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WORLD

LONDON – British Prime Minister Tony Blair said Sunday the 15 British sailors and marines captured by Iran as they searched for smugglers off the Iraqi coast were not in Iranian waters, and warned that Britain viewed the situation as “very serious.”

The group was seized at gunpoint on Friday, and the Foreign Office in London said British officials don’t know where Iran is holding them.

Speaking at an EU summit in Berlin, Blair said Iran’s claim that the sailors had crossed into Iranian territorial waters “is simply not true.”

“I want to get (the situation) resolved in as easy and diplomatic a way as possible,” Blair said, but added he hoped the Iranians “understood how fundamental an issue this is for the British government.”

Britain said its diplomats met with Iranian officials in Tehran on Sunday where their demand for access to the group was denied after Iran refused to say where they were being held.

“This is a very serious situation,” Blair said.

In New York, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said British Foreign Minister Margaret Beckett had asked to speak with him directly, likely later Sunday. Mottaki said the 15 Britons were accused of illegally entering Iranian waters: “In terms of legal issues, it’s under investigation.”

NATION

LOS ANGELES – The Warner Bros. adventure “TMNT,” a computer-animated update of the “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” comics, cartoons and 1990s live-action movies, debuted as the top weekend flick with $25.45 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday.

Warner also had the second-place movie with “300,” which had been No. 1 the previous two weekends. The battle epic set in ancient Greece took in $20.5 million, lifting its total to $162.4 million.

Paramount’s “Shooter,” starring Mark Wahlberg as an ex-Marine sniper framed for a presidential assassination, led the runners-up among a rush of new movies, opening at No. 3 with $14.5 million.

New Line’s family fantasy “The Last Mimzy” premiered in fifth place with $10.2 million. The movie centers on a brother and sister who discover a mysterious box of toys and are endowed with superhuman powers to help them preserve humanity’s future.

Fox Atomic’s horror sequel “The Hills Have Eyes 2,” about National Guard troops who stumble on a clan of mutant cannibals, opened at No. 7 with $10 million.

Adam Sandler had a soft debut for the post-Sept. 11 drama “Reign Over Me,” which came in at No. 8 with $8 million.

STATE&LOCAL

WINTERGREEN – Plagued by a chronic shortage of local workers, Wintergreen Resort has tried every tack short of lassos to fill its staff. It has recruited 15-year-old high school students, college students, 75-year-old retirees and foreign students in work exchange programs.

Still not enough.

This season’s idea: Jamaicans.

This ski resort, three hours southwest of Washington in the Blue Ridge Mountains, used a temporary visa program to fly in 35 islanders who were so unaccustomed to winter that many didn’t think to pack coats.

Then there were the cultural adjustments. Jermaine Gooden, 25, a houseman, was amazed to discover that in the United States, if you stare at a person too long, “that could be sexual harassment.”

Hinds has learned to never, ever utter the word “fat.”

“We don’t think of it as a big deal,” she said. “In fact, some women take it as a complement. But here, call someone ‘fatty’ and, hooh!”

The story of how Hinds and her compatriots ended up in this unlikely corner of rural Virginia offers a window on how seasonal businesses are plugging their multiplying labor holes with temporary foreign workers, even as proposals to expand immigration remain stalled in Congress.

Wintergreen, an 11,000-acre mini-civilization, has responded with a $50 million expansion over the past seven years. Already a major regional employer, the resort doubled its year-round staff to 500 and boosted additional peak hires to 700.