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WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama said Monday that the United States should join the rest of the industrialized world and offer paid leave for mothers of newborns.

"Many women can't even get a paid day off to give birth — now that's a pretty low bar," Obama said at the White House Summit on Working Families. "That, we should be able to take care of."

The president is touting paid maternity in the midst of a midterm election campaign focused on women voters, without describing the details of how he would fund such a system. "If France can figure this out, we can figure this out," Obama said.

Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio, a potential 2016 presidential candidate, responded to Obama by announcing he will would outline his vision Wednesday for "how modern conservative reforms can help bring the American Dream within reach for millions of single mothers, young Americans and working families."

"Telling federal agencies to do what they're already supposed to do and endorsing partisan legislation that will never pass is not the sort of bold, innovative leadership we need," Rubio said in a statement.

While some companies offer paid family leave to attract workers, the 1993 Family Medical Leave Act only requires that employers provide unpaid leave for medical and family reasons.

Obama praised California, Rhode Island and New Jersey for creating a state benefit. But he has not endorsed legislation that would create a similar national system funded by a payroll tax, and he pledged in his 2008 presidential campaign not to raise taxes on families making under $250,000 a year.

Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., has introduced legislation that would provide up to 12 weeks of paid leave through a fund in the Social Security Administration, paid for by contributions from employees and employers of 0.2 percent of wages. She said she has personally encouraged the president to back it, despite his tax pledge.

"We're talking about 2 cents of every $10," she said in an interview at the summit. She said without such a fund, eight out of 10 workers can't take advantage of their right for family leave because they can't afford it.

Obama instituted six weeks of paid leave for White House staff when they have a child, get sick or injured or need to care for an ailing family member, using his authority to set his staff's compensation under the personnel code. He does not have the power to award paid leave to other federal workers without congressional action since they are covered under a different section of law. The White House has supported the goal of legislation introduced by lawmakers to change that, but it has stalled in Congress.

"There is only one developed country in the world that does not offer paid maternity leave, and that is us," Obama said. "And that is not the list you want to be on — on your lonesome. It's time to change that."

He also directed federal agencies to expand flexible work arrangements where possible, and Obama chief of staff Dennis McDonough said in a staff memo that includes the White House — a hard-charging environment where long hours are the norm. "I know how hard each of you works to support the president and the nation. Please know that we'll be looking for ways to better support you as well," McDonough wrote.

Obama took four working parents out to lunch at Chipotle before his speech and after met with business leaders with family-friendly policies. He urged Congress to pass legislation requiring employers to accommodate pregnant employees so they can continue to perform their jobs.

The summit included a surprise appearance by a celebrity to echo Obama's criticism of "Mad Men" policies in today's workplace. Christina Hendricks, who plays single mom Joan on the AMC dramatization of a 1960s ad firm, said, "In the 21st century the only place for a story like Joan's should be on TV."

Mrs. Obama closed the summit by encouraging young women not to short-change themselves in career negotiations. And she said she hopes to see a woman in the country's top job as president soon.

"That should happen as soon as possible," she said. "We have some options, don't we?"

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Associated Press writer Stacy A. Anderson contributed to this report.

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Follow Nedra Pickler at http://twitter.com/nedrapickler

BAGHDAD (AP) — America's top diplomat said Monday that leaders of Iraq's factions must keep their commitments to seat a new parliament next week, before a Sunni insurgency sweeps away hopes for a lasting peace.

Meeting with all factions, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry had a dire message to leaders of Iraq's bitterly divided Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish political coalitions who have lived through more than three decades of dictatorship, sanctions and wars.

"This is a critical moment for Iraq's future," Kerry said at a press conference in Baghdad. "It is a moment of decision for Iraq's leaders and it's a moment of great urgency."

Sunnis frustrated with being cut out of power are increasingly joining the ISIL, a bloody insurgency that has been emboldened by battlefield successes in neighboring Syria's civil war and has made rapid and record gains in Iraq over the past two weeks.

Kerry is seeking to hold the officials to a government transition that the U.S. believes will stave off the threat of a new civil war by giving more power to Iraq's minorities.

Kerry offered few details of his closed-door meetings in Baghdad. But he said each of the officials he met with — including Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki — committed to seat a new parliament by July 1 as the constitution requires.

"The very future of Iraq depends on choices that will be made in the next days and weeks, and the future of Iraq depends primarily on the ability of Iraq's leaders to come together and take a stand united against ISIL," Kerry said, referring to the insurgency known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. "Not next week, not next month, but now."

He also said no country — including the U.S. — should try to pick new leadership for Iraq. "That is up to the people of Iraq," Kerry said.

Al-Maliki is facing growing calls for his resignation as disgruntled Sunnis say they do not believe he will give them a greater voice in the government.

After suffering together through more than eight years of war — which killed nearly 4,500 American troops and more than 100,000 Iraqis — Washington and Baghdad are trying to shelve mutual wariness to curb the very real prospect of the Mideast nation falling into a fresh bout of sectarian strife.

Parliament Speaker Osama al-Nujaifi, one of Iraq's top-ranking Sunnis, told Kerry that the insurgents pose "a threat to the entire world." Al-Nujaifi, is from Mosul, Iraq's second largest city which was overrun earlier this month by militants.

Of the insurgents, al-Nujaifi said "we have to confront it through direct military operations, political reforms so that we can inject a new hope into our own people so that they can support the political process and the unity of Iraq."

Iraqi officials briefed on Kerry's talks with the Iraqi prime minister said al-Maliki urged the United States to target the militants' positions in Iraq and neighboring Syria, citing training camps and convoys with airstrikes. The officials said Kerry responded by saying a great deal of care and caution must be taken before attacks are launched to avoid civilian casualties that could create the impression that Americans are attacking Sunnis.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media on the record.

President Barack Obama, in a round of television interviews that aired in the U.S., said al-Maliki and the Iraqi leadership face a test as to whether "they are able to set aside their suspicions, their sectarian preferences for the good of the whole."

"And we don't know," Obama said. "The one thing I do know is that if they fail to do that then no amount of military action by the United States can hold that country together."

Kerry arrived in Baghdad just a day after the Sunni militants captured two key border posts, one along the frontier with Jordan and the other with Syria, deepening al-Maliki's predicament. Their latest victories considerably expanded territory under the militants' control just two weeks after the al-Qaida breakaway group started swallowing up chunks of northern Iraq, heightening pressure on al-Maliki to step aside.

The offensive by ISIL takes the group closer to its dream of carving out an Islamic state straddling both Syria and Iraq. Controlling the borders with Syria will help it supply fellow fighters there with weaponry looted from Iraqi warehouses, boosting its ability to battle beleaguered Syrian government forces.

On Monday, gunmen ambushed a police convoy transferring prisoners about 85 miles (140 kilometers) south of Baghdad, killing nine policemen and 13 prisoners, according to police officials. The officials said some of the prisoners, some of whom were convicted of terrorism-related charges, were being taken to a high-security prison in the southern city of Nasiriyah 200 miles (320 kilometers) southwest of Baghdad. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

The militants' stunning battlefield successes in the north and the west of Iraq have laid bare the inadequacies of the country's U.S.-trained forces. In the north, troops fled in the face of advancing militants, abandoning their weapons, vehicles and other equipment. In some cases in the west, they pulled out either when the militants approached or when they heard of other towns falling.

Sunday's capture by the militants of crossings bordering Jordan and Syria followed the fall on Friday and Saturday of the towns of Qaim, Rawah, Anah and Rutba, all of which are in Sunni-dominated Anbar province, where the militants have since January controlled the city of Fallujah and parts of the provincial capital, Ramadi.

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Follow Lara Jakes on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/larajakesAP

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazil relied on its star Neymar for two early goals to beat Cameroon 4-1 Monday and reach the World Cup's knockout stage for a South American showdown against Chile, a 2-0 loser to the Netherlands.

Winning Group B with its third straight victory made sure that the Dutch avoided the host so early in the tournament. Instead, the Netherlands will face Mexico, which beat Croatia 3-1 to advance alongside Brazil from Group A.

Spain beat Australia 3-0 in an inconsequential game between already eliminated teams, a victory providing a little balm on the disappointing defense of its title.

With free-flowing games and buckets full of goals the rule in this outstanding tournament, it took until the final minutes of the Group A games for Brazil to make sure it advanced as group leader on goal difference over Mexico.

"We are progressing match after match and that's important," Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari said.

Both finished with seven points, with Croatia eliminated with three points, while Cameroon finished with three losses. Brazil finished first because it had a better goal differential than Mexico, plus 5 to plus 3.

The Netherlands was the first perfect team to advance, finishing ahead of Chile in Group B. Spain had three points with Monday's win, and Australia had three losses.

Beyond the statistics, it again was Neymar who fully lived up to expectations of the 200 million football fans in Brazil with flair and lethal finishing, making the difference with first-half strikes against an African opponent that fought hard for one half before succumbing.

Neymar used an array of spin moves and delicate touches to get by players, delighting the crowd in Brasilia — including Britain's Prince Harry.

"I have the responsibility," said Neymar, and at 22, he is living up to it every single time he takes to the pitch. It seems half the Brazil jerseys from the beaches of Copacabana to gaucho towns in the interior carry his name, and with good reason.

Neymar has four goals from three games to lead the top scorer's standings, edging a group of five players with three goals.

Much like the opener, Neymar carried the weight for his team, scoring the first with a subtle inside-foot flick while adding a second with a darting run before wrong-footing the Cameroon goalie with a right-foot drive.

The oft-criticized Fred may have kept himself in the starting lineup with a header just after halftime. Substitute Fernandinho closed out the scoring for Brazil.

With everything to play for, Mexico came through with three goals in a 10-minute spurt of excitement late in the game against Croatia.

So often in this tournament, goals deep in the second half have made the difference, and Monday was no exception.

The Dutch scored twice in the last 13 minutes against Chile to finish the group stage with three straight wins. Quite a turnaround for a team thought to be on the wane with aging stars like Arjen Robben.

Yet the Dutch have scored 10 goals in three victories. Now, only the foolhardy would relish the prospect of facing the orange-clad team.

"We wanted to be first in the group. Now we will see what is coming at us," said Robben, who added an assist against Chile to the three goals he scored in earlier games.

Leroy Fer scored a minute after going on as a substitute to get the Netherlands ahead in the 77th minute. Then, when some other players had already gone down with cramps, Robben launched into another of his trademark sprints across the pitch and passed perfectly to Memphis Depay for the tap-in that put the game away.

While Robben is going strong after hitting his thirties, age caught up with the Spanish stars this tournament, particularly in their 5-1 opening loss to the Netherlands.

They regained a little pride Monday. In a game of goodbyes, David Villa marked his final appearance for Spain with a record 59th goal for the national team.

"It's sad because we would have liked to have spent more time here, but that's how it is," Villa said.

Fernando Torres, who set off Spain's rise by scoring the winner in the 2008 European championship final, also scored. Juan Mata added the third.

Spain also won the 2010 World Cup and repeated as European champs in 2012.

At least Spain avoided finishing last in its group.

Uruguay, the semifinalist of 2010, could be facing elimination on Tuesday, but after Luis Suarez returned from injury and scored both goals against England, there is no counting out the former champion.

Suarez shrugged off any lingering concerns about his surgically repaired left knee and said he was in "perfect shape" to face Italy.

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Follow Raf Casert on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/rcasert

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Merry Clayton, the veteran backup singer who was featured in the Oscar-winning documentary "20 Feet From Stardom," is recovering after being seriously injured in an automobile accident.

Clayton's manager, Alan Abrahams, said in a statement Monday that the 65-year-old singer suffered "severe injuries to her lower body, including major trauma to her lower extremities," in the June 16 crash.

Clayton has "a long road to recovery," Abrahams said.

"It's a very serious situation," he said. "She's feisty, and she's with us. She's gonna make it."

Clayton began her career in the early 1960s and has recorded with Ray Charles, Carole King, Bobby Darin and the Rolling Stones. Her story was among those told in the film "20 Feet From Stardom," which won the best documentary film Oscar earlier this year.

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Follow AP Entertainment Writer Derrik J. Lang at http://www.twitter.com/derrikjlang .

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Online:

http://merryclayton.com