On this day in ...… 1950, Martine Aubry (left), current leader of the French Socialist Party, was born in Paris. (photo credit) As Minister for Employment and Solidarity from 1997 to 2000, she implemented the "Loi Aubry," reducing the full-time working week from 39 to 35 hours. During that time, she also introduced the universal health coverage initiative which allows basic access to health insurance for any person of French or foreign nationality residing in France for over three months on a regular basis who is not already covered by a social security scheme. She has been the mayor of Lille, a city in northern France, since March 2001 and president of the Urban Community of Lille since April 2008. She was selected as leader of the French Socialist Party last November.
… 1945, The U.N. Charter (prior posts), the foundational instrument of the international organization called the United Nations, was ratified by 50 countries at the at the conclusion of the U.N. Conference on International Organization in San Francisco, California. The Charter entered into force on October 24 of the same year, after the 5 permanent members of the
Security Council and a majority of the other signatories ratified it. The Charter states that obligations to the United Nations prevail over all other treaty obligations. Today, there are 192 parties to the Charter; this animation shows the accession of member states, and changes in national borders, from 1945 to 2008. (credit)(Prior August 8 posts are here and here.)
