  | |  Nine people were injured Monday night when a Bay Area commuter train derailed in a heavy rainstorm and fell into a swollen creek after it struck a tree that had fallen onto tracks. Authorities at the Sunol, California, crash scene said it was “an absolute miracle” that no one was killed, though four passengers sustained serious, but not life-threatening, injuries, according to Alameda County Fire Department officials. There were 214 passengers on the Altamont Corridor Express (ACE) train when it went off the tracks in Niles Canyon while traveling through Silicon Valley from San Jose to Stockton. Passengers described chaos as bodies hit and smashed glass and struggled through panic to get out of the first car, which was submerged in muddy water. A second car derailed but remained upright, ACE spokesman Steve Walker said. All of the passengers were accounted for, Walker added. No ACE trains will be operating Tuesday because of the derailment. | | |
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| |  Defying recent sanctions on its missile program, Iran test-fired several ballistic missiles Tuesday, the official website of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps declared. The move was intended “to show Iran’s deterrent power.” Two months ago, the United States sanctioned businesses linked to Iran’s missile program over a test of the medium-range Emad missile carried out in October. The UN said that test violated a UN Security Council resolution meant to bar Iran from undertaking any work on nuclear-capable ballistic missiles. | | |
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| |  As the world marks International Women’s Day, an International Labor Organization report revealed there have been only “marginal improvements” in gender equality in the workplace. The study, “Women at Work: Trends 2016,” found the difference in the employment rate between men and women has decreased by just 0.6 percent over the last 20 years. Looking at data from 178 countries, ILO claims the rate of women’s participation in the workforce was 25.5 percent lower than the men’s figure last year, which was only 0.6 percent smaller than in 1995. The study also found 6.2 percent of women are jobless around the world, compared with 5.5 percent of men. Women also continue to work longer hours each day than men when both overtime and unpaid work are taken into consideration. | | |
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| |  A new study says people who eat chocolate at least once a week experience improved memory and abstract thinking. “It’s significant—it touches a number of cognitive domains,” said psychologist Merrill Elias, one of the lead scientists in the study, which was published in the journal Appetite. “Our study definitely indicates that the direction is not that cognitive ability affects chocolate consumption, but that chocolate consumption affects cognitive ability,” Elias said. Officials said the benefits proven through the study would make frequent chocolate-eaters better at daily tasks like remembering a phone number or shopping list, and multitasking. | | |
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| |  Nike announced Monday it was suspending its relationship with tennis star Maria Sharapova just hours after the world’s highest paid female athlete announced she failed a drug test at the Australian Open in January. Sharapova said she took “full responsibility” for using meldonium, a substance banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency. The 28-year-old career Grand Slam winner said she took the medication to treat a magnesium deficiency and a family history of diabetes. Watchmaker Tag Heuer, which has had a deal with Sharapova for nearly a dozen years, said it had stopped negotiations with the tennis player, whose previous contract had ended in December. “In view of the current situation, the brand has decided not to renew the contract with Sharapova,” a spokesperson said. Other endorsements for the world’s former No.1 player included deals with Avon, Porsche, and Evian. Until now, Sharapova reportedly brought in about $30 million per year in endorsements, mostly from Nike. | | |
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| |  The Golden State Warriors set a new NBA record in a 119-113 victory over the Orlando Magic on Monday, winning their 45th straight game at home. The Warriors topped the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls for longest home winning streak in NBA history. The team first tied the record on Thursday with a victory over the Oklahoma Thunder. The Warriors are now 27-0 at home this season and could set another NBA record if they remain undefeated at Oracle Arena. | | |
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| | | A 15-year-old girl has been raped and set on fire on the rooftop terrace of her family’s home in a village outside Delhi, police said. She was hospitalized in critical condition, with burns over 95 percent of her body, local newspapers reported. Police arrested a 20-year-old who had burns on his hands. He was charged with attempted murder, assault of a minor, and grievous injury. The girl told police she was raped, beaten, and then set on fire by a man who had been stalking her for months, Singh said. | | |
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| |  New data released Monday showed that an additional ex-Guantanamo Bay prisoner has returned to fight with militants since his release. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence’s semiannual report showed that of the 144 detainees transferred after President Obama took office in January 2009, seven were have known to engage in terrorism activities. Data released in July 2015 showed six detainees. Ibrahim al-Qosi, a former cook and driver for Osama bin Laden, was repatriated to Sudan in 2012 and appeared in a propaganda video released by by al Qaeda’s Yemeni branch in December 2015. The report also showed that 12 former inmates released under Obama were suspected of returning to the battlefield—a number that has doubled in the last six months. | | |
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| | | A jury on Monday found two towns run by polygamists violated the constitutional rights of nonbelievers by discriminating against them on housing permits, policing, and utilities. Prosecutors argued the border towns of Colorado City, Arizona, and Hildale, Utah, denied basic services to those who didn’t follow the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the largest polygamist sect in the United States. The jury awarded $2.2 million to six residents who qualified for damages, but the towns will only have to pay $1.6 million because lawyers negotiated a settlement in that part of the case. It’s unclear what punishment prosecutors will seek, but it could include disbanding local police forces and handing over both towns’ administrations to county or state officials. | | |
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| |  The White House said Monday Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declined President Barack Obama’s request to meet in Washington, D.C., later this month. White House spokesman Ned Price said the administration first learned of the Netanyahu cancellation through Israeli media. “Reports that we were not able to accommodate the prime minister’s schedule are false,” he said. Netanyahu’s decision to nix the trip comes as the two countries grapple with negotiating a 10-year, multibillion-dollar defense aid agreement for Israel. Netanyahu was expected in Washington to also address the annual conference of the leading U.S. pro-Israel lobby, AIPAC. | | |
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