Washington  - US President Barack Obama has appointed a former general to serve as his special envoy for Sudan's Darfur region, pledging to keep up the pressure on Khartoum to end the conflict.

Retired major general J Scott Gration has agreed to accept the post as international focus on Darfur intensifies following Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir's expulsion of humanitarian organizations from the country.

Washington  - Ron Kirk's nomination as the United States's top trade official was overwhelmingly approved by the Senate on Wednesday, filling one of President Barack Obama's last remaining cabinet posts.

Kirk, a former mayor of Dallas, was confirmed as US trade representative by 92-5 in the Senate, which has to approve all cabinet nominees. He becomes the first African-American to hold the post.

Washington - The US Federal Reserve, in a drastic new effort to keep the financial sector afloat, said Wednesday it would buy up more than 1 trillion dollars in Treasury and mortgage-backed securities.

Surprising many analysts, the US central bank said it would buy up to 300 billion dollars in long-term Treasury securities over the next six months and another 750 billion dollars in mortgage-related assets at the heart of the financial crisis.

Washington - In a conciliatory gesture, some AIG employees have offered to return some of the 165 million dollars in bonuses at the centre of public ire over the government financial bail-out programme, the company's head said Wednesday.

Edward Liddy, appointed by the US government in September to head the floundering American International Group (AIG), revealed the gesture in testimony before a House Financial Affairs subcommittee.

Washington  - The US Federal Reserve

Washington  - Disgraced financier Bernard Madoff's accountant was on Wednesday arrested and charged with securities fraud, the Justice Department said.

David G Friehling, 49, surrendered to authorities Wednesday morning and is the first accused accomplice of Madoff to be arrested since the 50-billion-dollar scandal came to light three months back.

An accountant for Bernard L Madoff Investment Securities LLC, Friehling faces a maximum 105 years in prison.