"New York now needs billions more to finance operations - we're very vulnerable."

And some of those same companies need billions of dollars for underfunded retiree health plans.

Mr. Gorbachev does not need hundreds of billions of dollars to do what his country requires.

To keep growing at a brisk pace in its final years, Enron needed billions in financing.

My guess is that it's an ancient black hole--it would have needed billions of years to get out here.

So if life needs billions of years of a stable planetary environment, three dimensions are the only possibility.

As a result, analysts say, the company's neglected and inefficient operations now need billions of dollars in new investment.

The studio will ultimately need billions of dollars for infrastructure, staff and especially new films, whose average cost has reached about $30 million.

Turkey will need billions of dollars in emergency financial assistance, extensive medical aid, including field hospitals, and specialized rescue equipment.

Behind the words, however, was a tempering factor: Russia still needs billions of dollars in Western loans.