Hillary Clinton Released From Hospital

Hillary Clinton has been discharged from hospital after four days of treatment for a blood clot between her brain and skull.

Mrs Clinton was admitted to a New York hospital on Sunday and treated with blood thinners to dissolve the clot in the vein behind the right ear.

Doctors found the clot during a follow-up exam stemming from a concussion she suffered in early December.

Mrs Clinton's doctors say there was no neurological damage and that she is expected to make a full recovery.

A spokeswoman for Mrs Clinton said the secretary of state had been "quite active" on the phone Wednesday with State Department aides and reviewing paperwork while she continued her recovery.

Mrs Clinton has been off work since her return from her last foreign trip on December 7, although her staff have said she was working from home.

Her lengthy absence from public life had sparked claims from critics that she is trying to avoid testifying in a congressional investigation into a deadly attack on a US mission in Libya.

Earlier this month, the State Department said Mrs Clinton had contracted a bad stomach virus during her five-day stay in Europe. She had to cancel a planned trip to North Africa and Abu Dhabi due to the illness.

A week later, Mrs Clinton's doctors said she had become severely dehydrated due to the effects of the stomach bug and had fainted, suffering a concussion.

They recommended she rest at home and avoid the high-intensity travel she had been accustomed to taking as secretary of state.

Mrs Clinton has flown almost a million miles since taking office four years ago, visited 112 countries and spent some 400 days in a plane.

Her health kept her from giving evidence on December 20 about the attack on the US diplomatic post in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi on September 11.

The assault, in which the US ambassador and three other American officials were killed, sparked a political firestorm in the United States, and Republicans criticised Mrs Clinton's absence from the hearings, calling on her to testify in January.

Mrs Clinton, who is due to step down from her post in early 2013, also stayed away from the White House last week when President Barack Obama nominated her replacement, veteran Senator John Kerry.

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Climber Killed By Lightning On Kilimanjaro

An Irish climber has been killed after being struck by lightning while scaling Africa's highest mountain, Kilimanjaro.

Ian McKeever, 42, died in the freak tragedy as he led a group up the mountain.

It is understood a number of other climbers with him also needed medical attention.

Mr McKeever was a lecturer and broadcaster who regularly mentored hikers, including groups of Irish schoolchildren, climbing to the 5,896m (19,340ft) summit.

He was from Lough Dan in Co Wicklow.

The latest expedition set off to Tanzania from Ireland on December 28 and began their ascent the day before New Year's Eve.

In online updates, Mr McKeever wrote that had been torrential rain but spirits remained high among the hikers.

In his final post he said: "We pray for drier weather tomorrow - the big day. It's the Lava Tower."  The Lava Tower is a landmark on the climb.

It is understood he was killed in a lightning storm.

The adventurer was known for many feats, including scaling Mount Everest.

In 2008, he helped his then 10-year-old godson Sean McSharry become the youngest person in Europe to reach the top of Kilimanjaro.

Mr McKeever is the former holder of the record for completing the seven highest peaks in the world.

Recently he had been attempting, along with his friend and African climbing guide Samuel Kinsonga, to break the record for the fastest ascent of Kilimanjaro as part of an anti-racism charity campaign.

He was the author of two books Give Me Shelter and Give Me Heroes and was working on a third book Give Me 28 Days.

On his Facebook page last night, a statement said: "It is with deep regret, that we, Ian's family, fiancee Anna and friends, advise of his sudden death on Kilimanjaro, today, doing what he loved best."

Tributes referred to him as an inspiration.

The Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed it was helping.

"We are providing consular assistance," a spokesman said.

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Last-Minute Fiscal Deal Faces House Test

House Speaker John Boehner has reportedly presented fellow Republicans two options to overcome the impasse on the Senate-approved bill to avert the so-called fiscal cliff.

Citing a senior House Republican aide, The Wall Street Journal reports that Mr Boehner briefed his party members on the proposals during a closed-door meeting Tuesday afternoon.

The aide said one option included adding a spending cut package to the Senate version of the bill, which was approved with an overwhelming 89-8 vote well after midnight on New Year's Day.

Republicans are said to be conducting a quick count to determine if the amendment to the bill would garner the votes needed to pass it through the House before it is sent back to the Senate for approval.

The second option would be to leave the bill alone and allow the House to vote it up or down as it stands. 

But the fallback option does not appear to bode well for the bill's passing, with some Republican leaders expressing concern over the legislation in its current form.

The number two ranking Republican in the House, Eric Cantor, voiced opposition to the Senate-approved bill earlier Tuesday.

Vice President Joe Biden after a Senate Democratic caucus meeting on Monday

"I do not support the bill. We are looking, though, for the best path forward," Mr Cantor declared following a meeting with his party's rank and file.

The legislation is aimed at averting the looming cliff by stopping most tax hikes and across-the-board spending cuts that had been due to begin with the New Year.

Rejection by the Republican-controlled House would mean that any fiscal deal would have to start all over when a new Congress, with dozens of new members, is seated on Thursday.

The largely tax-focused legislation under discussion on Tuesday was only part of the grand deal President Barack Obama had hoped to make to address the country's chronic deficit spending.

Economists, who had warned that the combination of higher taxes and deep spending cuts taking effect at the start of the year would spin the country back into recession, were warning that even a limited agreement could still dent economic growth.

The deal under consideration Tuesday tackled one of the most sensitive issues - higher taxes.

The measure would be the first significant bipartisan tax increase since 1990. It would prevent taxes from going up on the poor and middle class but would raise rates on households making more than $450,000 (£277,000) a year.

It also would also put off for two months more than $100bn (£62bn) in automatic spending cuts that were set to hit the Pentagon and domestic programmes starting this week.

It would also extend unemployment benefits for the long-term unemployed.

The measure cleared the Democrat-controlled Senate hours after Vice President Joe Biden and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, veteran negotiators, sealed a deal.

Mr Obama has praised the agreement, saying: "While neither Democrats nor Republicans got everything they wanted, this agreement is the right thing to do for our country and the House should pass it without delay."

Meanwhile, both sides are gearing up for the next legislative showdown over the need to lift the government's statutory borrowing limit of $16.4trn (£10.1trn), which was reached on Monday.

The Treasury will now take extraordinary measures to keep the government afloat for an undisclosed period of time until the ceiling is raised. Republicans are already demanding spending cuts in return.

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Ivory Coast Stadium Stampede Kills 61

More than 60 people, most of them children aged between eight and 15, have died in a New Year's Eve stampede at a stadium in Ivory Coast.

It happened in Abidjan at around 2am local time after crowds gathered to watch a fireworks display.

Officials said 61 people had died and around 50 were injured, although some estimates of the number hurt were much higher.

Rescue co-ordinator Lieutenant Colonel Issa Sako said the number of people trying to get into the Felix Houphouet Boigny Stadium to watch the fireworks had caused the accident.

Abidjan is Ivory Coast's largest city

He said: "In the crush people were walked over and suffocated by the crowd."

One woman, Assetou Toure, said her children had been at the event and she did not know if they had survived.

"My two children came here yesterday. I told them not to come but they didn't listen," she said.

"They came when I was sleeping. What will I do?"

A Reuters correspondent said there were bloodstains and abandoned shoes outside the stadium on Tuesday morning, and rescue workers and government officials were still on the scene.

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Mexican Olympic Silver Medallist Shot In Head

A Mexican race walker who won silver at the 2000 Sydney Olympics has lost his left eye after being shot in the head in a bar, according to reports.

Noe Hernandez, 34, was in a serious but stable condition after being shot at the Queen of Kings nightclub in Mexico state.

Three gunmen burst into the club and opened fire on revellers, killing two people and seriously injuring two more.

Hernandez, who works as sports secretary for the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party in the state, has undergone three surgeries after he was hit by a 9mm bullet.

Surgeon Carlos Castillo Rangel said: "The surgeries were successful, without any complications.

"We must wait and see his progress in intensive care."

Bars are often raided by drug cartel members in Mexico. More than 60,000 people have died in the country in the last six years as a result of the drug war.

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New Year Knees Up Around The World

Major cities, including Sydney, Shanghai, Dubai and Berlin have marked the start of 2013 with large fireworks displays.

Among the most spectacular celebrations were ones in Sydney, which centred on the harbour bridge, and Dubai, where the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, formed the centrepiece.

Some 1.5 million people are estimated to have turned out to watch the event in the Australian city with more than 100,000 firework patterns, costing £4.2m.

One of the country's most famous singers, Kylie Minogue, was creative ambassador and she picked the colours and the music.

The pop star pressed the button that set off seven tons of fireworks.

Shanghai ushers in the New Year

The Dubai show had three elements - light, water and fire - and projections on a 210-metre long screen.

Moscow had the Kremlin as its backdrop, while Jakarta marked 2013 with a massive four-mile street party.

Sixteen large stages were built along the normally busy, eight-lane motorway which runs through the heart of the Indonesian capital.

There was a fireworks display at the Kremlin in Moscow

There were also celebrations on a grand scale in Hong Kong and Shanghai.

This year's fireworks display, which cost about £1m, was said to be the biggest ever in the southern Chinese city.

Meanwhile, North Korea welcomed 2013 with reportedly the first ever New Year's fireworks display the country has held as Tokyo reverberated to the sound of the city's Watch-Night Bell.

North Korea put on a pyrotechnic display in Pyongyang

The bells were struck 108 times at temples all over Japan to symbolise the beginning of a prosperous New Year.

Burma rang in the New Year with its first public countdown and a fireworks display, a celebration unprecedented in the former military-ruled country.

Around 90,000 people gathered at the countdown venue - a large field in Rangoon - for a chance to do what much of the world does every year at this time.

"This is very exciting and also our first experience in celebrating the New Year at a big countdown gathering. We feel like we are in a different world," said Yu Thawda, a university student who joined the party.

Auckland began the countdown to 2013

The atmosphere of celebration was muted in some places.

Many European nations planned scaled-back festivities and street parties for 2013 which is projected to be a sixth straight year of recession amid Greece's worst economic crisis.

Hotels, clubs and other venues in New Delhi cancelled festivities after the death of a gang rape victim which has led to days of protests and mourning.

The first major city to see in 2013 was Auckland, New Zealand, which had a spectacular fireworks display.

British troops at Camp Bastion in Afghanistan see in the New Year

Crowds packed the city centre to watch the annual event at the city's Sky Tower, which stands more than 1,000ft tall.

The central Pacific Ocean island of Kiritimati (Christmas Island) and the eastern-most island in the island nation of Kiribati were the first to usher in the new year at 1000 GMT.

American Samoa, an unincorporated territory of the US in the southern Pacific Ocean, will be the last place on Earth to herald in the new year on Tuesday at 1100 GMT.

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Chavez Suffers New Setback After Cancer Op

Hugo Chavez has suffered "new complications" following his cancer surgery in Cuba and his condition is "delicate", Venezuela's Vice President Nicolas Maduro has said.

In a televised address from Havana, Mr Maduro said: "We have been informed of new complications that arose as a consequence of the respiratory infection we already knew about.

"President Chavez's condition is still delicate," Mr Maduro added, warning that the unspecified complications "are being treated in a process that is not without its risks".

Mr Maduro, who said he had spoken with Mr Chavez, added that the 58-year-old president was facing a "tough situation".

The vice president said he would stay in Havana in the coming hours "with El Comandante and his family, closely following his condition and its evolution".

"We trust that the global outpouring of love for Chavez will help him heal", said Mr Maduro, with Rosa Virgina Chavez, one of the president's daughters, Science and Technology Minister Jorge Arreaza, and top prosecutor Cilia Flores.

The vice president gave his address alongside Mr Chavez's eldest daughter, Rosa, and son-in-law Jorge Arreaza, as well as Attorney General Cilia Flores.

A supporter of Mr Chavez writes a message for him in Caracas

The Venezuelan leader, who has been the face of the Latin American left for more than a decade, has not been seen or heard from since undergoing his fourth cancer-related surgery on December 11.

Mr Chavez, who has been in power since 1999, won another six-year term in October's presidential election.

He is scheduled to be sworn in on January 10, but his health has raised concerns over the future of his leftist movement and whether he will even be well enough to attend the inauguration.

On Monday, the Venezuelan government said there had been a "slight improvement" in his condition as he recovers from the post-operative respiratory infection.

Officials have never disclosed the type or severity of Mr Chavez's cancer, first diagnosed in June 2011, and he only designated a political successor - Mr Maduro - earlier this month.

The Venezuelan leader had, in fact, asserted before embarking on his arduous re-election campaign earlier this year that he was cancer-free - but he was later forced to admit he had suffered a relapse.

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Hillary Clinton In Hospital With Blood Clot

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been admitted to hospital after the discovery of a blood clot stemming from an accident earlier this month.

Mrs Clinton, 65, initially fell ill with a stomach bug that led to her fainting and sustaining a concussion. Officials had insisted she was recovering.

But her spokesman Philippe Reines said in a statement: "In the course of a follow-up exam today (Sunday), Secretary Clinton's doctors discovered a blood clot had formed, stemming from the concussion she sustained several weeks ago.

"She is being treated with anti-coagulants and is at New York Presbyterian Hospital so that they can monitor the medication over the next 48 hours.

"Her doctors will continue to assess her condition, including other issues associated with her concussion. They will determine if any further action is required."

Mrs Clinton has been off work since her return from her last foreign trip on December 7, although her staff have said she was working from home.

Her lengthy absence from public life had sparked claims from critics that she is trying to avoid testifying in a congressional investigation into a deadly attack on a US mission in Libya.

Earlier this month, the State Department said Mrs Clinton had contracted a bad stomach virus during her five-day stay in Europe. She had to cancel a planned trip to North Africa and Abu Dhabi due to the illness.

A week later, Mrs Clinton's doctors said she had become severely dehydrated due to the effects of the stomach bug and had fainted, suffering a concussion.

They recommended she rest at home and avoid the high-intensity travel she had been accustomed to taking as secretary of state.

Mr Obama (L) announcing Mr Kerry's (R) nomination as secretary of state

Mrs Clinton has flown almost a million miles since taking office four years ago, visited 112 countries and spent some 400 days in a plane.

Her health kept her from giving evidence on December 20 about the attack on the US diplomatic post in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi on September 11.

The assault, in which the US ambassador and three other American officials were killed, sparked a political firestorm in the United States, and Republicans criticised Mrs Clinton's absence from the hearings, calling on her to testify in January.

Mrs Clinton, who is due to step down from her post in early 2013, also stayed away from the White House last week when President Barack Obama nominated her replacement, veteran Senator John Kerry.

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India Rape Death: Six Charged With Murder

The body of a woman who was gang raped on a bus in New Delhi is flown out of Singapore as police charge six men with her murder.

The men could face the death penalty if convicted, in a case that has triggered protests across India.

The 23-year-old victim was savagely beaten and raped for almost an hour before being thrown out of the moving vehicle.

She was flown to Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore for specialist treatment, but later died from severe organ failure.

Her body was prepared in a funeral parlour in Singapore before being flown back to India from Changi Airport with her parents, who were at her bedside when she was pronounced dead.

The hearse which carried the victim's body to a Singapore funeral parlour

Sky's India Correspondent Alex Rossi said: "The general thinking behind it as far as the prosecution service is concerned is that the way she was treated on that bus, the manner in which she was subjected to such a brutal attack, the fact that she was thrown from the bus whilst it was still moving and was unconscious suggests that they're fairly confident now that there was pre-meditation in the attack."

Her uncle has called for those responsible to be given the "strictest possible sentence".

"This is a very sad day, and a very very sad happening," he said. "My condolences are with my niece's family."

Thousands take part in a candlelight vigil for the victim in New Delhi

Sonia Ghandi, the president of India's National Congress, has promised to fight for change.

She said: "(The death) strengthens our resolve to fight with all our might, and all the powers of our laws and our administration, for the safety and protection of all women of our country, and to ensure swift and fitting punishment for the perpetrators of such brutal acts."

More than 1,000 protesters gathered in New Delhi city centre for a sit-in, demanding political change to protect women from violence.

Thousands more took part in a candlelight vigil

Police had braced for violent protests, but most passed of peacefully

The area is home to the president's palace, the prime minister's office and key defence, foreign affairs and home ministries.

Authorities feared a repeat of demonstrations a week ago, where police fired tear gas and water cannon at activists after violence broke out.

Police spokesman Rajan Bhagat said: "We have booked all six accused under section 302 of the Indian Penal Code.

The horrific crime has sparked an angry debate over women's safety in India

"It is a non-bailable offence which carries the death sentence."

Formal charges are expected to be filed by January 3.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said he was deeply saddened by the woman's death and described the reaction to the case as "perfectly understandable from a young India and an India that genuinely desires change".

"It would be a true homage to her memory if we are able to channel these emotions and energies into a constructive course of action," he added.

After boarding a bus on December 16, the student was attacked by the men who took turns raping her and assaulted her with an iron bar before they threw her off the moving vehicle.

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Russia Plane Crash: Footage Of Moment Of Impact

Video footage shows the moment a passenger aircraft crashed into a motorway in Russia after it overshot the runway.

The footage, captured from a vehicle on the motorway, shows luggage and other debris flying from the aircraft and hitting other cars on the road as the plane smashed into the ground.

Louds bangs can also be heard as the plane impacted with the ground and the cars were hit by the wreckage.

Four people - the pilot, co-pilot, flight engineer and a flight steward - were killed in the crash and another four seriously injured after the aircraft overshot a runway at Moscow's Vnukovo airport.

The Red Wing Airlines aircraft burst through a perimeter fence on to the motorway at Russia's third busiest airport.

Officials said the Tu-204 plane - travelling from the Czech Republic - was carrying eight crew members and no passengers. It broke into pieces and caught fire after crashing.

The passenger plane was sheared in two

The cockpit of the aircraft was sheared off from the fuselage and a large chunk gashed out near the tail during the impact.

Witnesses told state channel Rossiya-24 they saw a man thrown from the plane as it rammed into the barrier of the motorway and described pulling other people from the wreckage.

The airport was closed after the crash and flights were routed to Moscow's other airports, Sheremetyevo and Domodedovo.

Prior to Saturday's crash, there had been no fatal accidents reported for Tu-204s, which entered commercial service in 1995.

The plane is a twin-engine mid-range jet with a capacity of about 210 passengers.

Investigators said preliminary findings pointed to pilot error as the cause of the crash.

The billionaire owner of Red Wing Airlines, Alexander Lebedev, said the pilot was experienced, with 14,500 hours of flying time.

Vnukovo is Russia's third biggest airport

The state news agency RIA Novosti cited an unidentified official at the Russian Aviation Agency as saying another Tu-204 had gone off the runway at the international airport in Novosibirsk, Siberia, on December 20.

The agency said that incident, in which no one was injured, was due to the failure of the plane's engines to go into reverse upon landing and that its brake system malfunctioned.

Russia and other former Soviet republics have some of the world's worst air traffic safety records - with a total accident rate three times the world average, according to the International Air Transport Association.

In April, 31 people were killed after a passenger jet crashed after takeoff in Siberia.

Another 44 people, including the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl ice hockey team, were killed when their aircraft smashed into a riverbank in September 2011.

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