Hillary Clinton in hospital with blood clot after fall

Mrs Clinton suffered a concussion following a fall in mid-December

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is under observation in a New York hospital after being admitted suffering from a blood clot.

Mrs Clinton suffered a concussion earlier this month after fainting and falling down.

She is being treated with anti-clotting drugs and will remain in hospital for at least 48 hours, her spokesman said.

Mrs Clinton, 65, is due to stand down before President Barack Obama formally begins his second term in January.

At the time of her faint, she was reported to have had a stomach virus and to have passed out after becoming dehydrated.

Doctors discovered the clot during a follow-up examination on Sunday, her spokesman Philippe Reines said.

"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," he said.

"They will determine if any further action is required."

No information was given about where the blood clot had formed.

Mrs Clinton is being treated at the New York-Presbyterian Hospital

Mrs Clinton is due to give evidence before a Congressional committee in January in connection with the attack in September on the US consulate in the Libyan city of Benghazi.

The US ambassador to Libya and three American officials were killed in the incident.

Mrs Clinton was appointed secretary of state at the start of Mr Obama's first term, in January 2009.

Her most recent foreign trip was to Dublin earlier this month.

Mrs Clinton, 65, is known for her gruelling travel schedule.

She is the most travelled secretary of state in history, having visited 112 countries while in the job, the Associated Press says.

Earlier this month, President Obama nominated Senator John Kerry - the Massachusetts Democrat who heads the Senate Foreign Relations Committee - to replace Mrs Clinton as secretary of state.

She has repeatedly said that she only intended to serve one term in the post.