Removing laptop computers from their cases at U.S. airport security checkpoints may end soon, as federal inspectors finalize details easing the restriction.

Under pressure from the toughest crackdown on illegal immigration in two decades, employers across the United States are fighting back in state legislatures, U.S. courts and city halls. Business groups have resisted measures that would revoke the licenses of employers of illegal immigrants. They are proposing alternatives that would revise U.S. rules for verifying the identity documents of new hires and would expand programs to bring in legal immigrant laborers.

President George W. Bush arrived Sunday on the lush and mountainous northern Japanese island of Hokkaido to talk to world leaders about climate change, soaring oil and gas prices and aid to Africa. But first, he defended his decision to attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics next month - and got a little help from his host, Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda of Japan, who announced he would go, too.

The number of Hispanic-owned businesses in the United States is expected to grow 41.8 percent in the next six years to 4.3 million, with total revenues surging 39 percent to more than $539 billion, according to new estimates by HispanTelligence. Spurred by growing entrepreneurial trends and affluence among the nation's largest minority population, the increase is expected to come at a robust rate of 8.5 and 8.7 percent, respectfully, over the next couple years.

For more than two decades, the annual Hispanic Business 500 directory has served as a barometer of the U.S. Hispanic economy. A purchase of the 2007 directory provides the top 500 Hispanic-owned companies list in Excel format including: CEO names; company addresses and telephone numbers; e-mail addresses for 375 companies and Web addresses for 430 companies; and company revenue and employees numbers for 2005 and 2006.

The Hispanic Businesses 500, which contains some of the nation's most dynamic and well-established firms, saw a worrisome 0.6 percent decline in total revenues in 2007. A review of the 2007 economic accomplishments of the 500 largest Hispanic companies suggests that Wall Street's failings were significantly impacting Main Street in 2007.

The Hispanic Business 500 have endured turbulent economic times before, but market conditions proved especially bearish for U.S. Hispanic companies in 2007. Revenues for this year's HB 500 slid backwards 0.6 percent to $36.1 billion. It is the first such dip since 2002, and only the third in the directory's 26-year history. It should come as no surprise that more than 41 percent of CEOs cited market conditions as the top barriers to growth in 2007.

In 1982, Gabriel Garcia Marquez won the Nobel prize for literature, Michael Jackson won praise for "Thriller," and E.T. won hearts at the movies. And in a sunny corner of Scotland, barley and malt began a 25-year journey to Ignacio Sanchez's whiskey glass in New York City. At a shade under $300 for a 750-milliliter bottle, Chivas 25 is no average Scotch. It nestles on the shelf with other luxury whiskeys, most of which are single-malt Scotches, not blends. Find out why Chivas 25 has proven its appeal among Hispanics.