The Americas

(Best Syndication News) - The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced a recall of Pacific International Marketing Cilantro because of potential Salmonella contamination on December 10, 2011. The FDA is also working with the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) on this recall. The Pacific brand Cilantro recall involves 6,141 cartons.

The recalled Cilantro were distributed to California, Arizona, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Indiana, South Carolina, and Missouri and were intended for sale to consumers at grocery stores. The cilantro were sold in cartons with 60 bunches, 30 bunches or 20 with 3 bunched sleeves. Bunches of cilantro that have a twist tie have the UPC code of 33383 80104. Bunches of cilantro that came in sleeves have the UPC code of 40695 80104. The cilantro was sold between November 16, and December 10, 2011.

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(Best Syndication News) - The stock market closed with upward momentum Friday, December 9, 2011. All twelve sectors showed an improvement, with most stocks gaining instead of losing value. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) closed the week at 12,184.26 points, which is up 186.56 from the day before (+1.55%). The S&P 500 saw similar gains ending the day at 1,255.19, up 20.84 (+1.69%). The NASDAQ closed out the day at 2,646.85, a 50.47 point gain or 1.94 percent increase.

The US stock market may have shown recovery today after the announcements of the EU treaty negotiation to resolve the European debt crisis. The conglomerate of European nations met at a summit in Brussels this week to discuss a new treaty in an attempt to save the euro.

(Best Syndication News) - Today, the US Postal Service announced proposals that could help turn their operations around financially. The proposals include downsizing their operations and slowing mail delivery down for some First-Class Mail delivery times.

The USPS said they needed to reduce their operational expenditures by $20 billion by 2015 to return to a profitable status. To do this, the agency is proposing consolidation of the postal network. This would mean closing some facilities, which would eliminate processing equipment, vehicles, and employees. They project an annual savings of $2.1 billion annually by doing this downsizing. By 2015, the USPS expects to save up to $3 billion annually.

(Best Syndication News) - The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced a recall of stuffed olives and bean soup because of potential contamination of Clostridium botulinum bacteria, which can cause botulism. The food may smell and taste fine even when contaminated. Consumers should not eat the recalled products because botulism can be a serious and deadly infection.

The United Natural Foods, Inc. announced that some of the FoodMatch, Inc. Divina Stuffed Olives and the Tabatchnick Yankee Bean Soup are potentially contaminated. Four ounce bottles of the Divina brand feta or blue cheese stuffed olives and 15 ounce cans of the Yankee Bean Soup are involved. See the list of the recalled products and UPC codes below.

(Best Syndication News) - A 5.6 magnitude earthquake occurred in Oklahoma at 10:53 pm (local time) this Saturday, November 5, 2011. The sizable earthquake was 21 miles north-northeast of Shawnee and 44 miles east of Oklahoma City.

The US Geological Survey (USGS) received many reports from residents that were near the epicenter that said the shaking was very strong with moderate damage to some homes and buildings. No major injuries have been reported.

Preceding the 5.6 earthquake was a 4.7 magnitude tremor that the USGS recorded earlier in on Saturday at 2:12 a.m. in the early morning hours. Aftershocks continued into Sunday with a 4.0 magnitude occurring at 3:40 a.m. local time. The recent earthquake activity is localized in one area north of the city of Shawnee.