Venezuela's Chavez turns to confrontation in crisis

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's aggressive moves against the food industry show the socialist leader will respond to growing economic woes in the OPEC nation with takeovers and tighter controls on business. Click here for full story

As food prices soar, Brazil and Argentina react in opposite ways

Rising food prices mean many farmers around the world are reaping record profits. And South America’s agricultural powerhouses, Brazil and Argentina, are responding to the farming windfall in opposite ways. Click here for full story. May haver to register

Obama campaign vows aggressive response to GOP attacks

Advisors to Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama say they will "respond with speed and ferocity" to attacks from the Republican ticket, with Sen. Joe Biden, the vice presidential nominee, leading the charge. (May need to register) Click here for full story

Ouster of two younger Cuban leaders predictable

Once again the Cuban government has responded with a good swift kick in the rear end to growing voices of moderation among U.S. government officials and the gullible few in the Cuban community who believe they can buy friendship in Havana. Click here for full story

Vertex drug helps hepatitis C patients

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. said Wednesday its hepatitis C treatment telaprevir created an immune system response to the virus in patients who had not been helped by other drugs.

The results came from a midstage trial of the experimental drug. Vertex said a majority of patients who had had no response to other drugs, or had only a partial response or relapsed after treatment, were free from the virus after being dosed with telaprevir in the study.

Vertex said virus levels were undetectable in 90 percent of the relapsed group and 55 percent of the partial responders after 24 or 48 weeks of treatment. Undetectable virus levels are the main goal of hepatitis C treatment. The company added that 57 percent of patients who had not responded at all to other drugs had a sustained response after 48 weeks.