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By Kate Holton LONDON (Reuters) - The number of Britons dying from cirrhosis of the liver linked to heavy drinking is increasing at a much faster rate than in any other European country and the government needs to act, researchers said. An analysis of European cirrhosis mortality rates from 1950 to 2002 published in The Lancet medical journal showed the number of deaths increased in Britain whil ...

By Madeline Chambers LONDON (Reuters) - Liberal Democrats on Friday will be waiting to see if anyone will challenge Charles Kennedy for the leadership of party after he called a snap election after admitting to a drink problem. Kennedy said on Thursday that he has been fighting an alcohol problem for the last 18 months and then called a leadership race to face down his critics. His statement followed longstanding speculation about his drinking and weeks of criticism from some party members, p ...

By Tali Caspi JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is unlikely ever to return to work after a stroke that left him clinging to life on a respirator, doctors said, heralding huge upheaval in Israeli politics and the Middle East peace process. Sharon, whose bold initiatives to withdraw from Gaza and form a new party at the centre of Israeli politics were seen in the West as key steps towards peace in the region, suffered a severe cerebral haemorrhage on Wednesday and is now under he ...

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon remained on life support Thursday night after suffering a severe stroke and a brain hemorrhage, and his doctor declined to assess his prognosis. Dr. Shlomo Mor-Yosef, director general of Hadassah Medical Center, said Sharon was in a medically induced coma and breathing with the aid of a ventilator, while doctors hoped for a reduction in cranial pressure following surgery that stopped the bleeding in his brain. As the prime minister clung t ...

LONDON (Reuters) - Tony Blair backed Chancellor Gordon Brown to succeed him as prime minister for the first time on Friday, but insisted he will only step down once he completes his radical reform plans. Blair, who won't seek a fourth term in office after a third straight election win in May, gave Brown his strongest and most public backing yet in a newspaper interview. "I am absolutely happy that Gordon will be my successor," Blair said in an interview with the Sun. "He needs the confidence o ...

PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania (CNN) -- The sole survivor of a mine explosion that killed 12 of his co-workers underwent the first in a series of oxygen treatments intended to flush a poison gas from his body, a doctor said. Dr. Richard Shannon, chairman of Allegheny General Hospital's department of medicine, said he wouldn't comment on reports that Randy McCloy Jr., 26, was comatose, saying it's difficult to make such an assessment while a patient is sedated. Doctors were unwilling to issue a pro ...

LONDON (Reuters) - Just like their owners, a growing number of pets are becoming obese and face chronic illnesses such as heart complaint, diabetes and arthritis, according to research on Friday. A survey of vets and owners showed that one in three pets, or 33 percent, were considered overweight and 38 percent of pet owners said their animals put on weight over Christmas. Despite this, few owners plan to put their pets on a diet. "Pets, like their owners, tend to expand a little over the Chri ...

LONDON (Reuters) - Vitamin D supplements for pregnant women could reduce osteoporosis in their children, according to research published on Friday. The study showed that children whose mothers lacked Vitamin D during pregnancy grow up to have weaker bones. A lack of Vitamin D is common in women of child-bearing age. Professor Cyrus Cooper and a team from Southampton General Hospital studied almo ...

LONDON (Reuters) - Exposure to certain viral infections around the time of birth is linked to cerebral palsy, Australian scientists said on Friday. Findings by researchers at the University of Adelaide suggest that neurotropic infections, which include the herpes viruses, mumps and measles, could trigger brain damage and cerebral palsy, a group of disorders that impairs the control of movement.  ...

LONDON (Reuters) - Police in south Wales on Thursday charged a man with the kidnap and sexual assault of a three-year-old girl. A South Wales Police spokesman said the unnamed 26-year-old will appear in court in Cardiff on Friday charged with kidnap and four unspecified serious sexual offences. Police have said the girl was taken from her home in the Rumney area of the Welsh capital on Monday. She was found when the car in which she was travelling crashed in Wiltshire after a police chase in  ...