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Texas child first U.S. swine flu victim

ATLANTA, April 29 (UPI) -- A child in Texas is the first fatality from swine flu in the United States, the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta said Wednesday.

Dr. Richard Besser, CDC acting director, confirmed the death of the 2-year-old child in an interview on CNN.

"A child has died from the H1N1 virus," Besser said. "As a parent and a pediatrician, my heart goes out to the family."

World Health Organization officials in Geneva said Tuesday no swine-flu related deaths had been reported other than in Mexico, ground zero for the outbreak.

At least 64 cases of swine flu have been confirmed in the United States, CDC statistics indicate.

President Barack Obama said the outbreak is a cause for concern, not alarm, and has requested $1.5 billion in funding to battle a potential outbreak in the United States. The government also has urged travelers to avoid non-essential trips to Mexico.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued emergency authorization for use of the two most common antiviral drugs, Tamiflu and Relenza, CNN reported. The authorization allows the drugs to be distributed by a broader range of healthcare workers and eases age limits for use.

At least 112 swine flu cases worldwide

GENEVA, Switzerland, April 29 (UPI) -- The number of suspected and confirmed cases of swine flu worldwide rose as the United States reported its first swine flu-related death Wednesday.

The outbreak in Mexico was suspected in 159 deaths and more than 2,500 illnesses by early Wednesday, CNN reported.

The World Health Organization, based in Geneva, reported at least 112 cases have been confirmed worldwide.

A 2-year-old Texas child became the first U.S. victim of swine flu, the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta said.

Health officials in Mexico said seven deaths from the virus were confirmed.

The WHO listing of confirmed cases includes 64 from the United States, 26 from Mexico, six in Canada, three in New Zealand, and two each in Spain, Britain and Israel.

The WHO statistics do not include 11 additional cases reported by New Zealand health officials, three by German officials or one confirmed by Costa Rica's health ministry.

In the United States, California, Indiana, Illinois, New York and Texas also reported additional cases not confirmed by the CDC.

Obama marks first 100 days in office

WASHINGTON, April 29 (UPI) -- A visit to Missouri and a prime time news conference were two ways President Barack Obama planned to mark his first 100 days in office.

Obama's approval ratings remain high in his young presidency, several recent polls indicate.

Among the 19 executive orders and 12 laws that bear his signature, Obama expanded a popular federally funded, state-run children's insurance program and enacted pay equity changes, CNN reported Wednesday. Not to mention the signature legislation so far -- the $787 billion economic stimulus package.

"The American people are taking a measure of the president," a White House aide told CNN, "and they are saying 'We are happy with the decision we made'" in November.

"The president has accomplished a lot," but he also laid the foundation for the next 100 days."

Obama's next hundred days include some major road bumps -- fashioning the 2010 budget, healthcare reform and an energy plan designed to help wean the United States from foreign oil.

On the foreign front, the situations in Iraq and Afghanistan remain wild cards and his diplomatic overtures to Cuba and Iran could succeed significantly or fail miserably. The housing, stock and financial markets are shaky, and the U.S. auto industry is preparing itself for a major overhaul, with the possibility of at least one of the Big Three automakers filing for bankruptcy.

Obama got a lift Tuesday when Sen. Arlen Specter, a moderate Republican and one of only three Republicans in Congress to vote for the stimulus bill, announced his switch to the Democratic Party, moving Senate Democrats to within one vote of a filibuster-proof majority of 60.

Pakistan retakes Buner town from Taliban

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, April 29 (UPI) -- Pakistani government troops have retaken control of a strategic town in the Buner valley that had been overrun by Taliban militants, officials said.

Commandos dropped into the town of Daggar, lowered on ropes from helicopters, and were linking up with up with paramilitary Frontier Corps security forces already in the area in a strategy to surround Taliban militants, officials told Wednesday's Times of London.

"We saw a helicopter dropping troops on the hills early this morning," Arshad Imran, standing in the bazaar at Daggar, told The Times. "It came about seven or eight times. We hear sound of explosions off and on and we can see helicopters flying over the mountains."

The fighting in Daggar was part a 3-day-old army offensive to roll back Taliban advances. The takeover of the Buner valley, only 60 miles northwest of Islamabad, raised alarms in the West as the Islamic militants poured into the area from the neighboring Swat valley, where the government had concluded a controversial peace deal with the insurgents.

The Times said Islamabad had hoped that allowing the implementation of strict Islamic law in Swat would quiet the militants, but they have instead become emboldened.

Four dead, dozens hurt in Calif. bus crash

SOLEDAD, Calif., April 29 (UPI) -- A bus carrying French and Canadian passengers flipped and rolled along California's Monterey Peninsula, killing four people and injuring dozens, police said.

The tour bus apparently veered into a railing on a U.S. 101 overpass before the crash, the Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday.

Several passengers were ejected and luggage and clothing littered the highway after the Tuesday accident.

Initial reports had indicated five people died, but authorities later set the death toll at four.

Investigators began trying to piece together what went wrong.

Everyone on the bus -- police estimated up to 48 people were on board -- required medical attention. Because of the accident scene's remoteness, eight helicopters and 14 ambulances were needed to take the injured to hospitals in the region, officials said.

The bus, owned by Orion Pacific Tour Bus Co. in Orange County, apparently began the day in San Francisco, stopped in Monterey and Carmel, and was scheduled to stop for the night in Santa Maria, authorities said.