New York - The top official in charge of watching over US stock markets, Christopher Cox, admitted late Tuesday that his agency had failed to act for nearly a decade on suspicions concerning the dealings of alleged Wall Street fraudster Bernard Madoff.

In a statement Cox, who is chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), said the agency had received allegations going back to 1999 about Madoff.

New York, Dec. 17 : The Taliban and Al Qaeda committee of United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is mulling over a proposal to put more Pakistanis on the international terror list.

New York, Dec. 17 : The United States and other Western donors should agree to a 100 billion economic package for Pakistan provided it `verifiably eliminates its entire nuclear stockpile and industrial base that sustains it.

According to an opinion piece published in the Wall Street Journal Tuesday, President Asif Ali Zardari during his recent visit to the United Nations made repeated appeals for financial aid from the international community.

The WSJ report says that the 100 billion dollars should be `administered by an independent authority and disbursed over 10 years, on condition that Pakistan remain a democratic and secular state (no military rulers; no Sharia law).'

Albany (New York, US), Dec. 16 : Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of former US President John F. Kennedy, has said that she is interested in bidding for the soon-to-be vacated Senate seat of incoming US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Ending weeks of silence and speculation, Kennedy made a series of rapid-fire phone calls to the state's leading political figures on Monday, including New York Governor David A. Paterson, in which she emphatically and enthusiastically declared herself interested in the seat.

New York  - UN Security Council members had to stop their meeting on Monday after a fire alarm went off, but resumed shortly after when UN security found nothing harmful.

The 15-nation council was holding a public session to review some of the year's activities, mostly regarding sanctions against Somalia, the Democratic Republic of Congo and efforts in other African countries.

New York, Dec 15 : Aussie model Miranda Kerr and her beau actor Orlando Bloom were spotted enjoying themselves while shooting for Victoria''s Secret catalogue.

The two, who are rumoured to be engaged, had flown down to the Rosewood Little Dix Bay resort on Virgin Gorda in the British Virgin Islands, reports the New York Post.

When there was no work for Kerr, they were seen frolicking on the beach, playing in the water and doing yoga at the resort''s spa.

Meanwhile, Kerr had earlier revealed that she would like to do a job with more substance.