San Francisco  - Hoping to challenge the popular iPhone and carve out a dominant position in the transition of the internet to mobile networks, Google launched its first mobile phone Tuesday in the United States in conjunction with the German-owned carrier T- Mobile.

The new device, called the T-Mobile G1, functions on 3G networks and is specially designed to access popular Google services such as search, Gmail, maps with directions, and YouTube at high speed.

It also features a touch screen and a slide out keyboard - a feature that could give it an advantage over the iPhone.

New York - French President Nicolas Sarkozy urged Tuesday a quicker pace in reforming the UN Security Council and the world's group of eight leading industrialized nations (G-8) in order to meet the demands of emerging countries.

Sarkozy said the world is still governed by 20th-century institutions in a 21st century world.

"Let today's major powers and the powers of tomorrow unite to shoulder together the responsibilities their influence gives them in world affairs," Sarkozy said in an address to the UN General Assembly.

New York - Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Tuesday called for advanced economies to get a hold of the global financial crisis and criticized market speculators for putting global growth at risk.

Lula warned that the turmoil brought on by the "boundless greed" of investors could not be allowed to spread to the entire world, in an address before the United Nations General Assembly.

Frankfurt, Sept. 23 : The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, after a night halt at Frankfurt, left for New York on Tuesday afternoon on the first leg of his ten day visit to the United States and France.

A busy schedule awaits Dr. Singh in New York. He will have bilateral meetings with the Pakistan President, the Chinese Premier tomorrow apart from having discussions with the World Bank President.

New York  - US President George W Bush, in his final speech before the United Nations on Tuesday, called on the world to unite in the fight against extremism and terrorism.

Addressing the UN General Assembly in New York, Bush said it is not enough to condemn acts of terrorism that have already occurred, but instead the international community "must continually confront terror."

"Like slavery and piracy, terrorism has no place in the modern world. Around the world nations are changing these words into action," Bush said.

Washington- The government's chief financial gurus plan to tackle growing public anger over the White House's mammoth bank bailout plan before Congress on Tuesday by painting a dire picture of economic collapse if lawmakers fail to act.

"The market turmoil we are experiencing today poses great risk to US taxpayers," Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson will say, according to a copy of his testimony released in advance.

Paulson, a former top Wall Street figure, and Federal Reserve head Ben Bernanke are to appear before the Senate banking committee starting at 1400 GMT.