Local and VCU
3 workers hurt in DC subway crash; injuries minor
Officials said a Washington Metro system subway train crashed into the back of another at a rail yard, injuring three workers.
D.C. Metro said in a Sunday news release that the injuries were minor and not life-threatening. No passengers were on board.
Metro said a six-car train was returning to the West Falls Church Rail Yard Sunday morning when it rear-ended a parked six-car train. Two workers were cleaning the parked train to get it ready for service.
Metro officials are investigating.
The crash was the latest accident involving Washington’s subway system. A June crash killed eight passengers and the train operator. A track repairman was killed in August when he was hit by a gravel spreader. Another worker was killed when he was hit by a train in September.
Brief by The Associated Press
Senators: Take action against White House crashers
Two senators said authorities ought to pursue criminal charges against the Virginia couple that crashed last week’s state dinner at the White House.
Democrat Evan Bayh of Indiana and Republican Jon Kyl of Arizona said such behavior should be strongly discouraged.
Authorities said Michaele and Tareq Salahi were allowed into the White House dinner Tuesday night even though they were not on the guest list. The Secret Service has apologized for the breakdown in security, and an investigation into possible criminal behavior is ongoing.
Brief by The Associated Press
Restaurants prepare for new smoking law
A state law will take effect Tuesday, which puts new restrictions on smoking in restaurants.
State officials and public-health advocates predict that the law will prompt many more Virginia restaurants to go entirely smoke-free, as they have done in other states.
But public-health advocates also raise concerns about the law’s exemptions and whether the enforcement provisions are strong enough.
The law, passed by the General Assembly this year, was a compromise measure between Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, a Democrat, and the Republican leadership in the House of Delegates.
The compromise came after numerous attempts by tobacco-control supporters to pass a complete ban on restaurant and workplace smoking during earlier legislative sessions.
Those bills usually passed the state Senate but were defeated in a six-member House subcommittee.
The compromise law prohibits smoking in restaurants, but legislators carved out exceptions allowing smoking in non-enclosed outdoor areas.
Brief by the Richmond Times-Dispatch
National and International
Nat’l parks seek share of profitable science
The National Park Service is rolling out a new policy for companies and others who stand to profit from conducting scientific research in national parks.
The policy is expected to go into effect early next year following more than a decade of concerns about so-called “bioprospecting” in Yellowstone National Park. Bioprospecting is the search for organisms that offer possible breakthroughs in medicine and chemistry.
A hot spring in Yellowstone called the Mushroom Pool is home to a bacteria species that made DNA testing much faster and more practical. The discovery spawned an industry that is now worth hundreds of millions of dollars a year.
The new policy will give national parks a slice of the profits from any such future discoveries.
Brief by The Associated Press
Iran approves building 10 enrichment sites
The Iranian government approved a plan Sunday to build 10 new uranium enrichment facilities, a dramatic expansion in defiance of U.N. demands to halt the program.
The decision comes only two days after the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency censured Iran, demanding it immediately stop building a newly revealed enrichment facility near the holy city of Qom and freeze all uranium enrichment activities. The rebuke angered Iran, raising demands from lawmakers Sunday to cut back cooperation with the U.N.
The enrichment announcement is likely to stoke already high tensions between Iran and the West over its controversial nuclear activities. The U.S. and its allies have hinted oat new U.N. sanctions if Tehran remains defiant.
Brief by The Associated Press
Pakistan’s president told to give up powers
Pakistan’s main opposition party Sunday demanded the president give up the sweeping powers he inherited from his predecessor, setting the stage for political turmoil just as the Obama administration wants the country to focus on fighting the Taliban.
President Asif Ali Zardari’s grip on power is increasingly under threat from opposition lawmakers and elements within the powerful military who want him to resign or divest powers to the prime minister and take on a ceremonial role. Opinion polls show him to be desperately unpopular 15 months into a five-year term.
Brief by The Associated Press