Nation & world

Agency says swine

flu deaths at 1,154

GENEVA - The World Health Organization said Tuesday that 1,154swine flu victims have died since the virus emerged in April.

WHO said that includes 338 deaths reported in the week leading upto last Friday.

More than 300 of the new deaths were in the Americas, bringingthe death toll in that region to 1,008 since the virus first emergedin Mexico and the United States, and developed into the globalepidemic.

WHO also said there is no evidence that the new H1N1 virus ismutating into a more dangerous form.

Fishermen mourn

passing of carp

LONDON - Britain's fishing community is mourning the death ofBenson, the 64-pound carp.

Fans of the 25-year-old Benson would travel for miles to theBluebell Lakes complex in Cambridgeshire for a chance to have theirpicture taken with weighty monster.

She was voted Britain's favorite carp in 2005 by the readers ofAngler's Mail because of her sheer size and quirky looks.

Tony Bridgefoot, the owner of the Bluebell Lakes, was quoted inThe Times of London as saying the fishing community has been rockedby Benson's death.

Baby born outside

N.Y. firehouse

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Firefighters in an upstate New York citydidn't have to go far to help a woman deliver her baby.

When Cora Burns of Saratoga Springs went into labor Mondaymorning, the plan was for her neighbor to drive her to give birth ata hospital in another city 20 miles away. But the baby was in a bighurry, and after calling for help, the pair drove to meet anambulance at a Saratoga firehouse.

They pulled into the firehouse driveway, and firefighters rushedout to help. Two minutes later, Burns gave birth to her fourth sonin the car. Baby Grahm, who weighed 7 pounds, 4 ounces, and hismother were then taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital, where theywere doing well.

Pricey wine stolen,

returned to store

HOPKINTON, Mass. - A $20,000 bottle of wine stolen from a liquorstore has been returned unopened.

The bottle of 1945 Mouton Rothschild plus three other bottles ofwine valued at $300 to $875 were stolen from Hopkinton Wine &Spirits last week.

Store security video had been shown on local televisionnewscasts, and Boston police received a call Sunday from someone whorecognized the suspect in the video.

The caller contacted the suspect, got the wine and turned it into Boston police. They in turn contacted Hopkinton police, whoreturned the wine to the store owner.

YMCA to offer

rooms to students

GREENSBURG, Pa. - A YMCA in western Pennsylvania is hoping tofill 20 vacant residential rooms with students from nearby colleges.

The Greensburg YMCA will begin housing college students inJanuary. The city about 30 miles east of Pittsburgh is home to SetonHill University, a private Catholic school with about 2,000students, and the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine, whichopened last month with more than 100 students.

The student rooms became available when a youth shelter thatoccupied the YMCA building's third and fourth floors closedrecently.

compiled from wire reports

Students will be able to use the YMCA's health and fitnessequipment as an incentive to live there.

The YMCA stopped renting rooms to men in the 1960s.

Woman says gift

box held remains

CUYAHOGA FALLS, Ohio - An Ohio woman says she found what appearedto be cremated remains inside a packaged keepsake box she receivedfor her birthday.

Thirty-three-year-old Erin Lemasters of Cuyahoga Falls says theoval box, 5 inches long, held a plastic bag of ashes and bonefragments.

She got the gift Sunday from her mother, who bought it at aCarlton Cards store in nearby Akron. The keepsake box was packed infoam and bubble wrap inside cardboard packaging with "Jen 8 oz."written in ink on the outside.

The women say the store told they could return the item for arefund, but they're holding off in hopes the owner of the ashes willcome forward.

A message for comment was left Tuesday with Schurman Fine Papers,the owner of Carlton Cards stores.

COMPILED FROM WIRE REPORTS