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Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin released from hospital, resumes his full duties, Pentagon says
After undergoing a medical procedure, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has been released from the hospital and resumed the responsibilities that he had delegated to Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks, the Pentagon said Tuesday.
Austin was taken to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center Sunday afternoon following symptoms of an “emergent bladder issue,” according to the Pentagon. He underwent what doctors at Walter Reed described as “non-surgical procedures under general anesthesia” in a statement from the hospital Monday.
The Office of the Secretary of Defense said in a statement Austin will work from home at first, on the advice of his doctors, but is expected to return to the Pentagon later this week. He has full access to both classified and unclassified materials needed to perform his duties.
“He is recovering well and resumed his full functions and duties today at 5 pm,” the statement said. “The Deputy Secretary of Defense, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the White House, and Congress have been notified.”
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Austin’s doctors issued a statement on his current medical condition, noting that the bladder issue was related to his prostate cancer surgery in December.
“His condition indicated a need for close monitoring by the critical care team and supportive care,” the statement said, adding that the issue “was corrected with non-surgical procedures on Feb. 12.”
During Austin’s hospitalization in December, the Pentagon came under fire for waiting several days to inform the White House, Congress or the public that Austin was in the hospital — as well as the reason for his hospitalization.
Senior aides to Austin waited even longer to disclose that Austin had been diagnosed and then treated for prostate cancer.
Even Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks, who took over some of Austin’s responsibilities on Jan. 2, did not know until Jan. 4 that Austin was in the hospital.
Austin later released a statement claiming “full responsibility” for his decisions about disclosure, and Ryder told reporters that “there’s been a lot of lessons learned and there has been a commitment by the secretary to do better when it comes to transparency.”
At least 11 employees were taken to hospitals and residents were urged to shelter in place on Tuesday after an explosion at a Louisville, Kentucky, business.
The Louisville Metro Emergency Services reported on social media a “hazardous materials incident” at 1901 Payne St., in Louisville. The address belongs to a facility operated by Givaudan Sense Colour, a manufacturer of food colorings for soft drinks and other products, according to officials and online records.
Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg said emergency teams responded to the blast around 3 p.m. News outlets reported that neighbors heard what sounded like an explosion coming from the business. Overhead news video footage showed an industrial building with a large hole in its roof.
WLKY-TV
“The cause at this point of the explosion is unknown,” Greenberg said in a news conference. No one died in the explosion, he added.
Greenberg said officials spoke to employees inside the plant. “They have initially conveyed that everything was normal activity when the explosion occurred,” he said.
The Louisville Fire Department said in a post on the social platform X that multiple agencies were responding to a “large-scale incident.”
The Louisville Metro Emergency Services first urged people within a mile of the business to shelter in place, but that order was lifted in the afternoon. An evacuation order for the two surrounding blocks around the site of the explosion was still in place Tuesday afternoon.
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A rare square 37-carat emerald owned by the Aga Khan fetched nearly $9 million at auction in Geneva on Tuesday, making it the world’s most expensive green stone.
Sold by Christie’s, the Cartier diamond and emerald brooch, which can also be worn as a pendant, dethrones a piece of jewelry made by the fashion house Bulgari, which Richard Burton gave as a wedding gift to fellow actor Elizabeth Taylor, as the most precious emerald.
In 1960, Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan commissioned Cartier to set the emerald in a brooch with 20 marquise-cut diamonds for British socialite Nina Dyer, to whom he was briefly married.
Dyer then auctioned off the emerald to raise money for animals in 1969.
FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP via Getty Images
By chance that was Christie’s very first such sale in Switzerland on the shores of Lake Geneva, with the emerald finding its way back to the 110th edition this year.
It was bought by jeweler Van Cleef & Arpels before passing a few years later into the hands of Harry Winston, nicknamed the “King of Diamonds.”
“Emeralds are hot right now, and this one ticks all the boxes,” said Christie’s EMEA Head of Jewellery Max Fawcett. “…We might see an emerald of this quality come up for sale once every five or six years.”
Also set with diamonds, the previous record-holder fetched $6.5 million at an auction of part of Hollywood legend Elizabeth Taylor’s renowned jewelry collection in New York.
