British Prime Minister Tony Blair was admitted to hospital yesterday to correct an irregular heartbeat, a day after announcing that he intends to serve a full third term if re-elected.
With his wife Cherie at his side, Blair checked into Hammersmith Hospital in west London for a relatively routine operation to restore his heart rhythm, called a catheter ablation, that will require only local anesthetic.
Asked how he felt as he left Downing Street, his official residence, Blair -- who underwent a different procedure for the same problem in October last year -- waved, smiled and replied: "Fine."
"It's not particularly alarming, but it's something that you should get fixed. It's a routine procedure," he said in a television interview Thursday evening in which he disclosed the operation.
"I've had it for the last couple of months, and it's not impeded me doing my work and feeling fine, but it is as well to get it done."
Blair was due to be discharged from hospital later yesterday, then rest over the weekend before he leaves London later next week for an official visit to Ethiopia.
"I wouldn't worry too much about it [the operation] at all," Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott told GMTV television yesterday.
"The cardiologist has assured us it's something that can be done quite quickly and quite effectively," he said. "[Blair] assures everybody, and I fully expect it, that he will get on with his job."
One of Britain's leading cardiologists, Andrew Grace of Papworth Hospital in Cambridge, said the procedure Blair was undergoing yesterday has a high success rate.
LANDMARK CASE: ‘Every night we were dragged to US soldiers and sexually abused. Every week we were forced to undergo venereal disease tests,’ a victim said More than 100 South Korean women who were forced to work as prostitutes for US soldiers stationed in the country have filed a landmark lawsuit accusing Washington of abuse, their lawyers said yesterday. Historians and activists say tens of thousands of South Korean women worked for state-sanctioned brothels from the 1950s to 1980s, serving US troops stationed in country to protect the South from North Korea. In 2022, South Korea’s top court ruled that the government had illegally “established, managed and operated” such brothels for the US military, ordering it to pay about 120 plaintiffs compensation. Last week, 117 victims
China on Monday announced its first ever sanctions against an individual Japanese lawmaker, targeting China-born Hei Seki for “spreading fallacies” on issues such as Taiwan, Hong Kong and disputed islands, prompting a protest from Tokyo. Beijing has an ongoing spat with Tokyo over islands in the East China Sea claimed by both countries, and considers foreign criticism on sensitive political topics to be acts of interference. Seki, a naturalised Japanese citizen, “spread false information, colluded with Japanese anti-China forces, and wantonly attacked and smeared China”, foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian told reporters on Monday. “For his own selfish interests, (Seki)
Argentine President Javier Milei on Sunday vowed to “accelerate” his libertarian reforms after a crushing defeat in Buenos Aires provincial elections. The 54-year-old economist has slashed public spending, dismissed tens of thousands of public employees and led a major deregulation drive since taking office in December 2023. He acknowledged his party’s “clear defeat” by the center-left Peronist movement in the elections to the legislature of Buenos Aires province, the country’s economic powerhouse. A deflated-sounding Milei admitted to unspecified “mistakes” which he vowed to “correct,” but said he would not be swayed “one millimeter” from his reform agenda. “We will deepen and accelerate it,” he
Japan yesterday heralded the coming-of-age of Japanese Prince Hisahito with an elaborate ceremony at the Imperial Palace, where a succession crisis is brewing. The nephew of Japanese Emperor Naruhito, Hisahito received a black silk-and-lacquer crown at the ceremony, which marks the beginning of his royal adult life. “Thank you very much for bestowing the crown today at the coming-of-age ceremony,” Hisahito said. “I will fulfill my duties, being aware of my responsibilities as an adult member of the imperial family.” Although the emperor has a daughter — Princess Aiko — the 23-year-old has been sidelined by the royal family’s male-only
RSS