Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka promised during the Republican National Convention that her father would offer more help to working families, and this week the elder Trump laid out more of the specifics: six weeks of paid maternity leave for new mothers and a new approach to tax breaks for child-care expenses. Perhaps the best that can be said is that it's refreshing to see a Republican presidential candidate advocate for federal paid family leave policies and financial assistance to help working parents afford the tremendous costs of raising children. Like so much of what Trump has said during the campaign, the proposal falls short on details, including how to pay for these new benefits, and it's woefully out of touch with the needs of many families. Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton's plan is similarly lacking in key details, but at least her plan is more attuned to the challenges faced by the growing proportion of families with no stay-at-home parents. And yet, the nation is probably better off with Trump offering a flawed, half-baked plan, rather than no plan, because it suggests a bipartisan consensus that maternity leave and child care are critical national issues that the federal government can do much more to address.

It sounds laughable now, but remember back when we thought a black president portended a "post-racial society"? When Barack Obama was elected in 2008, you didn't have to put that phrase in quotes. It seemed like an entirely plausible concept. Now that Hillary Clinton stands to make history as the first woman president, no one is contemplating a post-gender society or even a post-sexist society. There are a bunch of reasons for this, not least the fact that liberal-leaning, elite media are getting so much mileage from clickbait stories about identity politics that a post-anything society (at least anything having to do with race, gender or some other trait that might render you less advantaged than someone else) would be bad for business.

Immigration officials have deported Jose Vega-Zuniga four times, but he's always returned, and usually landed behind bars. But a recent DUI arrest culminated in a federal conviction this summer that carried up to 20 years in prison. So, prosecutors allege, he left of his own accord. Days after a federal judge issued a warrant for his arrest, Vega-Zuniga, 38, crossed the border near San Diego, sitting in the front passenger seat as his wife drove her pickup into Mexico, prosecutors said. On Wednesday, nearly a month after the brazen escape, federal authorities arrested his wife, Elba Soto, at her Moreno Valley home, according to the U.S. attorney's office in Los Angeles.

The California Constitution bars state and local governments from issuing tax-supported bonds unless they obtain voters' approval in advance. It sets a particularly high bar for local measures, requiring a two-thirds majority (although state voters in 2000 lowered that threshold to 55% for school bonds). Notably, this requirement does not apply to bonds designed to be repaid by user fees, lease payments or other forms of non-tax revenue. Governments have used these "revenue bonds" to pay for a host of infrastructure improvements, from new parking structures to sewer systems, hospitals, toll roads and bridges. And they have done so without seeking voter approval, even for projects costing more than 1 billion.

The cashiers' demands were simple: management must remove the tracking software they had installed in the checkout terminals, or the cashiers would refuse to return to work. The technology that tracked their every movement – their speed, efficiency, etc – had been installed without their knowledge, they asserted, and was an invasion of privacy. While this seems like something one might see today, this happened nearly 40 years ago at the biggest supermarket chain in Denmark. It is easy to see these cashiers as luddites, anti-progress and anti-technology, but like the original luddites they had valid concerns about the way that new technologies are used by employers. New technologies can not only lead to jobs lost through automation, but can also change the nature of work itself in detrimental ways.

The Times Bayer bets the farm in 66 billion Monsanto deal: An American pioneer of genetically modified seeds has struck a 66 billion takeover deal with Bayer, the German chemicals giant, in the latest round of megadeal consolidations in agricultural production. Lawyers set to pass M&A paperwork to machines: Luminance, a start-up backed by Mike Lynch, the British technology investor, is aiming to reduce the time taken on due diligence that accompanies multimillion-pound M&A deals from weeks to days or even hours using a new form of artificial intelligence. Public sector job numbers plunge to record low: Employment in the public sector has fallen to a record low as private sector jobs surge ahead despite Brexit, official figures have shown. Mortgage lending falls in wake of Brexit vote: The number of mortgages advanced for house purchases fell in the first month after Britain's decision to leave the European Union. Miner in'bribery scandal' intends to quit AIM: An Africa-focused mining company that has been caught up in a bribery scandal is planning to delist its shares.

Nasa has announced that it has found evidence of flowing water on Mars. Scientists have long speculated that Recurring Slope Lineae -- or dark patches -- on Mars were made up of briny water but the new findings prove that those patches are caused by liquid water, which it has established by finding hydrated salts. Several hundred camped outside the London store in Covent Garden. The 6s will have new features like a vastly improved camera and a pressure-sensitive "3D Touch" display

Nasa has announced that it has found evidence of flowing water on Mars. Scientists have long speculated that Recurring Slope Lineae -- or dark patches -- on Mars were made up of briny water but the new findings prove that those patches are caused by liquid water, which it has established by finding hydrated salts. Several hundred camped outside the London store in Covent Garden. The 6s will have new features like a vastly improved camera and a pressure-sensitive "3D Touch" display

Gun lovers now have a dating website dedicated to them. Concealed Carry Match allows its users to meet other members who have similar views on Second Amendment rights. The development is potentially controversial, considering the anti-gun rhetoric that has been doing the rounds following the spate of shootings in the United States in the recent past. Working on a similar platform as other niche dating sites, Traverse City, Michigan-based ConcealedCarryMatch.com offers a paid membership, ranging from 10 weekly to 150 for a year. The site launched last month and reportedly registered opening-day traffic of 10,000 interested visitors, signaling at an increased intensification of the debate on gun control ahead of the presidential election in November.

A former Philippine militiaman testified before a Senate panel on Thursday that President Rodrigo Duterte, when he was mayor of a southern city, ordered him and other members of a liquidation squad to kill criminals and political opponents in gangland-style assaults that left about 1,000 dead. Edgar Matobato, 57, told the nationally televised Senate committee hearing that he heard Duterte order some of the killings and acknowledged that he himself carried out about 50 of the abductions and deadly assaults in Davao, including one in which they fed a man to a crocodile in 2007. The Senate committee inquiry was being led by Sen. Leila de Lima, a staunch critic of Duterte's antidrug campaign that is believed to have killed more than 3,000 suspected drug users and dealers since he assumed the presidency in June. Duterte has accused De Lima of involvement in illegal drugs, alleging that she used to have a driver who took money from detained drug lords. She has denied the allegations.