SAN FRANCISCO – San Francisco has approved a measure making it the first place in the nation to require businesses to provide fully paid leave for new parents.
Advocates say the issue is gaining momentum across the country much like the debate over a higher minimum wage.
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday after supporters said six weeks of fully paid leave is needed because too many families can’t afford to take time off after a child is born or adopted.
Small business owners countered that it’s the latest in a long list of city mandates – including paid sick leave and health coverage – that unfairly targets them.
BEIJING – China imposed restrictions Tuesday on imports of coal from North Korea and exports of jet fuel to the North in a potentially significant increase in pressure on Pyongyang following UN sanctions over its nuclear and missile tests.
China is the impoverished and politically isolated North’s main trading partner, making its cooperation essential for penalties approved by the U.N. Security Council last month to succeed.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has intensified nuclear activities this year in defiance of U.N. sanctions.
The latest Chinese measures ban most imports of North Korean coal, iron, iron ore, gold, titanium, vanadium and rare earths. Such products are a key source of revenue for the mineral-rich North.
Associated Press
