A planned free-trade zone in Shanghai is raising hopes that China's new leaders will revive long-stalled economic reforms as they seek to make their mark.

China has become the world's second-largest economy and a driver of global growth thanks to a boom unleashed three decades ago when the Communist Party loosened state control of business and began to embrace the market.

Divided American lawmakers careened Thursday towards a budget deadline that could see the U.S. government shut down on October 1, as their leaders sniped over who is to blame.

The debate over how to fund government is once again pushing Congress to the brink, with Democrats and Republicans seemingly unable even to compromise on a stop-gap measure, known as a continuing resolution (CR), to keep federal offices and programs running for even two more months.

Around 40 unemployed security guards staged a protest on Thursday on top of the ancient Arch of Constantine next to the Colosseum in Rome, an Agence France Presse photographer saw.

They climbed up on scaffolding surrounding the 1,700-year-old, 21-meter (69-foot) arch and unfurled a banner reading: "Work, Rights and Respect".

Growth in the Group of 20 emerging and advanced economies accelerated in the second quarter of this year to 0.9 percent from 0.6 percent in the previous three month period, the OECD said Thursday.

Most G20 members saw growth pick up momentum in April through May, with Turkey posting the highest quarter-on-quarter expansion of 2.1 percent, said the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Up to 25 million more Europeans are at risk of sinking into poverty by 2025 if governments push on with austerity measures, international aid agency Oxfam warned Wednesday, calling such policies "moral and economic nonsense".

"Europe's handling of the economic crisis threatens to roll-back decades of social rights," said Natalia Alonso, head of Oxfam's EU office.

It is an anniversary without celebration: five years after the implosion of banking giant Lehman Brothers sparked the worst crisis in generations, the U.S. can say it avoided catastrophe.

After just barely pulling back from the precipice, industry is picking up, home prices are gaining, banks are stable and American consumers have started spending -- albeit still with great caution.

Eurozone finance ministers meet Friday aiming to ensure that bailed-out member states stick to the rescue script, as further help needed by some waits out the German elections.

"We are going to listen to all the countries that have been bailed out," to see what progress has been made and what more needs to be done, one European government source said.

One third of the food produced worldwide is wasted, costing the global economy around $750 billion (570 billion euros) a year, a new report by the UN food agency said Wednesday.

The Rome-based Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said some 1.3 billion tonnes of food are wasted every year, with the Asia region including China seen as the worst culprit.

Europe must save its gas-fired electricity plants by paying for them to remain available for peak demand or face a threat to its energy security, warned Wednesday the head of GDF Suez, the top non-nuclear power producer in the world.

A rise in wind and solar power combined with a fall in the price of coal and EU pollution permits has dealt a one-two punch to gas-fired electricity plants in recent years.

The price of oil dropped Wednesday after President Barack Obama said he asked U.S. lawmakers to postpone a vote authorizing the use of military force against Syria.

Obama, in a televised speech to the nation late Tuesday, said he wanted to give Syria a chance to turn over its chemical weapons before he asks Congress for consent to intervene in the country's civil war.