Cindy McCain, widow of Sen. John McCain and head of UN World Food Program, suffers stroke

Cindy McCain, the widow of Sen.John McCain and head of the U.N.

World Food Program, suffered a mild stroke this week and is said to be recovering “well,” according to a press release Thursday from the humanitarian organization.The statement said McCain, 71, is expected to make a “full recovery” and will be traveling from Rome, where the WFP is based, to Arizona to focus on her recuperation.She will return to her post after her doctors have cleared her in four to six weeks.“I want to thank the medical staff in Italy for the excellent treatment I received,” said McCain.

“My recovery is progressing well thanks to their outstanding care.”McCain was appointed in March 2023 to lead the world’s largest humanitarian organization after serving as U.S.ambassador to the U.N.

agencies for food and agriculture under former President Joe Biden.McCain broke with Republicans when she endorsed Biden for president in 2020, making her a key surrogate for the Democrat after now-President Donald Trump spent years criticizing her husband and his military service.She has since become the face of the World Food Program, one of the few U.N.agencies that has received bipartisan support for its efforts to help nearly 150 million people confronting conflicts, disasters and impacts of climate change this year.

McCain and the WFP have been in the spotlight as the agency has sought to respond to the humanitarian crises caused by the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine and Israel’s offensive inside the Gaza Strip.In late August, after visiting Gaza, McCain told The Associated Press it was “very evident” that there isn’t enough food in the Palestinian territory.She said she had spoken with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the urgent need for more aid.Her comments came a week after the world’s leading authority on food crises said the Gaza Strip’s largest city is gripped by famine, and that it was likely to spread across the territory wi...