[naviga:h3]Markle asks respect for dad skipping royal wedding[/naviga:h3]

LONDON — Britain's Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are requesting “understanding and respect” for Markle's father after a celebrity news site reported he would not be coming to the royal wedding to walk his daughter down the aisle, Kensington Palace said Monday night.

A palace statement on “this difficult situation” did not confirm the TMZ report that Thomas Markle had decided not to attend Saturday's wedding at St. George's Chapel on the grounds of Windsor Castle. The palace said earlier it would not comment on the report, and its statement did not clarify if the bride's father would or would not be at the wedding.

“This is a deeply personal moment for Ms. Markle in the days before her wedding,” the palace statement said. “She and Prince Harry ask again for understanding and respect to be extended to Mr. Markle in this difficult situation.”

TMZ said Thomas Markle was upset over the way his decision to have staged paparazzi photos taken of him preparing for the wedding has been received and decided to miss the wedding to avoid embarrassing his daughter and the royal family.

The site also said he suffered a heart attack less than a week ago.

The palace had announced last week that Thomas Markle and his ex-wife, Doria Ragland, would play important roles in the wedding. Both were expected to meet Queen Elizabeth II and other senior royals in the days before the wedding.

[naviga:h3]Former Sen. Harry Reid undergoes pancreas surgery[/naviga:h3]

LAS VEGAS — Former Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., was recovering after undergoing surgery Monday at Johns Hopkins Cancer Center in Baltimore to remove a cancerous tumor from his pancreas.

Reid, 78, will undergo chemotherapy, according to a statement released Monday by his family.

“His doctors caught the problem early during a routine screening and his surgeons are confident that the surgery was a success and that the prognosis for his recovery is good,” the statement said.

The former Senate Democratic leader declined to seek re-election in 2016 after more than three decades in Congress. A 2015 accident left him blind in one eye.

A former boxer who grew up poor in the small town of Searchlight, Nevada, Reid rose to the one of the most powerful positions in American politics as Nevada's longest-serving senator.

He helped propel the passage of President Barack Obama's signature health care law and blocked the development of a nuclear waste dump in Nevada. He was also a champion of his home state's gaming and tourism industry and built up a well-organized Democratic machine in Nevada.

Well-wishers from both parties — including some former Republican opponents in Congress — released statements of support for Reid Monday.

[naviga:h3]Melania Trump's kidney procedure called 'successful'[/naviga:h3]

WASHINGTON — First lady Melania Trump underwent a “successful” procedure Monday to treat a benign kidney condition and was expected to remain hospitalized for the rest of the week, her staff said. President Donald Trump tweeted that his wife was in “good spirits.”