Nation & World Glance
Melania Trump has ‘successful’ procedure on kidney condition
WASHINGTON — First lady Melania Trump underwent a “successful” procedure Monday to treat a benign kidney condition and was expected to remain hospitalized for the rest of the week, her staff said. President Donald Trump took a helicopter to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center to visit her and tweeted that his wife was in “good spirits.”
Mrs. Trump, 48, had the embolization procedure Monday morning. The president spoke with Mrs. Trump before the procedure and with her doctor afterward, the first lady’s office said.
The president tweeted shortly before arriving at Walter Reed outside Washington, saying it was a “successful procedure,” describing his wife as being “in good spirits” and offering his thanks “to all of the wellwishers!” He spent over an hour at the hospital before departing, without addressing waiting reporters, via motorcade under stormy skies.
The White House did not offer any additional details on Mrs. Trump’s condition, though Vice President Mike Pence described the procedure as “long planned” as he opened a speech at an evening event celebrating Israel’s independence. “Melania is already on the mend,” Pence said.
Sept 4 trial date for women accused of damaging Tempe mosque
PHOENIX — Unless they accept a plea agreement soon, two women who filmed themselves using hate speech and removing flyers and pamphlets from a Tempe mosque will stand trial in early September.
Tahnee Gonzales and Elizabeth Dauenhauer were arrested March 15 and indicted a week later.
They were charged with third-degree burglary and aggravated criminal damage for entering the Islamic Community Center of Tempe and removing various items.
The women are accused of publishing a Facebook Live video of about 20 minutes, showing one filming the other walking around the mosque property with three children and removing posters, brochures and other materials.
In the video, the 32-yearold Gonzales and 51-yearold Dauenhauer are seen ranting against Islam and Muslims as “devil-Satan worshippers” who “hate America.”
The women pleaded not guilty on March 28.
Police: Indonesia suicide bombings work of 2 families
SURABAYA, Indonesia — An Indonesian family brought its 7-year-old daughter to a suicide bomb attack it launched Monday on the police headquarters in the country’s secondlargest city, authorities said, a day after members of another family conducted coordinated suicide bombings on three city churches that killed 12 people.
National police chief Tito Karnavian said the girl, who was with two of the attackers on a motorcycle, survived being thrown by the blast at Surabaya’s police headquarters. The attack killed the four perpetrators. Six civilians and four officers were wounded.
The attack came just hours after police said the family that carried out the church bombings included girls aged 8 and 12.
The flurry of bombings raised concerns that previously beaten-down militant networks in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation have been reinvigorated by the return of some of the estimated 1,100 Indonesians who went to fight with the Islamic State group in Syria. Experts have warned for several years that when those fighters return, they could pose a significant threat.
IS claimed responsibility for the church bombings in a statement carried by its Aamaq news agency. Karnavian, however, said earlier police comments that the family had spent time in Syria were incorrect.
He said the church bombers and the police headquarters attackers were friends, as were another family whose homemade bombs exploded in their apartment Sunday night.
Koreas to hold fresh meeting on carrying out summit vows
SEOUL, South Korea — The two Koreas will hold a high-level meeting on Wednesday to discuss setting up military and Red Cross talks aimed at reducing border tension and restarting reunions between families separated by the Korean War.
Seoul’s Unification Ministry said Tuesday the meeting at a border truce village will discuss ways to carry out peace commitments made between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in in their summit last month. The discussions may also include setting up working-level talks between the countries’ sports officials over plans to field combined teams in certain sports at the Asian Games in August.
The meeting comes ahead of the June 12 summit between Kim and U.S. President Donald Trump. Those talks are part of a global diplomatic push to resolve the issue of Pyongyang’s nuclear program.
After their April 27 meeting, Kim and Moon issued a vague vow for the “complete” denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. They also agreed to stop all hostile acts over “land, sea and air” that can cause military tensions and clashes, and to resume temporary reunions between war-separated families.
South Korea, which brokered the planned talks between Trump and Kim, says Kim has genuine interested in dealing away his nuclear weapons in return for economic benefits.