Obama, Brown predict G-20 deal for recession

LONDON - Doggedly optimistic in the face of doubts, President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown predicted Thursday's emergency G-20 economic summit would produce a significant global deal to tackle the deepening worldwide recession.

Others weren't so sure. France warned on Wednesday that neither it nor Germany would agree to "false compromises" that soft-pedal a need for tougher financial regulation to curb abuses that contributed to the spreading chaos. And outside the carefully scripted meetings, protesters smashed bank windows and pelted police with eggs and fruit.

Thousands surged into London's financial district, blockading the Bank of England and breaking into a branch of the Royal Bank of Scotland. Elsewhere, however, inside the meetings, Obama said differences among the presidents and prime ministers of the Group of 20 rich and emerging countries, were "vastly overstated."

"I am absolutely confident that this meeting will reflect enormous consensus about the need to work in concert to deal with these problems," said Obama, making his first major international appearance.

With economic chaos spreading, Brown, the host of the summit, predicted agreement on a coordinated strategy, including a possible $100 billion fund to finance global trade, tighter financial rules and action to support economic growth and job creation.

G-20 leaders are also in general agreement on a plan to double the money available to the International Monetary Fund, to some $500 billion, to help emerging countries.

Consensus on further measures is by no means clear.

Russia, China on Obama's agenda
Obama, on the world stage for the first time as president, aimed to shore up America's economy and its reputation across the globe. In addition to Brown, he met with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Chinese President Hu Jintao — and promptly accepted invitations to visit Russia in July and China later in the year.

Obama and Medvedev announced talks to limit the number of nuclear warheads, the first major negotiations in years over what Obama called the "gravest threat to humanity."

Slideshow   Eye on G-20 World leaders as well as demonstrators gather in London as the G-20 powers meet to discuss ways to tackle the global slowdown. more photos

On China, the White House said Obama and Hu agreed to "intensify coordination and cooperation on global economic and financial issues."

Officials in both Russia and China have called for a new global currency to end the dollar's dominance, although it's unlikely that the idea will gain immediate traction.

On a lighter note, Obama gave Queen Elizabeth II an engraved iPod during his visit to Buckingham Palace. The portable music device came with headphones and loaded with dozens of classic show tunes — including several from "Camelot," based on the King Arthur legend, and "My Fair Lady," set in London. The president and first lady also gave the queen a rare book of songs signed by "The King and I" composer Richard Rodgers.

'False compromises'
Brown initially trumpeted the G-20 summit as "a new Bretton Woods — a new financial architecture for the years ahead." But the meeting so far bears little similarity to the 1944 New Hampshire conference where the eventual winners of World War II gathered to set postwar global monetary and financial order.

Washington has eased off on its push for other governments to pump more money into economic stimulus programs after heavy opposition from European countries, who contend their bigger social safety nets make more spending unnecessary.

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