UNITED STATES

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.

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.

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.

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.

U.S. 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.

Stock investors will anxiously await the crucial June jobs data next week for clues on how the U.S. economy may weather recent storms that drove Wall Street's major indexes down for the year.

The Obama administration on Friday asked a U.S. appeals court to stay a ruling that lifted a temporary ban on deepwater oil drilling, its latest attempt to clamp down in the wake of the Gulf of Mexico spill.

Stieg Larsson copycats take note: The slow rise of electronic books is paving the way for more safe-bet fiction blockbusters and serial-type books, at least in the short term, according to some book experts.

Apple Inc's newest iPhone flew off store shelves, but lucky shoppers still managed on Friday to get their hands on one at least a dozen stores across the United States.

Efforts by United Airlines, a unit of UAL Corp , and Continental Airlines to reach a joint contract with pilots before concluding their merger have hit a snag, pilots said on Friday.

Toyota Motor Co is recalling and temporarily halting sales of its 2010 Lexus HS250h gasoline-electric hybrid due to a potential fuel leak problem, the company said on Friday.

Economic growth was slower than previously reported in the first quarter on lower consumer spending on services, raising concerns the recovery would be too sluggish to bring down unemployment.