Washington, Oct 1: The American Senate is set to vote on the Indo-US nuclear deal today, after the US House of Representatives passed the Indo-US civil nuclear agreement by a clear majority (298-117 votes) three days ago.

Senate majority leader Harry Reid said that the legislation on the deal would in all probability be taken up after another pending legislation the Rail Safety Amtrak Bill is voted on by lawmakers.

Reid said on the Floor of the Senate at the start of the day''s proceedings that he was quite sure that it could be finalized so that there could be a vote on the deal.

Washington  - The seizure of a vessel last week off the coast of Somalia reflects the region's rising piracy problem, which could require greater security measures to ensure the safe flow of cargo, the US Defence Department said Tuesday.

"This is a persistent problem, although an increasing one, that has indeed drawn the attention of high-ranking people within this building," Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said.

Washington  - The US presidential candidates on Tuesday spent the day after a 700-billion-dollar financial rescue plan failed in Congress calling on their colleagues to quickly move to renew the deal.

"I am disappointed at the lack of resolve and bipartisan goodwill among members of both parties to fix this problem," Republican John McCain said at a campaign event in the Midwestern state of Iowa. "Bipartisanship is a tough thing, never more so when you're trying to take necessary but publicly unpopular action. But inaction is not an option."

Washington  - The stock markets are in free fall. Congress is in chaos. The White House is helpless.

After Monday's rejection by legislators of the rescue package for the battered financial sector, the United States is on the brink of its worst economic crisis since the catastrophe of 1929.

"If Congress doesnt help us on this, heaven help us," said legendary multibillionaire investor Warren Buffet last week.

And Congress balked.

Washington  - The US Defence Department confirmed Tuesday that it has deployed a powerful missile-defence radar system to Israel to help protect the Jewish state from a possible Iranian attack.

The X-band radar will be operated by US personnel and is designed to track medium-and longe-range missile and provide data to an interceptor missile, Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said.

"It more than doubles the range of Israel's missile defense radars and increases its available engagement time," Morrell said.

Washington  - NASA has postponed indefinitely the much- awaited repair mission to the Hubble space telescope because of added problems with the orbiting telescope's mechanisms, according to an announcement on its website on Tuesday.

After repeated delays, the Atlantis shuttle was to have launched the risky, precise mission on October 14. That launch has been cancelled.

The next shuttle launch will be of the Endeavour shuttle on November 17 to the International Space Station (ISS), a NASA spokeswoman confirmed.