G20 Summit Begins Thursday in France

The world's most powerful political leaders will gather this week in France to chart a course for the global economy as the outlook for growth remains fraught with risks.

The two-day Group of 20 summit kicks off Thursday in Cannes, with Europe's sovereign debt and banking crisis expected to dominate behind-the-scenes talks.

After much political wrangling, European Union leaders managed to finally put together a deal last week to contain the debt crisis in Greece, strengthen bank balance sheets and prevent the spread of contagion to larger euro area nations.

But key details and questions remain.