CLINTON GETS STANDING OVATION, HELMET
WASHINGTON, D.C.: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton received a standing ovation from her staff and an American football helmet to protect her from Washington’s hard knocks as she returned to work after a health scare.

A month to the day since she was last seen on official duties when she flew back from a trip to Europe on December 7, Clinton chaired her regular weekly on Monday meeting with her closest staff and advisers. “It is a great day here in the department . . . Secretary Clinton is back to work,” State department spokesman Victoria Nuland said, adding that the 75 people present at the meeting had welcomed her with a standing ovation. Clinton, 65, suffered a blood clot to her head after a fall in December. She now “looks fantastic, she seems to be terrific,” Nuland said. “She is in the pink, literally. She’s wearing a brilliant pink jacket today.” As a joke, the staff presented her with a white football helmet, with “lots of good padding” bearing the State Department’s seal, and a blue football jersey printed with the words “Clinton” and “112,” to signify the number of countries she has visited during her four-year tenure, Nuland said.

DREAMLINER CATCHES FIRE
NEW YORK CITY: A smoky fire broke out aboard an empty Japan Airlines 787 Dreamliner in Boston on Monday, officials said, in the latest trouble to hit the fuel-efficient Boeing passenger aircraft. The plane was being readied at a gate for a noon departure after arriving at Logan Airport in Boston, Massachusetts from Tokyo at 10 a.m. , when smoke was found in the aft cabin. Japan Airlines said that no passengers or crew members were injured in the incident. It said that the smoke was traced to a fire from the battery used for the auxiliary power unit, which was situated in an electrical room at the aft section of the aircraft.

7 KILLED IN PERU HELICOPTER CRASH
LIMA: A helicopter being used by an oil company crashed into a commercial building in a village in northern Peru on Monday, killing at least seven people, including five Americans, an official said. “There are seven dead, including five Americans and two Peruvians,” Marcos Ochoa, a local prosecutor, told Peru’s RPP radio, after villagers reported seeing the helicopter exploding and splitting in two as it hit the ground.

HONDURAS POLICE SEIZE DIAMOND-ENCRUSTED AK-47
TEGUCIGALPA: Honduran authorities have seized a $50,000 gold-plated AK-47 encrusted with diamonds and emeralds, which is believed to belong to Mexico’s Zetas drug cartel, a top prosecutor said on Monday. The assault rifle was among an arsenal concealed in false compartments within five of 11 vehicles that were seized on Friday in a ranch outside Ciudad Jardin de Choloma, 300 kilometers north of the capital Tegucigalpa. Police said that the some 32 weapons—which included grenade launchers, grenades, night vision goggles and bulletproof vests—are worth $2 million. The AK-47 also came with two silver magazines.

GAMBLER WINS $55-M CASINO LAWSUIT
HANOI: An American who hit a $55-million jackpot on a slot machine in a five-star Vietnamese hotel has won his lawsuit against the casino after it refused to pay out, a court official said on Tuesday. A court in southern Ho Chi Minh City found in favor of the gambler on Monday, the clerk told Agence France-Presse on condition of anonymity, without providing further details. Media reports said that the hearing found that the man should be allowed to collect his winnings, which the casino said that were over one thousand times the supposed maximum from the machine and had been generated by a fault. According to state-run Thanh Nien newspaper, the man—identified as Ly Sam—saw the figure $55,542,291.70 flash up as he played on the slot machine at the casino inside the city’s luxury Sheraton hotel in October 2009. The report said that he took pictures of the machine and asked other gamblers present at the time to sign statements saying that they had witnessed his win. AFP