RSS MMS Newspaper Newsletter

RSS MMS Newspaper Newsletter

EUROPE'S debt drama dominated talks among leaders of the Group of 20 leading economies yesterday, with Greece's government facing potential collapse and European leaders admitting that the eurozone could lose its weakest member.cheap nfl jerseys china

Chinese President Hu Jintao, US President Barack Obama and other world leaders began the formal G20 summit after a morning packed with bilateral meetings and a hurriedly organized meeting of eurozone officials to respond to developments in Greece - which risk fracturing Europe's common currency area and the EU itself.

Obama said the most important task at the G20 summit is to resolve the European financial crisis and urged European Union leaders to flesh out details of their ambitious plan to rescue Greece and stabilize financial markets.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy scrambled to save the summit he's hosting from being hijacked by the tumult in Greece.

Sarkozy said he and Obama agree the private sector should play a greater role in helping resolve the global financial crisis.,Cheap authentic nfl jerseys,

"We have found a common analysis to make the financial world contribute" to finding a solution to the crisis, Sarkozy told reporters after talks with the US president.Replica Rolex watches He said he welcomed Obama's "understanding on subjects such as a tax on financial transactions."

Sarkozy and some others in Europe have been pushing for a small tax on all financial transactions that could be used to help poor nations and reduce debts. The Obama administration and several leading economists are cool to the idea, favoring instead fees on the biggest banks.

Obama said he and Sarkozy discussed developments in Greece "and how we can work to help resolve that situation." He didn't give any details on what the US might do in concert with its European allies.

"The United States will continue to be a partner with the Europeans to resolve these challenges," Obama said.

Meanwhile, other nations weighed in.

Others weigh in

Europe has to "get its act together" and quickly produce a financial rescue plan before other governments can decide how to help, a South African government spokesman said.

South Africa, along with China, Brazil and Russia, is among major developing countries that have pledged support to Europe but say they need to see details before determining how to help. Measures under discussion include having non-European investors supply money for a possible investment fund.Demeco Ryans white jerseys

South Africa wants Europe to flesh out a plan during the summit that runs through today, said Mac Maharaj, a spokesman for President Jacob Zuma.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged leaders to turn their attention to other pressing world issues, too.

"They should first of all, as leaders of this global economy, and global world, look beyond the immediate concerns. ... Billions of people are going hungry to bed, and there are hundreds of millions of people who are sick, who need support," he said.

"I'm concerned about this deteriorating international economic situation," he said.

Power could be out for days in US northeast

Power could be out for days in US northeast

The wet,NEC Projector Lamp heavy snow that snapped branches and toppled trees across the region on Saturday and Sunday brought down an extensive network of wiring, including sturdy, long-distance transmission lines and wires supplying individual homes.

More than 3 million customers lost power at some point from Maryland to Maine, and authorities have said it could be next week before power is restored to the rest of the more than 1.7 million residents who are still in the dark.

Many schools remained closed on Tuesday throughout the region,,Moncler men jackets, and residents stood in long lines to buy fuel for their cars and generators.

"We've had to go to as many as 15 states to request crews," said Katie Blint, a spokeswoman for Connecticut Light & Power Co, the state's largest utility. "We certainly understand the hardship this is causing, and we are doing our best out there."

Even with unusually mild weather for the days after a wintry storm, shelters were filled with elderly and disabled people who had no heat and were seeking meals and cots.

The storm dropped snowfall totals ranging from less than 3 cm in some places to 81 cm in the small town of Peru,discounted designer handbags Massachusetts,Moncler women's jackets in the Berkshire Mountains.

Toyota's new robots can aid the disabled

Toyota's new robots can aid the disabled

TOYOTA unveiled its ambitions for high-tech health care yesterday, displaying experimental robots that the auto giant says can lift disabled patients from their hospital beds or help them walk.

The company aims to commercialize products such as its "independent walk assist" device sometime after 2013 - seeking to position itself in an industry with great potential in Japan, one of the world's most rapidly aging nations.

Eiichi Saitoh, a professor in rehabilitation medicine, demonstrated the "walk assist" device yesterday, strapping the computerized metallic brace onto his right leg, which was paralyzed by polio.

He showed reporters at a Toyota facility in Tokyo how the brace could bend at the knee as needed, allowing him to walk more naturally and rise from a chair with greater ease than the walker he now uses. Wearing a backpack-like battery,Demeco Ryans white jerseys Saitoh walked up and down a flight of stairs, smiling with delight.

Saitoh said he had tried Toyota's machines with patients and was confident they helped people recover more quickly from strokes and other ailments that curtailed movement. "It may be difficult to predict the future, but the era of an aging society is definitely coming," he said. "We need partner robots to enrich our lives."

Toyota also demonstrated an intelligent machine with padded arms that can help health care workers lift disabled patients from their beds and then carry them around. Another mobility aid worked like a skateboard to help people relearn balance.

Toyota officials said technology for autos such as sensors, motors and computer software are being used in such computerized gadgets to help people get around, and what they learn about mobility for people will likely be of use in future cars.

Prices and overseas sales plans of all the machines are still undecided,,cheap adidas shoes, Toyota said.

Toyota has previously shown human-shaped robots that played the trumpet and violin, and those that move around and talk about Toyota cars at showrooms.

Rival automaker Honda Motor Co has developed a sophisticated humanoid robot called Asimo, which can run, talk and dance.Sanyo Projector Lamp But Asimo has been limited to showrooms and labs and has yet to enter any hospital or home.

Toyota faces competition from other firms that are all working on gadgets to tap into the health care business. Honda also has demonstrated machines worn on the legs that help people move. General Manager Akifumi Tamaoki said Toyota is keeping its offerings simple, compared to those from Honda, so they can enter everyday life easily.,Cheap authentic nfl jerseys,