Walmart urges customers to discard recalled chicken broth

NEW YORK>> Walmart says customers should throw out a chicken broth product that was sold at stores in mostly Southern states late last year.

The retailer has recalled 48-ounce cartons of Great Value Family Size Chicken Broth that had been sold at 242 stores in nine states.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration reported the recall in December affecting more than 2,000 cases of broth with a shelf life lasting until March 2026. The FDA said the containers had packaging problems that could lead to the broth spoiling.

There have been no reports of illnesses.

At least 15 killed, 67 hurt in gas station explosion

CAIRO>> An explosion at a gas station triggered a massive fire in central Yemen, killing at least 15 people, health officials said Sunday.

The explosion occurred Saturday at the Zaher district in the province of Bayda, the Houthi rebel-run Health Ministry said in a statement. At least 67 others were injured, including 40 in critical condition.

The ministry said rescue teams were searching for those reported missing. It wasn’t immediately clear what caused the explosion.

President Milanovic reelected in runoff

ZAGREB, Croatia>> Croatia’s opposition-backed President Zoran Milanovic, a critic of the European Union and NATO, overwhelmingly won reelection for another five-year term on Sunday, defeating a candidate from the ruling conservative party in a runoff vote, official results showed.

Milanovic won more than 74% of the vote compared to his challenger Dragan Primorac, who received nearly 26%, according to the results released by Croatia’s state election authorities after more than 99% of the ballots were counted.

The result presents a major boost for Milanovic, who is a critic of Western military support for Ukraine in its war against Russia. Milanovic is also a fierce opponent of Croatia’s conservative Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic and his government.

Avalanche hits group of skiers, killing 3

ROME>> An avalanche hit a group of five skiers in Italy’s northern Piedmont region on Sunday, killing three of them, rescuers said.

Two survived and were transported to the hospital by helicopter.

The avalanche hit around midday on the eastern face of Punta Valgrande, a summit on the border between Italy and Switzerland.

The skiers who died were dragged downhill for several hundred yards, suffering fatal injuries. An alert had been issued in the area above 6,900 feet, warning of “considerable danger of avalanches.”

EU ministers will consider easing sanctions at a meeting later this month

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia>> European Union foreign ministers will meet in late January to discuss easing sanctions imposed on Syria, the bloc’s foreign policy chief said Sunday. However, she said the move would depend on Syria’s new rulers carrying out an inclusive political transition after last month’s overthrow of President Bashar Assad.

Kaja Kallas’ comments came at a gathering of top European and Middle Eastern diplomats in the Saudi capital of Riyadh to discuss Syria’s future.

Saudi Arabia called for the lifting of sanctions, which threaten to undermine Syria’s recovery from nearly 14 years of civil war that killed an estimated 500,000 people and displaced half the country’s prewar population of 23 million.

European countries and the U.S. have been wary over the Islamist roots of the former insurgents who drove Assad out of power and who now lead an interim government.

— Denver Post wire services