Colin Powell on Iran fallout

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell said Saturday he's sure Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and President Obama "can handle it" and "will work their way through it," referring both to Iran and North Korea.

Responding to a reporter's question, he said he has bee in touch with all three, noting that they know each other well and that he will continue to be available to them if they wish to talk to him about the current state of affairs.

When asked if he had a message for Clinton, who's recovering from surgery to repair a fractured elbow following a fall earlier this week, he said: "Take it slow--don't push your recovery."

I just caught the end of a CNN live broadcast, so I hope to have more info in a bit.

Source: CNN

Clinton surgery to fix broken elbow a success

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaks at a joint news conference with Israel's Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman following their meeting at the State Department in Washington June 17. (Reuters/Yuri Gripas)

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had successful two-hour surgery on Friday to repair her broken right elbow, her chief of staff said as reported by Reuters.

Clinton tripped and fell in the State Department's basement on Wednesday while en route to the White House for a meeting. She has canceled her public appointments since then because of the elbow injury.

"Her doctors at the George Washington University Hospital have advised her that they expect her to make a full recovery without lasting damage to her arm," Cheryl Mills, Clinton's chief of staff, said after the early morning surgery.

Clinton has several foreign trips planned in the coming weeks and Mills said decisions about the top U.S. diplomat's travel plans would be made in the coming days.

She is set to go to Trieste, Italy, next week for a meeting of Group of Eight foreign ministers and attend a conference on Afghanistan to which Iran has been invited.

On the same trip, Clinton is due to go to Corfu, Greece, for a meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe on June 27-28.

In mid-July, Clinton is scheduled to make her first trip to India as the Obama administration's top diplomat.

Mills said Clinton had returned to her home in Washington after the surgery where she would remain with her family for the weekend.

(Reporting by Sue Pleming; Editing by Bill Trott)

Sources: Reuters
Copyright © 2009

Clinton falls, fractures elbow--will need surgery

She won't be saluting like this any time soon.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton fractured her right elbow during a fall Wednesday afternoon and will need surgery to repair it.

Clinton fell on her way to the White House and was taken to George Washington University Hospital. She was treated and released, and will have surgery to repair her elbow in coming weeks, Clinton's chief of staff, Cheryl Mills, said in a statement.

"Secretary Clinton appreciates the professionalism and kindness she received from the medical team who treated her this evening and looks forward to resuming her full schedule soon," Mills said.

Clinton had been scheduled to join actress Angelina Jolie on Thursday morning at a Washington event marking World Refugee Day. That event has been removed from Clinton's public schedule, AP reported.

We wish her a speedy recovery.

Sources: The Associated Press, Reuters, CNN, BNO
Copyright © 2009