12 figures

New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson held a press conference to announce he will step down as Barack Obama's nominee for Commerce Secretary: "While this decision was a difficult one, I think it was the right thing to do." Richardson is currently under investigation for awarding a lucrative contract to one of his largest campaign donors.

President-elect Barack Obama is discussing $300 billion in tax cuts as a part of a $675 to $775 billion economic relief package. Some analysts view the move as an effort to preempt Republican opposition.

At least 33 people in are dead and over 100 people are missing in Guatemala after a mile-wide landslide hit the Central American country. San Cristobal Verapaz Mayor Leopoldo Ical: "The landslide is so big, we don't have much hope of recovering many more bodies."

Check out The Boston Globe's sobering photo gallery of the conflict between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Puerto Rico's new governor, Luis Fortuno, is facing a recession, a one billion-dollar deficit and a surging murder rate.

Is Lupe Fiasco rocking a fake British accent so he can front a rock band named Japanese Cartoon? According to the band's MySpace blog, "Lupe does finance the band but is NOT I REPEAT NOT THE SINGER IN JAPANESE CARTOON."

Latinas are more likely to avoid doctors and use risky methods to induce abortions, including mixing prescription drugs and throwing themselves down stairs, according to two studies in a New York Times report.

Cuban President Raul Castro says he's ready to hold direct talks with Barack Obama: "But we are in no rush, we are not desperate."