Fresh protests press Maduro in tense Venezuela crisis

Thousands of Venezuelans staged rival demonstrations Wednesday for and against President Nicolas Maduro in a new test of strength as the opposition pushes for a vote on driving him from power. Oil giant Venezuela's once-booming economy has gone into meltdown as crude prices have crashed since mid-2014. Outrage is mounting over shortages of food and medicine, threatening Maduro and the socialist "revolution" his late predecessor, Hugo Chavez, launched in 1999.