Mexico's agriculture secretary says ethanol production is bankrupting cattle and poultry farmers and causing food prices to hit record highs around the world.

Agriculture Secretary Alberto Cardenas says countries should change their policies and reduce production of grains for the alternative fuel.

Speaking to cattle farmers Wednesday, Cardenas says the government has earmarked more than 9 billion pesos (US$8.75 million) to help 500,000 ranchers.

Mexico froze prices on more  Full Story

Once just a supplement to the pension system, defined-contribution plans such as 401(k)s are growing and changing fast as they evolve into a linchpin of Americans' retirement savings and offer increasingly innovative investment options, a new study indicates.

Boosted by a widespread shift to automatic enrollment and other factors, the defined-contribution market is estimated by McKinsey & Co. to double in size by 2015 to $7.5 trillion to $8.5 trillion in assets under management.

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It was swift and chaotic, witnesses said, as the plastics plant worker with a determined look opened fire, killing five co-workers then himself in rural western Kentucky.

Police said Wesley N. Higdon, 25, shot his supervisor outside the plant, then went inside and kept shooting. When the gunfire ended, one of Higdon's co-workers was dead, four others were dying and he had committed suicide.

A witness who hid behind a wall when the gunfire started said a bullet struck a water line, Full Story