A major outbreak of avian flu in Taiwan has spread to 19 more farms with a total of 160,000 birds slaughtered in the island's worst bout of the disease in a decade, authorities said Wednesday.

The number of poultry farms infected with the virus has almost doubled since Tuesday, jumping from 21 to 40. More than 10,000 geese have been killed since Tuesday afternoon.

The surrogate mothers of nine babies fathered by a Japanese man and taken into care by Thai authorities last year have launched legal proceedings to regain custody of the infants, an official said Wednesday.

The alleged father, who was at the time was reported by Japanese media to be the son of an IT millionaire, left Thailand as a surrogacy scandal erupted in August following the discovery of nine babies in a Bangkok apartment.

Liberia, the African nation at the center of world's deadliest Ebola outbreak, could see an end to the epidemic by June if 85 percent of sick people get hospital care, US researchers said Tuesday.

Cases have begun to decline in recent weeks, and schools are set to reopen next month after closing in July as the nation struggled with the fast-moving outbreak of hemorrhagic fever.

A batch of home-brew liquor has killed at least 31 people in northern India, with more than 100 others ill in hospital, police said Tuesday, in the latest incident of alcohol poisoning in the country.

The figure jumped from Monday's toll of 14 after more people died in hospital after drinking the toxic alcohol in a village on the outskirts of Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh state.

Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche said Tuesday it would pay up to $750 million for rights to a new molecule which boosts the capacity of antibiotics to fight increasingly resistant superbugs.

The molecule named 0P0595 is in the first phase of development and helps restore the efficiency of antibiotics, including penicillin-based ones, to combat super-resistant bacteria.

A large majority of Americans support labeling of genetically modified foods, whether they care about eating them or not.

According to a December Associated Press-GfK poll, 66 percent of Americans favor requiring food manufacturers to put labels on products that contain genetically modified organisms, or foods grown from seeds engineered in labs. Only 7 percent are opposed to the idea, and 24 percent are neutral.

Taiwan on Tuesday slaughtered nearly 6,000 geese after 14 more farms were confirmed to have been infected in the latest outbreak of avian influenza that has led to the culling of more than 140,000 birds.

The confirmation brought to 21 the total number of farms infected by the outbreak since last week -- all in the south -- according to the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine.

Spain's government Monday promised new measures to fight hepatitis C, following protests by patients who complained authorities were denying them the latest drugs to treat the deadly liver disease.

A new committee will draw up a proposal within three weeks of examining the extent of the illness and clinical criteria, aiming to "include newly authorized drugs" in treatment plans, the health ministry said in a statement.

Brazil says it must stem the "epidemic" of Caesarean sections -- now more than half of all births, or more than any other country in the world.

Whether from a fear of pain or that a vaginal birth will leave permanent changes in their sex life -- or based on the recommendation of doctors perhaps looking to bag higher fees associated with the surgery -- more and more Brazilian women are foregoing labor altogether in favor of scheduled C-sections.

How quickly a smoker breaks down nicotine is a guide to which therapy is best for kicking the habit, according to research published Monday.

Most smokers who try to give up tobacco fail within the first week, so matching them to the best treatment is essential, its authors said.