Malt-O-Meal recall

Malt-O-Meal recall

MINNEAPOLIS — Malt-O-Meal Co. is voluntarily recalling oatmeal that contains instant nonfat dry milk that may be contaminated with salmonella.

The instant nonfat dry milk came from Plainview Milk Products Cooperative of Minnesota, which is recalling products made over the past two years due to the possible contamination. Many of Plainview’s products were sold to other food makers.

Minneapolis-based Malt-O-Meal is recalling “Maple & Brown Sugar Instant Oatmeal” sold in cartons and variety packs with best-if-used-by dates of June 30, 2009 to Oct. 28, 2010.

The oatmeal is sold nationally under brands including Cub Foods, Diamond Crystal, Fastco, Flavorite, Foodland, Good ’n Hearty, Hearty Traditions, Hy-Top, IGA, Mom’s Best Natural, Megaroons, Millville, Our Family, Richfood, Shop ’n Save and Smart Menu.

Aid workers abducted

CAIRO — Gunmen abducted two female aid workers in Darfur on Friday, said the international peacekeeping mission in the western region of Sudan.

It was the third kidnapping of foreign humanitarian workers since March, when an international court issued a warrant for the country’s president on charges of orchestrating war crimes in Darfur.

The series of abductions, along with Sudan’s expulsion of 13 international aid agencies in response to the arrest warrant, has struck a blow to the vital aid effort in the remote desert region, now in its sixth year of conflict.

6 die in high-rise fire

LONDON — Six people, including a 3-week-old baby, were killed, and 30 people had to be rescued when fire ripped through a high-rise apartment building in London on Friday, emergency services said.

London Fire Brigade said the dead were three adults and three children, who included a 3-week old baby and a 7-year-old.

The fire started on the fourth floor and spread quickly to seven floors of the 12-story building, part of a large 1960s public- housing project.

Elderly twins die in heat

SAN ANTONIO — Eighty-two-year-old identical twin sisters were found dead in their San Antonio home after the city sweltered through days of 100-degree heat.

The bodies of Florence and Emma Jernigan were found Thursday in the home where they had lived all their lives. Police say the single window air conditioner in the home was off.

Authorities said no one had heard from the women for several days. A neighbor called police after noticing a foul odor. The cause of death was pending but was believed to be heat-related.

The city set or tied heat records four times in the last week of June, topping out at 104 degrees on June 29.

Embassy workers face trial

BEIRUT, Lebanon — A senior Iranian cleric said Friday that employees of the British Embassy in Tehran arrested in recent days would be put on trial for unspecified charges of acting against Iran’s national security, a move denounced by members of the European Union.

Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, head of the conservative Guardian Council, said in a Friday prayer sermon that the employees, all of them Iranian nationals, “will definitely be tried.” They are accused of taking part in or promoting unrest after the June 12 presidential election, which was marred by opposition allegations of vote-rigging.

Serial killer in S. Carolina

GAFFNEY, S.C. — Terrified residents canceled Fourth of July plans and holed up in their homes Friday as investigators hunted a serial killer believed to have shot four people to death.

Plenty of evidence links the killings, though officials have not yet determined how the victims are connected or if they knew whoever shot them, said Cherokee County Sheriff Bill Blanton.

“Yes, we have a serial killer,” he said at a news conference in this rural community 50 miles south of Charlotte, N.C.

So far, all investigators have to go on is a sketch of a suspect and a description of a possible getaway vehicle, though police would not say who provided that information.

30 palm trees set afire

GALVESTON, Texas — Galveston officials are investigating the torching of 30 palm trees in the last two months.

“What we’ve got on our hands, a serial tree arsonist, I’ve never seen before,” said Galveston Fire Marshal Gilbert Robinson. “I’ve talked to colleagues of mine, and that’s the first they’ve heard of setting palm trees on fire.”

Tree service company owner Greg West is offering a $1,000 reward for information that leads to charges.

Combined dispatches