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Countries respond to higher flu alert

GENEVA, Switzerland, April 30 (UPI) -- At least 148 confirmed cases of swine flu worldwide have been reported, and the World Health Organization, based in Geneva, raised the alert level.

WHO Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan said she was raising the influenza pandemic alert from level 4 to level 5 based on available information and consultations with experts. The scale goes up to 6.

"This change to a higher phase of alert is a signal to governments, to ministries of health and other ministries, to the pharmaceutical industry and the business community that certain actions should now be undertaken with increased urgency, and at an accelerated pace," Chan said in a statement late Wednesday. "On the positive side, the world is better prepared for an influenza pandemic than at any time in history."

Countries have reported laboratory confirmed cases with no deaths include Austria, one; Canada, 13; Germany, three; Israel, two; New Zealand, three; Spain, four, and Britain, five.

The United States reported 91 confirmed cases of swine flu with one death -- a Mexican child brought to Houston for treatment. Health officials in Mexico, believed to be ground zero for the outbreak, blame swine flu for more than 150 deaths and more than 2,000 illnesses.

Worldwide, countries are stepping up efforts to combat the spread of swine flu, now spanning four continents.

Health officials in Asia responded to the WHO's new alert level by activating pandemic plans, tightening border and port surveillance and stockpiling anti-flu drugs, Voice of America reported Thursday. Hong Kong, the Philippines and Australia activated swine flu hotlines Thursday and urged the public to maintain good hygiene.

Mexican officials, meanwhile, braced for a national shutdown of gathering places such as schools, offices, restaurants and museums to slow the spread of the disease, The New York Times reported Thursday.

In a nationally televised speech Wednesday, Mexican President Felipe Calderon said many public service facilities would be closed Friday through Tuesday.

In Europe, health officials prepared for emergency talks Thursday in Luxembourg to fashion their own response.

Swine flu traits puzzle investigators

MEXICO CITY, April 30 (UPI) -- Health officials say they're trying to unravel the riddle of why all but one of the 153 deaths in the swine flu outbreak occurred in Mexico.

Also puzzling investigators is why the disease has killed young adults, the demographic that should have the greatest resistance to the flu strain, CNN reported Thursday.

"They're good questions that we're asking, too," said Von Roebuck, spokesman for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta. "We're still young in this investigation and we're still trying to understand exposure in this country as well as exposure in Mexico."

Mexico reported 152 fatalities in flu-like cases since the outbreak began, seven confirmed as swine flu. Nineteen patients are confirmed as having swine flu. About 2,000 people have been hospitalized with symptoms.

A child from Mexico died of the disease in Texas.

A consensus may be emerging -- the disease in Mexico has been around longer than first thought and infected more people than investigators can confirm, CNN said.

The virus has genes from North American swine influenza, avian influenza, human influenza and a form of swine influenza typically found in Asia and Europe, Nancy Cox, CDC's Influenza Division chief, said.

Several factors could be behind the greater death toll in Mexico, Dr. Howard Markel, director of the Center for the History of Medicine at the University of Michigan, told CNN.

"They may have had cases for several months now and probably have a greater number of people who have the disease, probably tens of thousands," he said. "There may indeed be more cases in the United States. The snapshot we're seeing in the United States may be an incomplete snapshot."

The fatalities also may have had another co-factor, Markel said, such as taking other medicine or having a pre-existing condition or infection that would make them more vulnerable.

Talks stall, bankruptcy looms for Chrysler

DETROIT, April 30 (UPI) -- Talks between the U.S. Treasury Department and Chrysler LLC's debtholders faltered, setting up a probable bankruptcy filing by the automaker, insiders said.

Barring an 11th-hour agreement, Chrysler was expected to seek Chapter 11 protection Thursday, people briefed on the talks told The New York Times.

Chrysler, currently in talks with Italian automaker Fiat, would file for bankruptcy, then present an agreement with Fiat to the court for approval, the sources said.

Discussions with Chrysler's lenders fizzled after the Obama administration's automotive task force worked into the night Wednesday, trying to persuade several hedge funds and other lenders to accept a deal to reduce Chrysler's debt, people involved in the talks told The Wall Street Journal. As a possible inducement, the Treasury Department boosted its most recent offer to lenders by $250 million to $2.25 billion in cash for the banks and hedge funds to forgive $6.9 billion in Chrysler debt.

President Barack Obama said Wednesday he was "very hopeful" of a resolution that would keep Chrysler viable.

The administration in March gave Chrysler until May 1 to secure an alliance with Fiat, negotiate a new cost-cutting deal with the United Autoworkers Union and shave its debt.

Italian cargo ship evades pirates

MOGADISHU, Somalia, April 30 (UPI) -- An Italian-flagged merchant ship evaded an attack by Somali pirates and its 24-person crew was unharmed, shipping line officials said.

The Jolly Smeraldo was about 300 miles southeast of Mogadishu when a small boat with seven pirates approached it Wednesday, the Italian news agency ANSA reported Thursday.

The pirates fired shots at the Jolley Smeraldo, but the crew escaped injury and the ship made evasive maneuvers to escape the hijack attempt, the news agency reported.

The merchant ship left port in Kenya Tuesday, headed for Jeddah, Saudia Arabia, before returning to Genoa.

On Saturday, the Italian cruise ship Melody evaded an attack by pirates 200 miles north of the Seychelles.

The Buccaneer, another Italian ship, was seized in the Gulf of Aden April 11, and its 16-member crew is still being held hostage.

Gunman opens fire on oil academy, kills 13

BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 30 (UPI) -- At least one gunman opened fire at State Oil Academy in Azerbaijan Thursday, killing 13 people and wounding 11 others, a government official said.

An attacker opened fire at the academy in Baku, the country's capital, then shot himself, the Russian news agency RIA Novosti reported.

The gunman reportedly killed a security guard and cleaning personnel before entering the academy, firing at students and faculty as he went upstairs, law enforcement officials said. A police officer said the gunman went to the sixth floor, then shot himself in a classroom. Azerbaijani, Turkish and Syrian nationals were among the dead, officials said.

The academy is an international center for training oil industry specialists.

New book links A-Rod with more steroid use

NEW YORK, April 30 (UPI) -- Alex Rodriguez, the New York Yankees third baseman and highest paid player in baseball, may have used steroids after moving to New York, a new book says.

Rodriguez admits to dabbling in steroids while with the Texas Rangers early in his career but the book, "A-Rod," disputes his claim that it ended there. It also claims the steroid usage may have begun in high school.

Jose Canseco, an ex-teammate and friend of Rodriguez, was quoted as saying said he believes him to still be using human growth hormone HGH.

Author Selena Roberts of Sports Illustrated, who broke the story that Rodriguez flunked a steroid screening in 2003, provides a highly unflattering portrait of a needy "me-firster" who had to have his ego constantly stroked, the New York Daily News said.

The book, published by HarperCollins, is scheduled to be released May 12.

Roberts writes that Yankee teammates kidded Rodriguez about his new-found bulk in 2005 after he put on 15 pounds in the off-season and seemed to develop round pectorals, a condition called gynecomastia, which reportedly can be caused by anabolic steroids. "No one ever asked Alex directly (about steroids) that I know of, but there was a lot of suspicion in-house," an unnamed Yankee employee said.