Washington, June 4: US First Lady Melania Trump will not attend the G7 summit this year or join her husband President Donald Trump when he travels to Singapore for the planned June 12 summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, according to her spokeswoman.
The First Lady has not been seen publicly for 24 days. She was last spotted with President Trump on May 10 at the Andrews Air Force Base as they welcomed home three Americans who had been held prisoner in North Korea.
Her spokeswoman told CNN on Sunday that Melania Trump underwent a medical procedure to treat a benign kidney issue on May 14 at Walter Reed National Military Medical Centre.
The First Lady remained in the hospital for five nights following the procedure prior to returning to the White House on May 19.
Several internet conspiracy theories raging from plastic surgery to a stealth move back to New York City have been circulated on the social media regarding the First Lady.
Melania Trump's communications director Stephanie Grisham denied the rumours, telling CNN that the First Lady has been recuperating, but also taking meetings with her staff at the White House, discussing her initiatives as well as upcoming events like the Congressional Picnic and Fourth of July.
Melania Trump attended the G7 summit in Sicily last year, making headlines on her debut international trip as First Lady.
For a tour of Taomarina with other G7 leaders' spouses, Trump famously donned a $51,500 floral Dolce and Gabbana jacket, which garnered sartorial praise but also raised eyebrows because of its cost.
On the first couple's last day in Sicily before jetting back to Washington, they stopped at the US naval air base in Sigonella, Sicily, where the First Lady gave brief remarks to troops prior to the President taking the podium.
This year's G7 Summit will take place June 8 to 9 in Quebec, Canada.
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Raipur (PTI): Five Naxalites were killed and two security personnel injured in an anti-insurgency operation in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar region on Saturday, a senior police official said.
The gunfight broke out at around 8 am in a forest in north Abujhmad along the border of Narayanpur and Kanker districts when a joint team of security personnel was out on an anti-Naxalite operation, he said.
Personnel belonging to the Border Security Force (BSF), District Reserve Guard (DRG) and Special Task Force (STF) are involved in the operation, he said.
The bodies of five Naxalites and a cache of firearms have been recovered from the spot so far, the official said, adding that a search operation is still underway in the area.
Two security personnel sustained injuries in the exchange of fire. They have been shifted to the state capital Raipur for treatment and are out of danger, he said.
Including this incident, the bodies of 197 Naxalites have been recovered so far this year following separate encounters in the state’s Bastar region, comprising seven districts including Kanker and Narayanpur, police said.