Whoever replaces Attorney General Alberto Gonzales will face a daunting challenge.

A plane carrying Sen. Mel Martinez was fired at five minutes after it left Baghdad airport, the Florida Republican said Thursday from Amman, Jordan.

Many Hispanics and other minorities blame racism for their lack of getting ahead. While everyone acknowledges that racism exists and often closes the door of the executive suite to talented minorities who are considered outsiders and not invited into the old boy's network, it often serves an excuse or easy way out for some minorities to stop climbing the ladder. Feeling sorry for yourself and blaming the system creates a no-win, vicious cycle of paralysis and hopelessness.

As minorities continue to increase their share of America's population, white students are less likely to attend nearly all-white public schools, while African-American and Hispanic students are more likely to attend nearly all-minority schools, the Pew Hispanic Center reported Thursday.

Texas again ranks No. 1 with the highest percentage of uninsured residents in the nation -- primarily due to the state's growing Hispanic population, according to a report issued Tuesday by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Six new members, including a former Hispanic Business EOY® Award winner, have been appointed to the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce board, giving the panel its broadest entrepreneurial complexion yet, according to its chairman.

The business mentoring program will offer business help to Kansas regional minority businesses, using the First Step FastTrac program developed through the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. It addresses topics like networking, funding a business, feasibility plans and pricing.

A small but growing corps of young, ambitious, and passionate entrepreneurs are starting companies that could help the city's economic future. They are business owners who looked beyond New Orleans' traditional tourism, oil, and shipping industries to find fertile ground for their ideas.

Search the 2007 Hispanic Business 500, a national benchmark of the surging development of U.S. Hispanic-owned companies.

More than 20 percent of Cubans are 65 or older, while a scant 4 percent of Mexicans are in that age bracket. On the other hand, 37 percent of Mexicans and 31 percent of Puerto Ricans are younger than 18.

Diversity enriches campus life at this year's Best Schools for Hispanics.

After finishing third last year, Southern California Edison tops the 2007 Hispanic Business Diversity Elite list.