Washington - The US Senate approved a 700-billion-dollar financial rescue package Wednesday night that members said was essential to keep the world's largest economy from near-total collapse.

Senate leaders hoped the 74-25 vote would send a strong message to the lower House of Representatives, which rejected an earlier version of the bail-out plan on Monday and sent US stocks into a free-fall.

"I'm very very happy with this vote tonight," said Majority Leader Harry Reid, the top Democrat in the Senate.

Washington - Sales of automobiles in the US plummeted in September as a weaker economy and tighter access to credit kept buyers away, industry figures showed Wednesday.

Both domestic and foreign automakers saw double digit declines. General Motors sales took the smallest hit falling 16 per cent from the year-earlier period, while Ford Motor Corp was pummelled by a 35 per cent drop and Chrysler slid 33 per cent.

Asian automakers also saw sales fall about a third, with a 32 per cent drop at Toyota Motor Corp, a 24 per cent decline at Honda and a 37 per cent slide at Nissan Motor Co.

Washington - The US Senate was to vote Wednesday evening on a new version of the 700-billion-dollar financial rescue plan as politicians warned that the US economy might not survive another legislative failure.

Democrats who control the Senate and minority Republicans hammered out a new deal, increasing guarantees on bank savings and adding tax provisions, after the original bail-out plan was surprisingly defeated in the lower House of Representatives on Monday.

"If the financial bill fails in Congress yet again, the present crisis will turn into a disaster," warned Republican presidential candidate and Arizona Senator John McCain.

Washington - US President George W Bush on Wednesday said he expected a revised rescue package for the embattled financial industry to pass the Senate, and again warned that only government intervention would stabilize the US economy.

Bush said the 700-billion-dollar bill had been improved since it failed to pass the lower House of Representatives on Monday, sending US stocks to one of their worst trading days in history.

"The bill is different. It's been improved. And I'm confident it will pass," Bush said ahead of a briefing by Afghanistan's NATO commander David McKiernan at the White House.

"It's very important for members to take this bill very seriously," he said. The Senate was preparing to vote Wednesday night.

Washington, Oct 1: The Alaska Governor and John McCain’a running mate, Sarah Palin, has no command authority over the guardians of US airspace despite her recent suggestion in an interview to CBS News' Katie Couric.

“She doesn’t have any role in that process,” Air Force Maj. Allen Herritage, spokesman for the Alaska North American Aerospace Defense Command, said.

“The authority to launch and respond to a Russian incursion lies with the Alaska NORAD Region commander” - Air Force Lt. General Dana Atkins, the Daily News quoted him, as saying.

Washington, Sept 1: At the end of one-day strategic dialogue in Washington on Tuesday, the US State Department said that America supported Pakistan’s ‘territorial integrity’.

“The US affirmed its support for Pakistan’s sovereignty, independence, unity, and territorial integrity,” the joint statement issued by the US State Department said after the one-day strategic dialogue between Pakistan and the US.

At the meeting, both the sides affirmed their strong commitment to a wide-ranging, substantive, and long-term strategic partnership, based on shared values and a common effort to promote enduring peace, security, stability, freedom, and prosperity of Pakistan and of the region.