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Melania Trump Meets with Patients, Visits Garden at Washington Children’s Hospital

US First Lady Melania Trump takes part in an activity with children during a visit at Children's National Hospital in Washington, DC on July 3, 2025. (AFP)
US First Lady Melania Trump takes part in an activity with children during a visit at Children's National Hospital in Washington, DC on July 3, 2025. (AFP)
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Melania Trump Meets with Patients, Visits Garden at Washington Children’s Hospital

US First Lady Melania Trump takes part in an activity with children during a visit at Children's National Hospital in Washington, DC on July 3, 2025. (AFP)
US First Lady Melania Trump takes part in an activity with children during a visit at Children's National Hospital in Washington, DC on July 3, 2025. (AFP)

US First Lady Melania Trump visited with sick patients at Children’s National hospital in Washington on Thursday as the children made Fourth of July arts and crafts ahead of the holiday.

Trump, continuing a tradition of support by first ladies for the pediatric care center, also stopped by the hospital's rooftop “healing” garden she dedicated during the first Trump administration to first ladies of the United States.

The first lady decorated rocks for the garden with the children, drawing a red heart on one. A few kids played with stretchy slime while Trump engaged them in questions.

“Wow, that’s a big slime!” she told one child that was more focused on stretching the sticky goo.

Trump gave each of the children gift bags with blankets and teddy bears that had shirts reading, “Be Best,” her campaign focused on children’s well-being.

She quizzed the kids on their favorite sports, what music they like and how they’re feeling. Trump also took an informal poll, asking the kids whether they like chocolate and ice cream.

Most of the hands shot up, including the first lady’s.

“I like it too,” she said.

She then took the children out to the Bunny Mellon Healing Garden, where they placed small American flags and patriotically-colored pinwheels into the soil.

The garden, decked out in decorations for Independence Day on Friday, was named to honor Rachel “Bunny” Mellon, a friend of first lady Jacqueline Kennedy.

Mellon was a philanthropist and avid gardener who designed the Rose Garden and other White House gardens during the Kennedy administration.

The garden was dedicated to America’s first ladies because of their decades-long support for the hospital and its patients, including a traditional first lady visit at Christmastime that dates back to Bess Truman.

Trump, along with chief White House groundskeeper Dale Haney, inspected a new yellow rose bush donated by the White House and planted earlier in the week at the hospital garden.

After, the first lady visited the heart and kidney unit at the hospital and met privately with a 3-year-old patient.

Later Thursday, the first lady joined President Donald Trump in the Oval Office where they met with Edan Alexander, the last living American hostage in Gaza, who was released in May.

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Varieties

New Post Box with King Charles III Cypher Delivered to Antarctic

Kirsten Shaw (left) and Aurelia Reichardt with the new postbox (BAS) 
Kirsten Shaw (left) and Aurelia Reichardt with the new postbox (BAS) 
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New Post Box with King Charles III Cypher Delivered to Antarctic

Kirsten Shaw (left) and Aurelia Reichardt with the new postbox (BAS) 
Kirsten Shaw (left) and Aurelia Reichardt with the new postbox (BAS) 

Scientists working at a remote British research station in Antarctica have received a new Royal Mail post box in time for Christmas – thanks to the King.

Kirsten Shaw, a station support assistant who runs the British Antarctic Territory Post Office at Rothera Research Station, wrote to the monarch asking for a replacement for the base’s previous hand-painted replica box.

The Royal Household was “touched by the story of the team working in one of the most remote places on earth” and teamed up with Royal Mail to arrange the gift of one of its famous red lamppost boxes, featuring the King’s cypher.

The post box was delivered by the UK’s polar research vessel RRS Sir David Attenborough, along with the first major drop of supplies to the base following the continent’s long, dark winter, the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) said.

Aurelia Reichardt, station leader at Rothera, described the present as “having a piece of home with us.”

“It’s such an honor for the station to be gifted a real Royal Mail post box,” she said. “It’s given the community here a real boost – and it’s a great reminder to take the time to reach out to loved ones, even when work gets hectic.”

Reichardt also said, “For our team, who are working in such a remote place, it’s like having a piece of home with us.”

Earlier this year, the King recorded a personal message for researchers in Antarctica, expressing the “greatest admiration for the critically important work you do,” to coincide with the 24 hours of darkness they experience on June 21 – the southern hemisphere’s shortest day.

Shaw, who is responsible for getting mail in and out of Rothera and also across to other BAS stations and science field camps, said: “Being in Antarctica is incredible, but it’s full of extremes.”

She added, “So I think it’s a special thing to send post back home, to communicate your experiences. It’s a moment of your life that you put down on paper and give to someone else.”

 

Varieties

Egypt Reveals Restored Colossal Statues of Pharaoh in Luxor

Visitors watch the two giant reassembled alabaster statues of Pharoah Amenhotep III, in the southern city of Luxor, Egypt, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)
Visitors watch the two giant reassembled alabaster statues of Pharoah Amenhotep III, in the southern city of Luxor, Egypt, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)
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Egypt Reveals Restored Colossal Statues of Pharaoh in Luxor

Visitors watch the two giant reassembled alabaster statues of Pharoah Amenhotep III, in the southern city of Luxor, Egypt, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)
Visitors watch the two giant reassembled alabaster statues of Pharoah Amenhotep III, in the southern city of Luxor, Egypt, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)

Egypt on Sunday revealed the revamp of two colossal statues of a prominent pharaoh in the southern city of Luxor, the latest in the government’s archaeological events that aim at drawing more tourists to the country.

The giant alabaster statues, known as the Colossi of Memnon, were reassembled in a renovation project that lasted about two decades. They represent Amenhotep III, who ruled ancient Egypt about 3,400 years ago.

“Today we are celebrating, actually, the finishing and the erecting of these two colossal statues,” Mohamed Ismail, secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, told The Associated Press ahead of the ceremony.

Attempts to revive a prestigious temple Ismail said the colossi are of great significance to Luxor, a city known for its ancient temples and other antiquities.

They’re also an attempt to “revive how this funerary temple of king Amenhotep III looked like a long time ago,” Ismail said.

Amenhotep III, one of the most prominent pharaohs, ruled during the 500 years of the New Kingdom, which was the most prosperous time for ancient Egypt.

The pharaoh, whose mummy is showcased at a Cairo museum, ruled between 1390–1353 BC, a peaceful period known for its prosperity and great construction, including his mortuary temple, where the Colossi of Memnon are located, and another temple, Soleb, in Nubia.

The colossi were toppled by a strong earthquake in about 1200 BC that also destroyed Amenhotep III’s funerary temple, said Mohamed Ismail, secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities.

They were fragmented and partly quarried away, with their pedestals dispersed.

Some of their blocks were reused in the Karnak temple, but archaeologists brought them back to rebuild the colossi, according to the Antiquities Ministry.

In late 1990s, an Egyptian German mission, chaired by German Egyptologist Hourig Sourouzian, began working in the temple area, including the assembly and renovation of the colossi.

“This project has in mind ... to save the last remains of a once-prestigious temple,” she said.

The statues show Amenhotep III seated with hands resting on his thighs, with their faces looking eastward toward the Nile and the rising sun. They wear the nemes headdress surmounted by the double crowns and the pleated royal kilt, which symbolizes the pharaoh’s divine rule.

Two other small statues on the pharaoh’s feet depict his wife, Tiye.

The colossi — 14.5 meters (48 feet) and 13.6 meters (45 feet) respectively — preside over the entrance of the king’s temple on the western bank of the Nile.

The 35-hectare (86-acre) complex is believed to be the largest and richest temple in Egypt and is usually compared to the temple of Karnak, also in Luxor.

The colossi were hewn in Egyptian alabaster from the quarries of Hatnub, in Middle Egypt. They were fixed on large pedestals with inscriptions showing the name of the temple, as well as the quarry.

Unlike other monumental sculptures of ancient Egypt, the colossi were partly compiled with pieces sculpted separately, which were fixed into each statue’s main monolithic alabaster core, the ministry said.

Sunday’s unveiling in Luxor came just six weeks after the inauguration of the long-delayed Grand Egyptian Museum, the centerpiece of the government’s bid to boost the country’s tourism industry. The mega project is located near the famed Giza Pyramids and the Sphinx.

“This site is going to be a point of interest for years to come,” said Tourism and Antiquities Minister Sherif Fathy, who attended the unveiling ceremony. “There are always new things happening in Luxor.”

A record number of about 15.7 million tourists visited Egypt in 2024, contributing about 8% of the country’s GDP, according to official figures.

Fathy has said about 18 million tourists are expected to visit the country this year, with authorities hoping for 30 million visitors annually by 2032.

Varieties

National Wildlife Center Launches 2nd Phase to Regulate Unlicensed Species in Saudi Arabia

National Wildlife Center Launches 2nd Phase to Regulate Unlicensed Species in Saudi Arabia
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National Wildlife Center Launches 2nd Phase to Regulate Unlicensed Species in Saudi Arabia

National Wildlife Center Launches 2nd Phase to Regulate Unlicensed Species in Saudi Arabia

The National Center for Wildlife (NCW) has launched the second phase of its initiative to regulate the status of unlicensed wildlife species in the Kingdom, representing one of the most prominent national efforts to control wildlife possession, document ownership, and ensure that all practices related to housing, breeding, and trading comply with the Environmental Law and its implementing regulations, according to SPA.

The regularization period extends until the end of February 2026 and targets those who keep or handle wildlife on a large scale, including private collections (farms) containing more than 10 species, facilities engaged in breeding and housing wildlife, and businesses involved in selling wildlife products or derivatives.

This phase follows the success of the first, which focused on regulating the status of falcons, and reinforces the Kingdom's role in curbing illegal practices that could harm natural environments or threaten the survival of wildlife species. The initiative reflects a growing national commitment to protecting biodiversity and developing a more regulated system for managing wildlife within the Kingdom.

The regulation aims to build an accurate database of wildlife, enhance monitoring, and improve housing standards in accordance with environmental and health considerations.

The NWC emphasizes that this step aligns with national efforts to protect wildlife, support ecosystem sustainability, and address the challenges of illegal wildlife trafficking. It calls on all owners and relevant facilities to take advantage of the grace period, review the regulations through the "Fitri" platform, and contribute to a safer and more balanced ecosystem