AP - The Los Angeles city attorney has charged Don Cornelius, former host of "Soul Train," in connection with two domestic incidents involving his wife last month. Cornelius was charged with spousal battery, assault with a deadly weapon and dissuading a witness from making a police report, all misdemeanors, city attorney spokesman Frank Mateljan said Friday.

AP - Space shuttle Endeavour and a crew of seven blasted into the night sky Friday, bound for the international space station and the most extreme home makeover project ever attempted by astronauts. The shuttle rose off its launch pad at 7:55 p.m. EST, right on time, in a brilliant flash of light visible for miles around.

Reuters - The U.S. space shuttle Endeavour roared off its seaside launch pad in Florida on Friday for a 15-day mission to renovate the International Space Station for an expanded crew.

AP - President-elect Barack Obama is considering primary election rivals Hillary Rodham Clinton and Bill Richardson to be his secretary of state, according to Democratic officials who revealed his secret meetings with both as he weighed the decision on folding former foes into his new administration.

AP - Threats against a new president historically spike right after an election, but from Maine to Idaho law enforcement officials are seeing more against Barack Obama than ever before.

AP - Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman's chances of holding onto his committee chairmanship suffered a blow Friday when two key New England Democratic senators came out against him.

AP - World leaders launched extraordinary summit talks Friday on the economic crisis gripping the globe — searching for ways to limit the current carnage and prevent future calamities.

AP - Nebraska lawmakers got to work Friday in a rare special legislative session designed to repair a unique "safe haven" law that has unintentionally allowed parents to abandon nearly three dozen children as old as 17.

AP - Federal auditors have concluded the Rev. Al Sharpton's 2004 campaign owes the government nearly $500,000 for illegal donations and other financial improprieties.

AP - Firefighters struggled Friday against an out-of-control wildfire that destroyed at least 100 homes in a wealthy, celebrity-studded enclave, flaring up so fast that it caught some terrified residents behind the automatic gates of their mansions.

AFP - Leaders from the world's biggest economic powers Friday kicked off a crisis summit in Washington to reshape the global financial order as pressure mounts to ward off the spread of recession.

Reuters - The U.S. Senate plans to take up a proposal to bailout distressed automakers, while the White House on Friday warned of partisan gridlock and recommended another route to get billions to Detroit fast.

Reuters - U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton left the door open to becoming secretary of state on Friday, a day after a meeting with President-elect Barack Obama at which a Democratic official said they discussed the job.

AP - Free-agent season opened Friday with the New York Yankees planning to give CC Sabathia a record offer for a pitcher. The Yankees formulated a proposal to the big lefty that would exceed Johan Santana's $137.5 million, six-year contract with the New York Mets both in total and average, a baseball official familiar with the negotiations said. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to divulge details.

Reuters - U.S. stocks fell on Friday after a record drop in retail sales last month heightened fears that American consumers' reluctance to spend will push the economy into an even deeper downturn than currently expected.