Hillary Clinton going back to work

Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, will return to work on Monday, a little over a week after being taken to hospital with a cranial blood clot, officials have said.

The state department on Sunday released a schedule that shows Clinton meeting with assistant secretaries on Monday morning. The most significant items on her agenda are meetings in Washington on Thursday and Friday with Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president.

Clinton, 65, will sit down with assistant secretaries of state for a closed-door meeting on Monday at 9.15am at the start of a week-long schedule containing nearly a dozen meetings, including three at the White House.

The secretary was released from New York Presbyterian hospital last Wednesday after a stay of several days during which she was given blood thinners to treat the clot in a vein behind her right ear. She has been resting at home in New York since then.

Clinton has suffered a series of ailments over the last month, including a stomach virus and concussion. Her doctors have said they expect her to make a full recovery.

The state department said Clinton kept up with her work by talking to her staff and receiving memos.

Her first White House meeting this week is to take place on Tuesday and include the secretary of defence, Leon Panetta, and national security adviser, Tom Donilon, the state department has said.

She is also scheduled to meet with the ambassadors of Ireland and South Africa on Tuesday.