LONDON (AP) — The Princess of Wales visited the hospital where she was treated for cancer on Tuesday, offering gratitude to the medical teams who helped her and give support to patients now undergoing treatment.

Kate, as she is commonly known, conducted the solo engagement at the Royal Marsden Hospital in London, a world-leading state-of-the art cancer center known for its pioneering research. It hadn’t been previously disclosed that she had been treated there.

“I was just saying, coming in the front entrance here, having made so many quiet, private visits, actually it’s quite nice,” she said after arriving at the hospital’s main entrance.

Her Kensington Palace office stressed that she would continue to return to public-facing engagements, albeit gradually. The palace described the visit as reflecting her “own personal cancer journey.’’

The royal family was hard hit by health concerns last year, beginning with the announcement in January 2024 that the king would receive treatment for an enlarged prostate and Kate would undergo abdominal surgery.

In February, Buckingham Palace announced that Charles was receiving treatment for an undisclosed type of cancer. Six weeks later, Kate said she, too, was undergoing treatment for cancer, quieting the relentless speculation about her condition that had circulated on social media since her surgery.

She announced in September that she had completed chemotherapy.

Hotels around the world hold impressive records for their height, age and impressive suites for guests. If you’re looking to stay at the world’s largest hotel, Malaysia is where you can find it. 

Malaysia is home to the First World Hotel, which, according to Guinness World Records, is the largest hotel of any around the globe, for the number of rooms it offers. 

The hotel is made up of 7,351 rooms, according to the Resorts World Genting website, among the three towers part of the property. The last time rooms were added to the property was 2015, taking the count from 6,118 to the current 7,351. 

SET SAIL ON WORLD’S LARGEST CRUISE SHIP, WHICH CAN ACCOMMODATE OVER 7,000 GUESTS PER VOYAGE

There are quite a few different room options to choose from with a stay at First World Hotel, including a standard room, deluxe room, superior deluxe room, triple room and the world club room. 

The smallest rooms in the hotel offer around 180 square feet of space, while the largest are laid out over about 430 square feet, according to the Resorts World Genting website. 

There are three eateries on site. Guests can grab a bite at The Food Factory, The Junction or the Ice Cream Parlour, without leaving the comfort of the hotel. 

First World Hotel is surrounded by forest, creating unique views for those who stay on the property. (iStock)

A LOOK AT THE WORLD’S LONGEST SNAKE WHICH MEASURES OVER 32 FEET, A RECORD-BREAKING SLITHERING SERPENT

Surrounding the hotel is the scenic rainforest, providing picturesque views for guests. 

There are also additional offerings around the Resorts World property to explore.  

First World Hotel is just one of several hotels part of Resorts World Genting. Among others are Crockfords, Resorts World Awana and Genting SkyWorlds Hotel. 

First World Hotel includes three towers, filled with different room options for guests to book. (iStock)

WORLD’S BIGGEST SPIDER COMES FROM NORTHERN SOUTH AMERICA, CAN MEASURE AS LARGE AS A DINNER PLATE

For those looking to add a little thrill to their travels, there are two different theme parks part of Resorts World Genting. There’s Skytropolis Indoor Theme Park, as well as Genting SkyWorlds Theme Park. 

Skytropolis includes rides like bumper cars, tea cups, carousels and a Ferris wheel. 

Genting SkyWorlds is made up of several different lands inspired by popular films. There’s Studio Plaza, Eagle Mountain, Central Park, Rio, Andromeda Base, Liberty Lane, Epic, Robots Rivet Town and Ice Age, according to the theme park’s website. 

Resorts World Genting includes an outdoor and an indoor theme park for a thrilling trip. (iStock)

Besides the theme parks, there are lots of dining and shopping opportunities around Resorts World Genting.  

As a whole, Resorts World has unique locations all around the world. There are several Resorts World locations in the United States, including in Las Vegas and New York City. 

NATO will increase its military presence and technological innovation in the Baltic Sea to protect critical infrastructure from sabotage, the head of the transatlantic alliance said at a Helsinki Summit on Tuesday. 

Safeguarding infrastructure “is of utmost importance,” Mark Rutte told reporters, citing energy from pipelines and the 95% of internet traffic that is secured through undersea cables.

In the last two months alone, there’s been damage to one cable between Lithuania and Sweden, another between Germany and Finland, and others between Estonia and Finland.

Investigations are underway, but NATO’s Secretary General believes there is cause for grave concern.

“We have seen elements of a campaign to destabilise our societies through cyber-attacks, assassination attempts and sabotage,” Rutte said, with Russia the presumed culprit.

In response, NATO is increasing surveillance via a small fleet of maritime drones, while an enhanced surveillance operation called “Baltic Sentry” involves frigates and maritime patrol aircraft.

“We will respond decisively when critical infrastructure in our neighbourhood is at risk. Protecting it requires both national and international action,” Finnish President Alexander Stubb said.

Leaders of NATO countries in the Baltic region also pledged to push for robust enforcement, especially when it comes to the Russian shadow fleet of tankers used by Moscow to evade Western sanctions on oil sales.

“We need to make full use of the possibilities allowed by international law to take action against suspicious vessels,” Stubb stressed.

Last month, Finnish police seized a tanker carrying Russian oil, citing suspicions the ship had damaged the Estlink-2 power cable which connects Finland and Estonia by dragging its anchor along the seabed on Christmas Day.

“Ship captains must understand that potential threats to our infrastructure will have consequences, including possible boarding, impounding and arrest,” Rutte said.

Ahead of the meeting, Latvian President Edgars Rinkēvičs said monitoring was difficult in practice, as around 2,000 ships pass through the Baltic every day.

“Let’s face it, we can’t ensure 100% protection, but if we send a bold signal, I think such incidents will decrease or even stop,” Rinkēvičs told journalists in Helsinki.

Germany will also participate in the Baltic Sentry mission, Chancellor Olaf Scholz confirmed in separate remarks to reporters.

“We will participate with everything we have in the way of naval capabilities; that will vary, as far as the concrete possibilities of deployment are concerned,” Scholz said, when asked if Germany had made a specific promise on the contribution of ships or planes.

Additional sources • AP