Spain's junior defense minister arrives

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Spain's defense minister Carme Chacón, who was seven months pregnant when she was appointed, gave birth today to a 6-pound baby boy. The interior minister has temporarily taken over her portfolio, but it seems unlikely that she will take the full four-month maternity leave afforded to her by Spanish law. Photos of the pregnant Chacón touring military bases in Afghanistan, Lebanon, and Bosnia in recent weeks have become visual emblems of Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero's push for gender equality in government.

I hope Silvio Berlusconi at least sent a card.