London  - US President Barack Obama and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh affirmed the strong relationship between their two countries during their first meeting Thursday on the sidelines of the G20 summit in London.

Obama said that they discussed terrorism, both in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and how the US and India can effectively coordinate their counterterrorism efforts.

London  - Under the unwritten rules of summit politics, everyone is a winner and failure is not an option.

So it was no surprise that it was smiles all around as global leaders ended their one-day summit in London to fix the world economy.

"A new world order is emerging, a new progressive era of international cooperation," said summit host Gordon Brown.

He has reason to be pleased.

Frankfurt - Falling inflation and a deepening recession is likely to pave the way for the European Central Bank (ECB) to deliver another hefty rate cut Thursday, trimming borrowings costs to an historic low of 1 per cent.

Thursday's widely forecast 50-basis-point reduction in the cost of money in the 16-member eurozone will bring the total rate cuts made by the ECB since October to 325 basis points reflecting its effort to spur economic growth.

London - The world's biggest economic powers are set to agree Thursday to a radical rewrite of the rules for global financial markets to bring them into line with the changes unleashed in recent years by fast-paced globalization.

The Group of 20 (G20) meeting of the world's most advanced and emerging economies in London is expected to sign off on steps aimed at greater global market supervision and closing gaps in the regulatory system in an effort to bolster the global economy, as well as avoiding future crises.

London  - US President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev moved to open a new chapter in relations between their two nations Wednesday by agreeing to draw up a new deal on nuclear disarmament.

At a meeting in London ahead of Thursday's summit of Group of 20 (G20) leading world economies, both presidents pledged to "move further along the path of reducing and limiting strategic offensive arms," in a joint statement issued after their first meeting since Obama's inauguration.

The leaders of the world's big economies launched a summit on the global economic crisis in London Wednesday with a dinner at the residence of the meeting's host, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, and a reception at Buckingham Palace.

"We are within a few hours, I think, of agreeing on a global plan for economic recovery and reform," said Brown ahead of the summit's formal sessions of the Group of 20 (G20) leading industrialized nations and major emerging economies on Thursday.