Updated Oct 7, 2018

In photos: Melania Trump ends her four-country Africa tour in Cairo

First Lady Melania Trump stands in front of the Great Pyramid in Giza, Egypt. Photo: Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images.

Melania Trump finished her six-day, four-country tour through Africa with a trip to the Egyptian pyramids and Sphinx in Giza, Egypt, on Saturday. She landed back in the States early Sunday morning.

"It took Melania Trump's first big solo international trip for her to show a different side of herself — a playful, less serious one," AP's Darlene Superville reports from Cairo.

The first lady told reporters before heading back to Washington: "I wish people would focus on what I do, not what I wear.”
On President Trump: "I don't always agree with what he says and I tell him that. ... But I have my own voice and my own opinions and it's very important for me that I express what I feel."

Melania Trump, alongside the First Lady of Egypt, Intissar Amer el-Sisi, greets flower girls after disembarking from her military airplane at Cairo International Airport.

Melania Trump meets with her Egyptian counterpart Intissar Amer el-Sisi at Cairo International Airport. Photo by Doug Mills/AFP via Getty Images.

Photo: Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images.

Melania Trump boards her military airplane prior to departing Cairo and heading back to the U.S. Photo: Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images.

Melania Trump waves after disembarking from a military aircraft upon arrival at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland. Photo: Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images.

Go deeper: Melania Trump's "very emotional" visit to ex-slave holding castle in Ghana

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Ursula Perano

Assault weapons ban dies in Virginia Senate despite Democratic control

Gun-rights ralliers at a protest outside the Virginia Capitol Building in January. Photo ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP via Getty Images.

An assault weapons ban died in the Virginia Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday despite a Democratic majority in the assembly, the Washington Post reports.

Why it matters: Democrats flipped the Virginia House and Senate last year after campaigning hard on gun control. The assault weapons bill would have banned future transfers and sales of all assault weapons in the state.

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Ursula Perano

What we know: Deadly Storm Dennis whips at England, Wales and Ireland

Photo: OLI SCARFF/AFP via Getty Images.

At least two deaths are being attributed to Storm Dennis on Monday as it continues to strike at parts of England, Wales and Ireland, per AccuWeather.

The big picture: Dennis is the second-strongest nontropical storm ever recorded in the North Atlantic Ocean. Its hurricane-force winds and heavy rains have caused widespread flooding across the United Kingdom. The army has been deployed in the U.K. to help with flood relief.

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Axios

Coronavirus cases rise as 14 American evacuees infected

Data: The Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins, the CDC, and China's NHC; Note: China refers to mainland China and the Diamond Princess is the cruise ship offshore Yokohama, Japan. Map: Danielle Alberti/Axios

14 Americans evacuated from the Diamond Princess cruise ship tested positive for the novel coronavirus before being flown in a "specialist containment" on a plane repatriating U.S. citizens back home, the U.S. government said early Monday.

The big picture: COVID-19 has now killed at least 1,775 people and infected more than 70,000 others. Most cases and all but five of the deaths have occurred in mainland China.

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