IBT Staff Reporter

World leaders put the finishing touches on plans to build a more stable global economy on Sunday but backed away from one-size-fits-all pledges as two years of crisis give way to an uneven recovery.

Group of 20 leaders will not make explicit reference to China or China's exchange rate in the statement they are to issue at the end of their meeting on Sunday, two sources familiar with the document said.

President Barack Obama's efforts to win final approval of a historic financial regulatory reform bill looked more complicated on Saturday after a Republican senator threatened to oppose it.

The first named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season is posing an uncertain threat to the Gulf of Mexico, even as efforts to contain the worst oil spill in U.S. history are set to ramp up.

With a global recession behind them, world leaders meeting on Sunday will seek to show they can bolster a fragile economic recovery while also cutting massive government debt levels.

The first named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season was on track on Saturday to reach the Gulf of Mexico within days, a potential threat to containment and cleanup of the worst ever U.S. oil spill.

Thousands of protesters marched through downtown Toronto on Saturday, setting police cars ablaze and smashing store windows in a show of opposition to the G20 summit as police in riot gear scrambled to contain the violence.

Europe's focus on cutting deficits is absolutely wrong, Argentine President Cristina Fernandez said on Saturday, citing her country's experience with austerity she said helped lead to a huge default in 2001.

World leaders dropped a commitment on Saturday to complete the troubled Doha trade round this year and vowed to push forward on bilateral and regional trade talks until a global deal could be done.

World leaders moved away on Saturday from lockstep policy pledges to secure economic recovery, leaving countries leeway to chart their own courses in taming government debt and clamping down on banks to prevent another financial crisis.

Protesters marching through downtown Toronto set police cars ablaze and smashed store windows in a show of opposition to the G20 leadership summit, as police in riot gear scrambled to contain the violence.

(Corrects reference to Doha round in paragraph 7)

Chinese officials, in an abrupt change of emphasis, said on Saturday they welcomed discussions about currencies as part of global economic talks, but insisted Bejing alone should determine policy on the yuan.

G8 wealthy countries said on Saturday that the global economic crisis threatened to undermine 2015 global targets for reducing extreme poverty worldwide, but avoided bold new aid promises.

The first named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season was on track on Saturday to reach the Gulf of Mexico within days, a potential threat to containment and cleanup of the worst ever U.S. oil spill.

World leaders must focus on bolstering growth in a global economy still scarred by crisis, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Saturday as the heads of the Group of 20 nations gathered in Canada.

Black-clad anarchists protesting the G20 summit in Toronto smashed storefronts and wrecked a police car on Saturday, while riot police donned gas masks in anticipation of an escalation of violence.

President Barack Obama was expected to focus on the Gulf of Mexico oil spill disaster in talks on Saturday with Britain's new leader, even as the first named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season threatened to disrupt containment and cleanup efforts.

World leaders neared agreement on Saturday to halve their budget deficits within three years but, fearing spending cuts would jeopardize a fragile recovery, they planned to allow each country to set its own pace.

A draft communique from the Group of 20 wealthy and emerging countries welcomes China's move to make its currency more flexible and its efforts to boost domestic demand, a G20 official said on Saturday.

The first named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season threatened on Saturday to veer toward the Gulf of Mexico within days, posing a new threat to containment and cleanup of the worst U.S. oil spill in history.

World leaders hoping to shore up a fragile economic recovery will leave it to individual countries to decide how best to repair battered budgets without stunting growth.

Apple Inc must immediately make clear what data it collects from users of its products and for what purposes, Germany's justice minister was quoted as saying by Der Spiegel magazine on Saturday.

World leaders cast about for a common approach on Saturday to securing an uneven economic recovery that is showing signs of fading.

The world's richest economies, saddled with huge debts after spending their way out of the credit crisis, papered over differences on Friday on how to clean up their finances with minimal damage to growth.

President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron were expected to discuss London-based BP Plc and the Gulf of Mexico oil spill on Saturday as stormy weather raised fears that clean-up operations could be disrupted.

President Barack Obama, fresh from a win on a sweeping overhaul of Wall Street regulations, on Saturday urged Congress to take up his proposal for a $90 billion, 10-year tax on banks as the next step in reform.

Dubai's ruler said the emirate would go forward with all development projects within a year in an interview with CNN broadcast on Friday, after billions of dollars worth of projects were canceled in the wake of the global financial downturn.

Most principles embodied in a new set of financial regulatory rules proposed by the United States and Europe also fit China, and embracing them early would help it strengthen financial stability, the country's deputy central bank governor said on Saturday.