New shelter tops reactor at ChernobylCHERNOBYL, Ukraine — A massive shelter has finally been installed over the exploded reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear plant, one of the most ambitious engineering projects in the world.The half-cylinder-shaped shelter began being moved toward the reactor on a system of hydraulic jacks two weeks ago and reached its destination today, a significant step toward liquidating the remains of the world’s worst nuclear accident, 30 years ago in what is now Ukraine.Workers will now begin dismantling unstable parts of the original cover, the so-called sarcophagus, which was built over the reactor shortly after the explosion to contain radiation.The new shelter is 843 feet wide and 354 feet tall and cost 1.5 billion euros.

D.C. lawmakers to vote on paid family leave billWASHINGTON — Everyone who works in the nation’s capital would be eligible for the most generous family leave benefit in the nation — up to 11 weeks of paid leave for the birth or adoption of a child — under a bill that District of Columbia lawmakers will vote on next week.While four states guarantee paid family leave, the District’s program would be the first in the nation to be funded entirely by a payroll tax on businesses. California, New Jersey and Rhode Island fund their leave programs either partially or entirely through employee contributions.The D.C. Council has been debating paid family leave for more than a year. The final details were released Monday by Democratic Council Chairman Phil Mendelson, eight days before the first of two council votes that are required for it to become law.“This is the right thing to do because the United States is behind the rest of the Western world in offering these kinds of benefits to families,” Mendelson told The Associated Press. He noted that both presidential candidates supported some form of family leave.The bill, which offers a less generous benefit than the council initially proposed, would be paid for by a 0.62 percent payroll tax on businesses. In addition to 11 weeks of leave for either parent welcoming a new baby, adoption or foster placement, it would provide eight weeks of paid leave to care for a sick relative. Workers would get up to 90 percent of their salary, with the benefit capped at $1,000 per week.