Nation Digest
Cause of autism in children to be focus of partnership

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Aiding the work will be a research partnership between government scientists and a parents' group, the National Alliance for Autism Research.

The alliance, for several years, has been gathering databases of affected families for both the gene hunt and separate research to find ways to diagnose autism earlier.

National Institutes of Health scientists will work with the group on those projects instead of having to start similar ones from scratch, a collaboration that the alliance said represented a joint commitment of more than $5 million.

Autism is a neurological disorder featuring a wide range of symptoms, from mild to severe, that include problems communicating and with social interaction.

Illinois completes overhaul of death-penalty rules

CHICAGO — Illinois lawmakers completed their overhaul of the state's capital-punishment system yesterday in an effort to correct what many described as a flawed death-penalty process that led to the wrongful convictions of at least 13 men.

The Illinois House voted 115-0 to override a veto of the legislation; the state Senate overrode the veto earlier this month.

The new law allows defendants to have greater access to evidence, mandates that the death penalty not be used in cases that rely on only one witness, and prevents the mentally retarded from being executed.

It also gives the Illinois Supreme Court more leeway in tossing out death-penalty verdicts it feels are "fundamentally unjust."

Gov. Rod Blagojevich had vetoed the bill over a provision calling for the automatic dismissal of any law-enforcement officer found to have lied during a murder investigation.

Suspect in anthrax hoax says evidence is lacking

PHILADELPHIA — A man who once threatened to hunt down and murder abortion providers told a federal jury yesterday that other than his confessions, the government has no proof he mailed hundreds of anthrax hoax letters to women's clinics in 24 states.

Acting as his own attorney, Clayton Lee Waagner acknowledged that he has claimed responsibility for the letters. But he also suggested he may have lied about his involvement to take the pressure off other anti-abortion activists.

"When you take that out of this, there is nothing there ... no fingerprints, no DNA, no hair fibers" to tie him to the crime, Waagner said.

Prosecutors said there is little doubt that Waagner, 47, was behind the campaign, which disrupted clinic operations up and down the East Coast while the nation was still skittish over anthrax attacks on politicians, postal workers and journalists in 2001.

Author of 'The Great Fire' wins National Book Award

NEW YORK — Shirley Hazzard won the National Book Award for fiction yesterday for "The Great Fire," a romance set just after World War II.

Other winners included Carlos Eire, who received the nonfiction prize for "Waiting for Snow in Havana"; Polly Horvath, winner in the young people's category for "The Canning Season"; and C.K. Williams, the poetry winner for "The Singing."

Seattle writer Erik Larson was a finalist in the nonfiction category for "The Devil in the White City," the story of the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, the architect who designed it and a serial killer who preyed on its margins.

Canadian cleared of training soldiers, stockpiling weapons

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A Canadian man charged with providing military training to foreign soldiers without a license and stockpiling thousands of missile warheads at his counterterrorism school was acquitted yesterday of all charges.

Prosecutors had claimed David Hudak, 42, knew he lacked State Department licensing when he gave soldiers from the United Arab Emirates military training last year under a $12.5 million contract.

A jury acquitted Hudak of nine federal felony charges, including exporting defense services without a license, possessing unregistered destructive devices and using explosives during the commission of a felony. He had faced a minimum 30-year sentence had he been found guilty.

Also ...

A mechanics strike that idled the Los Angeles mass-transit system for more than a month ended yesterday when union members approved a new contract that fails to settle the issue of medical benefits.

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