[HIGHLIGHTS] The US Secretary of Defense transfers his duties to his deputy following his hospitalization

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin transferred his duties to his deputy, Kathleen Hicks, on Sunday. Austin was taken to the hospital again due to an "emergency bladder problem," the Pentagon said.

Hicks will assume Austin's duties while he receives treatment, stressing that the White House and Congress have been informed of this. Austin told reporters on February 1 that he should have told the president of his cancer diagnosis. He pointed out that he is still in the recovery phase, and that he needs to use a golf cart to move around inside the Pentagon.