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First lady Melania Trump boards a plane Oct. 1, 2018, in Andrews Air Force Base, Md., en route to Africa.
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World briefs: Melania Trump forges ahead as first lady with Africa trip

AP photo/Carolyn Kaster

World briefs: Melania Trump forges ahead as first lady with Africa trip

Plus: Passenger’s body found in Pacific lagoon after plane crash; Catalans display devotion to independence on anniversary; and more.

WASHINGTON — With a wave and tweet, first lady Melania Trump headed for Africa on Monday on her first big solo international trip, aiming to make child well-being the focus of a five-day, four-country tour that will take her to every corner of the vast and impoverished continent.

The first lady opens her first-ever visit to Africa on Tuesday in Ghana in the West, followed by stops in Malawi in the South, Kenya in the East and Egypt in the Northeast. She departed Washington on Monday with a rare wave to the press corps and an enthusiastic tweet: “We are taking off for #Africa! So looking forward to visiting #Ghana #Malawi #Kenya & #Egypt as I take #BeBest international. #FLOTUSinAfrica2018.”

Mrs. Trump’s first extended turn on the world stage outside the shadow of President Donald Trump could still be complicated by her husband, who has spoken of the continent in impolite and even vulgar terms.

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That leaves the first lady with some fence-mending duties.

“She’s got some heavy lifting to do on this trip and it’s a little bit unfair because that’s not what a first lady’s trip should be about,” said Judd Devermont, the Africa program director at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. First ladies usually practice a softer form of diplomacy, showing interest in a host nation’s schools, hospitals and arts programs, and avoiding thornier issues.

Joshua Meservey, a senior Africa policy analyst at the Heritage Foundation, countered by noting the “positive engagements” the president has had with some African heads of state, including President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya, who met with Mr. Trump at the White House in late August. Mr. Trump also met last week in New York with President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi of Egypt.

Passenger’s body found in Pacific lagoon after plane crash

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CANBERRA, Australia — A passenger’s body has been found in the Pacific lagoon where a plane crash-landed last week near an island runway in Micronesia.

Air Niugini had initially said all 47 passengers and crew had survived when the Boeing 737 crashed near the Chuuk island runway on Friday.

The Papua New Guinea national carrier said on Saturday one passenger had not been accounted for but was witnessed reaching a rescue dinghy as U.S. Navy sailors and locals helped people escape the sinking plane.

But Air Niugini chief executive Tahawar Durrani said the man’s body was found by divers Monday. The airline said in a statement on Tuesday the man was Indonesian, but did not reveal his identity.

“Our outreach team is in touch with the man’s family and we are making arrangements to repatriate his body,” Mr. Durrani said in a statement.

Four passengers were in stable conditions at a Chuuk island hospital and will be taken soon to Guam for further treatment, Air Niugini said.

Hospital and aviation officials have not responded to requests for comment.

Flight PX73 from nearby Pohnpei island crashed about 475 feet from the Chuuk International Airport runway, the airline said.

Catalans display devotion to independence on anniversary

SANT JULIA DE RAMIS, Spain — Activists blocked railway lines, students skipped classes and supporters of Catalonia seceding from Spain marched in large numbers Monday to mark the anniversary of a referendum that was part of a thwarted bid for independence last year.

The evening march in Barcelona, the region’s capital, drew what local police estimated was a crowd of 180,000 people. A spontaneous spin-off demonstration produced a tense face-off between police and lingering protesters, capping a day of noisy and largely nonviolent demonstrations.

The anniversary of the event that sparked Spain’s gravest political crisis in decades was marked by a fractured Catalan independence movement amid delicate talks on the region’s future with the country’s the center-left Socialist government.

Last year’s Oct. 1 referendum in Catalonia, ruled illegal by a court, was stopped by Spanish police and failed in its bid to produce a separate Catalan state. For many Catalans, the vote has become a symbol of their long fight for self-determination.

As part of the one-year observances across the region, activists blocked roads and other major transportation routes while college and high school students boycotted classes and made emotional speeches at mass protests. The evening march turned downtown Barcelona into a colorful parade of banners and flags.

Pentagon chief drops planned China visit amid tensions

WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has dropped plans to visit China amid rising tensions between Beijing and Washington, U.S. defense officials said Monday.

Although the trip was never publicly announced, Mr. Mattis had planned to visit Beijing in October for so-called 2-plus-2 security talks with his Chinese counterpart as well as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Mr. Pompeo’s counterpart.

The Pentagon has made no public statement about Mr. Mattis’ change of plans. Defense officials confirmed news reports of the meeting cancellation, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss internal planning.

Deterioration in U.S.-Chinese relations has been most visible in recent trade disputes between the two countries, but the tension has spilled over into the military arena. China, for example, has refused a request for a U.S. warship to make a port call at Hong Kong in October, and it has strongly protested U.S. plans to sell additional military equipment to Taiwan, the self-governed island that China considers its territory.

Also last week, China cancelled plans for its naval chief to visit the Pentagon.

Last Friday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that his country’s relationship with the United States could break “like a glass,” and he used the U.N. General Assembly to declare China would not be bullied by the Trump administration.

First Published: October 2, 2018, 6:34 a.m.

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First lady Melania Trump boards a plane Oct. 1, 2018, in Andrews Air Force Base, Md., en route to Africa.  (AP photo/Carolyn Kaster)
AP photo/Carolyn Kaster
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