National news

Democratic Leader Jim Clyburn, the highest-ranking African-American in Congress, on Wednesday blamed most of President Barack Obama's political problems on racism.

Clyburn, who's from South Carolina and is a close ally of the president, offered his views in response to a question about Obama's re-election prospects next year.

"I think they're improving every day," Clyburn said. "I think the president has been a good president, a great commander in chief."

Clyburn, who met his wife at a 1960 court hearing after spending a night in jail for having engaged in a civil rights protest in Orangeburg, S.C., then brought up Obama's race as the first black president.

"You know, I'm 70 years old," he said. "And I can tell you; people don't like to deal with it, but the fact of the matter is, the president's problems are in large measure because of the color of his skin."

Clyburn noted that he himself gets hate mail, racist phone calls and offensive faxes on a regular basis. Asked how that relates to the president, Clyburn retorted: "We have the same skin color; that's how it relates to him.

Vitamins linked to autism • Women who reported not taking prenatal vitamins immediately before and during a pregnancy were twice as likely to have a child with autism, University of California at Davis researchers reported Wednesday. If the women also had a mutation in a high-risk gene, they were seven times as likely to have a child with the developmental disorder, the researchers reported in the online edition of the journal Epidemiology.

House wants to bar abortion teaching • The House has passed legislation that would bar teaching health centers that receive federal funds under the new health care act from using the money to teach abortion techniques. Rep. Virginia Foxx, the sponsor of the measure, says she wants to make it "crystal clear" that taxpayer money is not being used to train health care providers to perform abortions.

Soldier sentenced • A U.S. soldier with mental health problems has been sentenced to 12½ years in military prison after pleading guilty of killing a suspected Taliban prisoner in his jail cell. Pfc. David Lawrence pleaded guilty of premeditated murder in a military court at Fort Carson in Colorado Wednesday.
Angle won't run • Tea Party favorite Sharron Angle said that she will not be a candidate in the September race to fill a vacant congressional seat in Nevada.
Liu drops bid • Goodwin Liu is withdrawing his nomination to an appeals court judgeship after Senate Republicans blocked a vote on his confirmation last week.