- Five of the best: Pakistan-England Test thrillers
- Man sets arm on fire as marches across US mark Gaza war anniversary
- Vietnam's young coffee entrepreneurs brew up a revolution
- Trump rallies at site of failed assassination: 'Never quit'
- Too hot by day, Dubai's floodlit beaches are packed at night
- Is music finally reckoning with #MeToo?
- Fans hail Trump's 'guts' as he returns to site of rally shooting
- Lebanon state media says Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Miami on track for MLS record points after win in Toronto
- Monaco take top spot in Ligue 1 with win at Rennes
- Madrid beat Villarreal to level Liga leaders Barca
- Thuram treble fires Inter past Torino and up to second
- 'Fight': defiant Trump jets in to site of rally shooting
- Mexico City's new mayor sworn in with pledges on water, housing
- Israel on alert ahead of Hamas attack anniversary
- Guardians maul Tigers in MLB playoff series opener
- Macron criticises Israel on Gaza, Lebanon operations
- French rugby player whistled but 'serene' on return amid ongoing rape case
- Retegui hat-trick fires five-star Atalanta to hammering of Genoa
- Heavyweights Australia, England off to World Cup winning starts
- Visiting UN refugee agency chief decries 'terrible crisis' in Lebanon
- Spinners come to party as England defeat Bangladesh at T20 World Cup
- Search continues for missing in deadly Bosnia floods
- Man City sink Fulham to get title bid back on track
- France's Auradou whistled on Pau return in Perpignan loss amid ongoing rape case
- A 'forgotten' valley in storm-hit North Carolina, desperate for help
- Arsenal hit back in style after Southampton scare
- Hezbollah heir apparent Safieddine out of contact after strikes
- Liverpool stay top of Premier League as Arsenal, Man City win
- In dank Tour of Emilia, Pogacar shines in rainbow jersey
- DR Congo launches mpox vaccination drive, hoping to curb outbreak
- Trump returns to site of failed assassination
- Careless Leverkusen held to Bundesliga draw
- O'Brien's 'superstar' Kyprios posts landmark win on Arc weekend
- Liverpool suffer Alisson injury blow
- Habosi helps Racing beat Vannes before Auradou's playing return
- Thousands march in London in support of Palestinians, 1 year after Oct 7
- Israel readying response to Iran missile attack
- Schutt, Mooney help Australia beat Sri Lanka in Women's T20 World Cup
- Liverpool extend Premier League lead with win at Palace
- Djokovic 'shakes rust off' to make third round of Shanghai Masters
- 'Imperfect' PSG fighting on all fronts - Luis Enrique
- Struggling Pakistan look to thwart adaptable England
- Child 'trampled to death' in asylum seekers' Channel crossing: minister
- Gauff fights back to set up Beijing final against Muchova
- Guardiola claims Premier League won't delay season for Man City
- Israel to mark October 7 attack as Gaza war spreads
- Gauff fights back to reach China Open final
- Recovering Stokes ruled out of first Pakistan Test
- Hezbollah battles troops on border as Israel pounds Lebanon
Debate in Spain over 'menstrual leave' plan
Spain's plan to become the first European nation to allow women to take "menstrual leave" from work has sparked a debate that has split the country's leftist coalition government and unions.
Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's government is expected to include the menstrual leave as part of a draft bill on reproductive health that is set to be approved at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday.
"We will recognise in the law the right to leave for women who have painful periods that will be financed by the state," Equality Minister Irene Montero tweeted Friday.
She belongs to far-left party Podemos, Sanchez's junior coalition partners.
The proposed law would introduce at least three days' sick pay each month for women who suffer from severe period pains, daily newspaper El Pais and other media which have seen the draft bill reported.
The work leave could be extended to five days for women with particularly disabling periods if they have a medical certificate, the reports said.
"There are women who cannot work and live normally because they have really painful periods," Montero said.
Menstrual leave is currently offered only in a small number of countries including South Korea and Indonesia, none of them in Europe.
But the issue is proving controversial in Spain with some politicians and unions saying it could stigmatise women in the workplace and favour the recruitment of men.
"You have to be careful with this type of decision," said Cristina Antonanzas, deputy secretary of one of trade union UGT, adding this could indirectly impact "women's access to the labour market".
But Spain's other major trade union, the CCOO, welcomed the proposed measure and called it a major "legislative advance" that will recognise a health problem that has been "ignored" until now.
Economy Minister Nadia Calvino, a former general director for budget at the European Commission who belongs to the Socialist party, said work was being done on several drafts.
"The government will never adopt a measure that stigmatises women," she told reporters on Thursday when asked about the controversy.
- Abortion reform -
The head of the main opposition conservative Popular Party (PP), Alberto Nunez Feijoo, said it was up to doctors to decide when sick leave is warranted.
He accused the government of seeking to distract attention from a mobile phone spying scandal with the measure.
Ana Ferrer, of the Association of Victims of Endometriosis, a condition which can lead to more severe menstrual symptoms, said she feared the measure of will lead to "discrimination" against women even though it intends to protect their rights.
"What we need, more than leave, is recognition of our disability," she told AFP.
The draft bill reproductive health also calls for the elimination of the value-added tax (VAT) on some feminine sanitary products such as tampons.
It will also include measures to boost access to abortion at private hospitals and change the law to allow minors of 16 and 17 to terminate a pregnancy without their parents' consent.
Spain decriminalised abortion in 1985 in cases of rape, if a foetus is malformed or if a birth poses a serious physical or psychological risk to the mother.
The scope of the law was broadened in 2010 to allow abortion on demand in the first 14 weeks of pregnancy but access to the procedure is complicated by the fact that many doctors in public hospitals refuse to perform abortions.
M.Carneiro--PC