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From CNN Ticker Producer Alexander Mooney (CNN) – The global economy may be undergoing a significant downturn, but the White House’s dinner budget still appears flush with cash. After all, world leaders who are in town to discuss the economic crisis are set to dine in style Friday night while sipping wine listed at nearly $500 a bottle. According to the White House, tonight’s dinner to kick off the G-20 summit includes such dishes as “Fruitwood-smoked Quail,” “Thyme-roasted Rack of Lamb,” and “Tomato, Fennel and Eggplant Fondue Chanterelle Jus.” To wash it all down, world leaders will be served... read more >>

By Chua Kong Ho Nov. 15 (Bloomberg) — Asian stocks fell this week, ending a two-week rally, as companies lowered earnings forecasts amid mounting evidence economies are slowing. Commonwealth Bank of Australia fell 20 percent after saying bad loans may double and Australian business confidence fell to a record low. Citizen Holdings Co. dropped 9.7 percent after cutting its profit forecast. Hana Financial Group Inc. tumbled 36 percent after Fitch Ratings cut its outlook on South Korea banks. China’s CSI 300 Index posted the biggest weekly gain since April, led by steelmakers, after the government announced a $586 billion stimulus plan. “Investors... read more >>

By Elizabeth Stanton Nov. 14 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks tumbled, capping a second straight weekly loss, as a record decrease in retail sales and weaker demand for mobile phones raised concern about the depth of the recession. Sears Holdings Corp., Home Depot Inc. and Office Depot Inc. sank more than 7.6 percent on government data showing sales at retailers declined 2.8 percent last month. Qualcomm Inc., the biggest maker of mobile-phone chips, slid 5.4 percent and Motorola Inc. dropped 11 percent after Nokia Oyj predicted global shipments will shrink next year. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index erased about two-thirds of yesterday’s... read more >>

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. — The space shuttle Endeavour lighted the evening skies over Florida on Friday, rising beneath a brilliant moon as it raced toward the International Space Station. The shuttle thundered off the launching pad at 7:55 p.m., hurtling through a high, thin bank of clouds that rippled and dispersed with its passing. Its 15-day mission is devoted to construction on the $100 billion orbiting outpost. But while previous missions have often focused on adding modules or solar panels to the station, much of the equipment for this trip will transform the inside so that crew size can be doubled to six. Michael T. Suffredini, the... read more >>

WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Barack Obama has interviewed primary election rivals Hillary Rodham Clinton and Bill Richardson for 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. Obama met with Richardson late Friday afternoon, a day after conferring one-on-one with Clinton at his Chicago office, said several Democratic officials. He plans to meet there Monday with his Republican opponent, John McCain, but advisers to both of the general election rivals say they don’t expect Obama to consider McCain for an... read more >>