent more likely to have physical abnormalities than those born to soldiers not sent to the region. This according to a report in the London Telegraph.

U.S. Seeks Exemption From Pesticide Ban
The United States and 11 other countries asked Wednesday for an exemption to an international treaty that restricts the use of a highly toxic, ozone-destroying pesticide called methyl bromide. According to the Scripps Howard News Service, the Bush administration says U.S. farmers, particularly California strawberry farmers and Florida tomato growers, need to keep using the pesticide until cost-effective alternatives are found. A spokesperson from the Natural Resources Defense Council said, “This is a very clear-cut case of unmitigated corporate greed.”