UNITED NATIONS

Jane Fonda urges equal pay guarantee for U.S. women

Jane Fonda said Thursday she wishes the United States would guarantee that women get equal pay with men for the same work, just like 117 other countries around the globe.

Fonda, a longtime women’s rights activist, came to the United Nations to help launch a campaign by the women’s rights group Equality Now urging all governments to repeal or amend all gender discrimination laws.

She said 139 countries now guarantee gender equality, 125 countries have outlawed domestic violence, 117 countries have laws against sexual harassment and the same number of countries have equal pay laws.

“I wish my country would do the same,” Fonda said of the United States., as the crowded meeting room burst into applause and loud cheers. “Something we have to work on.””Each discriminatory law that is repealed gives new hope, new chances, to women and girls,” Fonda said.

MEXICO CITY

Highways open after snow closes them for 8 hours

One of central Mexico’s most heavily traveled highways reopened Thursday afternoon following an eight-hour closure forced by a storm that dumped more than 2 inches of snow.

The federal highway and bridges agency announced the resumption of traffic on the highway that crosses the mountains east of Mexico City. Earlier in the day, the Federal Police said several sections of the road were closed in both directions.

The highway links the central state of Puebla and Mexico City and has one of the higher volumes of traffic in the country as the key transit link between the capital and the Gulf coast.

Mexico’s water commission said Thursday that the country has been hit by a cold front that sent temperatures below freezing in parts of the country, including Puebla.

– From news service reports