PAT NIXON

The first pair of giant pandas — Ling Ling and Hsing Hsing — arrived at the National Zoo in April 1972, as a gift from the Chinese Premier to then-First Lady Pat Nixon.

The zoo agreed, and Tian Tian (tee-YEN tee-YEN) and Mei Xiang (may-SHONG) arrived in December 2000. Panda-watchers grew even more excited in 2005 when Mei Xiang gave birth to Tai-Shan (tie-SHAN) in 2005. Xiao Qi Ji was called “little miracle” because his mom became the second-oldest giant panda known to give birth when he was born in 2020. The National Zoo has planned a “pandaversary” April 16 and 17 to mark 50 years of giant pandas in Washington. The event will include dance performances, scientist talks, showings of a new panda documentary and treats for Mei Xiang, Tian Tian and Xiao Qi Ji.

NEW YORK — (AP) — American soprano Renée Fleming is to make rare operatic appearances as Pat Nixon in a new production of John Adams' “Nixon in China” at the Paris Opera next season. The opera is to be given eight performances at the Bastille from March 25 to April 16, 2023, the company said Wednesday. Music director Gustavo Dudamel will conduct a cast that includes baritone Thomas Hampson as Nixon and soprano Kathleen Kim as Madame Mao. Fleming returns to New York's Metropolitan Opera for the staged premiere of Kevin Puts' "The Hours," which opens Nov. 22 in the first of eight performances through Dec. 15. Soprano Anna Netrebko, dropped by the Metropolitan Opera for failing to repudiate Russian President Vladimir Putin, is to sing Leonora in a revival of Verdi's “La Forza del Destino” on Dec. 12 and 21 at the Bastille.

American soprano Renée Fleming is to make rare operatic appearances as Pat Nixon in a new production of John Adams’ “Nixon in China” at the Paris Opera next season.

As America’s first second gentleman, Doug Emhoff has visited 31 states to promote Biden administration policies and the coronavirus vaccine.

The audiobook narrator for a new political thriller co-written by Hillary Clinton and Louise Penny is an actor with experience playing first ladies, CIA officials and others in government.

During his first day in office President Joe Biden made some significant changes to orders issued by his predecessor, President Trump; a move that dismantled major parts of the Trump administration’s immigration legacy. On his last day in office, Trump authorized the Deferred Enforcement Departure program offering Venezuelan in exile protection from deportation. They could be in a different status; they could have no status at all, and they may be able to apply for the DED,” Milena Portillo, an immigration attorney in Orlando said about the DED program. And aside from having to execute the new DED program, President Biden signed an executive order to reverse policies for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, known as DACA, that Trump had imposed. Other executive orders signed on Biden’s first day include:-Revoked the travel bans, also referred to as the Muslim Ban and African Bans, previously ordered by the Trump administration and abolished the so-called “extreme vetting” practices that were hard on immigrants and led to rejected visa applications.

Biden on Wednesday ordered a “pause” on all wall construction within a week, one of 17 executive orders issued on his first day in office, including six dealing with immigration. The full amount under contract would have extended Trump’s wall to 664 miles (1,069 kilometers). Trump said the border wall would be “virtually impenetrable” and paid for by Mexico, which never happened. Company spokeswoman Liz Rogers said work at Friendship Park is separate and done by another company. ___This story has been corrected to show that border wall contractor SLSCO Ltd. says another company is doing the work at Friendship Park in San Diego.

This image provided by the Richard Nixon Foundation shows a copy of correspondence between Donald Trump and Richard Nixon. The letters between once and future presidents, revealed for the first time in an exhibit that opens Thursday, Sept. 23, 2020, at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library & Museum, show the two men engaged in something of an exercise in mutual affirmation. The museum shared the letters exclusively with The Associated Press ahead of the exhibits opening. (Richard Nixon Foundation via AP)

This image provided by the Richard Nixon Foundation shows a copy of correspondence between Donald Trump and Richard Nixon. (Richard Nixon Foundation via AP)WASHINGTON – They were two men in Manhattan who craved the same thing: validation. The two had been spotted together at the “21” nightclub and Trump was writing Nixon to thank him for forwarding a photo. )” Nixon writes to Trump. Pat Nixon thought Trump did “great,” Nixon writes.

FILE - In this Nov. 17, 1973 file photo, President Richard Nixon speaks near Orlando, Fla. to the Associated Press Managing Editors annual meeting. Nixon told the APME "I am not a crook." There were two men in 1980s Manhattan who craved validation one a past president, one a future president. Thats how a thirty-something Donald Trump and a seventy-ish Richard Nixon struck up a decade-long correspondence in the 1980s that meandered from football and real estate to Vietnam and media strategy. Their letters are being revealed for the first time in an exhibit that opens Thursday at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library & Museum.

FILE - In this Nov. 17, 1973 file photo, President Richard Nixon speaks near Orlando, Fla. to the Associated Press Managing Editors annual meeting. There were two men in 1980s Manhattan who craved validation one a past president, one a future president. Their letters are being revealed for the first time in an exhibit that opens Thursday at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library & Museum. “Let me be so presumptuous as to offer a little free advice (which is worth, incidentally, exactly what it costs!”) Nixon writes to Trump. Pat Nixon thought Trump did “great,” Nixon writes.

"The trip (to Wyoming) had been in the planning stages for a couple of months," her spokeswoman, White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham told CNN. Grisham says that Melania Trump's lack of public engagement on the topic of impeachment is not escapism, however, but a response to the futility of weighing in. "Of course she's been paying attention," Grisham told CNN of how engaged the current first lady has been about the crisis affecting her husband. The first lady told CNN at the time, "To the writer of the op-ed -- you are not protecting this country, you are sabotaging it with your cowardly actions." The impeachment inquiry will likely see Trump once again quiet, moving on with her schedule, her plans, and her own agenda.